Could My Organisation Benefit From Partnership Marketing?

In today’s day and age where consumers and businesses alike are bombarded with a huge amount of marketing both on and offline, it can be hard to work out how to cut through the noise and reach new audiences. 

This applies in any industry, including biotechnology, so if you’re looking for ways to increase your reach in this field, you may want to consider partnering with a biotechnology marketing agency as a first step. 

In fact, that’s only one kind of partnership that you can explore – namely the paid variety where you work with another organisation to fill in gaps in skill or knowledge that you need to fill within your organisation. 

However, partnership marketing is a little different. 

What is partnership marketing?

Partnership marketing, which is sometimes also referred to as a brand partnership, is when two organisations (or sometimes more) agree to work together to extend their reach. Usually this kind of alliance works best when the organisations involved work in related, but slightly different fields. 

In other words, the organisation you partner with is not a direct competitor, but they do offer products or services that are likely to appeal to your customers and broader audience, and vice-versa. 

For instance, we have set up a partnership with DesignRush. One of the reasons we felt we were a good match was their DesignRush digital marketing trends information, where they stay at the forefront of what’s happening in the digital marketing industry. 

Why consider partnership marketing for your business?

The most obvious reason to explore partnership marketing is to grow your audience in a low-cost, efficient way. It makes sense, because you’ll already know that a complimentary organisation’s customers and broader audience are likely to be interested in what you offer.

Of course, as the name suggests, this arrangement goes both ways. So you’re also going to be adding value for your own customers and audience by providing them with information about an additional service or product that could benefit them. 

This works best when there isn’t too much cross-over in the marketing lists your businesses hold respectively, so make sure you check this information before you agree to any partnership. 

How do you structure a partnership like this?

There are several ways in which you can structure a partnership marketing agreement. A simple one might be as an affiliation, whereby you get paid commission for each person who buys from your partner as a result of your involvement. This works both ways, so you should receive commission if your clients buy from your partner too.

Another option is through posting shared content. This doesn’t just have to be a blog post or social media post. It could also be content like a podcast episode or a video. The key is that whatever content you produce, it’s suitable for both of your audiences. 

This is a good choice if you want to grow your audience and boost your brand awareness, as online content is designed to be shared. 

Or, if your services or products compliment each other particularly well, you may decide to team up and sell them as a bundle, where each business receives a share of the profits. Again, this adds value for your clients, which can also enhance your reputation with them. 

How do you find the right partner?

The key is research. Make sure any organisation that you consider partnership marketing with aligns with your brand and your overarching company values. You don’t need to have the same values, but you need to be similar enough that you know there won’t be any serious clashes.

It’s much easier to find the right partner if you clearly define for yourself what you would like to achieve by embracing partnership marketing. Take some time to consider what a successful partnership would look like in this context. Once you know that, you can begin looking for businesses that could fill that role.

Make sure you spend just as much time thinking about how the partnership will benefit the other party as well as how it will support your organisation. You need to be able to answer the “What’s in it for me?” question. 

This will also make it easier for you to approach any potential partners, because you will be able to clearly articulate how working together will be mutually beneficial. 

As with any marketing activity, it’s crucial that you take the time to consider what outcomes you want from the partnership and that you set metrics you can measure so that you know if it’s been successful.