Business Management

Marketing alliances with other businesses is a great way to increase your visibility, access new customers, and work around tight advertising budgets. There are many benefits to stretching advertising dollars which can help your business stand out, separate you from competition, and help increase sales.

Some Benefits Of Strategic Alliances

1. You enhance the image of each other’s business. Just like referrals from friends or business colleagues, a business that partners with another company essentially gives a “referral” to its market that this is a highly recommended business.

2. A competitive advantage is created. If your competition is not doing strategic alliances and you do, it sends a message to your customers and the community you are a big picture thinker, you look outside your box, and you care about other companies/customers and not just your own business.

3. Innovation is more likely to occur. When two companies partner up for a short or long term promotion a fascinating thing happens; new ideas neither company would have created on their own are generated. When done well, this has a great impact on sales because it is “new” and “innovative” and most customers love seeing ideas that bring them useful solutions.

4. Advertising Dollars Go Further. Usually one company is already spending money in media and has regular campaigns or ads they have budgeted for. By tagging your products and brand on their ad you get the benefit of being visible without having the full advertising cost.

What’s Next?

It’s surprising how easy and sometimes quickly these programs can come together. Simply start by thinking about your customers and suppliers and who you have the strongest relationships with. Also consider how similar their business is to yours and what their quality standards are. If all these things add up start working on an innovative idea that requires both company’s input to make it happen.

Approaching your potential strategic partner can be relaxed or formal. We recommend keeping it informal. A funny thing happens when you’re on to something great, the other business usually gets excited and gives the project a fairly high priority because of all the reasons previously noted.

There are many steps within this exercise but don’t forget some of the last most important ones. Ensure that order taking and fulfillment are impeccable. Launching a great concept can achieve huge response but if order taking and fulfillment aren’t working out, both company’s reputations will suffer serious damage. Getting it right can create lasting impressions that enhance customer loyalty and make your business more memorable than competition that keeps doing the “same ‘ol thing”.

Article by Andrew Ballenthin, President of Sol Solutions. When you need to stand apart from your competition talk to Sol Solutions for your marketing, strategic planning, and operations streamlining needs. Passionate About Connecting Pieces. http://www.solsolutions.ca

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