Partner Marketing: Working in Harmony

I've been thinking a lot about ecosystems lately, and the web of Partner Programs fits in perfectly. Now, there are a lot of reasons that people decide to "partner", but at the end of the day, I think it always comes down to "working together to do more".

So, what is more?

If you've read any of my content, you'll know that, from a marketing perspective, I love to have a go at the concept of MORE. Mostly because we end up talking about doing more of what doesn't work. But with a meaningful partner, we're actually creating the possibility of serving our customers a better solution. We can actually do more of what adds value.

And then, we throw in some Partner Marketing activities to show the world our partnership. Joint webinars, co-written articles, shared booths at conferences, our logos on each other's websites. But do those demonstrate us actually doing more of what adds value? Or, are we getting caught up in the co-promotion loop?

What if we forgot about co-promotion and looked at partner marketing like conducting an orchestra? Curious what that might look like? Let's explore :)

First, Choose Your Instrument

I've played a lot of instruments in my day: the piano and the flute primarily, but also the piccolo, the bassoon, and the saxophone. Ugh, as I make that list, I really need to get back into playing some music, but I digress...

Now, there are some people who identify very much with ONE instrument; I will consider that having a very strong, singular focus on how their business helps people. And if that's you, that's amazing; after all, where would we be without a strong drumline?

But that's not everyone. In fact, there are a lot of businesses out there solving problems cross-industry, which might make it seem a little harder to choose an instrument.

And yet, you must. Why?

Well, let's look at it this way. If you are a flute, you could go find some more flute partners and have a super robust flute band; IF what your clients desire is a flute band.

But if your client is looking for a Jazz Band, a bunch of flutes probably aren't going to cut it. Not because a flute doesn't add value, but it doesn't solve ENOUGH of the problem.

After all, most companies investing in partner strategies understand that they aren't trying to solve the entire problem themselves. They are confident enough to say, "We do this part, let's find the people who do the rest and work together".

Yet still, to find your ideal band mates, you need to know what instrument YOU are. And if you aren't quite sure, start there.

Second, Find Your Harmony

Ever hear a middle school band playing? I think most of us would agree that it's not the most pleasant of sounds (if you haven't heard one, trust me, I've been in one 🤣).

You can have all the right instruments in the room and still fail to find the harmony.

The main key here?

Listening for the harmony.

When we're caught up in cross-promotion loops, it's easy to start just checking boxes. We did X amount of webinars this quarter. We added cross-links to x of our partner's sites. We posted X amount of social posts RE: partners.

Any listening happening there? Perhaps, but when it's not connected to the goals, it's probably not happening by default.

And here's the thing about listening (and harmony). It doesn't just arrive on performance night.

It comes from the relationship between the musicians, the rehearsals, the listening, the adjustments; the TRUST that's built along the way.

Trust that the other instruments will come in at the right time, at the right volume, in the right key. Not because it's controlled by a single instrument, but because we all choose to work together to make beautiful music.

Third, Create More Value

Ok, so while it's likely making lots of sense from a musical composition point of view, what does this actually look like when it comes to creating value for our clients in a business sense?

Well, let's start with what happens with a co-promotional webinar.

One partner talks for 20 minutes, the other for the next 20 minutes. Then some open Q&A (if anyone shows up live). Both parties walk away with a list of names. Both companies prospect the list. The end customer gets two sales pitches. And the partnership sits dormant until we do it all again next quarter.

Sound familiar?

So yeah, we could keep doing that, but if we're measuring the value to the customer, we're really not creating that much. And where do we get into creation?

Or better yet, CO-CREATION?

In conversations, folks!

That's more than a quarterly partner meeting. And it's also more than a tactical planning meeting to decide who's going to post what on social when.

It's co-creation conversations that have a path to the people.

It's one of the reasons I love livestreams TBH, because the power of the conversation becomes immediately available to the people. And it's super easy to chop up into other things to boot.

But it doesn't have to be a livestream. It can be anything where you get to demonstrate your authentic value...

...that you couldn't have done alone.

Yes, that's the key.

If what you're doing as a "partner" marketing activity is something you could have equally done on your own, it's NOT demonstrating the value of the partnership; either for the public OR for the members in the partnership.

So, if you value your partnerships (as much as I do), don't let them end at co-promotional activities. Because best case scenario, that's two people playing two instruments in the same room. And when you have the possibility of creating a symphony that your clients LOVE, why stop there?

Here's to making beautiful music together 🎵