Hotjar by ContentSquare

Published on

November 4, 2024

Bond Collective

Overview

Hotjar by Contentsquare is a global SaaS company in the Martech space, specialising in Product Experience Insights. Their platform empowers Small to Medium & Enterprise businesses to understand how users interact with their websites, uncovering behaviours, preferences, and emotions to enhance user experiences and drive business value. Since joining Contentsquare in 2021, Hotjar has amplified its reach and is now trusted by 1,306,323 websites in 180+ countries to create seamless digital experiences worldwide.

The Challenge

Hotjar wanted to expand its global footprint by growing its network of qualified partners—agencies and freelancers who actively use Hotjar to solve client challenges and drive decision-making. Although the Hotjar Partner Program was already live, the company sought to:

Attract high-value agencies aligned with their vision and value proposition.
Foster two-way collaborations that would generate long-term business value.

To achieve this, Hotjar partnered with Bond Agency, leveraging our expertise in Partnerships strategy and development for B2B SaaS companies. Our mission was clear: to enhance Hotjar’s partner ecosystem in EMEA and North America, amplify its market presence, and drive meaningful partner signups and growth.

Services

Partner Engagement
Partner Sourcing

Approach

To source and qualify top-tier agencies for the Hotjar Partner Program and collaborate with the Hotjar team to unlock new business opportunities while providing strategic insights and actionable learnings.

Increase visibility of the Hotjar Partner Program.
Source and qualify high-value partners aligned with Hotjar’s goals.
Position the Partner Program as a powerful, mutually beneficial growth opportunity for agencies and freelancers.

Our Process

Crafting a Compelling Value Proposition
- Highlighted long-term benefits of partnering with Hotjar beyond referral commissions, such as co-marketing opportunities and dedicated support from the Hotjar team.
- Emphasised the collaborative nature of the program, fostering trust and long-term commitment.
Defining the Ideal Partner Profile
- Conducted deep analysis to identify key characteristics and qualifications for successful partnerships.
Targeted Outreach
- Leveraged Bond’s extensive network and conducted in-depth research to identify and engage agencies across EMEA and North America.
- Reached out to a range of agency partners and freelancers who fit Hotjar’s criteria.
High-Value Partner Qualification Calls
- Screened every potential partner through personalised 1:1 calls to ensure alignment with Hotjar’s goals, clarify expectations, and build rapport.
Streamlined Onboarding
- Facilitated seamless sign-ups for selected partners, ensuring a smooth start to their collaboration with Hotjar.

Collaborating Closely with Hotjar

Bond’s partnership with Hotjar was rooted in continuous collaboration and strategic alignment:

Bi-Weekly Strategy Calls: Regular updates and discussions to refine outreach, share insights, and address challenges.
Partner-Facing Engagement: Hotjar’s Partner Managers actively joined key conversations, sharing real-world success stories and addressing potential partners’ specific business inquiries.

Results

In just three months, Bond Agency delivered outstanding results for Hotjar:

62 High-Value Partners Onboarded: Representing 16.5% of all partner signups during the project timeline.
21 New Paying Customers: A 34% conversion rate from partner referrals, showcasing the program’s effectiveness in driving tangible business outcomes.
Long-Term Growth Potential: With Hotjar’s dedicated Partner Engagement team, the number of paying customers is expected to grow steadily over time as partner relationships deepen.

Beyond revenue: Strategic Partnership insights

The collaboration with Bond Agency provided Hotjar with valuable insights beyond partner-sourced revenue:

Strategic Partnerships: Discussions with partners revealed opportunities for strategic collaborations with other tech brands in partners’ tech stacks, unlocking additional value.
Refined Program Framework: By aligning strong communication, clear expectations, and data-driven improvements, Hotjar now has a sharper value proposition and an optimised onboarding process.

Conclusion: Driving Growth Together

Hotjar’s partnership with Bond Agency exemplifies how a well-executed recruitment approach can deliver measurable business outcomes while fostering a culture of collaboration. By focusing on partner alignment, trust-building, and continuous improvement, Hotjar has positioned its Partner Program as a cornerstone of growth.

Partnerships are about more than just monetary value. They’re about driving growth together.

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Capsule

Plecto

Keobiz

50 new strategic partners acquired, 150 preferred affiliates acquired, 900 + clients driven every year from partnerships

Welcome Pickups

Founded in Athens, Greece in 2015, Welcome Pickups set out to revolutionize the way travelers experience new destinations. The company offers fully automated private transfer and leisure travel services to hotel guests, providing multiple benefits:

Enhanced customer satisfaction
Additional revenue streams for hotels
Valuable guest data collection

To accelerate growth and expand its market presence, Welcome Pickups partnered with Bond to optimize its partnership strategy. The collaboration focused on leveraging existing integration partners and establishing new connections, particularly with hotel Property Management Systems and Channel Managers. These integrations are crucial for delivering a seamless experience to end users.

