Integrating app marketplaces with PartnerFleet, user reviews with G2, and partner deal management with PartnerStack
Intro
28% of B2B buyers prefer buying from third-party marketplaces, up six percentage points from last year, according to G2.
Buying directly from vendors? Down nine percentage points.
60% of customers appreciate the convenience of marketplaces, according to leading Partnership Analyst Jay McBain.
So what’s a B2B SaaS vendor to do?
Launch a marketplace to replicate the convenience that third-party marketplaces offer buyers. Thanks to Partner Fleet's no-code, relatively new offering, mid-sized B2B SaaS companies do just that.
As more and more software companies launch an app marketplace, the larger and more mature ones are leveraging user reviews to help buyers make the right app choices.
PartnerStack has partnered with Partner Fleet to make it easy to track and attribute partner leads that come through your marketplace.
In this blog post, we’ll cover why many B2B SaaS vendors are launching their own marketplace, how some are leveraging reviews, and what PartnerStack and Partner Fleet can do to manage your app marketplace leads.
Why Partnerships, User Reviews, & App Marketplaces?
As more B2B SaaS companies make app marketplaces and develop their partner ecosystems, the first thing that stands out is revenue-generating potential.
Forrester has found that the average cloud deal creates a 5x multiplier for partners — where every dollar that the vendor collects for the product, around $5 goes to the ecosystem for services and add-on hardware and software.
The world’s largest software companies already realize the revenue-multiplying power of ecosystems:
Shopify App Store earns 4x the revenue of Shopify’s platform
HubSpot ecosystem earns 5x the revenue of Hubspot’s platform
Google Cloud is forecasting 7x the revenue of its platform
Forrester predicts the overall marketplace market could account for 17 percent of the $13 trillion in B2B spending.
In 2021, G2 found that 1 in 5 buyers preferred to buy software from a third-party marketplace. In 2022, it found the preference for third-party marketplaces is rising.
In response, more B2B SaaS companies are creating their own app marketplace to replicate the convenience that third-party marketplaces offer buyers and turning their SaaS
product into a platform.
Many leading B2B SaaS companies have an app marketplace.
In many B2B app marketplaces, there are reviews as social proof.
In general, the bigger the company, the more likely it will have an app marketplace and leverage reviews.
82% of the 50 largest publicly traded B2B SaaS companies in the US have their own app marketplace, and 41% of the Forbes Cloud 100 now have a marketplace, according to B2B SaaS Reviews.
A bigger company can draw more sellers to list in its marketplace, improving buyers' choices. As Andrew Chen, Venture Capitalist at Andreessen Horowitz, explained in his book, The Cold Start Problem:
"When more sellers are part of a marketplace, there's more selection, availability, and comprehensive reviews/ratings—meaning people are more likely to find what they want, and each session is more likely to convert into a purchase."
Company size can also have a significant impact on whether there are reviews on app marketplaces:
100% of the big three — Amazon (AWS), Microsoft, and Google* — leverage reviews.
70% of the next ten largest B2B tech firms leverage reviews in their marketplaces. Think Abobe, Oracle, Salesforce, and Intuit.
30% of B2B SaaS marketplaces leverage reviews (Random selection of 150 app marketplaces of all sizes).
These 40 B2B tech companies each leverage reviews in their app marketplaces.
How do you create an app marketplace and leverage reviews?
While you could build an app marketplace in-house, there are now no-code SaaS platforms like Partner Fleet to easily configure and design an app marketplace and leverage reviews within it.
For example, PartnerStack launched its Partner Directory — not to be confused with their Partner Program Marketplace — using Partner Fleet technology.
Partner Fleet uses its own technology to power their App Marketplace.
G2 is listed in Partner Fleet’s marketplace to “Bring your marketplace to life with social proof reviews from G2.”
G2 white labels Partner Fleet tech for its Partner Hub and leverages G2 reviews, naturally.
Salesloft also includes G2 user reviews and star ratings in its Partner Fleet-powered marketplace with the G2 reviews integration.
Partner Fleet also offers a native review module to have your users leave reviews contextualized to the partnership's value. Here are two examples of native reviews in an app marketplace, though note these are powered by Partner Fleet. They’re included as illustrative examples of native reviews.
App Marketplace with Native Reviews: Salesforce AppExchange
ZoomInfo listing: The AppExchange displays reviews and ratings on category and product pages on the AppExchange. In this ZoomInfo example, social proof is displayed in the form of star ratings, review counts, and detailed reviews specific to the ZoomInfo integration with Salesforce.
App Marketplace with Native Reviews: HubSpot App Marketplace
Aircall listing: HubSpot features reviews on app listings, such as in this example with Aircall. Detailed reviews are specific to the Aircall integration with HubSpot.
The reviews are prominently displayed on the App page.
How to Manage Partner Leads & App Marketplaces: The PartnerStack and Partner Fleet Integration
The integration between Partner Fleet and PartnerStack makes it easy to track and attribute partner leads that come through your marketplace.
This integration enables leads to be sent back and forth between each platform with unique tracking for seamless attribution.
Plus, when a partner account is created in PartnerStack, it's automatically generated within Partner Fleet, and your new partners will get an invitation instantly - keeping everything updated across both platforms.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we have seen the many benefits and possibilities that launching a B2B SaaS marketplace can bring.
Not only do customers appreciate the convenience of marketplaces, but also a software company can turn its product into a platform by extending its functionality through integrations into other software and making it easy for users to do so.
Vendors should consider incorporating G2 reviews into their marketplace or leverage native reviews specific to their app integrations.
Moreover, leveraging the integration between PartnerFleet and PartnerStack makes it simple to track and manage all those leads stemming from your marketplace.
Launching your own app marketplace can prove instrumental in increasing revenue, customer convenience, and staying competitive in the B2B SaaS world; all thanks to solutions like Partner Fleet, G2, and PartnerStack.
Joe Kevens is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of B2B SaaS Reviews, a blog to help business software professionals get more from reviews. He's also the Director of Demand Generation at PartnerStack, the #1 platform purpose-built for partner management and affiliate marketing in B2B SaaS. Before PartnerStack, he worked for other go-to-market B2B SaaS companies, such as Influitive, LevelJump (acquired by Salesforce) and Eloqua (acquired by Oracle).
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