Partnership Unpacked (Mike Allton)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Partnership Unpacked
| Date | Titre | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04 Dec 2023 | Partnering with AI Throughout the Partnership Journey w/ Katie Richman | 00:48:02 | |
Every episode of the classic Western TV Show, The Lone Ranger, started out, "With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!" And throughout the decades since, the concept of working alone has often been equated with being a Lone Ranger. And we’ve used that phrase here on this very show.
But it’s a bit of a misnomer, isn’t it? The Lone Ranger wasn’t alone, he had his friend and colleague Tonto with him to help.
Tonto wasn’t a Ranger of course, but having a resource to turn to who at least has some understanding of our world and environment can be a real asset. It can help us lone partnership heroes feel less isolated, and give us additional avenues of research and brainstorming.
Can AI be that kind of faithful companion for us today?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Today we’re in for a real treat, as we’re joined by one of my best friends and she just happens to be a brilliant expert in generative AI. And she’s going to help me, er… us… with the fact that many of us are operating as partnership department leaders yet we’re a team of one. We’re expected to foster new relationships, bring on new partners, spearhead new initiatives, and often do that across several different kinds of partnership types.
How can AI help us to be more efficient and feel less isolated?
That’s exactly what Katie Richman is going to talk to us about.
Katie spent decades at the intersection of content production, brand storytelling, and emerging tech at well-known brands like ESPN and Meta. She’s now an incredible writer, thought leader, and consultant in the generative AI space, conducting emerging tech workshops and coaching sessions for industry leaders and executives. She’s a tech optimist but a business operations realist, and we’re blessed to have her with us today to help us understand the power of generative AI.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Katie Richman about:
♉️ Why partnership leaders should utilize AI in every aspect of their work
♉️ How AI can help with pitching and onboarding partners
♉️ Where partnership leaders can use AI for campaigns and engagement
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Katie Richman
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/partnering-with-ai-throughout-the-partnership-journey-w-katie-richman/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 13 Jan 2023 | How To Launch An Affiliate Program In 30 Days w/ Paddy McGill | 00:50:35 | |
Imagine if there were a legion of bloggers that would routinely talk about your business and promote your products and services. Think about how your business might benefit if there were hundreds of articles and resources on other people's sites, talking about your business and sending you referral traffic, leads and sales. Would that help your business and grow your bottom line? If you're anything like me, you've probably signed up for more than a few affiliate programs so you know how it works. You get a unique tracking link for a business and earn referrals and commissions on anyone who uses that link to purchase. But what if you want affiliates of your own? How do you get started? How can you make sure that your affiliate program is actually worth the effort. That's why I'm talking to a real expert on affiliate programs and partnerships, Paddy McGill. Paddy is an Affiliate and Partnership consultant with over 10 years experience in the industry, his mission is to help Entrepreneurs and SaaS businesses land their first lead or revenue generating partnership within 30 days. Ready to scale up? Then it’s time to sign up: agorapulse.com/calendar Full notes & transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-launch-an-affiliate-program-in-30-days/ Powered by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 13 Mar 2023 | Influencer Marketing Trends Insights For CMOs with Gordon Glenister | 00:31:02 | |
73% of B2B marketers cite an increased interest in influencer marketing this year. And that’s good, because it’s been shown conclusively that buyers are eager to make purchases based on the recommendations of influencers and content creators.
And yet, there’s still a tremendous amount of confusion and trepidation when it comes to influencer marketing. Is it just for B2C brands? Is Instagram losing it’s luster? Should B2B brands be focusing on TikTok?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Now, I mentioned at the outset how much more marketers, even B2B marketers, are investing into influencer marketing this year. One of the big challenges though is that the vast majority of the information online today is geared toward B2C influencers. Celebrities and other social media influencers who have amassed large followings and are able to make purchase recommendations from their platform.
B2B CEOs and CMOs, like many of you, are often left wondering who they’re supposed to work with when it comes to influencers. What kind of content should we be creating? And which channels should we really focus on?
That’s what Gordon Glenister is here to help us with.
As a podcast host, consultant, and author of the best selling book, “Influencer Marketing Strategy: How to Create Successful Influencer Marketing,” Gordon is a global influencer marketing expert. He recently partnered with Ryan Hilliard of HypeAuditer to put together the State of Influencer Marketing 2023 report, packed with trends and data that we want to UNpack.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Gordon Glenister about:
♉️ Is Instagram still the preferred platform for using influencers to impact buying decisions?
♉️ Do we have to focus on influencers with the largest followings?
♉️ How should B2B brands approach influencer marketing today?
Learn more about Gordon Glenister
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/influencer-marketing-trends-amp-insights-for-cmos-w-gordon-glenister/ Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 03 Jul 2023 | How CMOs and Partnership Leaders Can Adopt A Winning Mindset with Angus Nelson | 00:47:56 | |
CMOs and Partnership Leaders today are facing increasing amounts of pressure.
Pressure to do more with less.
Pressure to show their stakeholders, internal and external, real results.
Pressure to take their partner programs to the next level.
All the books and courses and webinars in the world can’t help if you don’t have the right mindset. So where do we begin?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And after a couple dozen episodes, we’ve covered a lot of ground. We’ve talked about building strategic partner programs, working with influencers, and even how to start up a great affiliate program.
But how are we supposed to accomplish these goals, juggle competing priorities, and keep our personal and professional lives balanced?
That’s what Angus Nelson is here to help us with.
If you want to model the best, why not look to someone who’s worked with executives and brands like Walmart, Coca-Cola, Disney and Adobe! I’ve known Angus for years and have always been impressed with his knowledge and style, and couldn’t wait to bring him on to share his years of best practices as an executive strategist.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Angus Nelson about::
♉️ How to overcome issues plaguing partnership leaders like overwhelm and dealing with failure.
♉ Why successful executives still hit plateaus, and what to do about them.
♉️ And how to achieve success, despite all these pressures.
Learn more about Angus Nelson
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-cmos-and-partnership-leaders-can-adopt-a-winning-mindset-w-angus-nelson/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 17 Jul 2023 | How Marketing Executives Ride the Roller Coaster of Success with Laura Gassner Otting | 00:50:24 | |
You’ve likely heard the phrase “Success breeds success,” but you may not have heard the full quote from Felicity Kendal where she said, “Success breeds success, and failure leads to a sort of fallow period.”
