Literary Insights

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The rise of the modern partnership economy emerged as digital advertising became increasingly intrusive and disrupted the consumer experience through tactics like email spam, pop-ups, retargeting, etc.
As information became more readily available, consumers no longer needed to rely on disruptive advertising and began distrusting brands.
This erosion of trust led brands to seek partnerships with influencers, publishers, and other third parties that consumers already trusted.
Partnerships create value by allowing brands to reach targeted audiences in a context they trust rather than having to interrupt them.
The preface provides examples of ineffective intrusive advertising tactics that annoyed consumers versus effective partnerships like Airbnb with Qantas.
It summarizes how the book will detail strategies for building authentic partnerships that engage consumers and help brands thrive.

The preface explains how detrimental certain advertising practices became, eroding consumer trust in brands and fueling the rise of the modern partnership economy as a better way to reach audiences.

Here is a summary of the key points in Chapter 1:

Modern partnerships represent a new game changer for businesses, enabling them to unlock unexpected, lasting growth.
Partnerships provide access to new audiences and extended customer journeys beyond what a business can achieve independently.
Effective modern partnerships have six essential components: shared vision, complementary capabilities, transparent value exchange, transparency, technology enablement, and integrity.
The Partnership Design Canvas framework helps design partnerships incorporating these six components.
Partnerships tap into the trust between consumers and the partners they engage with, such as influencers, publishers, communities, and more.
Partners guide consumers, providing information and recommendations for products and services. This is more trusted than traditional advertising.
The partnership economy emerged as consumers sought information on their terms, and savvy brands tapped into this by collaborating with partners with solid consumer connections.
Business leaders across industries need partnership literacy and understanding to unlock new growth, as partnerships provide a critical intersection for customer acquisition, sales, and loyalty.

The chapter introduces modern partnerships as a game-changing opportunity for business growth, outlines their key components, and conveys why associations are becoming essential in the current consumer and business landscape.

Modern partnerships are a game changer for companies today, enabling significant and sustainable growth by harnessing partners’ talent, resources, and market presence.
Partners create value for shared target customers collaboratively and transparently. They aim to create experiences that delight customers.
Partners translate ideas into valuable products, services, content and experiences that reflect customer needs and desires. This creates meaningful value and growth.
Partnerships enable companies like Spotify, Uber, Airbnb etc to meet and exceed revenue goals. Studies show mature partnership programs generate 28% of revenue on average.
The number of partnerships is growing exponentially. Companies are preparing for 10x growth in partnerships over five years.
Two examples show how modern partnerships drive growth:

Sunbasket’s referral partnership with Rastelli drove thousands of percent revenue growth in one week.
Spotify integrating Ticketmaster ticketing creates a more holistic music experience for customers like Sam, driving business for both companies.

Referral partnerships between companies are becoming increasingly common and essential for business growth. Examples like Spotify’s partnership with Ticketmaster and Sunbasket’s partnership with Rastelli’s show how they create value.
Referral partners can take many forms - influencers, media publishers, loyalty programs, etc. They work by tapping into consumer trust and preferences for third party validation.
Partnerships enhance customer experience by improving engagement and value propositions. They work for all business models by directing interested customers.
Companies see more significant revenue and growth by reaching maturity with an extensive, diverse portfolio of partnerships. But all can benefit from starting with just a few.
We’re just beginning to see the potential of partnerships. As capabilities grow, they will become central to business growth, goals, and competitive advantage by providing access to infinite resources.
Booktopia, Australia’s largest online bookstore, has partnerships at the core of its business model. These include loyalty programs, content integrations, co-branding, and influencer marketing.
Booktopia seeks partners with similar target audiences, like women’s magazines, to maximize relevance and engagement.
The company has grown its partner network 275% in 18 months, driving a 219% increase in revenue.
Booktopia’s CMO advises understanding customer journeys and patterns first, then identifying potential partners to add value to those journeys.
The key is relevance - partnering in ways that provide value to shared target audiences and enhance the customer experience.
This approach of strategic, audience-focused partnerships has been very successful for Booktopia, driving significant growth in partners and revenue.
The main points are that referral partnerships can drive significant growth when done strategically based on shared audiences and value, and these partnerships are becoming core to many companies’ business models.

Here is a summary of the key points from the passage:

Referral partnerships are a key growth strategy for many companies today. They generate significant revenue when other marketing and sales channels see diminishing returns.
Referral partners like influencers, publishers, and consultants are trusted sources for consumers. Audiences see their recommendations as authentic, not advertising. This allows referral partners to reach target consumers when they are actively considering purchases.
Referral partners build trust with audiences by having expertise, being authentic, acting benevolently, and being accessible. They maintain integrity by putting audience needs first.
Enterprises want to partner with referral partners who already have relationships with their target customers. This gives them access to conversations target customers are having with trusted sources.
Referral partners help generate demand by prompting audiences to discover needs and desires, educating them on purchase criteria, and identifying potential solutions. This positions enterprises to reach target customers at the right moment.
Partnering with referral partners opens up a world of conversations between trusted sources and target customers that enterprises can access. This is a crucial benefit of referral partnerships.
Referral partners help generate demand and build trust for enterprises by integrating the enterprise’s products/services into the partner’s content and platforms. This provides credibility and convenience for consumers.
Partners can capture demand by providing an end-to-end experience - raising interest, offering solutions, and providing direct referral links to enable purchases. This creates a seamless path for consumers.
Referral partnerships differ from advertising by providing relevant context and timing, a warm invitation vs. cold outreach, and avoiding the use of personal data. This builds trust.
Trust is critical and easily eroded. Both enterprises and partners must uphold their end of the partnership and avoid misrepresenting each other.
Partnerships enhance customer experience by enabling more effective customer engagement, expanding reach, providing credibility, and offering a more seamless experience.
Exceptional customer experience requires understanding customer needs, meeting expectations, differentiating from competitors, and having positive third-party voices. Partners help accomplish this at scale.

