How Zeta Global Used ELG, Crossbeam, and LinkedIn Connections to Drive a 30% Increase in Enterprise Leads

Working with channel partners is still uncharted territory for many go-to-market (GTM) leaders, but it represents a massive opportunity. According to the System Integrator Market Forecast Report 2029, the global System Integrator (SI) market is projected to grow from $29.7 billion in 2024 to $40.3 billion by 2029, at a compound annual growth rate of 6.3%.

Despite this promising trend, building relationships with SIs can be complex. These partners are often selective about who they work with and what data they share. That’s why Devon Champagne, Director of Global System Integrators at Zeta Global — an AI-powered marketing platform — devised a creative and efficient way to connect with SIs and agency partners, launch a partner program from scratch, and source 15 new enterprise-level leads within its first year, along with a 30% increase in partner sourced enterprise leads since initiating their Ecosystem-Led Growth motion with Crossbeam.

“Thanks to our partner motion, we’ve been able to accelerate our lead generation from an enterprise perspective,” Devon explains. “Our partners also help influence deals. We often don’t know who’s involved in the decision-making process, but our partners can provide intel, help us craft messaging, and uncover the challenges we need to overcome to win.”

Read on to learn how Devon leveraged LinkedIn, Crossbeam, and an Ecosystem-Led Growth (ELG) strategy to build a high-impact partner motion.

The challenge

Zeta Global had never executed a partner strategy before, so the first hurdle was internal: educating GTM teams on why partners matter. To achieve that, Devon and his team demonstrated how Crossbeam could amplify the value of partner relationships, not just by unlocking net-new business, but also by influencing deals already in motion. They did this by demoing Crossbeam to the partners' teams and having one of their SMEs conduct a walkthrough with the entire sales and customer success team.

After that, Devon and his team created a partner motion focused on helping small SIs and agencies — often solo consultants or tight-knit teams with rich industry networks — implement and co-market Zeta’s platform. While these firms had limited bandwidth, they brought trusted relationships with enterprise accounts.

However, mapping those partner connections to Zeta’s ICP on a Gsheet was a slow, manual process.

The solution: Leverage all of their LinkedIn connections and use Crossbeam to identify the opportunities and overlaps.

“We would need to do a manual effort to map their connections with our ICP,” said Devon. “It was like finding a needle on a hay stack. But we wanted to work with those agencies and SIs because they had relationships with some of our key accounts that we were already working with. So, instead of going and trying to figure out which accounts were which would leverage LinkedIn connections.” 

The solution 

To streamline partner collaboration and uncover new leads, Devon developed a repeatable, data-driven process by combining LinkedIn connections with Crossbeam's account mapping capabilities. 

Here's how he did it:

1. Devon and his partners started by exporting their full list of LinkedIn connections. The LinkedIn contact list is saved as a CSV file. These lists typically included company name and LinkedIn profile URL.

While the data was minimal, the value lay in identifying who among those connections matched Zeta Global’s ICP, which is based primarily on enterprise-level companies.

2. Devon then adds the partner to Crossbeam as an Offline Partner (since they aren’t using Crossbeam natively). He uploads the CSV file under that partner’s profile in Crossbeam and labels his partner’s LinkedIn contacts as customers.

3. To analyze the data, Devon navigates to the Partner tab in Crossbeam, then he selects the specific offline partner from the partner list. He then looks for these “offline partner” signals in Crossbeam:

• A phantom icon on the partner logo section
• Tags such as “offline mapping,” “offline,” or “offline partner”
• An “Offline” tab at the top of the partner page

Then, he clicks on the partner name to open the Account Mapping overview and clicks on the desired population he would like to analyze. 

4. Now, Devon is able to see the overlap with his partner’s LinkedIn connections. With the account mapping report, Devon filters the data to focus on relevant populations:

• Prospects already being targeted by Zeta’s sales team
• Open opportunities in the pipeline
• Strategic enterprise accounts in the ICP

This Ecosystem Intelligence allows Devon to clearly see:

• Which contacts his partner was connected to
• Whether those contacts were also Zeta opportunities or prospects
• Where warm introductions or influence could be leveraged
• The pain points of his prospects

“When I pull in the LinkedIn list, I can immediately see who they’re connected to in our ICP,” said Devon. “We might not know the depth of the relationship, but that connection is the starting point for joint action.”

5. After identifying key overlaps, Devon selected top accounts and scheduled biweekly strategy meetings with the partner. These meetings focus on:

• Mapping accounts 
• Sharing insights on mutual connections
• Planning co-selling strategies
• Exploring co-marketing opportunities
• Understanding client pain points

To get more intel on the accounts, Devon would ask questions such as:

• How do you know this person?
• How have you worked with them before?
• What are they currently struggling with?
• Can you make an intro or help influence the opportunity?

“These meetings are about establishing and growing the partnership. We map together in order to find opportunities and understand what our partner is working on and build up strategies to fit the goals of both companies,” said Devon. 

6. If the partner can’t make an introduction, Devon looks for the account (e.g., "AcmeCo") on his partner’s LinkedIn contacts. He identifies which individuals at that account are connected to his partner. Then he sends them a personalized LinkedIn connection request, referencing the shared connection. Finally, when the relationship warms, he migrates the conversation to email, aiming to set up a meeting.

7. Devon uses the Crossbeam Salesforce widget to deliver partner insights to the AEs, right where they work. This helps them understand which partners are connected to which accounts and identify who can assist with sourcing or influencing. In case they need any partner help, the AEs will ping Devon and he will take care of having the partner conversations. However, Crossbeam Copilot gives Devon’s sales team the visibility they needed to understand to better leverage their partner ecosystem. 

“The fact that we can meet our sales team where they live makes it so much easier,” Devon said. “Our AEs are big fans of Crossbeam Copilot.”

8. Finally, Devon attributes whether a deal was sourced or influenced by a partner, feeding that data into Salesforce dashboards. This provides visibility into:

• Partner impact on pipeline
• Performance by SI or agency
• Data to support ongoing GTM decisions

Click here to learn how to build dashboards and reports in Salesforce. 

Crossbeam has transformed Zeta’s partner motion from a manual process into a scalable strategy. “It’s built a ton of efficiency into our partner motion,” Devon shared. “Crossbeam has helped us prove what our partners are capable of. Internally, everyone now understands the value of our partner ecosystem.”

A final word

Zeta Global’s journey to launching a successful partner motion didn’t start with advanced tools or a massive budget, it started with a smart, repeatable system and a strong understanding of partner value. 

By combining LinkedIn’s relationships with Crossbeam’s account intelligence, Devon and his team turned manual mapping into a streamlined, data-driven workflow that surfaces new opportunities and drives measurable results.

In just one year, this ELG strategy sourced 15 new enterprise leads and helped Zeta build trusted, co-selling relationships with strategic SIs and agency partners (many of whom operate outside traditional tech ecosystems).

The key? Meeting partners where they are, unlocking warm introductions through existing networks, and bringing those insights directly into Salesforce for the GTM team to act on.

Devon’s approach proves that even without native partner tools, you can launch a powerful partner program, one rooted in collaboration, influence, and real pipeline impact.

If you’re looking to replicate Zeta Global’s success or build your partner motion with SIs or agency partners, book a free ELG strategy call with our team. 

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