The,Basics,Marketing,Partnersh marketing The Basics of a Marketing Partnership

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Marketing partnerships are getting more andmore popular, and why not? They can be great money-saving,sales-producing relationships. Less costs + higher sales = marketingpartnership. That’s an equation, which is a no-brainer! Of course, a marketing partnership takes time to develop and you needto find a committed partner who wants the best for you as well as hiscompany. Read on to find out what exactly entails a marketingpartnership, what a marketing partnership can’t fix and some strategiesto make a marketing partnership work. What Exactly is a Marketing Partnership? A marketing partnership is two(or more) professionals or two (or more) businesses that have similarprospects, common marketing needs and ideally, complementary productsor services. These people unite to combine marketing and sales tactics within ashared target market. Each business remains its own identity, and willcontinue to market and makes sales outside the partnership. Thepartnership is not two businesses merging together; it’s two businesseshelping one another and sharing marketing resources. The partners can share: • Color printing costs, so that they both cancreate and market professional, four-color brochures, flyers, and othermarketing materials they otherwise couldn’t afford • Shipping costs ofsupplies that they both use • Bulk discounts for marketing items theyboth use • Sales calls • Joint marketing materials, touting theircomplementary products or services Partners can share any aspect of the marketing campaign they’d like.Partnerships work in every industry and can benefit any size companybut work especially well for smaller companies or new companies whodon’t yet have the marketing budget to do the more expensive marketingthey’d like to do. As mentioned earlier, the businesses in the partnership can havecomplementary products or services that they bundle together in salesor marketing materials. An injury attorney and a doctor, for instancecan bundle their services together and market to the same targetaudience without competition – an injured person needs to see a doctoras well as consult a lawyer. Offering a discount for both services willwin more clients for both professionals. A Marketing Partnership is Not a … …quick fix. If you have salesproblems or marketing problems, a partnership will oftentimes not beyour answer for a quick fix. First of all, you’ll have a hard timefinding a partner that wants to help you out, unless you can help them,and if you’re having sales problems, that’s not likely the case. Also,if you have a problem on your own, it’s likely something that yourcompany isn’t doing right, not something that you can rely on anotherentity to fix. Remember, partnerships take time to develop and time towork. … contract. Many partnerships are informal agreements that boost bothparties’ bottom lines. They are two businesses combining efforts tomeet prospects’ needs that they couldn’t otherwise do on their own.Partnerships should never be some kind of secret takeover of onecompany. …free ride on your partner’s abilities. Both businesses need to pitchin to market successfully. If one partner is doing more than the other,that partnership will not last long. You can’t expect someone to offerto do all the work for you without getting something back in return. How to Choose a Marketing Partner Keep the following in mind when looking for a partner: Choose a business with a good reputation. Whoever you partner with willimpact your image, so make sure you find a business that the communityand/or industry respects. More importantly, make sure you respect thisbusiness. You’ll need to show the potential benefits of the partnership. When youinitiate a partnership, you’ll need to convince businesses that thepartnership will benefit them as well as you. Do some research and showthem why the partnership will work and be profitable for both of you. Be ready to do the majority of the work, at first. Whoever you partnerwith may be skeptical at first, so you’ll need to keep yourselfinvolved and committed and take initiative in the first few marketingprojects. A great way to attract a partner quickly is to have someclients or customers already lined up, just waiting for the partnershipto happen. Producing new clients right away will most likely be enoughto entice even the most skeptical partner! The benefits of a marketing partnership can enhance business for bothparties involved and is also a great way to get connected in theindustry. If you’re ready to do the work to establish the partnershipand keep it up, get out there and start scouting!