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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Unlock the enormous potential of strategic partnerships You think you know partnerships, don't you? But the nature -- and growth potential -- of partnerships for business has transformed in recent years. In The Partnership Economy, partnership automation expert and impact.com CEO David A. Yovanno delivers an insightful, actionable guide to navigating this newly defined era and growing your company's revenue far beyond expectations. Using real-life examples from well-known brands such as Fabletics, Target, Ticketmaster, Walmart, and more, the book offers practical frameworks on how to unlock the value of modern partnerships. Along with showing how partnerships build brand awareness, customer loyalty, and competitive advantage, Yovanno reveals the tremendous possibilities for growth when partnership agreements work in concert across all partnership types, such as influencers, commerce content publishers, business-to-business integrations, and affiliate rewards. In this book, you'll learn: * Why and how the most innovative companies, both large and small, and across industries, invest in their partnership programs and consequently drive up to a third or more revenue for their organization * How a variety of partnership types, including influencers, commerce content, traditional affiliate programs, and more, operate and how each can make a difference in your business * Why you don't have to wait -- you can begin your partnerships strategy today, either in-house or through agency partners, with a point-by-point startup plan and roadmap for growth * What partnership maturity means and how to diversify and grow your partnerships program to fully unleash your organization's growth potential Perfect for founders, executives, managers, and anyone responsible for revenue acquisition in any industry or sector, The Partnership Economy is an indispensable guide for anyone planning to grow their business and its revenue.
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Seitenzahl: 439
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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Table of Contents
Cover
Praise for
The Partnership Economy
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
How Modern Partnerships Were Born
Acknowledgments
PART I: Welcome to the Partnership Economy
CHAPTER 1: Unlock Unexpected, Lasting Growth with Modern Partnerships
Modern Partnerships at Work
Who Are These Referral Partners?
Why Do Referral Partnerships Work So Well?
Partnerships Go the Distance
Is Operating at Full Potential a Pipe Dream?
Imagine What's Coming
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 2: Trust Is the New Black and Other Reasons Why Referral Partnerships Work
Referral Partnerships Work
Trust Is the New Black
Referral Partners Enhance Enterprise Customer Experience
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 3: How Partnerships Can Help You Meet Critical Business Goals
Partnerships Are Powerful and Flexible
Grow, Baby, Grow
Improve Your Conversions
Change Strategy—Quick!
What Kind of Growth Do You Want?
Who Will Make This Growth Happen?
What Customer Behaviors Do You Want to Catalyze?
Link Desired Customer Behaviors with Customer Journeys
Customer Journeys Are Changing
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 4: Engage Customers Wherever They Are on Their Customer Journeys
Partnerships: Here, There, and Everywhere!
Partnership Roles Across Customer Journeys
Link Partner Roles with Business Objectives
Customer and Shopping Journeys Show What's Taking Place
Journey Maps Reveal Partnerships Opportunities
Design Your Ideal Customer Journeys
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 5: Six Building Blocks of Today's Partnerships
Harry's, ACME, and the Six Building Blocks
Build Effective Collaborations with the Partnership Design Canvas
Compatible Partners
Relevant Customers and Audiences
Desirable Customer Experience
Accurate Tracking and Measurement System
Motivating Value Exchange
Shared Partnerships Success Plan
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
PART II: What Are Modern Partners?
CHAPTER 6: Coupon, Cashback, and Loyalty Partners: Reach New Audiences, Drive More Sales
Tried and True: Partnerships That Drive Revenue
Popular Then and Now
The Value Proposition: Incentivizing Engagement
Enterprises, Affiliates, and the Customer Journey
But We Are Not a Discount Brand!
There Is More Than Meets the Eye
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Coupon, Deal, and Loyalty Sites
Tips for Coupon, Cashback, and Loyalty Partners
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 7: Creators, Influencers, and Brand Ambassadors: The Powerful New Word-of-Mouth Play
A Rapidly Growing Domain of Authenticity
Three Ways to Use Influencer Partnerships
LightInTheBox Taps Micro-Influencers for Content
Nurture Influencer Partnerships for Better Results
Ivory Ella Grows Brand Awareness
Savage X Fenty Succeeds with an Influencer-First Model
If You Are an Influencer
Customers Are Brand Ambassadors
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 8: Mass Media Publishers: When Old-School Advertising Doesn't Work Anymore
Beyond PR and Advertising: A New Way to Work with Mass Media Publishers
How Does Commerce Content Work?
Why Does Commerce Content Work?
Is There a Conflict of Interest?
What Matters to Content Publishers
Who to Approach at a Publisher?
An Authentic Path Toward Growth
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 9: Mobile Partnerships: Be Where Your Customers Are All the Time
Welcome to a Mobile World
Mobile Is Changing Customer and Shopping Journeys
Apps and the Mobile Web: A Tale of Two Environments
What Do Consumers Prefer?
Consider the Mobile Partnership Opportunity
It's Gotta Be Seamless
There Is a Better Way
Measuring Performance: KPIs for Mobile Partnerships
Fraud: A Unique Mobile Consideration
Future-Facing Connections for an Evolving Customer Journey
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 10: Strategic Business Partnerships: When Two Work as One
Committing for the Long Haul: Strategic Brand-to-Brand Partnerships
Entry-Level SB2B Partnerships: Based on a Promotion
Complex SB2B Partnerships: Based on a Product Integration
Is Your Company Ready for SB2B Partnerships?
