Sheila sells a gluten-free breakfast product line through her website to a community of consumers worried about their diet. From granola, pancake batter to baked goods, her mailing lists has grown to 2,000 customers who buy from her directly online. But she is stuck and finding it difficult to grow. She will spend more money on Facebook ads to attract like-minded or candidates but was searching for another growth strategy.
My advice is to find strategic marketing partners.
We mapped out an approach to find other companies who do not directly compete with her product line but whose audience has a strong overlap.
Five actions
- We identified ten small to mid-sized businesses serving gluten-free communities in other product categories like ice cream, seasoning, beverage, etc.
- Sheila reached out to the CEO’s of each company and asked if they would like to do a shared mailing where each could access the others customers with an offer.
- Four of the ten agreed to work cooperatively.
- Over several months, Sheila’s list significantly grew as she was putting her offer in front of a customer base already interested in related products.
- The partnership lead to other opportunities to exchange ideas as ‘go to market’ approaches to reach their common customer base.
Strategic partnerships can come in lots of flavors, but they start with a shared community.
The narrower and focused the target, the easier it is to find other companies willing to work cooperatively with you.
A gardening tool company that serves people who are left-handed can work with a kitchen tool company selling only to left-handed cooks. If your community buys vegan products from you, there are many other companies who have databases of customers who might buy your vegan product too.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Who is doing business with customers you would like to serve?
- What do you have to offer a strategic partner that they would value?
- How can you test the idea to see if it might work on a larger scale?
- Why aren’t you doing more strategic partnering now? What’s holding you back?
Growth can come from lots of activities. Don’t overlook the asset you have created in building your community and how a strategic partnership can help you, your partner and bring wanted value to your community.
Strategic partnerships can help ignite growth and give you access to new customers.
Could strategic partnerships help you grow your brand? Let’s talk. Email me at jeffreylynnslater@gmail.com
Photo credit: Joe Lewis – https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanbeiji/with/5074144650/
