Some companies find that partner marketing is the perfect way to get their product out there. Partner marketing allows them to take advantage of partnering with another company to get their name out there and increase brand awareness.
What Is Partner Marketing?
Partner marketing is a type of marketing strategy where companies partner with other companies to complement one another.
This is an excellent strategy for startups because they can access the resources and networks they might not have been able to reach on their own.
For example, if you are launching a new product that needs some design work done, you could reach out to a design agency that you would like to work with and see if they would be willing to give a discounted rate in exchange for visibility of the new product launch.
Benefits Of Partner Marketing
Partner marketing is an innovative and cost-effective way to promote your business and generate more leads.
It helps you to: discover partners: explore new partnerships and find potential ones; bring in revenue: increase your income while leveraging the resources of your partners;
Drive more traffic: get more traffic while leveraging the help of your partners; expand reach: drive awareness and increase conversion rates by leveraging the resources of your partners.
6 Types Of Partner Marketing
There are many types of partner relationships, but here are the top 6 ways you may have heard of:
Affiliate
Affiliate marketing has become a popular internet-based technique that involves websites paying you for bringing in customers. You can earn commissions or rewards from them for promoting their goods and services.
Product placement
The subtle placement of a brand within a media channel. It is deemed a cross-over of sponsorship and advertising that works well with high grossing TV and Film productions.
Content
The purpose of content marketing is to provide customers with relevant and engaging content. In a content partnership, content is created in collaboration with a partner brand and then shared with target audiences. For example, two YouTube influencers work together on a video posted to both of their channels. This would then bring audiences from both sides to the other channel.
Loyalty
Using a loyalty marketing strategy, consumers receive rewards for increasing their usage. A loyalty program adds value by providing offers to consumers that motivate them to stay loyal and continue to purchase.
Sponsorship
Brand recognition and brand reputation are increased by positioning a brand alongside an event, on social media or in many other places such as working with an influencer and displaying the brand as a partner or supporter.
Joint products
When two companies agree to create a new product or alter an existing product to provide additional value, often the product is an amalgamation of both products aimed at mutual target audiences.
For example, when Apple and Nike collaborated on the Nike+ running app, they offered consumers a product that combined their individual strengths to help them reach their goals.
How to Find Successful Partners for Your Business
The startup market is saturated, and it is hard to find opportunities to provide value for both parties. To be successful at partner marketing, you need to focus on finding partners in the same space as you and have a large customer base.
There are many factors to consider when looking for a partner, and it can be challenging to find one that is perfect for your company. However, some great sites are available to submit their startups, and businesses can find them. These sites also offer ratings and feedback from other users, which helps you weed out the good from the bad.
A successful partnership will benefit both partners, including expanding markets, increasing customer base, generating revenue streams, saving costs, connecting with new clients/partners, etc.
Download Now: Social Media Calendar – Use this social media content planner to create your digital media strategy [Free Download]
How to Create a Strategy for Partnering with Other Companies
To be successful in your partner marketing strategy, it is essential to have a solid plan. Below are some basic steps that can be followed when trying to market a product or service.
- Determine the type of partners that would work best in your situation.
For example, if you sell a product that will work well in different businesses, you need to find potential business partners who have the same customer base.
- Consider what kinds of benefits each company can provide for one another when partnering together.
For example, suppose one company sells an expensive product and doesn’t want to spend much on marketing it themselves. In that case, they might team up with another company with a large customer base and can help promote their product or service for them at no cost. And the company promoting their product may be wanting to use the other company’s product but want it at a discounted price.
How to Pitch Your Ideas and Products as a Partner to Other Businesses
In this section, we will explore the basics of a business proposal.
A proposal is a formal letter that you send to a prospective client or customer containing information about your organisation and the services or products you offer.
The proposal letter template should provide details of what their business wants from the partnership and how they can help them achieve their goals.
One of the critical things to keep in mind while pitching your ideas is the audience you are pitching to. What are their goals? What are their challenges? How can you help them reach their goals?
The benefits of partnering with other businesses include increased visibility, higher conversion rates, shorter sales cycle, improved search engine rankings etc.
Partner Marketing Examples
The origins of partner marketing are unclear, but it seems like it’s been around for a while. Below are some real-life examples you may have seen or heard about before.
- Kanye & Adidas
Yeezy Shoes.
- Michael Jordan & Nike
Jordan’s Shoes.
- Ryan Reynolds & Aviation Gin
Gin Brand Co-owned by Ryan Reynolds, who creates their ads and is the face of the company.
- BMW & Louis Vuitton
BWM created the BMW I8, and Louis Vuitton created a line of luggage that perfectly fits into the car.
- Apple & MasterCard
This partnership allows people to use MasterCard with Apple Pay.
Conclusion – The Future Trend for Partner Marketing
In the future, the content will become more and more personalised. To provide a better customer experience, marketers must work with other brands to create a unified content strategy.
In conclusion, it is safe to say that in the future of partner marketing, the content will be increasingly personalised and integrated for a better customer experience; one could say that partner marketing is a way to achieve marketing goals by collaborating with other companies.
