How Are Brands Developing Two-Way Partnerships?

In search of the most effective tactics for developing two-way partnerships, I turned to a diverse group of CEOs and other industry professionals for their insights. From ensuring all sides win to solving frustrating problems for everyone, here are some unique strategies these leaders have successfully implemented to create partnerships with other companies and organizations.

Create Win-Win Scenarios

"One way we have successfully developed a two-way partnership this year is through creating win-win scenarios for both parties.

"In the past, we have negotiated in-kind partnerships with museums when developing tours. We offer consulting to the museums and help them attract new audiences and appeal to younger demographics. In return, they provide access that makes our tours more attractive and exclusive, such as early access to exhibits or entrance to non-public areas like rooftops for refreshments post-tour. 

"As we continue to return to in-person experiences post-pandemic, we're looking to revisit these past relationships and forge new partnerships to re-introduce our brand, attract crowds back to these institutions, and give consumers the extraordinary experiences they've been missing these past few years."

—Tasia A. Duske, CEO, Museum Hack

Align With a Complementary Organization

"One way we've developed successful partnerships is by aligning with a complementary organization that shares our values and purpose and working out a trade of services.

"Our partnership with the local professional soccer team, Chattanooga Football Club (CFC), is a perfect example. CFC and Text Request are both highly invested in the Chattanooga community and in bringing Chattanoogans together.

"There's no competition between us, and we need each other's services to move our respective missions forward. They need Text Request to better connect with fans and increase attendance. We need CFC's platform of an engaged Chattanooga audience to share our message with other businesses that our software can help."

—Kenneth Burke, VP of Marketing, Text Request

Fill in the Gaps

"About a year ago, we had a genius idea to build our email list and get more leads: offer to recycle students' textbooks for free. Everybody needs textbooks in college, but what do you do with them when the edition becomes stale and the bookstore won't buy them back? You recycle.

"The only issue is, most libraries and recycling centers don't want textbooks. That's when we decided we'd take students' old books. Just send us your email (our win), and we send you a free shipping label. But what do we do with the books once we get them? That's where our partnership came in. 

"We partnered with a local company that uses pulp from old paper to make recycled packaging materials. So as part of this partnership, we give them paper pulp (the old textbooks), and we get the email leads from our prime demographic, college students. We just split the cost of the shipping, which is never more than a few bucks. It's not a groundbreaking partnership, but the leads we've harvested so far have been awesome."

—John Ross, CEO, Test Prep Insight

Blend Expertise to Fix Pain Points

"One of the many ways I have developed two-way partnerships with colleagues is by nurturing relationships with business leaders I know and trust. We not only share similar values, but they know their product or service well and have a standing reputation. 

"Their businesses are complementary to what we specialize in and can add a lot of value to a client's needs if we partner together. The structure can be different in every scenario, but we talk through the financials in the beginning and work out those details, so they never impede us from helping the client.

"When I am on prospecting calls, I am always thinking of ways that our partners can add value to the client's needs; I present the idea first to the client and then run it by our partners. We both have an understanding that everything we do is to help the client fix their pain point; the rest we work out with each other."

—Amanda Russo, Founder and CEO, Cornerstone Paradigm Consulting

Ask for Collaborations From Client Teams

"We build websites, but we don't focus on paid ads, even though almost all of our clients are running them. Recently, one of our clients arranged a call to discuss their goals with a few different agencies they work with, including the one they use for paid ads. 

"On that call, we offered to help the ad agency with anything they may need from a development/technical perspective, and they quickly took us up on it. It only took one call between us, and we developed a two-way partnership where we send them leads for paid ads, and they send us leads for websites or SEO.

"It makes sense since our services complement theirs and vice versa. We have since made it a point to ask for introductions to other related vendors that our clients work with. It helps build a more cohesive strategy (since we all work on the same account) and chances are that we can share leads that would need each other's services too. Using this strategy, we have already partnered with a PR agency and a branding agency, too."

—Rafael Romis, CEO, Weberous

Complement Each Party’s Strengths

"For over 20 years, advisors like Tuttle Ventures have partnered with 401(k) retirement service providers to help grow their practice and guide our clients toward retirement readiness. The administrator focuses on plan design and implementation so we can focus on client education and investments.

"The advantage is flexibility, neutrality, and a simple platform to service 401(k) investment options of all sizes. Businesses appreciate the local, on-site plan expertise that we provide, even during the wave of work-from-home options. With thousands of options from leading investment companies, having a financial advisor can simplify a process that can sometimes feel overwhelming."