I found that interesting because, often, success too can lead to a sort of fallow period. A time where we thought we should be thrilled and celebrating our victories but perhaps found ourselves even more overwhelmed. Even more stressed. And struggling even more with imposter syndrome.
If you’ve ever achieved success and then still wondered what the heck you’re doing there and what you’re supposed to do next… you’re not alone.
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Think about the last time you accomplished a big goal at work - maybe you launched a really successful campaign, or perhaps you brought in a huge partner deal. Or maybe… just maybe… you managed to book an interview with a celebrity author and speaker.
That was great, wasn’t it?
But what happened next?
Were you expected to accomplish even more the next time? Did you wonder if you could? Did you question yourself and wonder how you managed to get that point at all?
That’s Wonderhell, and that’s what Laura Gassner Otting is here to help us with.
She’s a frequent contributor to Good Morning America, the TODAY Show, Harvard Business Review, and Oprah Daily, and has had a profound presence in corporate America for over thirty years. And our friend Mitch Joel writes, “When doubt creeps in (or when the ego wails, ‘You deserve this!’), Wonderhell is here to provide balance and a healthier approach to keep things going in the right direction.” She’s worked in the White House, her own tech start-up, and with the full gamut of mission-driven corporate and nonprofit executives.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Laura Gassner Otting about:
♉️ How CMOs and Partnership Leaders can more effectively visualize goals and success
♉️ Why it can be so hard sometimes to deal with success and look beyond to the next goal
♉️ What the keys to overcoming failure and impostor syndrome are
Learn more about Laura Gassner Otting
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-marketing-executives-ride-the-roller-coaster-of-success-w-laura-gassner-otting/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 06 Feb 2023 | How To Recruit High-performing Affiliates w/ Farzad Rashidi | 00:38:18 | |
How’s your affiliate program looking? Have you noticed how most of your affiliate traffic and referrals are from less than 20% of your channel partners? Picture your top affiliate. What would it look like if you had 5, 10, 50 more affiliates just. like. them. But friends… I’ve got a problem. I’m looking at our channel partner program in FirstPromoter and I have to be honest, the vast majority of my affiliates have zero referrals last quarter. That’s not good! It’s not good for my program, and it’s not good for those partners. Now, some of those affiliates could use with some better nurturing and training, and that’s on me, and something we’ll touch on in a future episode. But I also have to wonder what else I could be doing to bring in more affiliates like my top earners. The ones that are driving loads of traffic and quite literally making thousands of dollars a month from Agorapulse commissions. Well, that’s exactly what our guest today, Farzad Rashidi, is going to talk to us about. Farzad is the lead innovator at Respona, the link-building outreach platform that helps businesses increase their organic traffic from Google. He previously ran the marketing efforts at Visme, where he helped the company gain over 18 million active users and pass 3.5 million in monthly organic traffic. He’s partnered with me on a number of initiatives over the past few years and was gracious enough to agree to come on the show and help me out with this dilemma. Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Farzad Rashidi about: ♉️ What makes for a really good affiliate? ♉️ How brands should structure their affiliate marketing programs ♉️ Where to find terrific affiliates and actually see ROI Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-recruit-high-performing-affiliates-w-farzad-rashidi/ Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 28 Aug 2023 | The Latest Developments In Influencer Marketing with Krishna Subramanian | 00:22:02 | |
I’ve been blogging about social media and the various networks since 2011, and have had a front-row seat as change after change change was pushed upon us as marketers and we had to scramble to learn and adapt.
New social networks cropping up. Old social networks shutting down.
And throughout, it’s been even more complicated for influencers and the brands who want to leverage them, as they seek to navigate these changes and more.
So what are the latest developments in influencer marketing?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Listen… if you feel overwhelmed by all of the changes in marketing happening today, that’s OK. We all feel that way. From AI to GA4 to European lawmaker’s nonstop assault on technology, there’s so much going on, it can be difficult to have a sense for what direction we should be headed with our marketing initiatives
Particularly with influencer marketing today. Hollywood strikes, new networks like Threads, and emerging technology have influencers and brands scratching their heads.
That’s exactly what Krishna Subramanian is going to talk to us about.
While Agorapulse is embedded in the social media marketing space, top-ranked influencer marketing tool Capitiv8 is similarly positioned in the influencer marketing space, led by co-founder and CEO, Krishna. His is a trusted voice in the marketing industry due to his years of experience leading Captiv8 and, before that, Mobclix and BlueLithium. He’s published with Forbes, AdAge and AdWeek, appeared as a guest commentator on BloombergWest, CNBC and FoxNews, and is a frequent speaker at conferences such as SXSW, OMMA and AdTech.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Krishna Subramanian about:
♉️ How the strikes in Hollywood are impacting influencers today
♉️ The impact, and opportunities, the new Threads network offers
♉️ Why micro influencers are on the rise
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Krishna Subramanian
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/the-latest-developments-in-influencer-marketing-w-krishna-subramanian/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 10 Apr 2023 | Why So Many Brands Fail At B2B Influencer Marketing with Lee Odden | 00:34:44 | |
According to a survey by TopRank Marketing, 78% of B2B marketers say that influencer marketing is effective, even with small campaigns. And we know that B2B buyers are more likely to purchase a product or service if it has been recommended by an industry influencer.
And yet, influencer marketing is still a challenge and a mystery to many brands. From finding influencers to measuring results, companies report significant challenges.
Why is influencer marketing such a big deal for B2B brands? Where are they going wrong, and how can they achieve and measure success?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Listen, as B2B CMOs and marketing executives, we have a real challenge facing us. A few years ago at a conference it was said that, “Empathy with customer needs and understanding the questions they have during the journey from awareness to purchase is essential for creating valuable content. Content Marketing must not only inform, but also engage and even entertain to create valuable experiences between customers and brand information.
How are we supposed to empathize, understand, inform, engage AND entertain?
That’s what influencers excel at, and that’s why Lee Odden, who made that statement, is here to help us.
In 2001, Lee co-founded the TopRank Marketing agency which has become the top B2B marketing resource, regularly ranking as one of the most influential marketing blogs on the web by Content Marketing Institute, Ad Age, and more.