Finding Potential SB2B Partnerships
Construct a Successful SB2B Partnership
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Note
CHAPTER 11: Community Groups, Associations, andCause-Based Partnerships:When the Higher Good Is Good Business
It's a Whole New World
Performance-Based Partnerships with Purpose
Goodness Takes Effort
Tips for Finding Your Impact
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
PART III: Get Started in Partnerships
CHAPTER 12: How to Get Your Partnerships Program Started
Getting Partnerships Off the Ground: Taking Stock
Building the Case for Executive Buy-In
Build the Vision for Partnerships
Develop Your Strategy
Establish Your Partnerships Process
Select Your Partnership Management Platform (PMP)
Spotting Potential Partners
Get Going
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 13: How Does It Feel? Creating a Beneficial Partner Experience
Be Intentional About Your Partner Experience
Develop Your Partnerships Vision
Articulate Your Partner Value Proposition
Live Your Vision
Collaborate with Partners for Ongoing Success
What Content Are You Providing for Your Partners?
Broaden Your Circle
Capture Your Partnerships Learning
Assess Your Partnerships Experience Regularly
Ask Your Partners About Their Experience
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 14: What About Agencies? Your Partners in Partnerships
Go It Alone or Go with an Agency
Assessing Your Internal Capabilities
Types of Agencies That Create and Manage Partnerships
When Hiring an Agency
Know What You Bring to the Table
When Assessing Potential Agencies
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
PART IV: Unleash Your Partnership Potential
CHAPTER 15: What Is Partnerships Program Maturity and How Do I Get It?
Maturity Is a Good Thing
Key Activities Along the Path to Full Potential
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Note
CHAPTER 16: Next Steps: Envision and Plan a Durable Partnerships Program
Designing Your Partnerships Strategy
Planning Is Challenging and Critical
The Partnerships Program Planner
Complete Your Partnership Maturity Roadmap
The Quick Summary
What's Up Next?
Notes
CHAPTER 17: What's Next? Prepare for the Future
The Future of Partnerships Is Ecosystems
Partnerships Ecosystems—They Are Not Your Father's Oldsmobile
Build Your Organization's Future Today
Get On Board!
Notes
About the Author
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 4
TABLE 4.1 Business objectives determine partner roles.
TABLE 4.2 Coverage maps identify partnership opportunities.
Chapter 8
TABLE 8.1 What marketing tactics will U.S. marketers rely on more in 2020 and bey...
Chapter 14
TABLE 14.1 Assessing Your Internal Partnership Capabilities
Chapter 16
TABLE 16.1 Partnership Maturity Roadmap
Chapter 17
TABLE 17.1 Comparing high-maturity partnerships programs and partnerships ecosyst...
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
FIGURE 1.1 Partnerships drive real growth, not fluff.
FIGURE 1.2 The Rastelli's and Sunbasket partnership generates extraordinary ...
FIGURE 1.3 Together Spotify and Ticketmaster create a more holistic product ...
FIGURE 1.4 There are many types of referral partners.
FIGURE 1.5 What does it take for an enterprise to reach its full partnership...
FIGURE 1.6 Maturity pays off! Get up the experience curve!
FIGURE 1.7 Companies with high partnerships program maturity are more likely...
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2.1 People have trusted sources for each of their major life areas.
FIGURE 2.2 Identify your trusted sources for a recent purchase.
FIGURE 2.3 Enterprises' target customers are referral partners' existing aud...
FIGURE 2.4 How referral links work.
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3.1 Common business goals behind today's partnerships.
FIGURE 3.2 Summarize your understanding of your target customer segment(s)....
FIGURE 3.3 What customer behaviors do you want to catalyze?
FIGURE 3.4 Three phases of today's customer journeys.
FIGURE 3.5 Link desired customer behaviors with their journeys.
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4.1
Design at Your Door
content on HGTV.com—connected to TV series.
FIGURE 4.2 Another great Walmart find!
FIGURE 4.3 Cashback deals encourage Giving Assistant members to try Walmart....
FIGURE 4.4 Shoppable recipes app simplifies meal planning and creation.
FIGURE 4.5 The three primary roles partners play.
FIGURE 4.6 Illustration of a customer's shopping journey.
Chapter 5
FIGURE 5.1 The six building blocks of partnerships.
FIGURE 5.2 Build effective collaborations with the Partnership Design Canvas...
FIGURE 5.3 Harry's and its partners generate unique razor handles.
FIGURE 5.4 There are multiple sources of value in today's partnerships.
FIGURE 5.5 Chained compensation model increases customer lifetime value.
FIGURE 5.6 Here's a sample RACI matrix.
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6.1 The Ibotta app generates sales for Kohl's.
FIGURE 6.2 Coupon and cashback sites traditionally have been closing partner...
FIGURE 6.3 Prodege offers a full suite of products.
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7.1 Marla Catherine recommends Fabletics to her followers.
FIGURE 7.2 LightInTheBox taps micro-influencers to promote its brand.
FIGURE 7.3 Ivory Ella rapidly scales its influencer program.
Chapter 8
FIGURE 8.1
Mashable
encourages readers to try out fuboTV.
FIGURE 8.2 Favorable product reviews drive subscriptions.
FIGURE 8.3
Better Homes & Gardens
Editors' Choice products.
Chapter 9
FIGURE 9.1 Find a coffee shop and secure a ride all in one place via mobile ...
FIGURE 9.2 Patagonia says goodbye to its app.