Here are the key points about why referral partnerships can drive significant enterprise growth:

Referral partnerships generate revenue and growth through trusted recommendations. Customers trust recommendations from influencers, publishers, affiliates, and other referral partners, enabling these partners to capture demand for enterprises.
Referral partnerships enhance early-stage customer experience (CX). Partners represent enterprises during the early stages of the customer journey. Partners providing a positive CX reflects well on the enterprise and builds trust and confidence in the brand.
Referral partnerships have high ROI. They are cost-effective, performance-based, and generate additional benefits like content and brand associations.
Referral partnerships improve competitiveness. They work with modern business models, build barriers to entry, enable strategic pivots, and allow enterprises to compete at a systems level.
The scalability enabled by partnership automation allows enterprises to leverage hundreds or thousands of partners to create a robust customer-facing network. This will enable them to compete with larger companies.

Here is a summary of the key points from the passage:

Partnerships are a powerful and flexible tool companies of all types and sizes use to achieve critical business objectives.
Fintech startup Revolut used a customer advocacy program to rapidly acquire new customers, growing 700% year-over-year and exceeding their goal by 7x. They identified and compensated their happiest customers for referrals.
Retailer Richer Sounds struggled to compete with e-commerce giants like Amazon. They created an elite group of 17 knowledgeable audio/video experts as partners to bring their expertise online. They also partnered with major UK cashback sites to incentivize more significant purchases.
Collaboration and constant communication with partners enabled Richer to optimize promotions and increase sales by 69% year-over-year.
For B2B companies, partners can generate high-quality leads. Autodesk partners create tutorials, hacks, and innovations that increase customer product value.
Companies use partnerships to acquire customers, enter new markets, drive app installs/usage, increase customer lifetime value, and create brand ambassadors.
Business goals translate into specific partnership strategies, like customer advocacy programs, influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, channel sales partnerships, and more.
Partnerships are flexible and powerful for achieving critical business objectives across industries, business models, and stages of growth. Their pay-for-performance model minimizes risk.
Successful pivots require partnerships to enable companies to adapt to changing market conditions. Uber provides an example of this during the COVID-19 pandemic when its core ride-sharing business declined, but food delivery via Uber Eats took off. Uber scaled up partnerships to grow Uber Eats rapidly to meet demand.
Enterprise business strategy sets the parameters for partnerships strategy. Getting specific on how a company wants to achieve growth by identifying critical business objectives is vital for successful partnerships.
It’s essential to define target customer segments in detail, including demographics, behaviors, influences, etc. This helps determine where there is an audience fit with potential partners.
The “magic wand” technique can identify specific customer behaviors to catalyze through partnerships. Beyond just getting customers to buy, this focuses partnerships on driving incremental behaviors supporting business objectives.
Overall, being clear on business objectives, target customers, and desired customer behaviors enables enterprises to build partnership strategies that deliver meaningful results aligned with company growth goals.
Companies are increasingly using partnerships to meet critical business objectives like acquiring new customers, entering new markets, increasing sales, improving customer retention, generating innovation, driving mobile usage, enhancing customer experience, building advocacy, and enabling strategic pivots.
Determining your business objectives is the first step in developing a partnership strategy. What kind of growth do you want to achieve?
Customers are at the center of your partnership strategy. Identify your target customer segments and understand their needs.
Determine what customer behaviors will help you achieve your objectives. Ask: Who will do what actions, when, where, with whom, and with what results?
Link desired customer behaviors to different journey stages - before, during, and after purchase. Partners can help at each location.
Customer journeys are expanding beyond acquisition to include retention and lifetime value. Partnerships support both acquisition and retention strategies.
Know where in the customer journey you want your partners to connect with target customers and influence their behaviors to meet your growth objectives.

The key is aligning your partnership strategy with your business objectives by targeting customer behaviors at the right moments in their journey.

Here is a summary of the key points about Walmart’s partnerships:

Walmart partners with various companies to engage customers across their journeys, including media publishers, influencers, and cashback/coupon sites.
Partners like HGTV and BuzzFeed create content that generates demand for Walmart products among current and potential customers. This content contains links that enable seamless purchasing on Walmart.com.
Influencers highlight specific Walmart products to their followers. Their posts also contain direct links to purchase those products online.
Cashback and coupon sites incentivize purchases by offering rewards or discounts on Walmart items. This helps drive transactions.
Mobile app integrations enable quick access to Walmart’s online store and delivery/pickup options.
Strategic business partnerships with companies like Uber allow Walmart to expand its services and provide greater convenience.
These partnerships aim to acquire new customers, drive repeat purchases from existing ones, and enhance the overall shopping experience. The connectivity between partner content and Walmart’s e-commerce capabilities is critical.
Partnerships play essential roles across the customer journey - introducing/influencing, closing sales, and retaining/re-engaging customers.
Introduce/influence partners like influencers and publishers to create content to generate awareness and interest. They guide consumers through exploration and consideration.
Closing partners like coupon/deal sites encourage conversion by offering discounts or rewards. This helps enterprises liquidate inventory or acquire price-sensitive shoppers.
Retain/reengage partners help enterprises increase customer lifetime value post-purchase. They showcase additional ways to use products, provide loyalty rewards, and facilitate reviews and UGC.
Partnership roles are fluid - one partner can play multiple roles across the journey or at different times. Enterprises and partners can also switch roles and partner with each other.
Partnerships create win-win by prompting customer behaviors that achieve mutual goals of consumers, enterprises, and partners. Effective partnerships are strategic and tailored to catalyze specific behaviors.

Here are a few key points on how enterprises can link partner roles with business objectives:

Enterprises should map their target customers’ journeys from awareness to purchase. This reveals opportunities for partners to play roles like introducer, influencer, and closer at different stages.
Partners can help acquire new customers by raising awareness, driving consideration, influencing decisions, and closing sales.
Partners can increase customer lifetime value by encouraging repurchases, upsells, retention, etc., through ongoing influence and closing additional deals.
Coverage maps visualize who/what is influencing customers at each stage. This reveals gaps where new partnerships could add value to the journey.
Enterprises can design ideal future customer journeys enhanced by partnerships. Adding partner voices may shorten interactions to conversion or improve conversion rates.
The partner roles depend on the enterprise’s business goals around growth, retention, innovation, brand building, etc. Objectives determine where partners should focus on the customer journey.
Effective partnerships seamlessly guide target customers through conversion and beyond, playing synergistic roles tailored to the enterprise’s strategic goals.

In summary, enterprises should link the customer journey stages they want partners to engage with the business objectives those partnerships will support. This ensures partners play coordinated roles that advance the enterprise’s strategic aims.