On top of leading influencer marketing campaigns for major brands like SAP, Lee is an incredible B2B influencer himself and someone I’ve admired for years as a global speaker, prolific blogger, and author of the book, “Optimize.” He is, without a doubt, one of the foremost experts on B2B influencer marketing, and you know I couldn't wait to pick his brain.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Lee Odden about:
♉️ Why influencer marketing is such a game changer for B2B brands
♉️ How to find and nurture great B2B influencers
♉️ How to measure the ROI of influencer marketing initiatives
Learn more about Lee Odden
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/why-so-many-brands-fail-at-b2b-influencer-marketing-w-lee-odden/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 04 Sep 2023 | How Brands Can Maximize Influencer Partnerships with Adam Rossow | 00:33:26 | |
Just like launching a rocket into space requires a tremendous amount of initial energy to achieve lift-off, launching a new influencer marketing campaign with brand new influencers takes a tremendous amount of work.
But, once a rocket achieves a certain altitude, gravitational forces sheer away and the rocket can continue moving out into space on pure momentum. Influencer marketing can work the same way!
What if you could leverage ongoing relationships and amplify existing content and motions to keep… moving… forward?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And today’s certainly going to be another highly tactical discussion. Because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone through the trouble to find an influencer, meet with them, bring them up to speed on our company and audience, and build a campaign with them… only to have to go through the entire process again with the next campaign or feature launch.
There has to be better, more efficient ways to find and work with influencers, right?
That’s exactly what Adam Rossow is going to talk to us about.
Adam has been working for decades to help brands understand how to test, create and optimize their marketing and communications. Group RFZ was founded with a similar charge in mind – to give the marketing suite the tools and insights they need to be successful, and their focus is on the influencer marketing space where they help brands and agencies get past vanity metrics and understand exactly how their marketing programs are impacting the way consumers think, feel and act.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Adam Rossow about:
♉️ How to truly measure the success of influencer marketing campaigns
♉️ Where marketers can invest in influencer marketing and achieve momentum
♉️ Why long term relationships with influencers are so important
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Adam Rossow
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-brands-can-maximize-influencer-marketing-partnerships-w-adam-rossow/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 01 May 2023 | How To Approach Agency Clients As Partnerships for Greater ROI with Dale Wilson | 00:21:48 | |
The number of enterprises in the marketing agency industry in the United States increased by 12.0% annually between 2017 and 2022. How can your agency stand apart from a growing number of competitors?
Through partnerships. Partnerships with other agencies and brands, and partnerships with your clients themselves.
Your clients are tired of traditional client-agency relationships that often feel transactional and one-sided. Do you want to learn how to foster a more collaborative and mutually beneficial partnership with your agency clients? A relationship where the client is more invested, drives more revenue, and is less likely to churn?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Now, when it comes to partnerships, there are a lot of different kinds and flavors, as evidenced by all the different topics we cover on this show. There are partnerships with influencers and affiliates, integrations with technology partners, co-marketing initiatives with brand partners, mergers and acquisitions, and of course today’s topic, client partnerships.
And yet, often when I what from brands who want to partner with me, that’s really just a euphemism for sell to me. Should you really talk to your prospects and clients about partnering with them? What should that look like?
That’s what Dale Wilson is here to help us with.
Dale is an online marketing professional combining leadership, analytical, and organizational skills for the performance marketing agency adQuadrant, focused on guiding the agency and its partners toward mutual benefits.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Dale about:
♉️How partnerships are employed to empower and grow their clients.
♉️Examples of successful agency partnerships.
♉️How partnership ROI is determined and measured.
Learn more about Umair Mansha
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-approach-agency-clients-as-partnerships-for-greater-roi-w-dale-wilson/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 13 Nov 2023 | How To Build A B2B SaaS Agency Partner Program w Franz-Josef Schrepf | 00:37:11 | |
B2B SaaS companies all have a shared challenge:
Helping their customers actually succeed with their product.
You can have all the help videos and tutorials in the world, but sometimes customers want someone else to do the work and for that, they’re going to turn to an agency.
Should we partner with agencies? What should that look like?
That’s what Franz-Josef Schrepf is here to help us with.
During the height of the pandemic and everyone’s rush to leverage online events, Franz stood up Hopin's channel program, app store, and strategic alliance efforts, and helped that company’s rapid rise from zero to $7.75B valuation. He is the host of The Partner Ship 🚢, a bi-weekly LinkedIn Live show where partnerships leaders share their tricks of the trade, and currently serves as the Head of Strategic Partnerships for our favorite live streaming tool, StreamYard.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Franz-Josef Schrepf about:
♉️Why starting small is a good thing ♉️Where to start with a new agency partner program ♉️How to trim and scale your program to success
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Franz-Josef Schrepf
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 21 Jan 2023 | Setting Goals For Partnerships & Omnichannel Marketing w/ Robin Dimond | 00:19:38 | |
Harvard Business Review found that omnichannel customers spend 10% more online, and a shocking 73% of customers prefer shopping through multiple channels. And Google found that omnichannel customers are worth 30% more! The challenge, of course, is finding ways to create a seamless experience for customers across all of a brand’s channels. Could partnerships play a role? That’s what Robin Dimond is here to help us with. Robin has been marketing and innovating for nearly two decades, and strives to bring sensory experiences and the heart back into all her team’s work, thus comes the name - Fifth (five senses) & Cor (Latin for heart). She transforms brands and communities, and she’s going to help you transform how you approach partnerships! Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Robin Dimond about: ♉️ Why partnerships and omnichannel marketing are critical today ♉️ How we set goals across broad & complex channels ♉️ What the most important goals should be, and how they’re measured Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar Full Notes & Transcript: Powered by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 24 Apr 2023 | How to Scale Partnerships and Collaborations Using SOPs with Umair Mansha | 00:35:09 | |
James Cash Penney, founder of the JCPenney franchise in 1898, once famously said, “Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” And his is a classic American story of entrepreneurship and growth and expansion. He started as a partial partner in a new store in Wyoming and quickly leveraged his experience and business acumen to open more and more stores, eventually building a nationwide chain.
Doubtless that’s the kind of growth and scaling of our businesses, and our partnership departments, that we’d all aspire to.
Tony Robbins said that, “In business, the definition of “scale” is to increase revenue at a faster rate than costs. Businesses achieve this in a number of ways, from adopting new technologies to finding “gaps” in their operations that can be streamlined.”
