Partnerships are where the money is right now—in more ways than one. They are already driving nearly 30% of total revenue for some organizations and have surpassed paid search as the biggest revenue driver many more. In retail, the partnership channel is now the biggest driver of new customers with the lowest customer acquisition costs. And that red-hot status could be good for your career, because people who are savvy at building and managing successful partnership programs are now in high demand.
Want to become a partnership manager?
So how do you break into this trending career path if your company doesn’t have a partnership program per se? Or how do you go from, say, owning an affiliate program to owning a full-fledged partnership channel? You need to rebrand your role, expand your scope of responsibility, and educate the people around you. And you’ll definitely need a little help from technology. Here are some tips for prepping a game plan.
Advocate for yourself and the value of partnerships
Before you try managing a partnership program, you will have to identify the key internal stakeholders within your organization and sell your big idea. Think about this as if you’re running for office to become the partnership manager—you need to advocate and lobby the right people. To approach these key players, you’ll need to have done your research so you can present good, hard facts that come together as a solid roadmap. For example:
- Gather historical data on current partners and programs
- Spotlight the types of partners currently within the channel
- Forecast how much partnerships could contribute realistically over the next 12 to 24 months, showing the exciting growth possibilities
- Explain what strategies are going to result in the type of performance objectives that matter to each of your stakeholder groups
- Steadily “pound that nail” and advocate for yourself and the expansion of your channel
- Outline the new types of partnerships for expansion
What do we mean by “partnerships” and how do you grow your career with them? Watch this quick video below to find out about influencer, affiliate, B2B, social responsibility partnerships and more—and get inspired in the many ways you can grow your career.
Learn more about sparking a new career in the partnership economy in our eBook: How to Accelerate Your Career in Partnerships.
Or reach out to an Impact growth technologist at sales@impact.com who can give you all the details you need to make your case.