FIGURE 9.3 The Target app enjoys premiere placement on Samsung phones.
FIGURE 9.4 Steps 1 and 2 of Dafina's jean jacket purchase.
FIGURE 9.5 Steps 3, 4, and 5 of Dafina's jean jacket purchase.
FIGURE 9.6 Steps 1, 2, and 3 of Dafina's concert ticket purchase.
Chapter 10
FIGURE 10.1 Qantas and Airbnb create a more holistic customer experience.
FIGURE 10.2 Robinhood and TurboTax create new value for Robinhood app users....
FIGURE 10.3 Chase's Sapphire Ultimate Rewards program is full of SB2B partne...
Chapter 11
FIGURE 11.1 Giving Assistant members can readily donate their savings to the...
FIGURE 11.2 Crocs and AAA partnership promotion.
Chapter 12
FIGURE 12.1 Understanding key stakeholders in the partnerships effort.
FIGURE 12.2 Partnerships organization roles, responsibilities, skills, and c...
FIGURE 12.3 The six stages of the Partnership Life Cycle.
FIGURE 12.4 Blue Nile's strategy for determining partner mix.
FIGURE 12.5 Create a central database for your partnerships effort.
Chapter 13
FIGURE 13.1 DealFinder makes it easy for partners to locate products.
FIGURE 13.2 Partners can easily generate referral links and ads with DealFin...
FIGURE 13.3 Vision statement for Blue Nile's partnerships team.
FIGURE 13.4 eBay's partner value proposition.
FIGURE 13.5 Sur La Table's description of its partnerships program.
FIGURE 13.6 Sur La Table's basic partnership agreement.
FIGURE 13.7 Shopify connects its partners and developers via a dedicated com...
FIGURE 13.8 eBay offers training to enable its partners' success.
FIGURE 13.9 Partner coverage maps ensure that partners have the content they...
FIGURE 13.10 Employ the Partnerships Experience Feedback Cycle.
FIGURE 13.11 A simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down can garner valuable high-leve...
FIGURE 13.12 Evaluate your partners' suggestions.
Chapter 14
FIGURE 14.1 JEB Commerce's roadmap to partnership success.
Chapter 15
FIGURE 15.1 The difference between full potential and partnerships maturity....
Chapter 16
FIGURE 16.1 The essential components of the Partnerships Program Planner.
FIGURE 16.2 Who are your partnerships reaching?
FIGURE 16.3 An impact and effort matrix is a simple way to evaluate and prio...
Chapter 17
FIGURE 17.1 The HubSpot app ecosystem is continually expanding.
FIGURE 17.2 The four major U.S. economic revolutions and their associated re...
FIGURE 17.3 The evolution from partnerships programs to ecosystems.
Guide
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Praise for The Partnership Economy
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
Acknowledgments
Begin Reading
About the Author
Index
End User License Agreement
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PRAISE FOR THE PARTNERSHIP ECONOMY
What people are saying:
“In the modern marketing age, trust is no longer a one-way street, with businesses telling consumers they are trustworthy and hoping consumers believe them. Consumers now drive this conversation, and they demand to know how a brand's external commitments align with their values. Consumers are looking for brands to show them—not tell them—they are trustworthy. In The Partnership Economy, David A. Yovanno shares the context for how brand-consumer relationships have changed and actionable strategies for how to build authentic partnerships that will help your business thrive.”
—Stefania Pomponi, founder of Hella Social Impact and author of Influencer Marketing For Dummies
“It's been said that great product never beats great go-to-market. And who could argue? With more than 15,000 SaaS applications in market, the best products no longer win on their own merit. Instead, the best customer experiences do. We've entered a new era, an era of partner ecosystems. And now, great go-to-market never beats great partner ecosystems.
“Welcome to The Partnership Economy, ushered in and documented for the first time ever by David A. Yovanno's must-read for every partner leader and executive in this new era. I've been complaining for years that there is no definitive work on partnerships and no book to reference. Thanks go to David for answering the call because The Partnership Economy is the book I've been waiting for and that you must read now.”
—Jared Fuller, host and producer, PartnerUp: The Partnerships Podcast
“If partnerships are the game changer of today's industry, then this book is a must-read for anyone looking to create successful partnerships that will give them an undisputed competitive edge. The concept of partnerships in advertising is not new, but The Partnership Economy really gets under the hood of what makes a powerful modern partnership and, crucially, how today's brands can use them to achieve customer acquisition and retention, drive sales, and establish a strong, long-term brand reputation.
“With real business examples presented in an accessible, conversational way, The Partnership Economy is a remarkably engaging and captivating read for anyone interested in furthering their knowledge of modern marketing.”
—Julia Smith, founder and CEO, The Digital Voice
“The Partnership Economy is a great book for anybody interested in the wider universe of performance marketing. As an industry that has previously been very focused on a narrow set of rules and tactics, focusing on a handful of metrics, it's great to read about the dramatic evolution that has transformed the space into a much more versatile and sustainable one to be a part of.”
—Niamh Butler-Walton, staff writer, PerformanceIN
“David A. Yovanno shares what all marketing leaders will soon know: Partnerships are the future of marketing. Dave and his team at impact.com have continually been at the forefront of using technology to transform the partnership industry, and The Partnership Economy will show you a blueprint and case studies for success in the brave new world of partnership marketing.”