How do we find gaps in partnership operations so we can scale and drive more revenue?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Now back in episode 10, if you recall, we talked to Asher Mathew and Kelly Sarabyn about the state of partnership operations, and it was particularly interesting how much more successful - and profitable - businesses were who had grown their partner teams and implemented a more advanced tech stack.
But the problem is, you can’t simply hire more people and invest in more expensive tools to grow a program. If you want to scale like J.C. Penney, you need to build on excellence, and that means having terrific systems and Standard Operating Procedures.
That’s exactly what our guest today, Umair Mansha, is going to talk to us about.
Umair brings his experience as an agency consultant and head of marketing/growth at two different brands. He has overseen and executed on all of the inbound channels from SEO to email marketing as well as content strategy to editorial PR. Umair understands the what and how of getting things done. And that’s exactly the kind of expert and attitude we need to help us scale this program.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Umair about:
♉️ Why brands must develop SOPs for their partnerships.
♉️ How to build great, ROI-driving SOPs.
♉️ What happens when brands do... and don't, use SOPs.
Learn more about Umair Mansha
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-scale-partnerships-and-collaborations-using-sops-w-umair-mansha/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 11 Sep 2023 | How CMOs and Partnership Leaders Should Approach New Technologies Like AI with Mitch Joel | 00:36:37 | |
In 2022, Google announced that their Analytics product would have an entirely new version by Summer 2023, and that all brands would need to update and change. The year before that, it was announced that the mechanism most marketers used to track website visitor activity, cookies, would be going away.
In those instances, we had advance notice that change was coming. With disruptive technologies like AI, change is thrust upon us seemingly overnight, with CMOs and partnership leaders struggling to catch up by the light of the new dawn.
But change doesn’t actually occur overnight, so shouldn’t we be able to see what’s coming next?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And this industry… it’s changing!
In past episodes we’ve talked about new networks like Threads, new laws and tools that are impacting influencer marketing and partnerships, and of course how AI is invading every aspect of our lives.
As marketing leaders, it’s incumbent on us to have the vision to see what’s coming around the corner and prepare for it. We need to know whether or not today’s hype is going to disrupt our very business tomorrow, don’t we?
Well that’s exactly what Mitch Joel is going to talk to us about.
When brands like Google, Starbucks, Shopify and GE want to decode the future, they call Mitch. We called him too.
Mitch is Co-Founder of ThinkersOne - a platform that empowers companies with personalized and bite-sized thought leadership from the best Thinkers in the world. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation, named after his successful blog and podcast is a business bestseller. His second book, Control Alt Delete was named one of the best business books of 2013 by Amazon.
And Strategy Magazine called him, "one of North America's leading visionaries,” which is why he’s here with us today.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Mitch Joel about:
♉️ How AI is impacting marketing and partnerships today
♉️ Why marketing & business processes are so susceptible to new technologies
♉️ How CMOs and partnership leaders can decode the future
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Mitch Joel
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-cmos-and-partnership-leaders-should-approach-new-technologies-like-ai-w-mitch-joel/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 09 Nov 2023 | How To Be A Successful Lone Ranger In Partnerships w Cory Snyder | 00:42:24 | |
Are you the only partnership professional in your organization?
Are you struggling to demonstrate value to your team and organizational leadership?
Are you tired of recruiting new partners only to see those relationships fizzle out?
That’s what Cory Snyder is here to help us with.
Cory is the VP of Partnerships at Sendoso and has been in this industry for decades. He’s seen new technology and new mindsets be developed and, all the while, maintained his commitment to excellence and successful methodologies. He’s worked tirelessly to create, launch, accelerate and scale partner & sales organizations, was awarded the Partnerships Leader of the Year in 2022 by PartnerStack, and was recently a guest on the terrific podcast, Friends With Benefits.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked Cory Snyder about:
♉️How to develop a daily routine to support partnership success ♉️How tools like Reveal create opportunities for revenue growth ♉️How to measure & communicate success as a Lone Ranger
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Cory Snyder
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-be-a-successful-lone-ranger-in-partnerships-w-cory-snyder/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 22 Jan 2024 | How Global Partnerships at Can Generate Billions In Revenue with Max Rivera | 00:31:42 | |
Would your organization benefit from a global network of reseller partnerships?
In a time when marketing budgets are shrinking and global economies are in turmoil, having resellers on the ground in various regions and countries who have already established a trusted relationship with your target audience is a real asset.
But such a network isn’t tossed together overnight.
Where do we start, and how do we grow and scale reseller partnerships to levels like what Snap has accomplished?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
We’ve talked in a previous episode about building agency partner programs and the idea of using resellers to grow our businesses is a topic I wanted to dig into more.
How do we structure these programs? How do we expand into new regions? How do we measure success? I have so many questions…
And what better way to learn than to talk to someone who has been there from the beginning with a tech company like Snap.
Max Rivera joined Snap at an early stage to launch the international expansion practice before the company's IPO. He’s led high-performing global teams and launched the business across new markets in Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Today, he is leading some of the largest business partnerships, and he’s also an angel investor and board member for startups in emerging technology sectors.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Max Rivera about:
♉️ How reseller partnerships work for tech startups
♉️ How to start a reseller program that can scale globally
♉️ How to measure and achieve success with reseller partnerships
Learn more about Max Rivera
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-global-partnerships-can-generate-billions-in-revenue-w-max-rivera/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 03 Apr 2023 | How Agencies Leverage Partnerships To Combat Churn with Rachel Nulman-Schapiro | 00:45:13 | |
We work with thousands of marketing agencies at Agorapulse and when we asked them what they struggle with the most, the number one answer was always how to grow and scale their agency.
But when we drill down, we find that the problems, and the solutions, change as agencies grow.
New and boutique agencies struggle with messaging, targeting, and lead nurture. It’s a near-constant battle to keep the pipeline filled and the next project client coming onboard.
As agencies grow, however, they often change their revenue model to a recurring proposition, which is a great help to cash flow. But that introduces a new challenge to agencies: churn.
