Strategic partnership marketing isn’t just another industry buzzword. It is now a concrete, valuable strategy that businesses employ to enlarge their audience, co-create worth with other firms and that in the hard-pressed soil of competition ultimately builds an unsurpassable network. If you make good use of the strategy you can even elevate the credibility of your brand. It opens doors to those that would’ve been impossible to get into were you trying alone.
The benefits and steps to create meaningful, profitable cooperation are examined in this guide on strategic partnership marketing. If you are a small business or a big firm, this blog will arm you with things that you can do for your own good. After you read through this, we promise not a single hand-out is given to anybody else!
What’s Strategic Partnership Marketing?
At its most basic, strategic partnership marketing means that two or more businesses join forces in order to achieve their common goals. Instead of fighting it out he has with another company in the same industry, they collaborate side by side and share a customer base, expertise and resources.
It’s not only a question of trading logos as part of a co-branding deal. Strategic partnership marketing seeks real still emerging benefits that benefit all the parties, especially their clientele. Learn more about Partnership Marketing.
Main Types of Marketing Partnerships
Strategic partnerships take many forms. The following are some common examples of different types to show the reader what might suit your business:
Co-Branding Partnerships
Spotify’s integration with Uber: This combines both companies’ most precious asset, their brand, to give us a delightful customer experience.
Distribution Partnerships
Apple, for example, partners with app developers worldwide so they can distribute apps preinstalled on all of Marlborough-own products at great scale.
Affiliate Partnerships
Affiliate marketing depends on individuals or businesses promoting your brand in exchange for commissions received. Think for example the Amazon Associate Program.
Product Development Partnerships
Take a joint approach on Innovation—such as with Nike as a partner in developing Apple’s fitness technology for smart wearables.
Why Strategic Partnerships Are Important
When done well, strategic partnerships can create greater growth than incremental successes. But exactly how does it pay off?
Expanded Reach
Customer confidence in the brand you are partnering with, immediately provides access to potential customers who may never have heard of you before. By way of example, a small D2C brand partnering up with an international retailer benefits from additional exposure which the landlord provides.
Supercharged Signs of Respect to Customers
His “borrowed respect” can greatly enhance your brand image and accelerate branding vision. Brands that align themselves in partnership with well-respected peers signal both quality and authority to their target audience. Himself or herself a large organization and wanting to keep up to it, a small company that an enterprise like Coca-Cola thinks highly of.
Shared Resources Mean Saving Money
This can greatly extend reach while helping you cut costs: Marketing dollars, operational tools and equipment, personnel skills…
Shortened Learning Curves
Your partner may have a deep well of experience in areas where your company is lacking. Often such knowledge sharing provides for robust reinforcement.
Understanding the Situation
Strategic partnerships bring about fresh thinking, often leading to innovative solutions that neither party could have achieved alone.
How to Develop a Strategic Partnership Marketing Plan
1. Define Your Objectives
Begin by defining your goals. Just what are you trying to achieve through this relationship? Whether it’s increasing sales, increasing brand recognition among the public or opening up new markets; clearly defined targets will guide every step that follows.
2. Choose Complementary Partners
Select partners whose audience, mission or strengths dovetail with your objectives. Find businesses that share your values and stand to gain something from a cooperative relationship. For example, if you have a fitness app that appeals to wellness enthusiasts then perhaps some protein drink manufacturers or even some yoga studios might be ideal partners.
3. Do Your Homework
Research your potential partners thoroughly; after all, who wants a bad match? Investigate their brand reputation, audience interests, settings of operation and activities. Mismatched partnerships are likely to backfires analysis is all-important!
- Examine how they have worked together in the past.
- Check out customer reviews on the quality of their offerings to see if their brand spirit matches up with yours.
4. Define Roles, Responsibilities and Metrics
Partnerships work best when there are distinct roles and clear accountability on both sides. Draft a partnership agreement that specifies:
- Who is responsible for what
- How revenue or cost are divided
- What Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will determine success
- The terms under which one of you can walk away from the partnership
5. Develop Value-Added Campaigns
Work together on partnership campaigns that really benefit customers. Ask yourself: What do we offer as a combined unique advantage neither of us could give on its own?
For example:
- A women’s activewear brand might team up with a mental fitness app for co-branded advertising packages that combine physical well-being and emotional wellness.
- Online beauty retailers could get together to put out limited edition product bundles that reveal all new combinations of products and brands to their customers in one move.
6. Use Technology
Implement these kinds of solutions to make collaboration easier and more effective:
- CRM Tools: Bring together customer data and demographics easily.
- Social Media Dashboards: Tools like Hootsuite can help monitor the performance of co-branded campaigns.
- Communication Platforms: Slack is a powerful new way for teams to hash out issues and keep in touch online.
7. Test and Optimize
No matter how promising a partnership may seem, always run small-scale pilots before pushing it into the mainstream. Listen well to the data that emerges, and adapt as you go.
Examples of Great Marketing Partnerships
GoPro and Red Bull
With a focus on energy and the love of adventure, the two companies jointly carried out campaigns marketing extreme sports events. The results were spectacular in terms of customer engagement.
Starbucks and Spotify
By integrating Spotify playlists into the in-store atmosphere, Starbucks brought an entirely new level of audio entertainment to its customers at no extra cost.
Nike and Apple
This tech company-led partnership led to revolutionary products such as a fitness tracking system called Nike+. The result was a unique blend of fashion, both athletic and technical footwear.
Top Tools for Partnership Marketing
Without the right tools to help you manage partnerships, it all seems a mess. Here are a few essentials to streamline collaboration:
- Partnership Relationship Management (PRM) tools like Impact or Partner Stack
- Analytics platforms such as Google Analytics: track the success of campaigns
- File sharing solutions such as Dropbox or Google Drive: The management of resources should be smooth
Taking Your First Steps in Partnership Marketing
For smart and fast growing brands, strategic partnership marketing is an exciting path. However, always keep in mind that any partnership’s success is based on trust, transparency, and a common goal of delivering real value to customers.
If you’re not sure where to start, consider consulting experts or using platforms that help identify and effectively manage viable partnerships.
Now is the time to harness the power of partnership and unleash limitless potential for growth.
