How to use Partnership Marketing in Your Event Strategy

If you want to double your reach for your brand’s next event without stretching your budget, you might be interested in pursuing a partnership marketing agreement with a complementary brand! Let’s explore how partnership marketing can factor into your event strategy.

What is partnership marketing?

Partnership marketing refers to a collaborative marketing effort involving two or more businesses. By sharing resources, both businesses can benefit from promoting their products and services to each other's target audiences on a reduced budget.

What are some of the benefits of partnership marketing?

When you’re working with the right partner, partnership marketing can be highly beneficial for both businesses. Done right, a partner marketing event can lead to lucrative results.

Double exposure and leads

When you host a marketing event or run a promotional campaign on your own, you hope that your outreach will go beyond your typical audience. But when you engage in partnership marketing, it’s a guarantee that you’ll gain exposure from your partner’s customers and vice versa. Doubling your exposure and leads can bring in new customers and more revenue.

Dividing resources is cost-effective

When your company partners up with another brand for a marketing event, you can effectively double your marketing budget for the duration of the project. Plus, you get to work with fantastic new talent without handling the recruiting process.

Build brand authority

If you’ve just begun building your business, you’re striving to build brand authority within your industry. Potential customers don’t know much about your company yet, and establishing a positive reputation takes time. But when you partner up with a popular brand that already has a loyal customer base, you’ll gain exposure to an audience that is already interested in what you offer, and your connection to their favorite brand will inform their opinion of your company.

Add value for your audience

If you’ve been in business for a while, your audience already loves your products. Through partner marketing, you can educate them about complementary products and services that they’ll likely enjoy, which brings more value to your customers.

How to leverage partnership marketing for your event strategy

You might be interested in partnering up with another brand for a marketing event, but finding the right brand and making sure that everything goes smoothly takes some preparation.

Assess your need

First, it’s important to determine what you hope to accomplish by hosting this event. Once you’ve outlined a general objective, consider which brands could help you achieve your goal. You should also take some time to think about how working with your company would benefit any brands you might partner with.

Conduct a benchmark

Wondering where to begin? Check out examples of partnership marketing initiatives from your competitors to get ideas. Learning what worked for them can help you decide which analytics to measure and what kind of results you should aim for.

Find the right marketing partner

If you want to host a successful partnership marketing event, you’ll need to pair up with a fantastic partner. Ideally, you want to work with a partner whose products or services complement what you offer. Your audience can overlap with your potential partners, but you’ll want to collaborate with a company that can expose you to new leads, too. This will enable you both to grow your audiences. Seek out a brand with authority and a great reputation in their respective niche.

Avoid investing in partner marketing events with competitors. Otherwise, you’ll end up dealing with a conflict of interest.

Finally, make sure that your partner is reliable. Trying to pull off a partnership marketing event with an unresponsive partner would be quite stressful, so working with a trustworthy and attentive partner is key.

Research topics and formats

Depending on your partner, some formats might work better than others. Hosting a web conference is a great way to foster direct connections with new leads! Remember, virtual events aren’t the only opportunities for partner marketing – you could host a giveaway promotion with another brand, offer discounts to your customers, or share sponsored content from your partner on your social media channels.

Brainstorm topics that you might want to cover throughout this marketing initiative. For instance, if you plan to host a web conference, write down a few subjects that would be relevant and interesting for your customers and your partner’s audience.

You should also think about your ideal timeline. Consider how long you will have to promote the event and think about which promotional strategies will prove most effective within that window. What kind of resources can you afford to invest in right now?

Pitch your partnership and marketing idea

Once you’ve decided on a potential partner, determined your preferred format and topics, and figured out a general promotional timeline, you’re ready to reach out to your partner! Take time to personalize your message. A partnership marketing event is a big commitment, and you need to demonstrate to your potential partner that you’ve thoroughly researched their brand.

You can start crafting your message with this example template:

“Hello, [partner’s name],

I’m a big fan of [partner’s company’s name], and I’m really inspired by [new product/service from partner company, upcoming event, etc.]. [Insert your own anecdote about the partner company here].

At [your company], we have a similar mission: [explain what your company does]. We think that your audience might be interested in learning about [your products/services that would be relevant for partner’s customers].

We’re interested in working on a partner marketing campaign with your brand, and in exchange, [explain some of the benefits that your partner would receive by collaborating with your brand]. One idea we’re considering is [your idea for the marketing initiative - a web conference, social media takeover, etc.]. Of course, we would be open to other possibilities, too!

If you’re interested, I’d love to discuss it in more detail. We can schedule a call at your convenience!

Thanks,

[Your name]

Divide the work

When discussing your idea with your potential partner, it’s important to clarify your respective business goals and confirm that you can help each other achieve these objectives. Once you’ve determined that you share mutual goals and would benefit from partnership marketing, it’s time to discuss how you’ll divide responsibilities to prepare for your event.

Create a plan that outlines which tasks need to be completed before the event and then divvy up the workload. For instance, if you’re planning to host a joint webinar, you’ll need to decide who will write the script, create the presentation slides, speak as a presenter, set up the registration page, and more. Try to delegate responsibilities based on your individual strengths!

Make it official

You and your partner have put together a general roadmap for your partnership marketing initiative, and now, it’s time to make everything official. Schedule a kickoff meeting to iron out all of the details!

Make a final decision about your quantitative goals to ensure collective buy-in so that both partners will be equally engaged in the process. If either of you is concerned about any conflicts of interest, address them now and come up with solutions that you’re both comfortable with. Clarify your individual roles in the planning process and verify which tasks you’ll each be responsible for. Finally, establish a timeline that works for both of you.

Coordinate timelines

Coordinating timelines can be tough, but with a cooperative partner, you can set deadlines that align with both of your schedules. Decide when each task should be completed and set up reminders so that you can stay on track.

Begin promotion

In the weeks leading up to your event, you and your partner can launch a promotional campaign. You can send emails to newsletter subscribers, schedule social media posts across platforms, publish blog posts, or create a promotional video.

Conduct a post-mortem

After your event, schedule a feedback session with your partner to discuss what went well and what you could improve. If you choose to continue working as partners for another marketing initiative, you can implement necessary changes for a smoother process next time

Hosting a partnership marketing event can open up exciting opportunities for your company and your partner’s brand. By following these general guidelines, you’ll be able to pull off a fantastic partner marketing event!