—Robert Glazer, CEO of Acceleration Partners and number-one Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Elevate and Performance Partnerships
“The Partnership Economy will become required reading for anyone in revenue acquisition. The adoption of cloud technologies and social media has accelerated the scale and speed of change in the partner landscape, and author David A. Yovanno offers a clear and cohesive path forward.”
—Patrick McCue, board advisor and former senior vice president, Global Partners and Okta
“Full of aha moments for anyone who has been paying attention.”
—Neil Patel, author of Hustle
DAVID A. YOVANNO
THE PARTNERSHIP ECONOMY
HOW MODERN BUSINESSES FIND NEW CUSTOMERS, GROW REVENUE, AND DELIVER EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES
Copyright © 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.
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Preface
How Modern Partnerships Were Born
Let's start with the end. The genesis—and rise—of the modern partnership economy came about as digital advertising imploded with the proliferation of email spam, unwanted pop-up ads, takeovers, intrusive retargeting, autoplay video ads, and other aggressive advertising tactics that have outright disregarded the consumer experience.
When information about products and services was scarce, consumers relied on advertising to fill their information gaps. But as the internet matured, search engines improved, and publishing became more democratized, consumers began to have a disruptive alternative to advertising: they could seek out the information on their own. Influencers, large publishers, bloggers, and even businesses, all with deeper, more authentic connections with consumers than before, served as guides that provided more information and trust than advertising ever could. They generated content that they knew their audiences would love—content that advised, informed, compared, reviewed, or recommended the products and services they felt would connect well with their audiences.
In addition to the shift in consumer behavior, Big Tech's action made the situation worse, agglomerating 90 percent of all new digital ad spend and then clamping down on digital advertising with privacy updates that eviscerated the ability to target, track, and measure display and mobile ads outside of their walled gardens. The writing was on the wall, and advertisers began to dump their ad budgets.
Quietly and relentlessly in its place, however, a new channel for business growth emerged, not conceived at Wharton or in Silicon Valley, but built by consumers themselves, equipped with unprecedented autonomy and jaded by years of marketing that ignored their needs.
A new user-powered way of communicating put first-hand information before impersonal data. Category experts and tastemakers established trust with their audiences. Consumers began engaging with publishers and content creators of all types as go-to sources of information. Much of the information they were seeking was commercial in nature, such as information about products, companies, and experiences.
Savvy brands began to tap in, publishers found ways to monetize, and the first modern partnerships were born: collaborative, customer-facing relationships that provide brands unique access to the consumer through the publisher's (influencer, creator, business, and others) circle of trust.
As a partnership management platform company, impact.com has a unique vantage point to this remarkable shift—and it comes from our clients' actions in response to what they are seeing with their customers. Brands like Home Depot, Target, Ticketmaster, Uber, and Walmart were building application programming interfaces (APIs), creating integrations, and referring business in entirely new ways. That was when we realized just how big the potential of modern partnerships as a channel had become; we had entered the era of Partnerships with a capital P. As a partnerships management platform that serves all constituencies in modern partnerships—the brands, their agencies, and the diverse array of partners they align with—impact.com has a deep, multifaceted understanding of this evolving ecosystem, how it operates, and its value. That's why it's time for this book. Business decision makers in every sector need to have at least a baseline understanding of this new consumer-centered ecosystem because there is no path to business growth today without a partnership intersection. For chief executive officers (CEOs), chief marketing officers (CMOs), entrepreneurs, and investors, partnership literacy and acumen are no longer optional.
My goal is for this book to provide both that basic fluency and the business case that leaders and marketing minds need to confidently make what can be a dramatic shift in mindset and strategy. The Partnership Economy shares the whats, the whys, and some of the hows of today's partnerships so that you can determine what opportunity they represent for you, both now and in the future. It is divided into four sections:
Part I, “Welcome to the Partnership Economy,” provides an overview of today's partnerships and how they can be employed across your myriad extended customer journeys to drive customer acquisition, close more sales, and build customer retention and long-term value. It walks you through the six essential components of partnerships, and introduces the Partnership Design Canvas, a useful framework for designing today's partnerships.
Part II, “What Are Modern Partners?,” offers an in-depth look at several partnership types, including influencers; mass media publishers; strategic business partnerships; coupon, cashback, and loyalty sites and apps; and partnerships designed around communities, associations, and causes.
Part III, “Get Started in Partnerships,” provides an overview of the key components of a successful partnerships program along with proven suggestions for how to build the necessary organizational commitment to enable your partnerships program to get off the ground and reach its full potential. There's a chapter on designing your partner experience, and one on considering agencies as your partners in partnerships.
Part IV, “Unleash Your Partnership Potential,” describes the steps that enterprises are taking to reach their full potential. The section concludes with a vision for what's next for partnerships—a deeper dive into partnerships ecosystems—and offers suggestions for how companies can prepare for the future by forming partnerships today.
You will also find a digital experience to accompany the book that includes planning worksheets that enable partnerships teams to turn concepts into results, interactive tools, resources that delve deeper into various partnerships maturation strategies, and more at www.thepartnershipsbook.com.
Modern partnerships have transformed thousands of businesses. My hope is that The Partnership Economy helps you gain the extraordinary growth and success that so many others have. The potential is there for everyone.
David A. Yovanno
Acknowledgments
Although this book has one author, in reality, it takes a team to write a book that defines a paradigm shift in both consumer behavior and how businesses need to respond. And what a fantastic book team I have had to work with on The Partnership Economy.