If you’ve got a problem with too many customers canceling or not renewing, how do you reverse that? How can partnerships help?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
And while we often talk about partnerships as a growth channel - leveraging affiliates or influencers, for example, to introduce our brand to new audiences - there’s another terrific application for partnerships. And that is to increase customer satisfaction and stickiness, and thereby reduce churn.
What does that mean? How does it work for marketing agencies? What are some examples?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Rachel Nulman-Schapiro, is going to talk to us about.
Rachel is an ambassador to small business and agency communities for vcita, a tool savvy agencies are using for everything from client management to email marketing. She’s in a position to help and advise them because she’s been in their shoes, having started a marketing agency of her own in college.
And today she’s going to help us understand how to leverage partnerships to reduce churn and keep our cash flow positive.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Rachel Nulman-Schapiro about:
♉️ Whether it's truly possible to have partnerships with paying clients.
♉️ How agencies can leverage partnerships.
♉️ How to measure the ROI of client partnerships.
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-agencies-leverage-partnerships-to-combat-churn-w-rachel-nulman-schapiro/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 31 Jul 2023 | How Partnerships Can Fuel Content Amplification To Drive Brand Awareness with James Tennant | 00:31:53 | |
85% of respondents to a recent survey by Converge reported that brand visibility is the overall goal for content amplification. At the same time, the majority of those surveyed reported they had neither the time nor the resources to accomplish what they wanted.
That’s a problem.
CMOs today understand the importance of content marketing for establishing brand authority and driving traffic & sales, but for some reason there’s always a roadblock between content creation and content amplification, resulting in missed opportunities.
Could partnerships play a role here?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
I mentioned at the outset that 85% of marketers report brand visibility is the overall goal for content amplification, and according to research from LiveRamp, that brand awareness is the metric which matters most to marketers.
And yet, 75% of those same respondents said they’re not spending enough time on content amplification. Lack of time being the #1 reason.
And that makes sense, doesn’t it? Once we’ve spent so much time ideating, researching, and creating a piece of content, it’s a relief to simply get it published, or see our team get it published.
But therein lies the problem. Mark Schaefer once said that, essentially, if no one sees our content, it’s worthless. We should be heavily invested in promoting and amplifying the content we’re creating, but if we’re already time-strapped, what are we supposed to do?
That’s exactly what our guest today, James Tennant, is going to talk to us about.
James has spent years creating content and working with businesses and organizations around the world, including the likes of eBay and Universal Studios. In his drive to help brands with their content strategy, he founded Converge - a platform that helps B2B businesses significantly grow their readership among their target market.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to James Tennant about:
♉️ The strategic importance of content amplification
Learn more about James Tennant
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-partnerships-can-fuel-content-amplification-to-drive-brand-awareness-w-james-tennant/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 27 Nov 2023 | How A Serial Partnership Leader Defines Success w/ Tai Rattigan | 00:51:38 | |
Through the first three quarters of 2023 in the U.S., over 170,000 tech workers have been laid off.
Now, more than ever, it’s critical for partnership teams to be focused on the right initiatives and have plans in place to measure and demonstrate success.
How do we prioritize the right partners? Where are strategic partnerships headed in the coming years, and how do we define success?
That’s what Tai Rattigan is here to help us with.
Tai is a giant in the partnership space having built teams at Optimizely, Amplitude and Deel. And he’s co-founded an organization, Partnership Leaders, dedicated to providing partnership pros with a community and the resources they need to succeed.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Tai Rattigan about:
♉️Prioritizing the right partners ♉️Measuring partnership success ♉️The future of strategic partnerships
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Tai Rattigan
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-a-serial-partnership-leader-defines-success-w-tai-rattigan/(opens in a new tab)
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 06 Mar 2023 | How to Craft a Sponsorship Pitch No Brand Will Ignore with Justin Moore | 00:42:45 | |
Over half of B2B buyers say that they rely on industry thought leaders and influencers to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in their field.
It’s no wonder then that 59% of B2B marketers say that they plan to increase their influencer marketing budget in the coming year. In an industry that reached $16.1 billion in 2022, influencer marketing has become extremely lucrative, and competitive!
Which means there’s a lot riding on every pitch and proposal and presentation from an influencer trying to land work with a brand, or even brands looking to partner with other brands.
If you’re interested in making sure your next pitch to a brand gets the attention it deserves, you’re in the right place.
Because that’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Listen, whether you’re a partnership leader for your brand, or you’re a B2B influencer growing an audience and building revenue streams, you have one major challenge in common:
You have to be able to successfully pitch another brand to buy in to your ideas and pony up, whether that’s a sponsorship fee, co-marketing campaign, or some other investment.
The problem is, as I mentioned at the beginning, the influencer marketing industry is huge and successful brands are getting inundated with LinkedIn connection requests, cold emails, Twitter DMs, and more… all begging for their attention.
How can you make sure that it’s your pitch that get’s seen and accepted?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Justin Moore, is going to talk to us about.
Justin brings a very unique perspective because not only has he been a creator in the trenches doing sponsorships for years but by running an agency, he has insider knowledge behind how big brands choose which influencers to partner with and why they pass on others.
He is a Sponsorship Coach & the founder of @CreatorWizard, a school & community that teaches you how to find & negotiate your dream brand deals so that you stop leaving thousands on the table.
Having made over $4M working with brands over the course of 8 years, I knew this was a conversation we wanted to have.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Justin Moore about: ♉️ How to start working with brands as an influencer
♉️ The most common mistakes influencer make with their pitches
♉️ How to craft a winning sponsorship pitch Learn more about Justin Moore Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-craft-a-sponsorship-pitch-no-brand-will-ignore-w-justin-moore/ Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 29 May 2023 | How SaaS Companies Find and Leverage B2B Influencers with Justin Levy | 00:38:25 | |
At the Social Pulse Summit: ROI Edition event that I hosted in March, I asked attendees of the influencer marketing panel what their biggest challenges were. 31.8% reported that measuring and proving ROI was their greatest challenge, while 22.7% said finding and working with the right influencers was their Achilles heel.
Does that resonate with you?
Perhaps you, too, have struggled to find great influencers to work with, the kinds of influencers whom you can rely on to follow-through on campaigns and drive real revenue.
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
As I mentioned at the outset, brands today that want to take advantage of how successful influencer marketing can be have a couple of challenges - namely, where to find influencers, and how to measure the success of their efforts.
I know that’s something I’ve struggled with!
