The Pros and Cons of Partnership Marketing
No matter what one tries to accomplish in life, we generally have two options, and that is to go alone or find a partner. Marketing a business is no different. There are two sides to the coin, however. While facing it alone allows for complete control over the product and creatives, finding a partner in business can add unique talents to the melting pot that can elevate marketing efforts to new heights. A well-coordinated partnership marketing campaign can bring out the best in both brands and reach a broader audience than either brand could reach on its own.
By definition partnership marketing is a joint marketing effort between two or more brands that seek to benefit all parties involved. Generally, partnership marketing campaigns are between brands that have some degree of market overlap but are not direct competitors.
Pros of Partnership Marketing
Like everything in the living world, it is important to understand the benefits and downsides of this model of marketing. For a marketer, it is important to understand both sides and then take an informed decision while making the marketing strategies. To begin with, let us start with the advantages:
*Sharing customer bases and expanded exposure: Some of the benefits of leaping into the world of partnerships seem pretty obvious. One of these is the fact that once you will decide on partnering with another business, you are likely to bounce off of their recognizability. You’ll enjoy all perks of their exposure.
*New perspective on business growth: New partnerships can help marketers reinvent businesses and discover areas which have never been considered before. Trying out new promotion strategies in a safe environment will be beneficial. Marketers can also use their partner’s recognizability to penetrate markets and audiences that haven’t been targeted before.
*Gained reliability and trust: When a brand partners with a reliable business, it is important to gain trust. That comes as an extra advantage when attempting to reach out to more customers or expand the scope in the foreseeable future. When looking for a potential business partner, it is better to check their testimonials too or considering to contact their current partners of a company and asking about their experience.
*Cost-effectiveness: Establishing business partnerships can work as an advantage as partnerships often offer marketing support to their partners.If brands partner with an established business, the struggle of less or no brand awareness when approaching potential customers decreases.
*More cash: A prospective partner can bring an infusion of cash into the business. The person may also have more strategic connections. This may help a company attract potential investors and raise more capital to grow the business. The right business partner may also enhance the ability to borrow money to finance the growth of the business. It helps to keep these money issues in mind as part of the criteria in evaluating a potential partner.
Cons of Partnership Marketing
Moving ahead, there are also some cons of a partnership to consider, which need to be addressed.
Liabilities: In addition to sharing profits and assets, a partnership also entails sharing any business losses, as well as responsibility for any debts, even if they are incurred by the other partner. This can place a burden on personal finances and assets. In short, partners are responsible for each other’s decisions in the business. In looking at the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership, this may be one of the top issues to consider.
Loss of autonomy: While it is likely that marketers enjoy being in total control of the business alone, in a partnership, the control is shared with a partner and important decisions would be made jointly.
*Emotional conflict: A host of issues can surface that may make working with a partner difficult. Conflicts can arise from differences of opinion or from unequal effort put into the business. One partner may not pull his or her own weight and hence relationships can get sour. Don’t discount the emotions in weighing the advantages and the disadvantages of a partnership.
*Lack of stability: When balancing the advantages and disadvantages of a partnership, marketers also need to consider the unpredictability factor. Even with a solid exit strategy in a partnership agreement, any change triggered by a partner’s situation can cause instability in the business which can jeopardise the entire setup.