Here is a summary of the key points about the six building blocks of modern partnerships:

Six core building blocks comprise effective partnerships: compatible partners, relevant customers/audiences, desirable customer experience, accurate tracking/measurement, motivating value exchange, and shared success plan.
The Partnership Design Canvas (PDC) is a framework to facilitate designing a partnership upfront. It lays out the six building blocks in a simple template.
Going through the PDC process helps enterprises determine what each party brings, if they have the needed capabilities, and if the partnership will create mutual value.
Compatible partners refer to ensuring the partnership is a good fit - similar values, complementary capabilities, and cultural alignment.
Relevant customers/audiences focus on identifying the target groups and ensuring they are aligned.
Desirable customer experience involves designing an experience that delights customers.
Accurate tracking/measurement enables monitoring partnership performance and optimizing over time.
Motivating value exchange means structuring the partnership so both sides receive fair value.

A shared success plan entails collaboratively planning for mutual growth and success.

Overall, the six building blocks provide a systematic approach to designing an effective, mutually beneficial partnership. The PDC facilitates this design process.
Successful partnerships require five key elements: complementary business objectives, brand fit, competitor status, collaboration ability, and desire to work together.
Partners must have complementary needs - each partner brings something the other lacks or wants. The collaboration should create more value than either could alone.
Brand fit is essential - partners should have similar brand values and quality. The partnership should make sense to shared customers.
Review potential partners’ relationships with competitors. Being showcased together can build credibility, but understand the competitive dynamics.
Partners must have the ability to collaborate in a transparent, mutually rewarding way, not just a short-term transactional relationship. Requires building trust over time.
Both partners must want to commit time and resources to make the partnership work. It’s about having productive partnerships, not just adding more.
Shared or complementary customers are critical. Be very clear on target customers to assess if a partner’s audience is a fit. Partners can help expand to new markets or use cases.
Design partnerships around the customer experience to catalyze desired behaviors. Preliminary ideas can capture benefits for both and metrics to gauge success.
Define critical actions, milestones, roles, and timelines for mutual success. This becomes the shared partnership plan.

Here are a few critical points about designing successful partnerships:

Identify target customers and explore if they align between the two partners. Look at audience size, trust, and belief in the brands.
Create a desirable customer experience through unique offerings, content, promotions, etc., that provide value and delight shared customers.
Establish accurate tracking and measurement to quantify partnership effectiveness and optimize over time. Define events to track and relevant metrics.
Ensure a fair value exchange between partners through financial incentives, special offers, content, brand association etc. Compensation models like CPA help aligns incentives.
Consider chained commission structures that reward partners for driving multiple actions that increase customer lifetime value over time.

The key is to align target customers, create value, track results, exchange fair incentives, and structure for long-term customer relationships. This leads to successful and sustainable partnerships.

Coupons, cashback, and loyalty partners like Ibotta help companies reach new audiences, drive more sales, and generate additional revenue from existing customers.
Ibotta is a mobile app that gives users cash back on purchases. Over 35 million active users earn an average of $10-$300 back monthly.
Ibotta partners with over 1,500 brands and enterprises. When Kohl’s partnered with Ibotta, it helped drive new customers to Kohl’s both online and in-store by offering cashback rewards.
Loyalty and cashback partners incentivize customers to make repeat purchases. They can dramatically lift sales of specific products through targeted offers.
Companies should carefully evaluate potential coupon, cashback, and loyalty partners based on their user demographics, purchase behavior data, and ability to drive measurable sales.
These partnerships require close coordination on offer terms, promotional plans, and performance measurement. Firm post-purchase attribution is needed.
Well-designed coupon, cashback, and loyalty partnerships provide companies access to new audiences open to switching brands. They motivate existing customers to buy more.
Coupon, cashback, and loyalty sites have long histories and remain popular today. Coupons have been used since the late 1800s, and 88% of US consumers still use them. Cashback sites offer rewards for purchases and increase customer loyalty. Loyalty programs are ubiquitous, with half the users joining primarily to earn rewards.
These sites attract customers by allowing them to save money or earn rewards. They aggregate deals and make them easy to access by having users sign up for accounts. Customers can search offers by retailer, category, or product.
When customers purchase through these sites, the partner earns a commission from the brand. The partner then shares some of this commission with the customer through cash rewards or points. This incentivizes the customer to return and make more purchases.
Traditionally, these sites were seen as closing partners at the end of the customer journey. But they now play a role across the journey, from awareness to loyalty. Their loyal user base checks regularly for deals, and they create content to engage users.
Coupon/cashback/loyalty programs help acquire new customers by incentivizing the trial of new brands. They also help retain customers through ongoing rewards and incentives.

Here are the critical points about coupon, cashback, and loyalty sites:

About 1/3 of consumers say loyalty programs influence their purchase decisions. Rewards and loyalty programs can increase customer retention and loyalty.
These sites have extensive reach and can influence consumers early in the purchase journey by providing personalized recommendations. They can act as introductory, closing, and retention partners.
Brands don’t have to discount to partner successfully - they can offer free shipping, points, or other rewards.
These partners have valuable consumer data and targeting capabilities to identify and influence high-value customers.
Track partnerships thoroughly to assess performance. Look beyond just ROI to incrementality metrics like new customers acquired.
Manage promo codes carefully to avoid duplication issues. Set custom rules to ensure proper partner crediting.
Partners should stay updated on the latest promotions, communicate ideas, and monitor performance to improve programs.

Here is a summary of critical points about influencer marketing partnerships:

Influencers are content creators with engaged followings who can authentically promote brands through recommendations and endorsements. This builds trust and drives sales.
Influencer marketing is increasing as a strategy, with 72.5% of brands expected to use it by 2022. It will become a $13.8 billion market.
Influencers are influential because 84% of millennials dislike ads, and only 49% rely on influencer recommendations when purchasing. Micro-influencers with smaller followings also drive engagement.
Brands use influencers for awareness, engagement, and conversions. Awareness partnerships focus on a broad reach and sharing brand messaging. Engagement partnerships create experiences and connections. Conversion partnerships drive sales through discounts and affiliate links.
Strategic selection of the right influencers, clear expectations, incentives, hands-off relationships, and performance tracking are essential to successful partnerships.
Risks like inauthenticity and loss of control mean brands must vet influencers carefully and communicate clearly at the outset. But overall, influencer marketing taps into authentic connections that consumers crave.
Micro-influencers can be highly effective for reaching targeted customer segments. Their niche audiences allow for more precise targeting than broad macro-influencers.
Influencer content prompts reengagement by keeping brands top of mind. Enterprises across their channels can repurpose successful influencer posts.
Long-term influencer relationships are mutually beneficial. Give influencers creative freedom to maintain authenticity. Track performance to optimize efforts.
Approach influencers through different “love languages” like positive feedback and rewards to build relationships.
Measure influencer impact on key performance metrics, not just vanity metrics like followers. Use tracking links and promo codes.
Start influencer programs in-house to understand brand interests deeply. Build gradually with the right partners vs. going wide too quickly.
Influencers should focus on brands they genuinely love and believe in. Constant two-way communication ensures proper direction and goals.

