The ?luck of the Irish? is a phrase you will hear a lot during the month of March because of St. Patrick?s Day. Luck can play a huge role in the success, or lack thereof, for a business. However we have found that those who are considered ?lucky? often position themselves for really good things to happen. All this month, all of our blogs, YouTube videos, and Beacons of The Week will focus on how you can position yourself and your business to get ?lucky? and ?find? some marketing success. Join the conversation on our Facebook group.
When you own and operate a small- or medium-sized business it can seem at times like it is you against the world. A business owner?s daily list of to-dos often reads like a grocery list for a family of ten. With so much to worry about on a daily basis an entrepreneur can easily find themselves overwhelmed. That is why it is important for business owners to find help when and where they can.
A form of help is forming strategic partnership. A strategic partnership is an alliance between two groups or individuals where both parties share resources and there is a mutual benefit. The value of a strategic partnership for your business can be considerable, especially when it comes to marketing.
How Strategic Partnerships Provide Value
A lot goes into marketing your business, which is why many small- and medium-sized business owners struggle to do it efficiently or effectively. Forming a strategic partnership can help you ease the burden of promoting your business in the following ways:
- Access to a larger platform – If you partner with a business who is active on social media and utilizes email marketing, then you have increased your platform. By combining marketing channels you and your strategic partners can cross promote each other?s businesses, services, products, or events. You each will have access to a larger audience, most likely many that you would never have reached before.
- Same or similar target audience – Since most strategic partnerships are between two organizations or businesses with similar or complementary services and products; it stands to reason you and your partners would be targeting the same audience. This is valuable because you do not have to change much of your marketing material. You are still speaking to the same people, just more of them.
- Access to additional resources – As mentioned above, one core value of strategic partnerships is access to resources you would not otherwise have. This can be time, money, and even employees depending on the situation.
- New ideas – We have all heard the adage ?two heads are better than one?. This is especially true for strategic partnership. Your partners have different life and work experiences which means they are able to provide a unique perspective regarding the challenges both your organizations face. This leads to ideas you may not have even thought of or considered.
- Good to have an advocate – You and your partners have a vested interest in the other party succeeding. This means you have an advocate in the wings ready to talk you and your business up to potential customers or other organizations in your area or industry.
There are different types of partnerships which serve different purposes depending on the parties involved and what they are looking to accomplish. If you are feeling overwhelmed looking to form strategic partnerships in your city or industry can help you take some of the burden off not only marketing your business, but also your business in general. Just make sure you find the right business or individual(s) who you believe you can trust and have your best interest at heart.