The spark and vision for what has become The Partnership Economy belong to Per Petterson. His tireless drive and tenacity to transform business through science and technology is inspirational to behold. His verve to get technology into the hands of brands, publishers, creators, and agencies, and then collaborate with them to solve their problems, has played an integral role in evolving modern business partnerships.
I am deeply grateful to my writing partner, Lisa Leslie Henderson, for her fresh eyes and her tireless and genius work—listening, questioning, identifying, synthesizing, articulating, and framing—which has expanded our collective understanding of the partnership economy—and for then translating this understanding into themes, chapters, and supplementary experiences for practitioners and educators.
Where would we have been without the brilliance of Jaime Singson, whose deep knowledge of modern partnerships, combined with his inquisitive and evaluative mind, enabled us to further expand, improve, and refine the concepts in this book? Inspired by both ideas and by putting those ideas into action, Jaime has been instrumental in bringing to life the concepts put forth in The Partnership Economy through myriad new impact.com initiatives that are already benefiting the industry.
Laura Dobbins, your way with words is truly a gift, as is your ability to shape a narrative, both of which are made manifest throughout The Partnership Economy. Equally valuable are your strong communication, problem-solving, and negotiation skills, which kept this book project progressing, and the team enthusiastic and productive.
Sarah Phillips, you are an exceptional organizer; your focus and attention to detail, thousands of details in fact, kept the team on track and organized. Knowing that you were always “on it” enabled the rest of us to be able to focus on what we all did best. Thank you.
Nora Wertz, your ability to transform complex ideas into simple visuals, often under very tight deadlines, has certainly enhanced the readability and understandability of The Partnership Economy, for which all of us are most grateful.
A resounding thank-you to the broader book creation team—Cristy Garcia, Jordan Dockendorf, Rich Cherecwich, Eileen Salzig, Katharine McAnarney, and Andrea Ferris—for their many contributions, and to Wiley's Richard Narramore, Deborah Schindlar, and Jessica Filippo for recognizing the importance of the emerging partnership economy and for committing their time and publishing expertise to making sure that the story gets told on a larger scale.
And where would we be without the many who have birthed and are now shaping the emerging partnership economy upon which this book is based? Thank you for pioneering this new way of doing and being for organizations. I would like to thank those who generously shared their time and insights specifically for this book: Christina Arango, Jamie Birch, David Bakey, Jenni Cassidy, Pete Christman, Stefan DeCota, Ellie Flanagan, Bob Glazer, Stephanie Harris, Jay McBain, Ryan McDermott, Siara Nazir, Reese Moulton, Kelsey Peterson, Keith Poshen, Jared Saunders, Lacie Thompson, Larry Weber, and Priest Willis, Sr.
Profound thanks to the impact.com executive team and employees around the globe. What a privilege it is to work together with you to transform the way enterprises manage and optimize all types of partnerships.
And finally, deep gratitude and appreciation to my wife, Susie, and two daughters, Alexis and Summer, for their inspiration, support, patience, and understanding over the years. I couldn't ask for a better “team” in life!
David A. Yovanno
PART IWelcome to the Partnership Economy
CHAPTER 1Unlock Unexpected, Lasting Growth with Modern Partnerships
Every so often a game changer takes place in the business world that causes a fundamental shift in how things are thought about and done. We've seen game changers in supply chains, production methods, and marketing strategies, to name just a few. Companies that see and embrace relevant change have the opportunity to understand, shape, and benefit from the disruption. Over time they generate new forms of competitive advantage that enable them to thrive when others fail.
Modern partnerships are today's game changer.
Partnerships of one sort or another have been around since the beginning of commerce, but today's partnerships are a game changer because they enable companies to achieve significant and sustainable growth in today's fast-changing, highly competitive, and consumer-led marketplace. By harnessing the talent, resources, and market presence of hundreds, if not thousands, of partners, enterprises are able to expand their capabilities far beyond what they can achieve on their own.
These are not just any partners. These are partners that share the same or similar target customers and are passionate about meeting those customers' needs and desires. Partners come together to create value for their customers and they do so in a collaborative, transparent, and mutually rewarding way. They ask themselves: How might we create experiences that will delight our shared target customers? What can we create together that we couldn't do on our own? What information can we provide customers to add value to their daily lives?
Building on their combined understanding of the target customers, partners then translate these ideas into useful, interesting, and often remarkable products, services, content, and experiences. When these collaborations are truly a reflection of customer need and desire, the value these partnerships create is meaningful. They catalyze the reach, sales, and loyalty that companies need to generate significant and sustainable revenue growth.
Modern partnerships are making it possible for many of today's fastest-growing businesses, including Spotify, Uber, Airbnb, BarkBox, Harry's, Stitch Fix, and Casper, as well as established enterprises like eBay, Lenovo, and Walmart, to meet—and exceed—their revenue goals. Indeed, in a recent study Forrester found that companies with mature partnerships programs generate an average of 28 percent of their companies' total revenue through their partnerships efforts.1 That is a fecund source of growth by any measure.
What's more, this is real revenue growth, not fluff. It's growth that comes from successfully reaching and converting new prospects into customers, expanding into new markets, increasing the lifetime value of customers, enhancing current value propositions and creating entirely new ones, and being able to quickly make strategic pivots that keep companies afloat during periods of market disruption (Figure 1.1). These are tried-and-true ways of making money; partnerships simply enable enterprises to achieve these business goals with a much broader palette of resources—perhaps an infinite palette.
