Partnerships: a powerful marketing tool

By Lana O'Hollaren
Staff Reporter

It’s hard to argue with success. Building strategic marketing partnerships is a smart move for any size business. Marketing partnerships can help you grow or enhance your image without the financial risks other expansion tactics require.

When you form an alliance with another business or organization, it’s a mutually beneficial relationship that leverages exposure to the client base of each business.

In other words, businesses or organizations that complement each other work together to meet the needs of the customer. When businesses that offer complementary services team up, they often form a whole that’s much greater than the sum of its parts. They can combine marketing resources to pitch and win new business, provide additional services as a unit and expand their customer bases.

There are other benefits as well. You can instantly double your exposure by tapping into each other’s built-in audiences, business relationships and lists. Creating marketing partnerships can also be a great way to learn from one another. Working with a partner will enable you to share information, exchange knowledge and complement each other with areas of expertise.

For example, a store that sells plumbing parts and accessories might form a partnership with a company that specializes in upscale bathroom additions to market design/build services. The companies could run a joint advertising campaign in the local newspaper and create a brochure or a direct mail campaign that would be distributed to both of their prospect lists. The partnership could provide a competitive advantage to the retailer and give the contractor exposure to the retail customers.

Marketing partnerships are also a good way to enhance your image. For instance, a small architectural firm might form partnerships with other similar, independent firms in other parts of the country to create a strategic alliance with a national scope. The partnership enables them to bid on larger projects, expand their market area and share marketing resources.

Another way to enhance your image and expand your marketing reach is through partnerships with nonprofit organizations.

A high-end apparel boutique might close the store for a private shopping event and reception to help raise funds for a school. The school would receive a portion of the proceeds and enjoy a reception to thank its donors. The store would gain increased sales (people are more willing to spend extra money if they know it benefits charity), a database of potential affluent customers and a positive reputation for its civic-minded and charitable actions.

Marketing partnerships can be big or small, a one-time arrangement or a long-term commitment. They’re generally not as complex as business partnerships, which usually require many layers of bureaucracy and extensive planning but it’s still important to have a plan and goals in place before you dive headlong into a marketing partnership — and finding the right partner is a critical first step.

To select a partner, identify the types of companies or organizations that deal with your target market. Determine exactly what you can offer a potential partner’s customer base that it does not offer, and vice versa. Discuss how you will work together and how any costs associated with your partnership will be handled. Look for partners whose principles and philosophies match yours and with whom you feel you can work in a trusting relationship.

What are the goals of the partnership? Maybe you want to reach new customers, build stronger relationships with existing customers, or introduce a new product or service. Knowing your goals will determine which business or organization you should work with and the type of program you should promote.

Who are you trying to reach? Clearly identifying your target audience is a key. A potential marketing partner might not be able to help you reach your market for a specific promotion. That doesn’t mean that it’s not possible to form a partnership, only that the business or organization is not the right partner for this promotion.

You don’t have to big a large credit card company or a major corporation to reap the benefits of a successful marketing partnership, and the options are plentiful. Tap into the power of partnerships as a great way to expand your marketing efforts.