Distribution and marketing of SaaS products are equally as important as developing the service itself. It goes without saying that there are numerous ways to sell your business. There are many factors to take into account, from outbound to inbound marketing, to paid to non-paid platforms. Any aspiring SaaS startup needs to create a strong marketing plan. But what about SaaS businesses that want to enhance their distribution and marketing? Those who already have a strong sales and marketing plan in place and simply want to increase their reach? One way is through the partnership program.
Numerous B2B SaaS companies have recognized the importance of partnership programs. At the beginning of a corporation, accelerating growth is essential. While creating a solid partnership program can help you expand your company’s reach and future-proof it, content marketing can assist you in bringing in fresh leads for your pipeline. If you are a SaaS business that wants to create a partnership program, you’ve come to the right place.
How does a SaaS Partner Program benefit you?
Simply put, a partner program is a way for your company to thank individuals (or other companies) for bringing new value or clientele. When it comes down to it, the two biggest benefits of some of the most well-liked SaaS partner program strategies are:
- Utilizing more recognizable brands.
- Expand the scope of your sales and marketing initiatives.
Although each type of collaboration has a distinct set of benefits, these benefits apply to all SaaS collaborations.
It’s important to keep in mind that both parties stand to gain from a successful SaaS partnership. It’s simple to get carried away with the advantages of your new SaaS partnership. Remember that your partner should be able to gain something from this as well.
5 Steps to a Successful B2B SaaS Partnership Marketing Program
1. Start-up Setup and Strategy
Here you will work out the nitty-gritty of your partner program’s operation. At this point, you should concentrate on the following objectives:
The Partnering Process:
What do you envision the beginning and end of your relationship to be like? What method will your partners employ to reach you? What is the right time to end a relationship?
The Ideal Partner Profile:
It can be tempting to take on any business that comes your way as a startup, but this isn’t always the best course of action. Remember that as a young company, your partners have the power to both accelerate and halt your growth depending on the choices you make. Any company you work with will have an effect on your reputation or future prospects, so make an informed decision.
The best way to handle this is to create an ideal partner profile. Think about the kinds of companies that will best represent your name and products. Do you want to collaborate with businesses whose cultures mesh well with yours? Perhaps the potential partner has a wonderful voice and sense of style, and you’d like to imitate it in the future.
By working with them, you can start to ingratiate yourself with the company’s culture and develop your own.
Make use of an Analytics Platform:
If you include your partners in Google Analytics, you can keep tabs on the advancement of your goals together. The success of your partner program depends on your ability to comprehend important phases of the customer journey.
Invest in project management tools:
Since creating a partner program is a project, project management software should be used to keep track of your goals and deadlines.
Partner Advantages:
What benefits will the contributions of your partners bring about? To avoid confusion later, it is essential to work out the specifics of this matter up front. Different reward tiers are a great idea because not all partners will work with you in the same way. If done incorrectly, it might lead to animosity.
Documentation:
We understand that documentation can be time-consuming, but it’s critical to iron out the specifics early on. Here’s where you should concentrate your efforts:
The procedure for signing a contract: how does the contract appear?
Integrations: How will they function?
Potential partners might learn more about what a partnership with your business entails from a partner page on your website.
2. Coordinate with your partners
You must make sure that your business and your partners get along well. For starters, this suggests that your business does not have siloed teams and that everyone has the resources needed to effectively connect with one another.
Since most startup teams are small, this is typically not a problem, but in this case, everyone is likely working in the same cramped space. But it’s crucial to lay the groundwork for collaboration and easy communication right away. To do this, omnichannel platforms are a fantastic tool.
It is up to you and your partners to decide how the alignment process will go. For instance, who do you turn to if your partner is having a problem? In most SaaS organizations, the sales department is frequently given this responsibility. After that, the sales team will have to follow a process to decide what actions they can take and what information they can use to respond to inquiries. A great way to get started is to create a knowledge repository.
3. Outreach
Here, you can start spreading the word about your partner program and enticing new partners. You have the skills necessary to run marketing campaigns and create content. You must explain to your prospective partner the benefits of working with your business. In this case, it is better to be exclusive than inclusive. You should tailor your marketing to draw in companies that are a good fit for yours if you want them to be your initial partners.
The preparation for onboarding is the next step. There will almost always be some testing during the onboarding process. You’ll quickly identify the workflow’s shortcomings and how to improve them.
4. Inspire Excitement
Do not forget that your work is not finished once you have established a partnership. Getting new partners shouldn’t be your only priority. Partnerships are intended to be long-lasting and advantageous to both parties.
In order to ensure that your partnerships survive, you must generate excitement for your company, your product, and the relationship itself. Start by showcasing your KPIs and figuring out how your brand benefits your partners. Send out communications that are jam-packed with data on how well your collaboration worked.
5. Intensify your collaborations
Now that you’ve decided to follow the relationship journey from beginning to end, it’s time to pick up the pace. At this point, your startup has finished enough back-end work for subsequent partnerships to be easy and straightforward. For the purpose of bringing on new partners, you must step up your marketing initiatives. By offering a range of content categories, you might want to broaden your partner program strategy. Emails, newsletters, webinars, videos, and articles are all effective communication tools.
Conclusion
SaaS partner programs are, in the end, a marketing strategy that SaaS businesses occasionally overlook. Many SaaS companies focus most of their resources on producing the best content because content marketing typically propels the most effective marketing campaigns.
We don’t mean to imply that this is a bad strategy. The benefits of a productive content marketing strategy are widely recognized. Undoubtedly, having one in place as soon as possible will be beneficial.
The point is that there are alternative options available and one of these paths is through the SaaS partnership program. A successful referral or affiliate connection might provide you with that extra lift.
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