How to layer partners into co-marketing
You’ve heard things like…
“Partners should be integrated into your entire customer lifecycle.”
“Nearbound should exist as an overlay into existing motions.”
“Use partners to fully unleash revenue potential.”
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to show you exactly how to integrate partners into the different stages of the customer journey, illustrated by the bowtie.
Today’s focus will be the awareness stage of the bowtie—the stage where partners can be leveraged to enhance co-marketing efforts.
Keep reading to learn:
Why partners are critical to this stage of the lifecycle
When partner managers should focus on this stage
Plays partner managers can run to tap into the awareness stage of the lifecycle
Why partners are critical to building awareness
The bowtie’s left-most side, also referred to as “top of funnel,” casts the widest net.
Here, marketers are trying to build awareness and expand brand presence. They write blogs, record podcasts, host webinars, and publish white papers hoping to educate their ecosystem of partners, customers, and potential customers.
In the past, it was normal for marketers to take a company-first, conversion-heavy approach to their top-of-funnel content. They’d start with the question, “What do we want to say?” and they’d create something with their company as the focus.
Partners enhance marketing activities in this stage by moving the focus from the company to the customer and ecosystem.
Instead, the content becomes rooted in the question, “How can we serve our ecosystem?”
The best brand-building content educates and uplifts the entire ecosystem regardless of whether or not the prospect ends up buying your product.
Why?
Because the company that owns mind share in an ecosystem, wins the ecosystem.
Here’s a good test → When someone asks, “Who should I go to for [your expertise],” does the majority of your ecosystem point them to you?
If not, then that’s an indicator that something’s off.
The awareness stage has everything to do with tactics and strategies, and very little to do with technology. The technology will come in the next stages of the bowtie.
When partner managers should focus on this stage
Partner managers should focus on the awareness stage when their company focuses on it.
Sounds easy, right?
Knowing what your company is focusing on is called understanding its rhythm of business. Once you understand this, you can integrate partners into the activities that are already in motion.
It’s important to note that building awareness is usually a priority early in a company’s journey because to build their presence in the market, they need to be loud and helpful.
But if your company is already established, only prioritize integrating partners where it’s obvious to do so. Don’t over-invest here just because it’s easy.
Plays to run with partners in the awareness stage of the lifecycle
Partners are versatile and can enhance every activity a marketer would normally run in the awareness stage, from articles to webinars to podcasts and so much more.
Here are a few activities your marketers might be planning:
Live streams
Meet-ups
Research Papers
Whitepapers
Social campaigns
Podcasts
Webinars
Community engagements
Influencer campaigns
I’m going to detail the steps to one of our favorite co-marketing activities: running a multi-partner webinar.
Play: How to Run a Multi-Partner Webinar
Decide you want to run an event.
Determine which partner(s) to include based on the topic and target audience using Reveal.
Overlap your CRM prospect list with [partner type].
Depending on the partners involved, "partner type" might mean a member list, an email list, or maybe even LinkedIn connections.Approach your partners with a loose direction.
When: General date and timeline
What: Topic
Who: Who you want to include
How: Format
Take the lead on this project, but leave room for creativity and suggestions.Divide and conquer based on strengths.
Outline a task list and delegate based on each of your team’s strengths. This should include things like back-end work and promotion.
Tip: Implement a few stipulations. For example, "if [partner] drives a certain number of clicks, then they get a lead list."Run the show
Show up the day of, ready to lead a valuable and entertaining webinar.Repurpose content
Take all of the content you created and repurpose it into articles, social posts, video clips, and more to multiply the value you can drive to the ecosystem.
Final thoughts
The awareness stage is one of the most obvious places to partner with your ecosystem.
If you haven’t already, schedule a call with your marketers today to learn about their content calendar—what campaigns are coming up, where might partner expertise be useful, and where can partners help them do more with less?
If you liked that piece, look out for upcoming dailies on tapping into partners across the entire customer lifecycle!
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