How Brand Partnerships are Beneficial for Your Business
Markets are taking on a volatile and competitive undertone, and customers today are smarter than ever before. So, as a business, it has become incredibly important for you to clearly highlight your USPs and take extra measures to increase conversions. One effective approach is co-branding or partnership marketing.
Partnership marketing is nothing but a strategic alliance between two or more companies. In such an alliance, the participating organizations mutually benefit from a joint marketing strategy. As each brand has its own loyal consumer base, by building strategic partnerships, both businesses can reap benefits by leveraging or piggy-backing on to the other’s strengths. A well-chosen partnership can have lasting benefits for both parties as they can maximize their strengths and eradicate weaknesses. Take a look at just a few of the many benefits.
Benefits of Brand Partnerships
1. Enter uncharted markets
It is never easy to enter into a new market. Factors such as high start-up costs, regulatory barriers, customer loyalty, monopolization of resources, among others, can hold you back.
A brand partnership is one way of overcoming these obstacles. Should you partner with a company that has access to a market that they’re experienced in, but you’re new to, you can leverage this to your advantage.
2. Access a new consumer base
Since customers trust one brand, they’re more likely to extend that trust to the other brand in the partnership as well. Therefore, entering into a co-branding opportunity with a player that has a loyal customer base can help you rapidly grow yours. You can use a brand partnership to your advantage to diversify your audience base.
3. Risk and cost reduction
Businesses that partner with each other do not compete for the same audience. So, brand partnerships reduce risk and also significant costs since both companies can make use of each other’s strengths and capabilities, and eliminate threats. The best brand partnerships are ones where both companies can make up for their lacking infrastructure or acumen, for instance, by relying on their partner to fill in the gaps.
4. Build a brand perception
What is more effective: Stating that you’re a family-friendly brand or partnering with a company known for its family-friendly positioning? The first may get you the results you’re looking for, but the second approach most certainly will. When a company known for a particular set of values enters into business with another company, people are most likely to assume that the values are shared. Therefore, if establishing a certain brand perception is a priority in addition to generating leads, a brand partnership can accelerate the process.
5. Create a buzz
When two big names come together, there’s a lot of limelight that follows. This can translate into press coverage, a boost in website traffic and better SEO performance in addition to more leads and quicker conversions. While these aren’t reason enough to enter into an alliance, they’re solid benefits that add a lot of value and can’t be ignored!
How do you identify the right partner?
For it to be a successful partnership, here are a few things that you should keep in mind from the get-go.
- Both businesses should benefit. There should be a greater reason and purpose to join forces and collaborate.
- The two brands must not have the same audience.
- Your audience must be able to identify with the co-branding strategy.
- The brands must be able to trust each other. It’s best if the companies have known each other for a significant amount of time before partnering.
- The companies should have complementary skill sets and strengths.
When used correctly, brand partnerships are a trump card that can fetch you tremendous results, especially when it comes to boosting leads and conversions. However, to get the most out of it, ensure that you start with a solid framework. This includes legally defining the scope of the partnership, detailing responsibilities, working transparently, and also ensuring that there is an exit route, should either party need it.