FIGURE 1.1 Partnerships drive real growth, not fluff.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of impact.com, April 2020. © 2020 Forrester. Reproduction prohibited.
The magnitude and sustainability of this growth is why more than 75 percent of leaders from companies of all sizes, stages of growth, and business models, and in every industry and vertical, see partnerships as central to their sales and marketing strategies and to delivering their revenue goals.2
How do these percentages translate into absolute numbers? Consider that North American companies currently have an average of 173 partnerships in their portfolios3 and the average partnerships program is forecasted to grow by 10 times over the next five years.4 That means that over the next 20 quarters, the average North American company will build and manage 1,753 partnerships. Some companies are preparing to far exceed that goal. Salesforce, for example, is recruiting 250,000 new partners to meet its goal of doubling its business in four years.5 Similarly, Microsoft is onboarding 7,500 partners a month to meet its growth goals; this is in addition to its 355,000 existing partners.6 Partnerships are now more than a growth strategy for a handful of companies—they indicate the emergence of the partnership economy.
Modern Partnerships at Work
Partnerships as a concept aren't new. For some time, enterprises have built complex webs of partnerships to effectively develop, distribute, market, sell, and service their products. Their partnerships have included retailers, value-added resellers, exclusive dealers or agents, and managed service providers—think grocery stores and car dealerships. Under this reseller partnership model, partners typically transact directly with end users or downstream partners, acting as enterprises' indirect sales and marketing and customer service teams.
Today enterprises are increasingly moving toward a new partnership model, the referral partnership, otherwise known as nontransactional partnerships. This new type of partnership reflects the reality that more transactions are happening within enterprises themselves, rather than with resellers—think subscription and direct-to-consumer (D2C) approaches. Like the reseller partnership model, referral partnerships are customer-facing. However, rather than transacting directly with the buyer, in referral partnerships partners simply refer and recommend an enterprise's products to its target customers. These referrals and recommendations can take many forms. They can be a simple email to the enterprise's target customers recommending an enterprise and its offerings. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, they can be a mobile app or website integration that incorporates an enterprise's offering directly into a partner's own platform, creating a permanent and ongoing referral. Two actual referral partnerships that represent both of these options are explored next.
Sunbasket and Rastelli's Partnership: Several Thousand Percent Revenue Growth in One Week
Sunbasket is a leader in the $7.60 billion global delivery services market. The company's healthy meal kits, which provide all the ingredients necessary to create delicious, home-cooked meals, simplify people's lives by eliminating their need to plan meals and go to the grocery store. What's more, Sunbasket's meals are considered healthier than commercially prepared food, and can be configured for any dietary preference: paleo, gluten-free, diabetes-friendly, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, carb-conscious, and more. Its meats are antibiotic- and hormone-free; its seafood is wild-caught; its eggs organic.
The meal kit industry as a whole was on a roll, enjoying compound annual growth rates of 12.8 percent before the coronavirus pandemic outbreak in 2020.7 As people's lifestyles changed during the pandemic, the demand for meal kits skyrocketed. Outbreaks of the virus at meatpacking plants further increased demand, as consumers facing empty meat coolers at supermarkets looked for other options. Sunbasket answered the call.
The company soon realized, however, that while it was providing families with three to four meals per week, it was not providing all of the food that a household needed. To help its customers access high-quality foods for the 15–20 other meals they ate in a week, Sunbasket worked with one of its long-time suppliers, Rastelli's, a purveyor and supplier of meats and seafood, to build awareness and interest for Rastelli's D2C protein delivery program.
Sunbasket referred its customers to Rastelli's and received a percentage of any sales that resulted (Figure 1.2). Within hours of Sunbasket making its first referrals, Rastelli's began to see a significant uptick in its website traffic. Within the week, Rastelli's had experienced several thousand percent growth in its business.8
A Taste of Modern Partnerships with Spotify and Ticketmaster
What happens when Spotify, the largest digital music streaming service in the world, partners with Ticketmaster, the number-one ticketing company in the world?
Here's Sam's story.
Inspired by a recent Rolling Stone poll that asked readers to vote for their favorite Billy Joel song, Sam, a dedicated Spotify user, swipes his way through several Spotify playlists to find his favorite Billy Joel song. This turns out to be a rather lengthy undertaking—one that Sam quite enjoys—as Joel is a prolific songwriter with many hits. Indeed, hours later when the poll would eventually close, Rolling Stone readers would name 70 different Billy Joel songs as their favorites.9 At first Sam is sure “New York State of Mind” is his favorite, but then there is “Uptown Girl,” and “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant.” Inspired by all the oldies—Joel hasn't released an album in more than two decades—Sam decides it would be fun to see Joel live. To make this happen, Sam simply glances down the screen on the Spotify app to view Joel's upcoming concert schedule (Figure 1.3). Madison Square Garden pops up, and two clicks later, Sam has two tickets to an upcoming concert. These are solid, Ticketmaster tickets, not tickets from an unfamiliar source. Pleased, Sam sits back and enjoys “Piano Man” in its entirety before deciding that it's his favorite.
FIGURE 1.2 The Rastelli's and Sunbasket partnership generates extraordinary growth in revenue.
