The backbone to the success of a business is marketing. Marketing campaigns aim to increase brand awareness, reach out to potential customers, and improve brand loyalty among existing companies. There are various marketing models in existence. Here we will focus on one partnership marketing.
WHAT IS PARTNERSHIP MARKETING?
Also referred to as partner marketing, it is a collaboration between two businesses to achieve mutual goals. Companies that offer complementary products or services benefit much from this marketing strategy. It would be best not to use business partnerships for revenue generation only. You can use the power of collaboration to run successful marketing campaigns that will enable you to achieve your target sales.
TYPES OF PARTNER MARKETING
There are different strategies used to achieve a successful marketing partnership. These strategies define the different types of partner marketing in existence;
AFFILIATE MARKETING
You partner with affiliates such as influencers and content creators who have a broad reach of your potential customers. These affiliate partners promote your business on their platform, and every time a customer reaches you through the link, you pay the affiliates a commission.
 BRAND AMBASSADOR CAMPAIGNS
You partner with a trusted name to portray your brand and create genuine relationships with the audience. The brand ambassador influences the audience to identify with your product by showing them how your brand/product affects their daily lives.
STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
A strategic alliance is a partnership between two brands that share similar customers and desires. Before creating this kind of partnership, you should consider ensuring that both brands receive equal benefits from the partnership.
 CHANNEL PARTNER MARKETING
This partnership is when your business works with third parties such as retailers, wholesalers and distributors to market and sell your brand to wider audiences. These channel partners buy from you in large quantities and sell your products in their geographic areas.
 NON-PROFIT PARTNER MARKETING
This partnership is when your business works with a non -profit organization to help them gain more awareness and new money-raising avenues. In return, your business gains confidence in the audience for supporting a charity or social cause.
Through understanding your goals and the nature of your business, you can choose the partner marketing strategy that will work well with you.
HOW TO ACHIEVE A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING PARTNERSHIP
Here are the steps you ought to follow for successful partnership marketing.
NAIL DOWN YOUR GOALS
Set the goals you have to achieve from the partnership. By setting your goals and knowing how to track them, you will be able to gauge the success of your partnership.
DISCOVER AND SELECT THE RIGHT PARTNERS
You will know the right partners to search for from the goals you have set. It is crucial to pick businesses with similar target audiences and offer complementary products or services. To make the partnership more interesting, choosing brands with a matching set of values is wise.
 MOTIVATE YOUR PARTNERS
Paying and rewarding your partners will keep them motivated, and your marketing program will run effectively. These rewards and incentives will depend on the nature of your partnership. Make sure you motivate your partners and honor your contract with them.
 TRACK AND ENGAGE
Track how the partners are contributing to your campaign to reward them appropriately. In addition to tracking their contribution, it is vital to engage them through constant communication that will help maintain their positive effect on your marketing campaign.
ADVANTAGES OF PARTNER MARKETING
The most apparent advantage of a marketing partnership is attaining expanded exposure from your partner’s recognizability. Here are some of the benefits your business will enjoy from a partner marketing campaign;
- A support system that will help you with some marketing approaches and decisions that are difficult when you are not your own.
- It is cost-effective since it reduces your marketing campaign spending.
- Your brand achieves trust and reliability when you partner with a trusted brand.
- Partners enable you to discover new perspectives to work to improve your business.
LIMITATIONS OF A MARKETING PARTNERSHIP
Some of the limitations involved with this type of marketing include;
- Potential disagreements which might result from initiatives you or your partner take do not auger well with either of you.
- Without a solid and clear partner marketing strategy, you are at risk of losing focus on achieving primary goals.
- With partner marketing, you need to have strong sales skills that will enable you to feel comfortable marketing someone else’s products.
You now know that partner marketing can positively affect your business with proper consideration.