Track three metrics on a 30 / 60 / 90-day cadence: user flow (how many unique users is this partnership driving to your protocol?), retention (of those users, what percentage are still active after 30 days?), and economic contribution (what TVL, volume, or revenue is attributable to the partnership?).

If you cannot attribute any of these metrics to the partnership, it is not delivering measurable value. This does not mean it is worthless — brand awareness and ecosystem positioning have value — but it does mean you should not be paying integration-tier prices for marketing-tier outcomes.