Sam doesn't stop there, however. The same ability to purchase a Ticketmaster ticket is embedded in the personalized playlists that Spotify regularly curates for him based on his listening habits. Sam loves who the Spotify algorithm thinks he is—a bit more hip than he would have thought—and buys two more tickets, this time to hear Real Estate, that cool modern indie band Spotify recommended to him. His girlfriend—or so he's hoping—is excited about both concerts. In a quiet moment, Sam will tell you that the Spotify and Ticketmaster integration is changing his life.
Creating a more holistic music experience—embedding the ability to view upcoming concert schedules and purchase concert tickets directly in the Spotify app—is a game changer for Sam, Spotify, and Ticketmaster. Spotify subscribers like Sam put the new feature to use right away, generating buzz and ticket purchases. Continually enhancing the value Spotify brings its subscribers is important to the company; it's a proven way to build loyalty in the highly competitive music streaming industry. This new feature also creates a new revenue stream for Spotify, as it receives a cut of every ticket sold on its app. And in some ways it's even better: Spotify has created a better consumer experience through this partnership, increasing satisfaction, retention, and usage of its product. And of course Ticketmaster also wins: the company experienced 32 percent year-over-year growth thanks to partnerships like these.10
FIGURE 1.3 Together Spotify and Ticketmaster create a more holistic product experience—and generate 32 percent year-over-year growth.
Who Are These Referral Partners?
As these two partnership examples illustrate, referral partners can take a variety of shapes and forms and they can span industries. Shared or similar target customers are the glue that brings enterprises and their partners together, and their satisfaction and delight is what ultimately makes partnerships successful.
Some of the most common referral partners include coupon and deal, cashback, and loyalty sites and apps; influencers, podcasters, and brand ambassadors; mass media publishers; and strategic business partnerships between brands, community groups, associations, and nonprofits and online marketplaces, descriptions of which can be found in Figure 1.4.
FIGURE 1.4 There are many types of referral partners.
Why Do Referral Partnerships Work So Well?
There are several reasons for referral partnership success, which are explored in depth in the coming chapters. At the top of the list: referral partnerships reflect today's customer preferences and customer journeys; indeed, they were derived from them. Businesses are operating in an environment of consumer skepticism and lack of trust in their own media, advertising, and salespeople. With easy access to the internet, consumers are electing to conduct their own research when it comes to making decisions about what to buy and from whom. They construct and consult with their own circle of trusted resources—favorite writers, podcasters, publications, communications, and friends and family—to better understand their needs and desires, to identify their options for potential solutions, and to evaluate these options and eventually make a purchase decision (or choose not to). Referral partners are part of these trusted sources. This means that referral partners are able to generate and participate in conversations that enterprises cannot. As a result, when partnerships are conducted with integrity and authenticity, referral partners can make recommendations that generate demand for enterprise products, services, and experiences—over and over again. If enterprises don't have these relationships, they won't be found.
A second reason that referral partnerships are successful is because they enhance enterprise customer experience, today's primary source of competitive advantage. They do so in two ways: by increasing the effectiveness of enterprise customer engagement efforts, and by continually enhancing the value propositions of enterprises. As we have seen, referral partners can initiate customer and shopping journeys, and they can also drive consideration, close sales, and spur reengagement. Interjecting trusted sources across entire journeys builds trust and authenticity in these journeys, giving consumers what they are looking for: ready access to solid third-party recommendations with which they can make decisions quickly and confidently. When executed well, each of these interactions improves an enterprise's overall customer experience.
Similarly, continually enhancing the relevance and value of enterprise products, services, and experience is vital to excellent customer experience. Partnerships are able to help enterprises meet this need for constant innovation by bringing additional features, functions, and resources to the table to broaden and strengthen customer value propositions. Consider the positive impact of embedding Ticketmaster purchases into the Spotify app and of Sunbasket referring Rastelli's meat products to its customers during a time when it was hard for them to make these purchases from traditional channels.
A third reason that referral partnerships are successful is because they build business competitiveness with each of today's business models. They work effectively for companies operating with a business-to-consumer (B2C) model, a business-to-business (B2B) model, and a D2C model. Referral partners can direct interested customers to enterprise websites and mobile apps, to stores and online marketplaces, and to specific resellers in their home markets or most markets around the world. Further, these partnerships are highly cost-effective, often operating on a pay-for-performance basis, whereas enterprises only pay for results achieved. Referral partner content often creates synergies with enterprise marketing efforts, magnifying their impact and even reducing overall marketing spend. As enterprises scale their partnerships, they unlock even more sources of competitiveness. They build powerful skills and collaborative relationships that prove to be powerful barriers to entry for competitors. Scalability also enables enterprises to compete at a systems level by harnessing the knowledge, resources, and market presence of each of their partners. Referral partnerships: don't leave home without them.
Partnerships Go the Distance
Enterprises can generate revenue and achieve additional business goals, whether they are party to 10 or 10,000 partnerships. However, creating the conditions that enable their partnerships programs to expand and develop to their full potential is where the most value lies.
What does full potential look like? Companies operating at their full potential enjoy an optimal number of active and diverse partnerships that consistently create value for themselves, their collaborators, and their shared customers and audiences: a win-win-win. They do so by operating in a collaborative, transparent, and mutually rewarding way. And their efforts are supported by a strong and broad organizational commitment to partnerships as a growth strategy; a vision for how partnerships can enable them to meet their critical business goals and a solid strategy for realizing the vision; and a robust partnerships growth engine, the latter being the right combination of, and alignment among, the necessary people, process, and technology, to bring this strategy to life (Figure 1.5).
Is Operating at Full Potential a Pipe Dream?
