ChristianAt the start of the year a priority for every business team that has a significant amount of joint venture marketing business should be to review all existing partners and develop strategic marketing plans to find and acquire new clients with there existing partners or identify new partners to replace dead weight. It’s important for business owners to keep track of specific metrics year over year in order to evaluate the business thoroughly to factor any new strengths or weaknesses into annual planning.
Set time aside to meet with all valuable channels in-person and explore new potential opportunities that exist now or will be available soon. Evaluate details about successful business transactions and review the finer details with your business partners in order to identify strategies that can attract similar new clients. Annual strategic planning can be a fun and exciting time as a business owner that is exploring new opportunities for growth as there is little more satisfying than identifying a new opportunity, building the marketing plans, and capturing the market.
Year End Review
As the year wraps up, it’s always a good idea to compile all of the relevant information about the activities of the business so that you’re prepared to analyze the company’s success and plan strategies for finding new clients. The following are a few questions that should always be at the top of the list for all business owners during their review. How is the financial situation of the business? Have employees achieved goals that were set? Were there any major partner successes or failures of the past year? What was the worst and best marketing campaign of the past year? Are there any visible opportunities with existing partners that can close business quickly if pursued?
Larger companies will have more formal quarterly and annual review meetings corresponding to financial reporting activities, however for most small business year end reviews and annual planning activities often are best around December / January time frame.
Partner Strategies
Based on the successes and failures of marketing activities with partners in the previous year, it is important to always focus on areas of strength to increase the number of new clients that can be reached going forward. Working closer with your business channels to identify the right marketing angles that work best to close business fast is necessary for solidifying strategies that work.
Many small businesses get in the habit of sitting back and not getting too involved with a partner. If it’s obvious that one partner is getting more deals closed in a specific region than another partner, identify what is being done and inform the less performing partner and make it mandatory that they adjust the marketing strategy. Otherwise find a new partner that will implement the plan.
Incorporate social media into your strategic marketing planning for the business as an additional way to approach new clients. Many small business owners have avoided using social media sites. If your company is in an industry that’s not a perfect fit for social media like a consumer facing brand or a business like a restaurant, then there’s a good chance that there is a less competition to be found by people interested in your industry.
Take the time to learn about Twitter and making Youtube videos. Start leveraging social media marketing as a cost effective part of your joint venture marketing activities. Working with a partner that is open to doing co-branded social media campaigns is a great way to reach a partners established online community.
New Market Trends
While preparing a strategic marketing plan for your business it is important to include any specific trends in the industry or market in general that impact the success or failure of your business. Continue to evaluate the market and competition to be able to really provide a product or service that meets the customer’s expectations at a competitive price.
Acquiring new clients is never an easy task, so make sure and review successes and failures with all of your joint venture marketing activities and be willing to change when needed. Work with your business partners and continue to evaluate the opportunities that are available to your business. Implementing a fully prepared strategic marketing plan is a great experience and well rewarded so do the research and analysis to find the best marketing approaches to continue growing the business.
Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.
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