It takes marketing investment of both time and resources to overcome the typical strategic partner challenges such as when partners are not sufficiently informed or equipped to sell effectively, you lack the time or resources to enable your partners, or your partners are putting their own organization’s success first.
Whether you have the bandwidth yourself or engage an outside expert to facilitate a better relationship, partner marketing is an invaluable tool to create a market advantage. Why? Keep reading…
1
It's going to keep getting bigger.
Accenture predicts that ecosystems could unlock $100 trillion of value for businesses and wider society over the next 10 years. Spending time developing a strong partner marketing program now is an investment that will continue to deliver significant returns.
2
You can expand into new markets.
Perhaps you don’t have name recognition in a particular niche. Or maybe your network is solid on the U.S. East Coast, but thin west of the Rockies. Whether it’s industry or geography, your partner can open doors that would take you longer.
3
You get more bang for the buck.
Yes, you’ll need to make sure that your partner’s sales team is informed and equipped to sell your product. But that shorter time for doors to open is less time that you need to run traditional — and more expensive — campaigns.
4
You are exposed to new perspectives.
Your strategic marketing partners are as close, if not closer, to your end users. While working together to align your messaging and sales approach, you may uncover valuable insights from their team and vice versa.
5
Stay ahead of your competitors.
Forrester predicts that in 2022 alone, half of B2B marketers will “start looking at partner ecosystems as creators of value, not just channels to markets.” The prediction includes the establishment of a partner experience (PX) function. Do you want to be ahead of the curve, or trying to pry partners away from other companies in your space who are already adding value?
BONUS
Don't leave money on the table.
Oftentimes, partners have pools of MDF dollars that go unused. Don’t let the lack of internal resources or enablement tools prevent you from leveraging investments you deserve.
Aligning more closely with your partners can be an important force multiplier for your revenue. The first step towards success is to develop messaging that aligns with your brand, drives partner buy-in and enthusiasm and differentiates the partnership in the market. Step two is to develop attractive, actionable assets for partners to use with their own customers. The final step is to train your partners on the messaging and how to use those assets to enable the Compelling Conversation™ with their prospects. Investing in this trio of resources is key to creating a partner experience that results in lasting, mutually successful relationships. To learn how Visible Impact can help you with this process, check out our case studies or connect today with one of our experts in Strategic Partner Marketing.
