For an unknown brand, it can be very hard to get PR and marketing traction in a new market without spending big on agencies or keywords. Costs are rising as more and more brands switch to online, and privacy changes are making it even harder to reach audiences.
Further, consumers are becoming increasingly turned off by intrusive digital ads. Instead, they’re increasingly turning to peer reviews, comparison sites and word of mouth for recommendations on what goods and services to buy. In fact, the research revealed that five of the top six channels that online shoppers use for researching or discovering brands are not paid advertising.
Partnerships as an SME growth strategy
This is where partnerships can play an important role in an SME’s marketing strategy. If you find the right partner, they can offer an efficient and effective way to reach new customers and can work at all stages of the marketing funnel. Partners also bring trust and credibility to their audience, which SMEs can leverage and build upon.
Partnerships are versatile and there’s a huge range of partnerships available out there. You could choose to partner with influencers (macro and micro), affiliates or with publishers for commerce content opportunities (things like Yahoo’s shopping portal or News.com.au’s Best Of). Another strategy might be partnering with a charity as part of a corporate social responsibility play, or with another business, amplifying both brands.
Managing SME partnerships at scale
Managing and scaling an effective partnership program used to be out of reach for many SMEs as it was incredibly time-consuming to find, contract, pay and manage all the different types of partners out there.
However, advances in technology over the last decade or so means that today, partnership management platforms do all the heavy lifting for brands and make it entirely accessible and affordable for businesses of all sizes.
Further, as it’s a performance play (that is, partners aren’t paid unless they drive the required outcomes), it also means SMEs can experiment with new audiences and quickly move on if things don’t work out.
Partnerships in action for SMEs
One Australian SME that has used partnerships to grow its business is LVLY, a dynamic Australian start-up that has disrupted the traditional floral and gift industry with its fast, affordable, stylish and personalised flowers and gifts. It put a diverse partnership program at the heart of its marketing mix to engage customers at different touchpoints, using its partnership management platform to automate the process. This enabled the company to increase its number of partners by 80 per cent, growing partnerships revenue 127 per cent year-on-year.
Another successful example is Zero Co, which has a mission to “untrash the planet” through a range of refillable cleaning and beauty products. It created a ‘Sustainable Stays’ partnership program to encourage the use of reusable containers in hotels and other holiday accommodation. Accommodation owners have fast become single-use plastic free, and can also earn extra money by offering guests discounts on Zero Co products.
With the help of automation technology, the program can be managed by just one person, who is now able to focus on developing deeper relationships with existing partners as well as finding new ones. In just the first three months, Zero Co onboarded 46 new partners who own 578 properties between them. This has led to huge brand awareness as well as driving product sales well over target.
By finding compatible partners with complementary business objectives and values, and similar or shared customers, SMEs like LVLY and Zero Cohave created customer experiences that consumers enjoy and find useful to drive incremental revenue and positive brand associations.
It’s an effective strategy that complements traditional sales and marketing efforts, creating real value for SMEs in Australia.
