AuthorGeorgia Inwood
LinkedIn
Leveraging partnerships as a start-up eCommerce SEO Agency helped us get our foot in the door in the fast-paced world of eCommerce. Referrals and recommendations can be crucial to building your reputation when starting out, and now, six years on and having worked with over 250 incredible brands, we are still prioritising our partnership ecosystem within our growth strategy.
Our specialism in eCommerce is what makes us unique as an SEO agency. Therefore, our partner database also includes other eCommerce service providers to target overlapping prospects rather than general marketing agencies. Forming and nurturing mutually beneficial strategic partnerships can reap huge benefits for not only yourself and your partners but also for your clients.
We’ve pulled together 5 ways you can transform your agency growth through strategic partnerships.
1. Leveraging Combined Expertise
While all marketing platforms and tools aim to boost conversions, brands often struggle to decide where to allocate their budget. As an agency, we frequently compete with others to demonstrate our ability to deliver the best ROI, and for SEO agencies we are often contrasted with Paid Search options, leaving brands to feel they should choose between the two. By forming partnerships with Paid Search Agencies, we can enhance the discussion around the value of integrating both services. This collaboration helps brands understand how organic and paid strategies complement each other, highlighting their distinct roles and the long-term benefits of a combined approach. For brands, this means a clearer picture of potential performance and ROI when both agencies work together.
Sometimes clients undertake large projects with lots of moving parts and multiple agencies covering different bases at once, so from a partnerships perspective knowing the industry and having pre-established relationships with these agencies can be hugely beneficial and impressive to clients. It improves communication with everyone involved and aids a smoother experience for the client, a massive win for you! For us, we’ve found this is particularly impactful with web development agencies as there can be instances where we’re looped into the workflow and need to have an understanding and strong line of communication with the other agencies involved in the timeline to make the experience a positive one for the client.
This also runs true with tech platforms and stacks even as an agency. There are tech platforms that can enhance our services; for instance, user-generated content (UGC) is excellent for SEO, so we can recommend our partners for implementing reviews or video content to further boost a
brand’s online presence. Expanding your partner ecosystem to tech stacks that won’t directly impact your services is also valuable as they can still complement the site and impact the retailer’s growth.
2. Increased Credibility and Trust
A robust partner ecosystem can significantly enhance your agency’s credibility and trust within the industry. When you align with highly reputable platforms in the industry you can also benefit from their established reputation and credibility. References from partners also play a crucial role in building trust with new brands during pitches or securing pitches through referrals. By leveraging the credibility of your partners, you position yourself as a trusted authority, making it easier to attract and retain clients in a competitive market. This means we also aim to collaborate with partners that offer high-quality services and that we can confidently recommend as reliable platforms.
3. Client growth
Strategic partnerships can be a powerful driver of client growth. By working with industry partners who have a complementary client base, your agency can tap into new opportunities and expand its reach. Introductions from partners to new brands are one of the most valuable outcomes in building strong partnerships, and being able to return this in the future ensures a sustained relationship for you both.
Building mutually beneficial partnerships often starts with identifying similar prospects and crossing the same market size and verticals. This ensures that any referrals and exposure through co-marketing content will reach the relevant audience for both.
Creating opportunities for advocacy and consequently, recommendations from retailers or your client base is also something you can significantly hone in on to maximise growth within your network. Building strong relationships with employees at your current clients’ companies opens the door to future referrals. By consistently delivering high-quality results and providing positive experiences, you can move these individuals into advocates for your agency as when these employees transition to new roles at different companies, they often carry their positive experiences with them and recommend your agency to their new employers. As a once satisfied client of yours, they can share their first-hand experiences in their new role and bring you along with them, opening doors for you to work with a new brand too.
4. Value Add for Your Clients
One of the most often overlooked benefits of forming strategic partnerships is the ability to add significant value to your clients. By connecting your clients with platforms or tools that can boost their growth or ROI, you show your commitment to their success.
For instance, being able to bridge an introduction between your client with one of your reputable partners that will support their growth, shows your investment in their long-term success and support outside of the services you provide. We have been able to see the success of introducing our clients to platforms to aid with international expansion, customer experience solutions and AI software to improve efficiency.
Moreover, this added value enhances your agency’s reputation as a trusted advisor. Clients are more likely to stay loyal and refer others when they see that your agency is not only delivering excellent SEO services but also providing additional resources and recommendations that contribute to their overall business growth.
5. Mutual Exposure Through Co-Marketing
Co-marketing initiatives and event collaborations are effective ways to gain mutual exposure for your agency and your partners. By working together on marketing campaigns, content creation, and events, you can leverage each other’s audiences and enhance brand visibility.
For example, hosting a joint webinar or creating co-branded content with an eCommerce platform can attract a wider audience. These initiatives allow both partners to showcase their expertise and offer valuable insights to potential clients. We’ve co-written blogs with our partners on topics with retailers and the consumer at the centre, allowing us both to weave our services or platforms in such as exploring the post-conversion strategies and customer experience tactics for retention. The mutual exposure gained from such collaborations can lead to increased brand awareness and attract new clients to both your agency and your partner. More recently we worked with a few of our close partners to create a short guide on internationalisation for eCommerce brands which was a valuable piece for both our partners and brands reading in bringing together a range of expert insights.
Additionally, participating in industry events or conferences together can amplify your reach and establish your agency as a key player in the eCommerce marketing space. By collaborating on these activities, you not only enhance your visibility but also build stronger relationships with your partners and potential clients.
To conclude, strategic partnerships have proven to be a game-changer for our agency over the past five years. By leveraging combined expertise, enhancing credibility, driving client growth, adding value for clients, and co-marketing with our partners, we have transformed our approach and achieved remarkable growth. These partnerships have allowed us to deliver more comprehensive and effective marketing solutions, ultimately benefiting our clients and partners alike. Another important angle to comment on is the potential for your client to see a strong ROI through working with the tech platform you’ve connected them with and as a result finding more budget to reinvest back into other areas, one of which being a bigger retainer with you!
Embracing collaboration strengthens our agency’s position and widens our supporting network. It also creates added value for our clients as an advisory source and industry expert.