Are companies reaching their full potential? Yes and no. Full potential is an ever-evolving concept. Yesterday's interpretation of full potential differs from today's, and most certainly from tomorrow's. That's part of what makes partnering essential and exciting. What really matters is that companies begin.
FIGURE 1.5 What does it take for an enterprise to reach its full partnerships program potential?
Once companies form their first partnership, they have taken the first step to realizing their full potential. They are moving forward, building the essential partnerships skills, capabilities, and experiences that will enable them to grow and meet their most critical business goals. They are learning and defining what it will take to thrive in the emerging partnership economy, even while they usher it in.
As enterprises gain traction, they reap greater rewards. Forrester found that companies that have the strongest partnerships capabilities, organizations they describe as having the highest level of maturity, significantly outperform companies that are in earlier stages of maturity.11 They derive an average of 28 percent of overall revenue from partnerships, compared to 18 percent for companies that are just getting started. That's a difference of $162,000 in incremental partnerships revenue (Figure 1.6).12
In addition to deriving a greater portion of their overall revenue from their partnerships effort, companies with the most mature partnerships programs are driving 2.3 times faster revenue growth, are more profitable, and enjoy higher market valuations than their early-phase peers (Figure 1.7).13
Imagine What's Coming
We are in the early stages of modern partnerships. As Priest Willis, senior manager, global partnerships marketing strategist at the global technology company Lenovo, explains, “Partnerships can be a lot more than people thought in the past. We are starting to push the boundaries of what this role really means. It's fun and it's challenging at the same time.”14
FIGURE 1.6 Maturity pays off! Get up the experience curve!
Source: Adapted from a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of impact.com, April 2020. © 2020 Forrester. Reproduction prohibited.
FIGURE 1.7 Companies with high partnerships program maturity are more likely to exceed expectations across multiple business metrics.
Source: A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of impact.com, April 2020. © 2020 Forrester. Reproduction prohibited.
As enterprises become increasingly capable and comfortable expanding their organization's resources and borders with modern partnerships, we foresee partnerships becoming central to every company's ability to grow, achieve their business goals, and build competitive advantage. Imagine what will be possible when enterprises are able to tap an infinitely large set of resources to better understand their target customers and to embed that understanding into their products, services, and interactions. Consider how they might increase their revenue, expand their market share, enhance their customer loyalty and long-term value, and improve their customer experience. Imagine what is possible for their partners. And, most importantly, imagine what is possible for their shared customers and audiences.
Keep your imagination humming a bit longer. Consider what might be possible as enterprises and their network of partners morph into robust ecosystems that work together at scale on behalf of their shared or similar customers. What new combined customer value propositions might they bring to life? What market trends and opportunities might their combined insights uncover? How might they be able to quickly adapt to a rapidly changing customer-led marketplace? How might the network effects of this ecosystem enable it to distinguish itself from its competition, erect significant barriers to entry, and redefine the basis for competitive advantage for the entire marketplace?
As fantastic as this may sound, this isn't a pipe dream. It's already happening. Market-leading companies like Amazon, Alibaba, Salesforce, and Apple are already showing what's possible when partners come together as an ecosystem to engage their shared or similar customers and create interconnected products and services. This isn't just a possibility for the biggest companies in the world; it's a strategy being employed by well-funded start-ups all around the world.
Take the Sydney-based start-up Canva, for example. Canva is an online drag-and-drop design tool used in 190 countries to easily create and publish professional-looking layouts ranging from social media posts to presentations. Its diverse network of more than 12,000 partners includes brand ambassadors, YouTubers and bloggers, mass media publishers, and podcasters, as well as strategic integrations with companies like Hubspot, Wattpad, and Samsung. These new partners have added over one million new users and 150,000 new subscribers to Canva and are expected to contribute 5 percent of Canva's total revenue after just one year.15
Recent surveys of global consumer sentiment conducted by McKinsey & Company found that 71 percent of consumers are ready for integrated, ecosystem offerings.16 According to the World Trade Organization, more than 75 percent of world trade is already flowing indirectly through third-party channels.17 We have reached an inflection point: modern partnerships are how the world works. We have entered the partnership economy.
The Quick Summary
Partnerships are today's growth strategy for business.
Enterprises of all sizes, stages of growth, and business models, and in every industry and vertical, are forming partnerships. They are doing so because partnerships enable them to do what they need to do most: grow. The top enterprise benefits from partnerships programs include increased revenue, better brand awareness, higher market share, improved customer retention and customer lifetime value, increased conversion rates and customer advocacy, and improved product ratings. Partnerships also enable enterprises to make quick strategic pivots when facing market disruptions.
In the referral partnership model, partners refer and recommend enterprise products, services, or experiences to their audiences, rather than purchasing them and reselling them to downstream partners or customers. These audiences are also target customers of the enterprise.
There are multiple types of referral partners including coupon and deal, cashback, and loyalty sites and apps; influencers, podcasters, and brand ambassadors; mass media publishers; and strategic business partnerships between brands, community groups, associations, and nonprofits and online marketplaces.
There are several reasons for referral partnership success. First, referral partnerships reflect today's customer preferences and customer journeys; indeed, they were derived from them. Second, referral partnerships enhance enterprise customer experience, today's primary source of competitive advantage, by increasing the effectiveness of enterprise customer engagement efforts and by continually enhancing enterprise value propositions. Third, referral partnerships build business competitiveness with each of today's business models.
