I would rather call it proposition placement where you can promote your brand and service proposition using your strategic alliances as a bridge to your clients and potential customers.
Proposition placement if done well is an excellent marketing technique that can be successfully used with your strategic alliances and benefits all parties if you return the favour.
It can be done in the following ways:
1) Make sure you have promotional material issued with your alliances’ newsletters or mailing to clients, again you can ensure your alliances are included in your client communications.
2) Alliances need to be aware and convinced of the elevator pitch for your proposition and know the type of clients you want to attract to your business. They can then promote your solutions to the right people as part of their own service pitch.
3) Have your alliances promote your services in their tweets or Facebook and LinkedIn communications to clients.
4) If you have any promotional videos make sure you add these to an alliance’s website or YouTube channel.
5) Place a poster or your literature in a prominent position within your alliance’s offices. This is something you can reciprocate, of course.
6) Ensure any promotional give aways your organisation produces such as calendar’s and pens are available and on display in the offices of your alliances.
7) Have you considered writing a blog? You could draft a suitable blog that promotes all you do and ensure any alliance you have includes this on their website or issues it as part of their client communications. Many businesses issue a newsletter for clients and are grateful for relevant content. The key is to ensure what you write is relevant and targets the clients you wish to attract and engage.
Proposition placement is not a dark art of communication, it is just ensuring when clients or potential customers visit alliances or receive communications from them that your branding, service proposition and key messages are on view. You should of course do the same for all your alliances.
Business Blogging
As we have seen, one other way to interact with your clients and maintain a relationship, while again showcasing your expertise and experience is business blogging.
What is a blog? Essentially, a blog is a web page that is usually a short impactful regular view from an individual or a company.
More businesses are starting to use blogs as a communications tool. They are an excellent way for any business large or small to showcase its expertise, engage with clients and drive additional traffic to their existing website or the site of strategic alliances.
