How do you convert new Co-Marketing partners to Co-Selling partners?

This is a strategy will help your company: Gain and convert ideal partners using Co-Marketing then Co-Selling in specific progressive stages.

The benefits to running this strategy for your org are:

1. Create valuable content for the brand,
2. Social proof alongside top companies,
3. Build pipeline with warm introductions,
4. Create new long term alliances,
5. Attribute partnership activity to overall success,

Success is = Signing on new partners who are willing to submit their leads so they get credit if any convert.

Requirements:

1. Buy-in from marketing
2. Link tracking (UTMs, affiliate links, codes, hidden form fields on designated landing pages)

Steps to execute:

Step 1 = In a Google Sheet or Airtable, define the data segments (users and/or leads in pipeline stages) that you can bring to the table (co-sell with a partner). Include totals. In a separate tab, ask marketing for email newsletter optin, web/blog traffic, and social followers.

Step 2 = Then define the partner persona who are also after that segment - agencies and tech.

Step 3 = List out co-marketing campaign types, with the reach and target audience, you have the ability to host with them that also work for their brand and target persona.

*Even better suggestion: create a progressive 'course' or 'masterclass' with 6-12 classes that will be recordings with the experts (your potential partners), video first, but then made into articles for the blog, and invite traffic to RSVP/Op-in/Subscribe to that course alone. The reason for this is to not only extend the value fo the content for you and your partners, but to have a reason (email RSVPs) to ask that partners share their lists as well - by offering them access to that list.

Step 4 = Approach the partner prospects with the first "ask' of collaboration.

"We believe our audience of [total social exposure + segment definition and size] would gain a lot from your expertise. Would you be open to a collaboration in some marketing content?"

Step 5 = Invite them to Partnerhub and add them to your co-marketing project to create/record the first co-marketing collaboration and manage communication effectively.

Step 6 = After creation, but before you publish, reach back out to the partner with a mention that:

"We are going to promote this content to ____ number of your ____ pipeline contacts who are ____ types of companies, and if you are going to promote to your pipeline, please create a partner account and add the company names so you get credit (commission) if they sign up."

Step 7 = Publish the first collaboration.

*Suggestion - If it's a video interview or course - host it on YouTube unlisted for the promotional timeline, then switch it to public.

Step 8 = Send all content/course links to your partners.

Step 9 = [Regardless of whether they shared pipeline] Reach back out and mention that you use an account mapping tool (Reveal and Partnered are free) and that you would like to see if your audiences overlap for the purpose of approaching those who are customers, or also in your target prospects lists, with an offer to join (as their referrals).

Step 9 = IF they agree, proceed with account mapping - looking first at overlap, then create an agreed upon strategy for outreach, and like before, then add the partner to the Co-Selling project inside Partnerhub.

Step 10 = [If you did video content] After all of the content is ready, videos are recorded and published to the video hosting page/site (we recommended uploading as "unlisted" on youtube), and all of the traffic and social marketing is done, then make the course live for all site/youtube traffic by making it public.

*Never worrying about how many leads the partner has sent.

*Never be pushy.

*Give twice before you ask for anything from them.

Timeline for this agenda:

Week 1 = Outline the content agenda and target partners to match the content types/titles.

Week 2 = Internal meetings with marketing, sales, product to get the agenda approved and the content hosting format decided.

Week 3 = Outreach to partners.

Weeks 4-8 = Recording.

Weeks 5-10 = Publishing the articles with the opt-in email capture.

Weeks 12-16 = Promotions.

IF you are going to create a course with partners, read this post about that specific strategy and examples >>

As usual, I hope this was helpful :)

- Alex 

Resources:

Free account mapping platform