In our post-pandemic world, small businesses need to use every asset they have to survive and grow. It is when they realise their true value and join forces to collaborate with another business where they can reach a new audience, elevate their brand, and grow their sales.
Brand collaborations provide an incredible advantage to those who invest and dive into strategic marketing partnerships. Most businesses often just dip their toe in the water and play it safe with their partnership strategy, but it’s time they need to be thinking more innovatively.
There are so many different styles of marketing collaborations and partnerships. Those we are all familiar with, tend to be what we see on social media. These can be a competition or hashtag challenge, and are small ways you can create a partnership that is quick and cost-effective. But, there are so many creative ways you can work with other brands.
The three main types of brand partnerships are digital, product or an experience partnership.
Partnership marketing is one of the fastest-growing marketing strategies because it’s about collaborating with other businesses to create campaigns that are mutually beneficial for both parties, but the ultimate winner is the customer.
Most small-business owners don’t have the confidence to contact another company and ask to work together. They think that unless they have a large social following they do not have partnership potential, which is not true. Now there is a roadmap with the tools, so small-business owners will simply be able to follow a recipe to build partnerships and brand collaborations.
Here are some reasons why a partnership strategy for your small businesses could be exactly what you need to grow in 2022.
Brand – enhancing your credibility
- Increase your personal profile as a credible voice or authority in your industry.
- Elevate your brand trust in your customers’ minds.
- Win new retailers, stockists, or distributors.
- Attract media attention and buzz.
- Grow your business network outside your industry.
- Attract investors attention to scale.
Assets – elevating your visibility
- Increase web traffic or foot traffic.
- Grow your database of customers or leads.
- Increase your social following.
- Reach a new audience without advertising.
- Increase the content you have to share with customers.
- Enhance your SEO, backlinks, and customer journey mapping.
- Gain new business contacts to assist your infrastructure.
Sales – increasing your profitability
- Increase your sales to new customers.
- Re-engage dormant customers in your database.
- Add a new revenue stream to your business.
- Add new stockists, affiliates or advocates.
- Increase your average cart size.
- Reduce your price tension allowing you to offer additional value.