Here are a few key points summarizing the example of Ziff Media Group’s commerce content partnerships:

Ziff Media Group (ZMG) is a large digital media publisher with over 100 million monthly readers. In 2011, they realized referral links in their articles could drive millions in sales for brands.
ZMG now generates revenue through “commerce content” - recommending products/services in articles and getting a cut of resulting sales without impacting editorial independence.
For example, during the Women’s World Cup, ZMG partnered with fuboTV to promote their streaming service through articles on Mashable. This led to new subscribers for fuboTV, revenue for ZMG, and valuable content for readers.
ZMG combines editorial expertise, service journalism, and shopping insight while separating editorial and business. Their strategy allows monetization without compromising integrity or value for readers.
Commerce content partnerships are a win-win-win for publishers, brands, and audiences when done thoughtfully. Through such partnerships, ZMG has generated over $1 billion in sales for partners.

Here are the key points from the text:

Commerce content is a form of native advertising where publishers create content that features products, services, or experiences from brand partners.
It integrates referral links or promotion codes into articles, reviews, gift guides, etc. The publisher earns a commission when readers click through and make a purchase.
It benefits audiences by providing valuable, educational content; brands by credibly reaching qualified buyers; and publishers by engaging audiences and diversifying revenue streams.
Editorial integrity is maintained by keeping editorial and business teams separate. Writers and editors make recommendations based solely on research, not business relationships.
What matters most to publishers is maintaining audience trust through transparency, creating high-quality content, and having the flexibility to walk away from partnerships that don’t align editorially.

In summary, commerce content allows publishers to monetize their audiences and content while delivering value to readers and brand partners, as long as editorial independence is preserved. The key is aligning brand messaging with audience interests in an authentic way.

Commerce content partnerships between brands and publishers are becoming more popular as they provide mutual benefits. Brands get exposure and sales through trusted recommendations, while publishers earn commissions.
Brands should approach partnerships humbly, asking how they can support the publisher rather than pitching them. Getting to know the publisher’s audience and priorities is critical.
Brands should focus on improving their e-commerce experience and conversion rates, as this impacts partner commissions. Transparency with data also builds better partnerships.
Compensation models vary, but publishers expect reasonable commissions for driving traffic and sales.
Partnerships provide an authentic way for brands to reach customers during decision-making. Commitment to commerce content is increasing on both the brand and publisher side.
Mobile devices are ubiquitous, and people spend significant time on them. Mobile influences all customer journey stages, from initial research to final purchase.
Mobile phones simplify daily life and reduce stress for many people by allowing them to accomplish tasks and connect on the go conveniently.
For businesses, having a solid mobile presence is essential to attract and engage customers. This can be through mobile websites, apps, or both.
Websites allow broad discovery, while apps enable personalized experiences and connections with existing customers.
Partners with trusted mobile apps or sites can generate and capture consumer demand for brands in the mobile space.
Features like integrated buttons (e.g., Uber) make mobile apps more convenient and engaging for users. These types of integrations represent an opportunity for mutually beneficial mobile partnerships.
As mobile technology evolves (5G, etc.), mobile will become an even more critical environment for brands and partners looking to connect with consumers.
Consumers often move between mobile web, apps, and desktops during a purchase journey. They use whatever channel works best for their needs at the moment.
Enterprises need to understand customer journeys and optimize experiences across channels to avoid frustrating experiences.
An example is provided of a shopper named Dafina who runs into issues moving from an app to a mobile web during a purchase journey. She finds a jacket she wants in a retailer’s app but then goes to their website via a cashback app, and her items are outside her cart. This results in a poor experience that causes her to abandon the purchase.
Seamlessness between channels is critical. People with a negative mobile experience are much less likely to purchase from that brand again.
Partnerships drive people between channels, so enterprises need to ensure smooth handoffs when consumers move via partner sites/apps.
By studying customer journeys, optimizing experiences across channels, and enabling seamless partner integrations, enterprises can provide consistent and pleasing omnichannel commerce experiences.

Here is a summary of the key points about mobile partnerships:

Mobile devices have become central to people’s lives, changing how they research, interact with brands, and purchase. This has transformed the customer journey.
Customers frequently switch between mobile web and apps throughout their journey. Seamless linking between environments is critical for good partnerships.
Key metrics like cost per install (CPI) and post-install conversion rates help measure mobile partnership success.
Fraud is a concern, with install and attribution fraud being common issues. Brands need to ensure valid installs and events.
Partnerships enable brands to engage users across apps and the mobile web. Aligning priorities and working with the right partners helps tame the mobile environment.
Downloads are essential, but only part of the story - finding users who continue engaging after installation and reengaging lapsed users is critical.
Mobile partnerships often require deep integration, setting the stage for strategic business partnerships that combine offerings to create new value.

