You won’t get leads “sent by the cloud” on day one. But when you wire marketplace into sales motions, marketing, and tap into cloud commits, you win customers you wouldn’t reach otherwise.

Here is a fresh read on this—and other findings—from our ”State of Cloud GTM and Co-Sell” report with Clazar earlier this year, plus what’s shifted since.

Here’s what held up six months later—and what changed enough to matter.

What’s still true (and drives results)

Co-sell works when it’s structured, not when it’s loud

71% attempt co-sell, but only 32% run proactive cadences. The top cohort engages hyperscaler field teams consistently (94%)—and it shows up in outcomes

Marketplace ≠ side project

Teams that treat it as a core route-to-market are the ones breaking the 5% revenue plateau and joining the “22% club” (20%+ revenue via MP). Leaders win on higher win rate, deal value, and reach.

Data matters

Clean ACE (Partner Center) /CRM sync, consistent deal sharing, win rates, relevant use-case language, industry focus, directly influence how often you’re recommended to sellers.

Pipeline hygiene = discoverability.

What’s changed (lean into it)

AI is in the buying flow

AI summaries, comparisons, and suggestions are now visible on listings and inside seller tools. Your copy, specializations, reviews, and clean metadata shape machine-assisted discovery. Your data is your GTM.

PLG is climbing inside marketplaces

“Try free,” PAYG → private offer, and usage telemetry are becoming standard for many. High performers map PLG steps to MP CTAs, even if it’s only nurturing a free trial → contract inside the marketplace

Channel partners matter more in marketplace deals

Teams reporting higher partner influence also report higher win rates. 63% said partners are becoming critical to marketplace strategy and many are now leaning on partners.

Predictions

AI-assisted discovery widens the gap, but also empowers the long tail

Precise use-case copy, credible reviews, and credentials will outperform “platform for everything” claims. Same for sellers: clear, specific solutions win recommendations.

Customers keep championing marketplace

Studies from McKinsey, IDC and Forrester point to ~30% of buyers comfortable purchasing 6-figure (many even 7-figure) deals fully self-serve. Combine that with commit utilization (still the #1 driver), and marketplaces remain the fastest route through procurement.

If you haven’t read the our 50+ pages research yet, here’s what you’re missing:

• The data on what separates teams stuck at 0–5% marketplace revenue from those compounding past 20%+

• Interviews with marketplace leaders on field engagement patterns, attribution models that hold up, and compensations that actually change seller behavior

• Co-sell acceleration insights and the operational pitfalls that kill momentum.

What was your biggest takeaway? Share it in the comments below.