The Power of Joint Marketing Partnerships

A business can't become a success on its own. Every company needs to develop partnerships with vendors and customers in order to generate profits. The potential for profits can be elevated even further with a joint venture partnership. Case in point, the Yonanas machine.

This was a simple gadget that turned overripe bananas into a frozen dessert. The company was humming along trying to break into the big leagues when they formed a joint partnership with Dole. That translated into 100 million bunches of bananas having stickers challenging consumers to "Turn me into a Yonana!" The machines flew off the shelf. Can you think of a joint partnership that would benefit your business? Think about these tips for achieving stronger marketing through a joint partnership.

Power Up Your Facebook Page

Billions of users log onto Facebook every day. Even if you capture just a fraction of those potential "likes" you'll be sitting pretty. Once you've established your Facebook page and have it bursting with fresh content, look for a joint partnership page that you can team up with. If you sell decorative wine corks then finding a wine distributor would be a natural fit. Not only can that cork company team up with a wine distributor, but also a gift basket company. What you'll want to do is reach out to that partner and set up a mutual deal where you're both promoting each other through Facebook updates. That's the power of social media joint partnerships.

Use Backlinks for Your Content

That same exchange of Facebook pages can occur with backlinks on your content pieces. Once again, you'll be working with a joint partner to create content that you can both benefit from. It would be like creating an continuous circle of traffic from your web site to your partner's web site. If you're both using effective SEO then it's going to be a win/win all around.

Share the Goods

As you already know, giving away free stuff is a wonderful way to generate traffic to your web business. However, you don't have to limit yourself to giving away freebies just on your site. You can also share incentives on your joint partnership's web pages. Setting up a contest that shares prizes with a partner's products is another terrific way to pump up traffic between the sites. 

Once you've found the perfect joint partner, there should be no limit to the amount of exchanges you can both engage in online. It will take coordination between the parties but that is easy to manage. Joint partnerships are all about thinking outside of the box and you should already be doing that! 

Drive Traffic To Your Site with Give Aways

Let’s face it; we all love to get free stuff. Whether it’s a T-shirt, a delicious dessert or advice - as long as it’s free, we’re going to be smiling. Now flip that around to the business who is handing out that free stuff and think about what they are getting in return. They are generating a lot of “smiles.” That’s a proactive stance towards building a more robust business and branding. Keep in mind that adopting this approach doesn’t mean you have to give away the store. Instead, you’re looking for ways to drive traffic to your site through enticements which can ultimately lead to other business.

By providing your customer with free advice, product or service, you’re ultimately building customer loyalty. You can create a blog which provides great advice on solving your customers’ pains. This makes you a resource, giving your prospects plenty of reasons to return to your site. This in turn could make them more inclined to follow your advertisers to their websites or purchase what you’re selling. Think of the “freebie” as the bait to hook a new customer.

Here are some more reasons why providing free stuff helps your business:

1)      Providing free stuff is good PR: News travels fast. By offering free stuff, your prospects will start talking about it amongst their friends and colleagues, helping you spread the message organically. People love to receive free stuff, and they’re more willing to take action if their friend recommends it to them.   

2)      You minimize risk for your prospects: When you offer a free trial period, a free e-book filled with great information, or even a free item, you are reducing the perceived risk in purchasing your product or service. By taking away the risk, you are providing your prospects with the opportunity to have a positive experience with your brand and make it easier to purchase later. 

3)      Build customer loyalty: Everyone loves to get something for free, especially when there are no strings attached.  Customers remember how they got something special and will associate it with your brand. This builds loyalty and positions your brand as someone that is always looking out for the customer. 

Free stuff doesn’t just have to be products or services. There are examples of donations, contests, free food and even a dream job!  Giving away free items or trial offers is a win-win strategy for both you and your customers. If done right, offering a free incentive will pay your company back in spades.