Here is a summary of the key points about strategic business-to-business (SB2B) partnerships from the chapter:

SB2B partnerships involve two enterprise brands working together to create compelling customer experiences greater than what either could offer alone.
They can take the form of joint promotions where one brand pursues customer acquisition and the other seeks customer retention. Examples given include Disney+/Lyft and HyreCar/DoorDash.
More complex SB2B partnerships involve deep product integration to create new joint value propositions. Examples include Apple/Nike, Starbucks/Spotify, and Amazon/Garmin.
Benefits of SB2B partnerships include expanded reach to new audiences, increased customer loyalty through added value, new revenue streams, and access to data and insights.
Keys to success include complementary goals, audience overlap, seamless integration, co-marketing, and data sharing.
Risks include brand dilution, data privacy concerns, and loss of control. Solid contracts and maintaining brand identities can help mitigate risks.
Overall, SB2B partnerships allow brands to provide better experiences that keep customers within their ecosystems.
SB2B (strategic brand-to-brand) partnerships involve two brands collaborating to create an entirely new customer experience that integrates their products/services.
Benefits include reaching new audiences, increased customer loyalty through an enhanced experience, and revenue through referrals.
Examples include Spotify and Ticketmaster, Robinhood and TurboTax, Qantas and Airbnb, and Chase Sapphire rewards partnerships.
SB2B partnerships require more commitment and sophistication than affiliate partnerships. They involve business development skills, finding the right people at partner companies, integration of technology/data, and ensuring strategic alignment on goals.
Potential partners can be identified by studying customer journeys to find high-intent moments to reach your target audiences and seeking complementary brands that share target customers but have minimal overlap.
Constructing a successful SB2B partnership requires relationship building, vetting for strategic alignment using tools like the Partnership Design Canvas, technology integration, and sharing proprietary data to enable a superior combined customer experience.

Here are the critical points about community groups, associations, and cause-based partnerships:

Consumers increasingly demand that companies contribute positively to society, not just make money. Brands are aligning their business strategies with social causes to meet this demand.
Partnerships with community groups, associations, and nonprofits enable brands to support issues their customers care about. This builds customer loyalty and advocacy.
Brands can offer special promotions, donations, or volunteering opportunities related to a cause. This catalyzes meaningful engagement with customers.
Authenticity is critical - the social mission should be central to the brand’s values, not just a marketing gimmick. The cause must align with the company’s purpose.
Successful partnerships like this combine business goals (acquiring/retaining customers) with supporting a higher good. It becomes a win-win for the brand, customers, and nonprofit partners.
Metrics can track the impact on business (sales, new customers) and social outcomes (funds raised, volunteering hours). This ensures the partnership is creating real, measurable value.

Here is a summary of the key points about performance-based partnerships that express company purpose and values:

In recent years, companies have started using performance-based partnerships connected to sales to showcase their purpose and values. These evident partnerships invite customers to join the company in making a positive difference.
Examples include KidStart, a UK loyalty program where shopping generates savings for children’s accounts. Retail partners are vetted to ensure they share KidStart’s commitment to helping families.
A subscription dog treats company partners with animal shelters - new dog parents get treats, covers get commissions, and the company gains new customers.
Microsoft partners with local Chambers of Commerce to provide software discounts to small businesses. Chambers earn incentives when members purchase.
These partnerships can be complex, but automated partnership platforms can track sales, calculate commissions, and distribute funds.
Companies can identify impact partnerships by exploring their values and customer needs, finding partners with shared values, and being authentic. The goal is a win-win-win for the company, customers, and partners.
As consumers align purchases with their values, impact partnerships create deeper connections between brands and purpose-driven customers.

Here are the key points on how to get a partnerships program started within an organization:

Build the case for executive buy-in by identifying key stakeholders and understanding what’s important to them regarding partnerships. Make the business case for why partnerships are an essential growth strategy.
Create a vision for how partnerships can help meet specific business objectives like acquiring customers, increasing revenue, etc. Use facts/data to back up the idea.
Determine the right time to start partnerships based on business lifecycle, resources available, executive support, etc. The time may only be suitable if other foundational elements are in place.
Get organizational commitment at the highest levels and across departments. Partnerships are cross-functional and need support from marketing, PR, product, legal, finance, etc.
Develop a partnership strategy aligned with business goals. Be clear on what you want to achieve. Consider types of partnerships, incentive models, ideal partners, resources required, etc.
Build a partnership growth engine - the people, process, technology, and other resources needed to operationalize partnerships at scale. Hire key roles, document processes, implement partnership management software, etc.
Start. Begin testing and learning. Launch an initial pilot program to garner insights. Be prepared to course correct. Building an impactful partnerships program takes time.

The key is laying the groundwork with strategic planning, executive buy-in, and the foundational elements to set the program up for success.

Here are some suggestions for developing your partnership strategy:

Who Should Lead:

Consider hiring or appointing a dedicated Partnerships Director or Chief Partnerships Officer to oversee the strategy and execution. This should be someone experienced in building partnerships and managing relationships.
Alternatively, you could initially work with an experienced partnerships agency to help build the program and train your team—gradually transition management in-house.

Objectives & Timeline:

Set clear objectives aligned to business goals - revenue growth, customer acquisition, brand awareness, etc.
Develop a phased rollout plan, starting with a pilot program with select partners to test and learn.
Set a timeline for scaling up over 12-18 months as capabilities and partnerships mature. Move from simple to more complex blocks.

Measuring Success:

Define quantitative KPIs to track based on your goals - revenue, new customers, lower CPA, repeat purchase rate, etc.
Also measure qualitative factors like partner satisfaction through surveys and feedback.
Review metrics regularly and tweak the program based on performance and learnings.

Partnership Types to Consider:

Start with affiliate marketing partnerships to drive sales. Later, expand into influencers for awareness.
Explore loyalty partnerships with complementary brands to share customers.
To access new markets, seek partnerships with local companies and influencers.
Consider high-value strategic alliances with companies in adjacent spaces to expand offerings.

With careful planning, clear goals and metrics, and phased execution focused on testing and optimizing, partnerships can become an impactful growth channel for any business. The key is starting small and scaling what works.

Here is a summary of the critical points for developing a partnerships strategy:

Identify the business goals partnerships will help achieve (e.g., customer acquisition, brand awareness) and how partnerships will drive growth. Align partnerships with critical business needs.
Determine what capabilities are needed in-house vs. outsourcing to an agency partner. Assess internal skills in recruiting partners, managing operations, optimizing partnerships, etc.
Choose where partnerships will report - standard options are CMO, business development, or product teams. Consider where partnerships will receive support and be integrated into the strategy.
Define the focus areas for partnerships based on target customers, their behaviors/goals, and where in the customer journey partnerships can engage them.
Establish a flexible budget, with commissions tied to revenue generated. Additional funding may be needed for paid placements, promotions, etc.
Identify metrics and results expectations, recognizing partnerships take time to nurture and ramp up. Long-term consistent returns are the payoff.
Develop standardized, scalable processes for recruiting partners, contracting, tracking performance, communicating, etc. Technology like a PMP can enable process efficiency.
Build the right roles and skills for program success. Leverage agency help as needed for execution.