That’s exactly what our guest today, Justin Levy, is going to talk to us about.
Justin Levy is currently head of influencer marketing and community for Demandbase. As part of his role, he leads a private community, Revenue Circle, that’s designed for senior executives in sales and marketing roles. Previously, he led social marketing at ServiceNow, global social media for Citrix, and assisted in the launch of a social media agency that worked with Fortune 500 brands.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Justin Levy about:
♉️ Where to find B2B influencers
♉️ How to engage B2B influencers strategically
♉️ What today’s influencer marketing leaders need to keep in mind
Learn more about Justin Levy
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-saas-companies-find-and-leverage-b2b-influencers-w-justin-levy/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton
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| 25 Sep 2023 | How Strategic Partnerships Can Rescue Your Revenue Team with Allan Adler | 00:35:33 | |
How is your revenue team doing?
Did they miss their numbers last period? Are they frustrated with a lack of qualified leads and pipeline?
Are they looking to partnerships, and to YOU, for help?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Now I don’t know about you, but so many of the sales and revenue team members I talk to these days are hurting.
They’re struggling to get leads.
And guess what… they’re looking to us as partnership leaders to help! Whether that’s partnering with brands to bring in new marketing leads, or creating stronger channel partners who can resell or refer.
But what if you could bring partners to the table who could not only drive pipeline, but also increase those close rates and even drive up deal size?
Would that be beneficial to you and your revenue team?
That’s exactly what Allan Adler is going to talk to us about.
Allan is known worldwide as a Chief Ecosystem Officer and helps clients build partner ecosystems and accelerate their ecosystem flywheel. (I love that metaphor) He is the creator of the GoToEco framework that helps unlock the potential of Ecosystem and transform businesses for good by leveraging co-selling orchestration to achieve co-selling mastery. As the Chair of the Ecosystem Counsel at PartnerHacker and an Executive Member of Partnership Leaders, he’s immersed in the partnership world and the perfect guest to help us, and our revenue teams, today!
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked Allan Adler about:
♉️ How co-selling with partners works
♉️ What partner co-selling success looks like
♉️ How to find the right partners for co-selling
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar Learn more about Allan Adler
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-strategic-partnerships-can-rescue-your-revenue-team-w-allan-adler/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 13 Jan 2023 | How To Develop Successful Influencer Marketing Campaigns w/ Nicole Ponce | 00:39:38 | |
Influencer marketing is one of the hottest trends in digital marketing today, but it's also one of the most misunderstood. Many brands think that they can just throw money at influencers and call it a day, but that doesn't work for a variety of reasons. That's why we're talking with Nicole Ponce. Nicole is the Influencers Marketing Manager for Semrush. She maintains and grows relationships with experts in the digital marketing community to build long term relationships and collaborations with one of the leading marketing platforms on the planet, Semrush. She uses her visionary approach to implement global content marketing strategies, and she's joining me on Partnership Unpacked to share how she does it. We'll talk about how she identifies influencers to work with, how she manages influencer marketing campaigns, and some examples of successful past initiatives. Ready to scale up? Then it’s time to sign up: agorapulse.com/calendar Full notes & transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-develop-successful-influencer-marketing-campaigns/ Powered by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 30 Oct 2023 | How One Of The Largest MarTech Marketplaces Achieves Scale w/ Greg Karelitz | 00:48:40 | |
How do you successfully scale a partner ecosystem with hundreds of partners?
We talked about starting a marketplace of partners for your business in a previous episode, but what happens when your early success translates into increased demand and a slew of new partners? There are app ecosystems in the MarTech space that have grown to thousands of partners and integrations. How did they get to that level of success?
That’s what Greg Karelitz is here to help us with.
Greg is the Global Director of Technology Partnerships with the mission of helping millions of businesses easily integrate their tech stack with HubSpot. HubSpot recently passed 1,500+ publicly available integrations which means over 1500 partners that Greg and his team have been responsible for sourcing, onboarding, and managing.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Greg Karelitz about:
♉️How to scale and manage an ecosystem of hundreds of partners ♉️Tools & Tactics for leveraging a MarTech marketplace ♉️Recommendations for maintaining internal alignment
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Greg Karelitz
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-one-of-the-largest-martech-marketplaces-achieves-scale-w-greg-karelitz/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 15 May 2023 | How to Create a Partnership Movement in Your Company with Jared Fuller | 00:52:56 | |
Are partnerships integrated into every aspect of your company, or are you still working in a silo, struggling to gain traction?
Does it seem like you’re the only one who sees how powerful and impactful strategic partnerships can be?
Fortunately, you’re not alone. You’re not the only one who needs help communicating and persuading executives and other departments to adopt a partnership mindset and embrace the movement. But how do we move forward?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And I have to admit, that’s exactly what I’m going to be doing today. At Agorapulse, I’m responsible for our affiliates, our influencers, our channel partners, our brand partners, and our tech partners. I know that partnerships could be having an even greater impact on our revenue and customers if we better integrated tools and processes and mindsets beyond marketing into sales and customer service.
But I need help. Maybe you do too.
That’s what Jared Fuller is here to help us with.
He was the VP of Sales & Business Development for PandaDoc, and the Senior Director of Global Partnerships at Drift, where he built Drift/Adobe Alliance from zero to Adobe Partner of The Year. Jared is the co-founder of PartnerHacker and the host of PartnerUp, The Partnerships Podcast, and recently assumed the role of Chief Ecosystem Officer at Reveal, an indispensable tool for partnership teams.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Jared Fuller about:
♉️ His perspective on partnerships and nearbound as a GTM strategy
♉️ How partnership managers can use tools to work with other teams and demonstrate ROI
♉️ Ways that new and struggling partnership managers can develop their capability and reach
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Jared Fuller
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-create-a-partnership-movement-in-your-company-w-jared-fuller/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 12 Mar 2024 | Driving More Partner-Sourced Leads From Webinars with Justin Zimmerman | 00:46:16 | |
Webinars are back.
According to a recent report from Crossbeam, webinar utilization is now back to pre-pandemic levels and continues to grow.
But as soon as I tell you that, you’re immediately reminded of the fact that your last webinar saw just 25 registrants and only a few attendees, right?
