Definition of Partner Marketing
Partner marketing is a specific branch of marketing that concentrates on effectively communicating value to, with, through, and for partners.
Definition of TCMA
Through Channel Marketing Automation refers to the use of technology that enables vendors to provide their branded assets and messaging in easily accessible and customizable packages. These packages are often made available on demand and can be supported by MDF and co-op funds. This approach is sometimes referred to as distributed marketing or distributed marketing management (DMM).
To-Partner Marketing
Typically, when your marketing and materials are aimed at your channel partners as the intended audience, your primary objectives are typically a few different things:
- Recruit
- Onboard
- Encourage action
- Explain something
- Recognize and celebrate
- Surprise and delight
Crafting the partner journey’s right message for these elements requires finesse, clarity, and the correct medium selection. Generally, this area receives the least attention from channel marketing teams, but it is often where the most significant and rewarding impact of your efforts becomes visible.
Partner marketing is consistently proven to be the crucial factor in determining the success or failure of efforts made by partners to achieve program goals, making it one of the most effective methods for boosting program participation.
Best Practices for To-Partner Marketing
- Always answer your partners’ WIIFM—what’s in it for me?
- Be relevant and personalized
- Don’t add noise—be targeted in what you send
- Get creative to capture attention
- Don’t rely on digital mediums alone
- Amplify and activate your partner influencers
- Be clear in the goal of the message
- Solicit feedback regularly
Utilizing channel partner welcome kits is another effective method to cut through the clutter, differentiate oneself from others, and gain additional recognition.
Channel Partner Welcome Kits
To establish a positive initial impression, it is crucial to warmly greet your new partner as there are no opportunities for do-overs. A proactive approach to communication and encouraging engagement can be achieved by utilizing a professional partner welcome kit.
What to Include:
The components of your channel partner welcome kit may differ based on your specific solutions and business model, but it generally encompasses:
- Branded box or large envelope
- Welcome note
- Celebration gift
- Onboarding checklist or next steps
- Partner program overview and benefits by role in program if applicable
- Instructions for accessing and using your partner portal
- Engagement element to post or share digitally
- Thoughtful gifting element that correlates to brand message
By delivering all of this, you can stand out from the competition and become the preferred choice for partners. This engagement element will leave a lasting impression and continue to be utilized even after the initial encounter. Consider it as an additional method to distinguish your brand among partners who have various options, and an amazing milestone in the partner experience.
Test the waters before diving into a full partnership
Engaging in a co-marketing campaign is an excellent strategy to evaluate brand alignment before establishing a complete partnership. By not initially testing partner compatibility, you expose yourself to the possibility of committing to a partner that is not a good match or fails to provide the same level of value or effort as your brand.
Once you have conducted a smaller partnership campaign to assess the situation, you can evaluate the effectiveness of your partner alignment. If the customer sentiment is positive and other metrics are indicating progress, it might indicate that you have the potential to become reliable long-term partners.
Engaging in straightforward co-marketing campaigns can reduce the potential risks associated with long-term marketing partnerships. Some methods to assess compatibility before formalizing a partnership include:
- Co-hosting a webinar together
- Publishing an industry report or survey together
- Guest blogging on each other’s websites
- Creating a joint guide to promote to each other’s audiences
- Organizing an in-person or virtual event for your audiences
- Developing a collaborative eBook
- Doing a newsletter swap
- Executing a social media takeover on each other’s channels
- Co-creating a sales demo of your tools
After executing your trial partnership, choose a co-marketing activity that aligns with your objectives and the preferences of your audience. Evaluate the performance and utilize this data to determine whether to continue with a complete marketing partnership.
Craft a mutually beneficial partnership agreement
Establish the terms and conditions of your relationship to guarantee a mutually advantageous partnership agreement.
Set parameters are essential for any business relationship, be it with other businesses, clients, subcontractors, or partners, as they ensure clear agreements and requirements. They play a crucial role in facilitating business operations by offering a transparent delineation of the services provided and outlining expectations for the agreement’s functionality.
Ensure that the partner marketing agreement is mutually beneficial, as it provides security and protection for both parties by clarifying their rights and responsibilities.
You should include, at the very least, the specific details of your agreement, which will be determined based on your partnership type and goals.
- Overview of the partnership agreement
- Goals of each partner
- Rights and responsibilities of each partner
- Project timeline and marketing plan
- Reporting plans
- Content ownership
- Confidentiality clause
- Where to find important resources
Once all aspects of an agreement have been addressed, you can proceed to the enjoyable aspect of devising your partnership marketing strategy.
Through-Partner Marketing
This approach entails strategies that aid vendors in conveying their brand message to end customers “via” their channel partners. Essentially, this form of marketing emphasizes facilitating the selling of your product or services by your partners. Typically, you assist partners with easily executable campaigns comprising pre-prepared messages and schedules. Consider email nurturing campaigns, social media posts and schedules, syndicated content, splash pages, and so on.
Best Practices for Through-Partner Marketing:
- Know what your audiences need
- Understand if you need to provide the technology or if partner is using theirs
- Track results and adjust messaging, cadence and inclusions
- Ensure it sounds like a partner’s message—infused with yours
- Regularly refresh it
- Remind partners it’s available to be used
- Solicit feedback regularly
Collaborate and make decisions as a team
Partnership marketing truly demonstrates the essence of the saying “teamwork makes the dream work.” The rewards of this marketing approach are exclusively attainable when both you and your partner collaborate harmoniously as a cohesive team.
In order to treat your partner as an equal, it is important to involve them in decision-making processes. Your partnership marketing agreement should clearly define the rights and responsibilities of each partner. However, it is equally important to actively strive towards collaboration and teamwork.
Partnership marketing entails numerous decision-making opportunities, such as determining marketing messaging, content requirements, launch dates, and other crucial factors.
Collaborate with your partner to jointly make decisions that are mutually advantageous. Facilitate decision-making by establishing a project timeline with important dates and milestones. Additionally, arrange regular partner meetings to evaluate progress and address any pending matters. Employing shared documents, calendars, and brand guidelines will also be beneficial.
To summarize, collaborate in decision-making and record all campaign decisions that are required or have been made.
