Scaling your business when you first start can be challenging. You might already know that social media and other platforms are the keys to success, but to gain a steady stream of customers, you will need to approach your marketing in different ways. Partnering with other companies can help your business grow by giving you access to their resources. While it can be great to grow your own business, partnering with other businesses can also help you gain more customers in the meantime. Follow these tips to ensure you are using the right marketing strategy.
1. Determine how you will promote your partnership
Decide on a partnership marketing strategy for promoting your partnership to customers. You could share your new affiliation with customers by featuring it on your website. You can also post information about the partnership on social media like Facebook or Instagram. You can also encourage customers to share the news about your relationship with other potential customers on their social media pages.
2. Find a relevant business to partner with
Choosing the right company to partner with is important for a successful partnership. Make sure that it is a business that has similar values and has customers who fit within your target demographic. To find a company that is a good fit, start by doing some research. Look at their business and who they serve. Check out their competition as well. Read reviews on the company and research how it worked with previous partners. Try to find businesses that are similar to you in terms of size, type of industry, and type of customers they target.
If you want to expand beyond your current geographic boundaries, choose a company that has similar goals to yours (profitability, growth, etc.).
3.. Establish shared objectives
You and your partner must be both on the same page with your objectives. Your main goal is to market your business while helping the other business with marketing as well. It can be disappointing if one company is not working as hard as the other or if one of you isn’t honest about how much work you can handle. This can easily cause resentment between the two businesses and may cause a partnership to fall apart before it even gets started.
4. Set clear guidelines for promoting your partnership
You have to set clear guidelines for how your partner will promote their business. Ensure that the other company will be given creative control over promoting the partnership with customers. This is an important part of a successful partnership and can cause issues if the other company doesn’t follow your guidelines. Make sure they understand what they are allowed to post, as well as what they cannot say or do without your permission. You will want to set clear guidelines for how you want to market your business and how the other company wants to promote its business.
5. Implement cross-promotions
Cross promotions are a great way to gain more customers for both of your businesses. You can promote or offer products from your partner’s business in return for them doing the same for your business. If you are willing, you could also promote each other on social media during specific periods (e.g., one week out of every month).
A partnership can be key to the growth of your business. Partnering with another company can help you gain customers in the meantime while also helping you spread the word about your business to other potential customers. Make sure that you determine a partnership marketing strategy that works best for both of your businesses before starting. Don’t go into a partnership assuming it will work out and then be disappointed when it doesn’t work out.