If everyone’s doing webinars again, they must be seeing some success, so how do we get there? How do we drive more qualified leads from webinars, and what’s their proper place in our funnel?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
A few years ago, I was tasked to run a series of webinars with partners for us here at Agorapulse. I’d been hosting large virtual summits with multiple speakers and sessions, but hadn’t really planned one-off webinars.
And it showed in the numbers.
While one of the webinars saw over a hundred registrants, the others were all well below that and were considered a failure. I turned my attention back to massive virtual summits and those work great, but I can’t do more than one per quarter due to bandwidth.
If you’re anything like me, you’re hoping that webinars can be a tool for bringing in new sales leads and funneling existing prospects closer to won-closed. How do we build a repeatable, scalable process for executing webinars that deliver on that promise?
That’s exactly what Justin Zimmerman is going to talk to us about.
Justin has spent years in the partnership world and saw there a huge gap - and potential - for brands who were underutilizing webinars and partnerships. He’d experienced the same pains we all have with underperforming experiences, and then cracked the code. He started seeing more and more success with his initiatives and began to share that knowledge and experience with others. He now consults big brands on their webinar strategy, has playbooks available for others to learn from that we’ll get into today, and regularly takes the stage to share his wisdom with the crowd.
I talked to Justin Zimmerman about:
♉️ Why brands should invest in partner webinars
♉️ How to leverage partners and webinars
♉️ What your webinars goals should be
Learn more about Justin Zimmerman
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/driving-more-partner-sourced-leads-from-webinars-w-justin-zimmerman/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 18 Sep 2023 | How To Develop A Strategic Partnership Into A Cornerstone with Sam Yarborough | 00:32:46 | |
“The Sumo Advantage is… alignment with a major market force, capability, or accelerator with the intent to generate revenue and grow market share. It’s a partnership that drives momentum and revenue growth and is, most importantly, a clear and present danger to your competition.”
That’s a quote from Bernie Brenner’s book, The Sumo Advantage, and it describes a scenario where a smaller brand is able to forge a partnership with a much, much larger brand, that’s still mutually beneficial.
How do you find that kind of partner, and create such a relationship?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And when I say that I like to pick the brains of experts, that’s not hyperbole. That’s exactly what I’m going to be doing today.
I’ve studied Bernie Brenner’s experiences with TrueCar, listened to Jared Fuller’s story of his time at PandaDoc, and marveled how they were able to secure partnerships with brands ten times larger than their own.
Wouldn’t you like to forge a partnership with some of the biggest players in your industry?
Well, that’s exactly what Samantha Yarborough is going to talk to us about.
As the SVP of Partnerships at PFL, she manages a partner ecosystem of ISV partners and a cornerstone partnership with Salesforce… only one of the largest technology companies in the world at $153 billion in value… Sam has built a company-wide strategy to embrace partnerships with all facets of the go-to-market motion. With a background in marketing, design and strategy, partnerships is an accumulation of her strengths and passions - bringing people together to creatively solve problems, approach technologies, and deliver mutually beneficial results.
She also co-hosts the terrific podcast, Friends With Benefits the business podcast about revenue generating partnerships, with her husband.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Sam Yarborough about:
♉️ What a Cornerstone Partnership might look like
♉️ How to go about finding a potential cornerstone partner
♉️ The tools and tactics brands should employ when partnering with big players
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Sam Yarborough
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-develop-a-strategic-partnership-into-a-cornerstone-w-sam-yarborough/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 14 Aug 2023 | How This SaaS Company Navigates AI and Partnerships with Tom Armitage | 00:23:27 | |
Artificial intelligence is transforming the way brands market, advertise and partner with one another. AI platforms are disrupting traditional approaches with data-driven personalization, automation and scale.
But many companies are struggling to leverage AI's full potential. Partnerships that seemed obvious on the surface have failed to generate results, while opportunities to collaborate with complementary AI providers are overlooked. Without a clear strategy for determining the right partners, structuring agreements and generating concrete outcomes, even the most advanced AI technologies will leave value on the table. This threatens to widen the gap between AI-forward innovators and the rest of the marketing field.
What’s the next step for brands?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Many marketers find themselves struggling to form impactful partnerships that enhance their brands and drive growth. In today's crowded and fast-changing marketplace, the need for strategic collaborations with complementary partners has never been greater.
Yet for most brands, a lack of expertise in evaluating potential partners, structuring beneficial agreements and measuring tangible results has left partnerships underperforming or failing to meet expectations. Those that figure out how to properly select partners based on alignment, negotiate mutually valuable terms and manage partnerships to maximize synergy will gain a significant competitive edge. But without a clear roadmap for effective partnering, many brands will miss opportunities to turbocharge growth through strategic collaborations.
That’s exactly what our guest today, Tom Armitage, is going to talk to us about.
After spending a decade on the agency side, supporting over a hundred brands with their campaigns, Tom now serves as Senior Marketing Manager for Smith.ai, providing thought leadership and lead generation to a brand that’s leveraging AI extensively. He has taught as an adjunct professor for eight years on market research and social media marketing, and brings us a unique perspective on how to approach partnerships in today’s environment.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Tom Armitage about:
♉️ How brands can identify good potential brand partners
♉️ How to structure successful strategic partnerships
♉️ How AI is having an impact on marketing & partnerships
Learn more about Tom Armitage
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-this-saas-company-navigates-ai-and-partnerships-w-tom-armitage/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 20 Feb 2023 | B2B Influencer Marketing From The Influencers POV with Timothy Hughes | 00:37:37 | |
According to our friends at Top Rank Marketing, 86% of B2B brands consider their influencer marketing successful, and 85% say they plan to increase their investment in influencers over the next twelve months. And yet, these same brands continue to report that their biggest challenges lie in identifying and maintaining relationships with key influencers. They’re struggling to find the perfect folks for their programs and, even when they do, all too often, brands don’t have the right program and processes in place to keep those influencers happy and engaged. Where are they going wrong? What mistakes are these brands making that the rest of us can learn from and avoid? Now, back in episode six with Goldie Chan, I mentioned that the idea for talking to her, a B2B influencer, on this show, came about due to a conversation I’d had with another influencer. He’d been sharing all these stories of not only the work he’d done with brands, but all the mistakes they’d made in their approaches and their campaigns… it was clear there were lessons to be learned from talking to these kinds of influencers in this format. So that’s exactly what our guest today, my good friend Timothy Hughes, is going to talk to us about. Tim is ranked as the number one most influential social selling person in the world, and is universally recognized as the world leading pioneer and innovator in this space. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of DLA Ignite and co-author of three bestselling books, so I knew his incredible experience working with brands, and his tremendous business savvy, would make him the perfect influencer’s voice to bring to the show. Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Timothy Hughes about: ♉️ Why the traditional approach to podcasts is so wrong for B2B brands ♉️ How podcasts actually help build and strengthen relationships ♉️ How to measure success and ROI from podcasts Learn more about Timothy Hughes
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/b2b-influencer-marketing-from-the-influencers-pov-with-timothy-hughes/ Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 16 Oct 2023 | How To Approach Marketplace Ecosystem Development with Jason Lampkin | 00:26:35 | |
In 2008, Apple launched the App Store for their iPhone product and for the first time, allowed 3rd party developers to build apps for their OS and charge associated fees.
