Strategies to make a Partner marketing plan work

    Strategies to make a Partner marketing plan work

    As B2B tech organizations recognize the role partnerships can play in the growth of their business, the partner ecosystem is becoming increasingly competitive every passing day. There are some smart strategies that marketing leads need to take up, to succeed in this increasingly tough market.

    Foster real alignment within the organization and with partners

    For any successful partnership program, partner alignment is the key. Documented strategies and shared team goals come to mind immediately. But even on the partnering side true alignment must extend to each of the individuals involved, from the players on the ground to the key stakeholders. Clearly addressing individual motivations, values and measures of success early in partnership will help build the kind of stable foundation necessary for a scalable, mutually beneficial relationship.

    Partner marketing professionals should be careful to focus on establishing and nurturing alignment throughout their own organizations. That includes direct team, all executives, and all sales persons essential to closing revenue. From strategy through challenges and successes – partner marketing teams always strengthen their colleagues’ understanding and help grow their support. To build partner program momentum within their own organizations the critical alignment is here ‘marketing’. Experts stressed on the range of strategies to keep partner marketing top of mind internally.

    Also Read: Driving Growth with Sales-Marketing Partnership 

    Establish goals with mutual benefit

    The key to a healthy partnership is common interests and goals. For a marketing partnership the rules of the game are the same. Even before the deal is signed, it makes sense to have very clear objective alignment and even clearer matrices to define the goals. The two partners need to be aligned on these measures of momentum and success as well. In the case of a partnership, it is also very crucial to have each lag of the journey have clear, realistic and attainable objectives with measurable and specific roadmap markers. Common business interests can quickly become a battle of wills, unless the shared lead generation and revenue streams are also clearly demarcated and identified.

    How to Strong business cases accelerate growth?

    Leading B2B tech organizations always recognize that their comprehensive growth strategies are fuelled by partnerships and these growth plans also power their business outcomes. As organizations shift emphasis towards better leveraging indirect channels, proper resourcing for partner marketing teams can lag.  Teams need to do the work to build and reinforce their business case using metrics like partner successes, trackable goals and ROI models – and then communicate it effectively to address this.

    Tracking partner marketing successes and outcomes is not easy. However, getting there can actually make all the difference. Building a tracking and reporting methodology that works for the whole organization requires creativity and collaboration across a range of teams inside and outside of core partner marketing.

    Also Read: Top Strategies for Successful Sales and Marketing Alignment in an Enablement Role

    Partner amplification and expansion begins with collaboration

    Partner marketing teams must work with partners to both build a sustainable working foundation and grow revenue as organizations put more emphasis on partner marketing. Here are a few examples of how to amplify and expand partner programs:

    • Engagement. To increase program awareness and fuel adequate resourcing use internal engagement tactics. Without funding, support that goes beyond staffing a partner marketing team partnerships cannot grow.
    • Differentiation. It’s essential that all partners benefit from and value their partnership with you in competitive markets. With strong fundamentals that includes on-boarding and activation tools start every relationship to ensure it’s as easy as possible for partners to succeed.
    • Out-of-the-box partnerships. Multi-partner collaboration can accelerate in-market traction, especially given that complex tech solutions often require it to move beyond basic one-to-one partner coordination. Focus on the entire partner ecosystem to bridge gaps and deliver better solutions for clients.

    For more such updates follow us on Google News TalkCMO News.