The key is aligning partnerships to business strategy, establishing robust processes, securing executive buy-in, and giving associations time to drive measurable results.

The Partnership Life Cycle is a 6-stage process that can be applied to all partnerships: Discover and recruit, Contract and pay, Track, Engage, Protect, monitor, and Optimize. Going through these stages helps partnerships start strong and continue improving.
Selecting a partnership management platform (PMP) enables tracking, automation, customization, optimization, and scalability across a diverse partner portfolio.
Creating an ideal partner profile guides discovery and recruitment. Consider brand fit, shared values, access to target customers, credibility, and more.
Cast a wide net when looking for partners initially. Consider where your target customers go and how your brand can add value. Explore partnerships with coupon/deal sites, mobile apps, influencers, publishers, and strategic B2B partners.
Map out potential partners and contact them to gauge interest and fit. Find the right contacts and explain the partnership opportunity.
Optimize your portfolio by pruning underperforming partners, doubling down on top partners, and recruiting new partners. Measure incrementality to focus investment.

Adopting a systematic partnership life cycle, leveraging a PMP, carefully selecting partners, and continuously optimizing leads to successful partnership programs.

Here are the key points from the chapter passage:

Walmart created DealFinder, a widget that lets partners easily search Walmart’s vast product inventory to find relevant items for their audiences. It provides filters, product details, reviews, and easy ways to generate links.
Walmart aims to enhance the partner experience beyond just providing links. It shares performance data and insights to help partners optimize promotions. It suggests complementary products based on sales patterns.
Walmart wants to make the purchase process seamless. It created a BuyNow button that partners can add to simplify checkout.
Walmart merged its mobile and desktop partnerships platforms. Now, partners use one link that directs customers to the optimal purchase experience - mobile app, mobile web, or desktop. This simplifies the process for partners.
The goal is to remove friction and make partnerships with Walmart easy and beneficial for partners. Enhancing the partner experience ultimately drives more value for Walmart, too.
Walmart offers advanced delivery options like same-day pickup and next-day delivery to meet customers’ expectations for fast, often free, shipping. This enhances the conversion experience.
Walmart has a solid internal partnerships team that collaborates cross-functionally to deliver an excellent partner experience. They review data frequently to identify what’s working and not working with partners.
The partnerships team shares insights with partners and meets regularly with other internal teams to discuss new partner experience initiatives. They advocate for partners within Walmart.
Who you partner with and how you partner impacts future partnerships. A reputation as an innovative, trustworthy partner committed to mutual success attracts more high-quality partners.
Companies should intentionally define and nurture their partner experience, just as they do with their brand and customer experience. This requires an “outward-in” perspective focused on meeting partners’ needs.
A partnership’s vision articulates your partnership’s purpose, values, and spirit. It provides consistency across your partnership efforts.
A partner value proposition explains the unique value you provide partners and why they should collaborate. It can include how you partner, not just what you offer.
Develop a partnership vision statement and partner value proposition (PVP) to clearly articulate what makes partnering with your company unique and valuable. Keep these front and center as guiding principles.
Live up to your vision and PVP through your actions - they are only meaningful if you deliver on them. Focus on critical areas of the partner experience like your products, conversion process, incentives, recruitment approach, and support.
Offer great products that partners want to promote. Make it easy for partners to access updated information on your products.
Optimize your conversion and post-conversion experiences so customers can easily purchase from partners and have a good experience after purchase. This reflects well on your partners.
Provide a motivating incentives program with fair compensation based on accurate tracking and attribution. Adjust as needed through open communication.
Collaborate with partners for ongoing success, starting from your first interaction. Use tools like the Partnership Design Canvas.
Create a welcoming web presence for potential partners to learn about your program, apply, and access resources. Consider a private community for accepted partners.
Onboard new partners smoothly to set the relationship up for mutual success.

Here are a few critical points for creating an excellent partner experience:

Start with an onboarding call to understand partners’ needs, goals, and expectations. Follow up with customized onboarding emails that provide training and resources and address common questions.
Provide ongoing training and support to help partners succeed. Make resources readily available through a partner portal or website.
Stay engaged through regular communications like newsletters, blogs, and email updates. Share relevant promotions, campaigns, and fresh content to give partners reasons to promote you.
Plan content and campaigns using an editorial calendar. Ensure you have the assets partners need when they need them.
Share performance data and insights to enable optimizations. Set goals together and collaborate to achieve them.
Standardize and automate processes to build efficiency into your partnerships program.
Involve cross-functional teams early on to facilitate smooth collaboration. Educate internal stakeholders on partnerships.
Focus on delivering an excellent, consistent partner experience. Partners’ success drives your success.

Here are the key points from the summary:

Creating an exceptional partnership experience is a decisive advantage for recruiting and retaining top partners.
Develop a clear partnership vision and partner value proposition to communicate your priorities and value to partners.
Create an ideal partner profile to guide recruiting partners that fit your program goals.
Operationalize your partnership’s vision into your daily work and processes. Share learnings across your organization.
Collaborate closely with partners to ensure mutual success.
Develop metrics to measure your partnership’s experience performance, similar to financial metrics.
Regularly gather partner feedback through surveys, discussions, etc., to understand their perspective and needs. Have a process to evaluate and act on this feedback.
Planning and being intentional about the partnership experience is critical to building a successful, durable program.