The partnership with Bond outlined four key objectives:

Boost lead generation from existing target connectivity partners
Establish multiple new connectivity partnerships within a 12-month timeframe
Implement cross-marketing initiatives with partners to enhance brand visibility
Develop one or more value-driven partnership programs

This strategic approach aimed to support Welcome Pickups' product growth in new target markets while strengthening its position within the travel technology ecosystem.

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The strategy involved engaging existing partners to introduce Welcome Pickups’ solution and create opportunities to present to their customer-facing teams.

Our goals were to:

Ensure partners recognise Welcome Pickups as a powerful, easy-to-implement solution within their ecosystem.
Demonstrate to partners how Welcome Pickups can maximize their clients' success while increasing product loyalty - a win-win-win situation.

We implemented this through:‍

Online partner demos and face-to-face meetings in local territories and languages.
Providing resources for partners' internal knowledge bases.
Enhancing visibility on partner marketplaces by regularly updating Welcome Pickups’ profile with improved content, visuals, and links.
Creating a Partner Directory on Welcome Pickups’ website to reciprocate visibility.

Measuring partnership effectiveness:‍

Despite not using dedicated Partner Relationship Management software, we optimized Welcome Pickup's Hubspot CRM to track partner-generated leads and form downloads. This allowed us to:

Allocate leads to the correct partners.
Train the sales team to properly tag partner-sourced leads.
Track key metrics such as new leads, conversion rates, and top-performing partners.
Report on specific KPIs, providing clear data-driven insights.

Engagement strategies:‍

After establishing these foundational elements, we focused on engagement and cross-marketing opportunities with existing partners. This approach:

Improved results from partnerships.
Facilitated sharing opportunities within our customer base.
Increased visibility, supporting sales teams in co-selling initiatives with partners.

Our efforts paid off when Welcome Pickups was recognized by Siteminder, a major player in Hotel Tech, as a finalist in three categories:

App Partner of the Year
Industry Champion of the Year
Innovation Partner of the Year

Ultimately, Welcome Pickups won the title of App Partner of the Year in 2023, validating our partnership strategy.

Welcome Pickups also became an official Mews Stacks Partner - a recognition that is surely helping to shed more light about the partnership and that addresses direct visibility towards their clients:

We also started to coordinate many more cross- activities and campaigns with partners such as:

Co-hosted Webinars with key partners: split of the responsibilities about the creation of assets, registration links, invitation prospects & customers, etc..
Case Studies: https://www.welcomepickups.com/blog/welcome-pickups-hotel-brighton-d-edge/‍
Sponsoring events, joining panels and speaking opportunities at tradeshows
Co-marketing materials such as custom landing pages for partners
Guest Blogs

Through direct communication with partners and assessing their needs, we developed a more tailored value proposition for Welcome Pickups' integration partners, both existing and potential. This approach has yielded several benefits:

Enhanced Partner Incentivization: We now have a clear understanding of how to motivate new connectivity partners effectively.
Stronger Relationship Building: Our refined strategy allows us to establish robust relationships from the outset.
Improved Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy: We can now craft and implement more effective GTM strategies in collaboration with our partners.

This proactive approach ensures that for each new partnership opportunity, Welcome Pickups is well-equipped to:

Articulate its unique value
Align with partner objectives
Foster mutually beneficial relationships
Execute joint market entry plans efficiently

By adapting our approach based on partner feedback, we've created a more dynamic and responsive partnership model that supports both Welcome Pickups' growth and our partners' success.

Progress on Partnership Goals (January - July 2024)

Sales Pipeline Growth:some text
- Target: 100 new deals from integration partners by the end of 2024
- Current Status: Achieved 2/3 of the target in just 6 months
- Projection: Pipeline expected to significantly exceed initial goal
New Integrations:some text
- Target: 10 new integrations on the roadmap by the end of 2024
- Current Status: 5 new integrations developed since January
- Impact: Bond's expertise in partner identification and go-to-market strategy has been crucial

Key Success Factors:

Effective partner qualification based on Welcome Pickups' criteria
Strong go-to-market launch strategies for newly integrated partners
Continuous collaboration between Bond and Welcome Pickups teams
Emphasis on learning and A/B testing to optimize performance

Future Focus:

Exceeding established goals
Enhancing Welcome Pickups' partnership performance
Innovative, out-of-the-box thinking
Positioning Welcome Pickups as a model partner and desirable brand for collaboration

This collaborative approach is establishing Welcome Pickups as a leader in effective partnership management within their industry.