Diversification Isn’t a Buzzword: How to Take a Goals-Focused Approach to Partnership

Diversification, whether you’re talking about a financial portfolio or workforce, is a common pursuit across business functions, and marketing is no exception. More diversified marketing programs perform better and are more resilient — or so the standard thinking goes. But it’s important for marketing leaders to remember that diversification isn’t the end goal; it’s a means to an end.

Therefore, the real question is this: Do you really have a handle on your goals?

When it comes to partner marketing, diversification is a significant focus for many marketing leaders right now. However, if such initiatives aren’t approached with a strategic mindset, then diversification itself becomes little more than a buzzword. Let’s talk about what goals-focused partner mix diversification looks like.

Challenges Facing Today’s Partnership Programs

A strategic approach to partner diversification starts with assessing and understanding a brand’s current partner mix and what goals those partners are helping to achieve. The challenge is that many marketers don’t have a full understanding of why they work with the partners they do — and that’s not surprising, or even a criticism. Given how long affiliate and other partnership arrangements have been a part of the marketing mix, many partner programs have been in place for years, naturally transitioning from a responsibility standpoint over time.

The value and return on investment of many established partner marketing programs are evident and, therefore, invite little scrutiny. In many cases, diversification initiatives are more about keeping pace with the dynamic marketing landscape than they are about fixing something perceived as broken. Thus, if existing partnerships are “working” from a ROI standpoint, it’s easy to skip the step where you ask, “Why are they working? And what’s the true nature of the value being delivered?”

These questions, however, are a vital step to strategic partnership diversification.

Breaking Free of Legacy Partnership Mindsets

Partner diversification efforts are sometimes ignited by the desire or perceived need to ensure a brand is making the most of growing opportunities, like influencer marketing. But when refining a partner program to become more diverse, marketers need to look across their holistic e-commerce programs to understand their current partner roster and long-term goals before deciding a new type of partnership is a must-have addition to the mix.

In many instances, the process of strategic partner diversification starts by asking a lot of questions. Why do we work with our current partners? How are we measuring the success of those partnerships and identifying opportunities for growth? How do these partnerships map back to my holistic goals as a marketing organization? Am I achieving efficiency and scale in the areas that matter most? How do my current partnerships serve my upper funnel? My lower funnel? Which ones are helping me to bridge the gap? Most importantly, where are my goals not being reached, and what types of partnerships or enhancements can help me fix that?

When you break down a partnership program, you need to understand the role that your current mix of publishers, affiliates, creators, media partners and others are playing — and then decide where those partnerships and new ones can bring additional value.

When evaluating partner mixes, marketers must also go beyond the standard performance metric mindset. If marketing leaders approach partnerships with a CPA-based lens only, they’re missing half the picture. Partnerships represent a full-funnel opportunity, and it’s important to understand which types of partners are serving which parts of the funnel, as well as which are finding new customers while others foster repeat purchases and lifetime value.

Finally, as brands look to a strategic diversification of their partner mixes, they need to communicate their goals and strategy beyond their own walls. By helping partners understand their role in a brand’s broader partner and holistic marketing mix, marketers can empower their partners to better harness their own strengths for the benefit of the program.

Above all, marketing leaders must remember: Diversification isn’t a buzzword, nor is it an end goal. It’s a strategy for ensuring your partner programs are delivering maximum value and continuing to grow and evolve — to the benefit of the brand and its partners alike.

Erin Kristyniak is vice president, global partnerships at Partnerize, a provider of partnership software and expert service.