—Darin Tuttle, Chief Investment Officer, Tuttle Ventures LLC

Support Community-Based Organizations

"One way we developed a two-way partnership was by intentionally supporting community-based organizations that we have as clients. During this client's annual discovery meeting, the primary question we gained clarity around was, 'What can we help you achieve?' Their answer: 'We want more visibility showing the size of our community impact.' 

"This allowed us to determine their exact needs and then rethink this year's engagement. What we came up with was a two-way partnership where our client doesn't have to pay directly for services and our company can put their existing resources to use for partnered programs. This allows for increased visibility of both companies' brands while reaching the community directly."

—Terrence Hight, Jr., CEO, Hight Health

Host Webinars With Your Industry Partners

"After years of trying various tactics for successful partnerships, we have found that the best way to develop two-way partnerships is by offering joint webinars with our industry partners. This tactic allows us to showcase our expertise while also providing valuable information to our audience and helping to build a relationship with our partner. 

"An example of a successful partnership was with a local graphic design agency. We co-hosted a webinar on 'The Importance of Visual Content in SEO Strategy' and had over 500 attendees. This not only helped both of our businesses increase brand exposure, but also established us as thought leaders in our respective industries and paved the way for future collaborations. 

"By putting our heads together and sharing valuable insights, we kill two birds with one stone: boosting our own brand awareness while helping our partner do the same. The success story with the graphic design agency is proof that this strategy pays off big time."

—Maria Harutyunyan, Co-Founder, Loopex Digital

Build a Commission-based Service Referral Network

"As a service-based business (offering SEO to e-commerce stores), partnerships have been an incredible source of clients over the past few years. I have built a partnership network of non-competing freelancers who provide services to the same market that I work in – we refer suitable clients to each other when it provides value to our client. 

These partnerships are valuable for everyone, including the potential clients. By having this network, we can do more than just say, 'Sorry, we can't help you.'

—Jason Bland, Co-Founder, Custom Legal Marketing

"For example, one partner offers Google Ads services to e-commerce stores. If he sees the opportunity for the brand to explore organic search as a channel, he will introduce me. If the referral ends up turning into a paying client, then we do a simple 10% commission for the project or retainer, making it worthwhile to make referrals for all parties involved."

—Freddie Chatt, Founder, Freddie Chatt

Integrate Your API 

"Insurance Geek integrates with insurance carriers via API. The goal is to use technology to streamline the quoting process, distribution, and sale of insurance policies in the auto, home, and life insurance industries. 

"We have partnered/integrated with Safeco, Branch Insurance, Clearcover, and Nationwide. We developed insurance APIs and webhooks on modern-day frameworks to quickly and easily integrate with any insurance carriers in America so consumers can quickly quote and bind each company's insurance products. 

"The API integration has been very successful, and the premium growth is staggering for insurance carriers partnered with Insurance Geek. We also plan to partner with many new carriers."

—Brad Cummins, Founder, Insurance Geek

Establish Mutual Success With Competitors

"One thing that makes us stand out as a legal marketing agency is that we only work with one law firm per practice area in every city that we serve. This inevitably means that we have to turn away prospects. There are a handful of our competitors that offer the same exclusive terms, so they also have to turn away leads.

"To support each other, we've established a mutual referral network among a handful of our most reputable competitors. Sometimes, we refer leads out to them, and they pay us a small percentage of that revenue. We do the same when we sign a lead that comes to us from a referring competitor.

"These partnerships are valuable for everyone, including the potential clients. By having this network, we can do more than just say, 'Sorry, we can't help you.' We can help place them with an alternative agency that doesn't have any conflicts and will do a great job for them.

—Jason Bland, Co-Founder, Custom Legal Marketing

Solve Major Frustrations 

"Evalence provides electric vehicle charger installation services for residential and commercial clients. We realized dealerships selling electric vehicles to customers were frustrated with the electrical installation experience. Often the customer would hire a general electrician to complete their installation and would run into issues with pricing, permitting, long lead times, and low levels of product knowledge. This reflected poorly on the EV purchasing experience with the dealership who sold the vehicle.

"In response to this need, we created a partnership program with dealerships in our region to provide high-quality, solution-focused experiences for customers. We're incentivized to ensure every installation experience is positive to continue receiving referrals from our partners. The customer benefits from a high-quality installation, and the dealership has a partner they can trust to take care of their clients."

—Tyler Sieben, Operations Manager, Evalence

Photo Credit: Getty Images