Here is a summary of the key points about agencies from the chapter:

Enterprises have three options for managing partnerships: in-house, hire an agency, or a hybrid model. Working with agencies is common for expertise, efficiency, capabilities, capacity, relationships, and tech expertise.
Examples of brands working with agencies to audit and optimize programs, significantly increase revenue and order volume and capitalize on opportunities like Amazon’s commission decrease.
Assessing internal capabilities is vital before deciding on an agency across creativity, recruitment, management, and measurement areas.
There are three main types of partnership agencies: full-service digital marketing, partnerships type-specific (e.g., affiliates, influencers), and a combo handling multiple types but not all.
Agencies provide benefits like relationships, specialization, operations and tactics, and innovative ideas. Some challenges are needing more institutional knowledge, misaligned incentives, and potential overpromising.
Tips are provided for selecting an agency partner through assessing needs, defining goals/KPIs, examining expertise and experience, checking references, and aligning incentives.
Agencies have historically focused on different partnership types based on their expertise - larger agencies on search/display ads, smaller agencies on specific areas like influencers or business development.
As partnerships have grown, more agencies are developing expertise across partnership types.
Enterprises want agencies to provide strategic thinking, innovation, and partnership matchmaking beyond program management.
Enterprises should take time to find the right agency partner that fits their needs and can deliver results. Be clear on objectives, scope, and what you bring.
Enterprises should own internal business knowledge, overall strategy and goals, branding, campaigns, and approvals. Agencies should hold customer strategy, operations, ideas, recruitment and engagement, compliance/fraud, and measurement.
Enterprises should coordinate across internal teams and external agencies to maximize impact as partnerships expand into new areas like PR.
Enterprises should showcase their commitment to partnerships, resources, and existing partner networks when pitching agencies to partner with them.

Here is a summary of the key points about working with agencies as a partnership growth strategy:

Agencies can provide expertise, bandwidth, and connections that may only exist in some places. But they need context, understanding of the organization’s needs, and confidence in the commitment to partnerships to do their best work.
Consider the organization’s market position, state of the partnerships portfolio, mindset around partnerships, and budget when deciding if an agency is a right choice.
When assessing potential agencies, look at their expertise, strategic process, reporting capabilities, compliance/fraud monitoring, costs, transparency, integrity, commitment level, and team experience.
Compensation models vary - flat fee, performance-based, or a combination. Be clear on desired outcomes tied to metrics.
Make sure there is a strong cultural fit, and you feel comfortable fully partnering with the agency.

The key is choosing an agency ready to custom-build a strategy based on the organization’s specific goals and situation, with transparency into performance and spending.

Here are the critical points about partnerships program maturity from the example of Fanatics:

Fanatics diversified its partnerships portfolio beyond coupon and cashback sites to include influencers, bloggers, affinity communities, and sports content sites. This brought in incremental sales and revenue.
Fanatics focused on recruiting partners that influence the top of the sales funnel and generate demand rather than just closing sales. These partners send highly qualified traffic that converts at a high rate.
Optimizing partnerships requires figuring out what success looks like for each partner type and doing it, then replicating it. Having the right PMP to track data and optimize is critical.
Migrating to a SaaS partnerships platform from a traditional affiliate network brought significant cost savings and flexibility. This enabled Fanatics to be more aggressive with commissions to more prominent partners.
Overall, Fanatics evolved its partnerships program over 15 years from focusing on coupon sites to a diverse portfolio that drives incremental revenue. Maturity came through diversification, optimization, and the right technology.
Fanatics has transformed traditional publishing relationships into performance-based partnerships, leading to significant revenue growth (2.5-5x year over year).
Responsibility for these partnerships has shifted to Tonkin’s group, allowing other groups like sponsorships to focus on non-performance deals.
Tonkin’s team is still called “affiliate marketing,” which is being revisited as their scope expands beyond traditional affiliate relationships.
They are focused on building long-term partnerships through relationship nurturing, not one-off transactions.
Tonkin’s team has an entrepreneurial spirit but is also working to institutionalize learnings in playbooks and guidelines to empower others in the organization.
They are considering ways to gather partner feedback to improve the partnership experience systematically.
The maturity of Fanatics’ partnerships program enables them to capitalize on opportunities as they arise quickly.

Fanatics has evolved from traditional affiliate marketing to a more mature, strategic partnerships program focused on long-term, performance-based deals. Institutionalizing processes and capturing feedback will help them continue to optimize partnerships and empower others across the organization.

Companies mature their partnership programs in stages, starting with a small number of affiliates and expanding to include more partners across different types.
As programs mature, companies diversify their portfolio to reduce reliance on a few large partners. They expand globally through existing programs and optimize partnership performance with data analytics.
Measuring partner value evolves from focusing on ROI to assessing partner effectiveness, like reaching new customers. Companies help partners improve performance by sharing insights and testing promotions.
Partnership efforts often start in silos, but consolidation happens as their value is recognized. New roles like Chief Partnership Officer are created to manage partnerships across the organization.
The future of partnerships involves new partnership types and models. Partnerships ecosystems will become a core part of successful businesses.
Key foundations for success are organizational commitment, a vision for partnerships, a strategy to achieve it, and a partnership growth engine or platform. Mature programs progress through stages of expansion, optimization, and integration.

Here are the key takeaways for using the Partnerships Program Planner to guide partnership strategy development:

Assess your current partnerships program - Evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to understand what’s working well and where there are gaps.
Set goals and objectives - Define specific, measurable goals aligned with overall business objectives. This provides direction and focus.
Develop strategies and tactics - Determine the specific design and tactical activities needed to achieve the goals and objectives.
Implement and track - Put the strategies and tactics into action and closely monitor progress through key performance indicators. Adjust as needed.
Review and optimize - Formalize regular reviews of program performance to identify new opportunities for improvement and growth. Planning is an ongoing process.

The PPP provides a simple yet comprehensive framework to translate business goals into an actionable partnership strategy. These steps will help focus efforts, maximize resources, and drive better partnership program performance over time. The key is continually assessing, planning, executing, tracking, and optimizing as part of an iterative strategic planning process.

What You Plan to Accomplish

Summary of revenue goal, business objectives, key initiatives, and KPIs for partnerships program in the coming year

Current State of Partnerships Program

How much revenue is currently being generated
Business goals being met (e.g., customer acquisition, customer retention, brand awareness)
Program costs and efficiency
Program KPIs and overall health (number of partners, % productive partners, portfolio balance and risk, top performing partners and segments)
Customer coverage map to identify gaps and redundancies

Future State of Partnerships Program

Where the business aims to be in 1-3 years
The vision for the partnerships program needed to support future business goals

The Plan

Activities, milestones, timeframes, and resources required to close the gap between current state and future state of the partnerships program

