Marketing Partnerships

Marketing partnerships can unlock growth for your business. When done right, marketing partnerships can generate greater value for your customers and accelerate brand growth.

What are marketing partnerships?

Marketing partnerships are strategic collaborations between different organisations with an overall goal of generating mutual marketing benefits.

Some benefits include:

• Accessing new consumer segments through partner organisation to unlock marketing opportunities

• Strengthening consumer perception by improving services or products through joint efforts

• Increasing marketing efficiency by targeting consumers with quality information and insights

Marketing partnerships should not be used as marketing tactics to patronise consumers by being associated with another brand. Instead, it should provide greater value than what a brand could offer independently and aim at driving business growth and consumer value.

Effective partnerships can often be achieved by identifying synergies in the following areas:

1. Brand associations: How do consumers perceive your potential partner’s brand? How can this enhance your brand image?

2. Networks: What are the existing networks each partner brings to the table, such as distribution channels or resources that can amplify marketing efforts?

3. Information and data: What valuable first-party data can be shared to generate richer insights into target segments?

4. Investment: Does your potential partner have existing investments that can boost collaborative marketing efforts, such as enabling cost sharing for greater impact?

5. Expertise: Are there areas of expertise or specialisation where you can exchange knowledge or skills for mutual benefit?

In an ideal scenario, partners will offer synergies across all five areas. Otherwise, focus on prioritising the aspects that are most crucial for your business.

What makes a successful marketing partnership?

Before jumping into any partnership, you should be clear of your objectives. A successful and impactful marketing partnership should benefit both businesses and consumers. Start with a clear business goal that the partnership aims to achieve. Since a partnership leverages another party’s strengths, consider goals that would have otherwise been difficult for you to achieve alone.

Next, assess the brand fit. Consider how you want your brand to be perceived alongside your potential partner. Once you have a good grasp of your business goals and evaluated the capabilities of your brands, utilise this 2x2 matrix to assess potential partners.

How to forge a successful marketing partnership?

• Define your outcomes: Clearly outline your intended outcomes and establish the perimeters of a good brand fit.

• Research potential partners: Learn about their strengths and envision what success would look like for them.

• Initiate conversations: Set up a meeting to understand their capabilities and goals, especially if this information isn’t readily available.

• Assess the potential: Use the 2x2 matrix for your evaluation.

• Make informed decisions: Pursue partnerships that fall under the “Must do” category.

• Establish partnership goals: Set clear goals, timelines, investment agreements, and communication protocols.

• Conduct regular reviews: Review the partnership against its goals so that both parties are able to optimise collaboration and get the best out of one another.

• Consolidate learnings: At the end of a partnership, gather insights to inform future collaborations.

Find Out More

• Next, learn about Data-driven Marketing.

• Access more free marketing resources from STB on YouTube.