Potential Challenges

Possible risks that may impede success
Proactive mitigation strategies
Study your customer journey maps to understand how partnerships impact and shorten the path to conversion. Assess what roles partnerships are playing and what devices customers are using.
Regularly evaluate competitors’ partnerships programs, partners, and performance to identify opportunities. Utilize tools like similar web and ranking sites. Identify partnership leaders to learn best practices.
Define your desired future partnerships program state in 1-3 years. Consider expanding target customers, partners, behaviors, and regions. Evaluate converting existing partnerships to performance models.
Detail specific plans to sustain and grow current partnerships and recruit new partners. Set realistic goals with partners. Improve partner experience.
Create a partnership maturity roadmap to reach full partnership potential. Prioritize assessing process, portfolio optimization, new partnership types, being a partner, investing in partnerships organization, capturing learnings, and cross-functional collaboration.
Assess competitive partnership programs to identify opportunities for your program.
Establish regular reviews of partner mix and recruitment goals.
Improve partner experience through better communication and integration.
Provide partners with real-time data access to optimize partnerships.
Develop measurement and feedback systems for the partner experience.
Standardize and automate partnership processes.
Build partner dashboards and portals for performance insights.
Establish inbound recruitment processes and presence.
Streamline contracting, onboarding, payment and crediting.
Expand tracking beyond just the website.
Reduce fraud, noncompliance, and abuse in partnerships.
Diversify partnerships through new channels and partner types.
Expand partnerships globally.
Measure partner incrementality and optimize accordingly.
Increase partner revenue and reactivate dormant partners.
Build out the internal partnerships team and organization.
Identify and mitigate potential risks to the partnerships program.
Plot activities on a maturity roadmap over 1-4 years.
Partnerships programs are evolving into robust, integrated ecosystems with hundreds or thousands of partners collaborating to meet customer needs.
These ecosystems disrupt industries by innovating, increasing revenue, accessing new markets and customers at speed and scale not previously possible.
Executives see ecosystems as critical to future business models, but many need more capabilities to build them.
Ecosystems naturally evolve from today’s partnership programs in two stages: from one-off partnerships to interconnected partnerships to decentralized ecosystems.
Key differences between partnership programs and ecosystems include a focus on ecosystem-wide value creation, enterprise as an initial ecosystem builder, increased partnership diversity, more extensive shared customer base, and omnipresent customer engagement.
Referral partners will continue to play a crucial role in ecosystems by catalyzing new customer journeys with their trusted relationships.
Ecosystems magnify the ability to interact with customers anywhere, anytime to drive referrals and recommendations between members.
Partnerships ecosystems represent the next stage of evolution beyond high-maturity partnership programs. They involve deeper collaboration among multiple partners to create integrated customer value propositions.
In an ecosystem, innovation is more distributed, with partners collaborating freely whenever opportunities arise to combine their capabilities and resources. This leads to asset-light creation.
Data becomes more open in an ecosystem, with partners providing real-time access to selected data assets to generate customer insights.
Ecosystems aim to compete against other significant ecosystems rather than just direct competitors.
Ecosystems have the potential for a higher valuation, with estimates of up to 8x revenue multipliers due to network effects.
To transition to an ecosystem model, companies should stay focused on customers, continue building their partnerships portfolio, develop their culture and capabilities, and determine their role as orchestrators or contributors.
This transition requires investing now even though ecosystems represent the future model. Companies that wait for risk being left behind.

Here are a few critical points for building an effective partnership ecosystem:

Clearly define your goals and objectives. What problems are you trying to solve? What capabilities do you want to add? Identify potential partners that can help achieve those aims.
Focus on creating win-win partnerships that provide mutual value. Understand each partner’s motivations and design programs that will benefit both sides. Offer incentives that align with partner goals.
Develop strong communication channels and processes. Frequent check-ins, clear expectations, transparency, and quick issue resolution are essential. Designate partnership managers on both sides.
Build in flexibility. In dynamic ecosystems, business needs to evolve. Revisit terms regularly to ensure the partnership still makes strategic sense. Be open to renegotiation if required.
Share data and insights freely within agreed guardrails. Tracing impact across partners is crucial. Implement appropriate data-sharing agreements and protection.
Cultivate trust and interdependence. Nurture a shared culture via team-building exercises. Develop personal relationships and empathy for partner challenges.
Orchestrate and coordinate partners to maximize synergies. Identify overlapping capabilities and opportunities for mutual growth. Facilitate connections and collaboration.
Continuously innovate and improve together. Brainstorm new ideas, services, and technologies to benefit the entire ecosystem. Encourage joint investments in R&D and innovation.

The keys are open communication, strategic alignment, shared purpose, flexibility, and constantly evolving value creation through collaboration. This builds an ecosystem greater than the sum of its parts.

Partnerships are critical for growth and survival, allowing companies to expand resources/borders and increase offerings’ value. Common partner characteristics include shared customers and complementary capabilities.
Partnerships impact the customer journey, innovation, cost-effectiveness, and enterprise CX. High-maturity partnerships can create ecosystems.
Partnerships require compatibility, shared vision, and customer relevance. Activities include strategy development, partner identification, and portfolio optimization.
Metrics, KPIs, and program maturity enable optimization. Partnership management platforms assist in orchestration.
Partners experience stages like discover, recruit, onboard, active, optimize. Collaboration, education, and incentives matter.
Mobile, influencers, loyalty programs, and SB2B partnerships are key partnership types to consider.
Assessment, planning, execution, and optimization are critical partnership activities, alongside vision-building and stakeholder alignment. Maturity enables efficiency.

In summary, partnerships are a vital growth strategy requiring aligned vision, complementary capabilities, customer centricity, lifecycle management, and continuous optimization.

Here are the critical points about partnerships and growing revenue:

Partnerships can significantly impact revenue growth by expanding reach and distribution, increasing credibility and trust, and improving the customer experience.
There are many types of partnerships: affiliate, influencer, strategic brand-to-brand, and referral partnerships. Each has different benefits.
Referral partnerships leverage word-of-mouth and trusted recommendations to generate new customers. They tend to have high ROI.
Strategic partnerships between non-competing brands can create innovative joint offerings that neither could offer alone.
Building a solid partnership strategy involves identifying opportunities, recruiting quality partners, providing value to partners, measuring performance, and optimizing over time.
A good partnership includes shared vision and values, clear objectives and expectations, ongoing communication, and win-win value exchange.
Partnership success requires executive buy-in, dedicated partnership resources, well-defined processes, and tracking metrics like partner contribution to revenue.
done

#book-summary

The Partnership Economy How Modern Businesseer Exceptional Experiences - David A. Yovanno