In 2022, that ecosystem generated $1.1 trillion in developer billing and sales, and has driven hundreds of billions of dollars for developers. That ecosystem is now the most lucrative aspect of Apple’s business, and a model for partnership that many businesses would love to emulate.
How would something like that work for your business?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked. Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building... oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
While you may not be in a position to create the kind of ecosystem that Apple has built with their App Store, perhaps there are simpler, smaller scale approaches you might consider.
If you’re a SaaS tool like Agorapulse, you might find other SaaS tools who could integrate with your product and make those integrations available as apps, as HubSpot has done.
Or perhaps you might work with service providers who, in similar fashion, might offer their services in support of your product and the customers you serve.
In both situations, you’re creating an environment where you’re partnering with other brands in a way that’s different from any we’ve talked about before - marketplaces and ecosystems.
Where do we even begin?
That’s exactly what Jason Lampkin is going to talk to us about.
This Welsh soccer star-turned-partnership professional works for the world-leading freelancer platform, Fiverr, where he leads global partnerships for Fiverr’s cutting-edge marketplace. He brings years of partnership expertise to the fore and is adept at navigating the intricacies and nuance of a massive ecosystem and marketplace. ♉️ Why getting internal stakeholder buy-in is critical
♉️ How to identify and leverage internal stakeholders
♉️ What the real benefit to your external partners will be
Learn more about Daniela Garcia
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-approach-marketplace-amp-ecosystem-development-w-jason-lampkin/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 27 Mar 2023 | How This Serial Entrepreneur Became A Product Influencer with Norm Farrar | 00:33:55 | |
Have you noticed how some full time employees are able to simultaneously balance having a side hustle as an influencer? How do they do it?
And what about the folks who quit their nine to five and lean into their role as an influencer and full time creator…
Does that sound frightening to you, and maybe just a little bit exciting?
Because the truth is, the creator economy is booming and there’s ample room for influencers, particularly B2B influencers, whether they’re full time or working on the side.
Whether you’re a budding creator, or a CEO who wants to support and retain their employees-turned-influencers, stay tuned, because that’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And today is going to be interesting. On the one hand, you have people like me who have been working full time for the same company - I’m now celebrating five years working for Agorapulse as Head of Strategic Partnerships - and throughout that entire time I have kept and developed my personal brand and content at The Social Media Hat.
On the other hand, you’ve got employees who want to strike off as full time influencers, and leave the safety net of a regular paycheck behind.
Both scenarios can be frightening and stressful, but it helps to talk to people who have been in those situations and get their insights.
So that’s exactly what our guest today, Norman Farrar, is here to help with.
Norm is currently an entrepreneur who started his own marketing agency and has worked with major, major brands. Fortune 500 companies. And he’s now leaned into podcasting and is building up his personal brand as an influencer, even using platforms like TikTok. How’d he get there? What challenges did he face?
Let’s find out.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Norm Farrar about:
♉️ Why he waded into product recommendations and influencer marketing.
♉️ How he has leveraged relationships to achieve success.
♉️ Which channels have delivered the highest ROI, and why, for his agency.
Learn more about Norm Farrar
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-this-serial-entrepreneur-became-a-product-influencer-w-norm-farrar/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 22 May 2023 | How To Think Differently About Influencer Marketing with Jason Falls | 00:44:11 | |
Campaigns. Assets. Tracking links. Reach.
These are important concepts when it comes to influencer marketing… but are they missing the point? Is it possible that we’ve gotten so caught up in the output and tactics of influencer marketing that we’ve lost sight of the purpose of the strategy, and the actual outcomes we hoped to achieve?
Where should we shift our focus, and how can we make influence marketing a more impactful component of our marketing strategy?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
A century ago, influencers were nothing more than celebrities who were paid to endorse brands. And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with sponsorships and paid endorsements, the question is, is that true influence?
Isn’t there arguably more influence in the friend, family member, or neighbor, who gives us a personal recommendation upon which we immediately act and make a purchase? Can that same level of trust be transferred to an online personality, and can a brand really tap into that?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Jason Falls, is going to talk to us about.
He’s the author of three books, including “Winfluence: Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand” from our friends at Entrepreneur Press, and the widely-downloaded Winfluence podcast. He’s the Executive Vice President of Marketing at CIPIO.ai, a community influencer marketing platform, and he’s graced countless stages to help others understand his distinctive approach to influencer… or influence… marketing.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Jason about:
♉️ The key mistakes brands make today with influencer marketing.
♉️ Why a different approach to influencer marketing is essential.
♉️ How to measure success and ROI using this approach.
Learn more about Jason Falls
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-think-differently-about-influencer-marketing-w-jason-falls/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 03 Feb 2023 | B2B Influencer Marketing From The Influencer's POV w/ Goldie Chan | 00:37:57 | |
How would you like the low-down on what B2B influencers are really looking for when they work with brands? Wouldn’t it be nice to know what might make an influencer truly excited to partner with you? All too often, brands approach influencers assuming that they only care about money#, or that the prestige of working with the brand will suffice. And while those things can be important, they’re not the sum of what it means to be an influencer and partner with brands. What else is important? What are B2B influencers actually looking for? That’s what Goldie Chan is going to help us with in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked. Goldie has been working directly with B2B brands for years and is a global speaker, strategist, author and advisor. She's known as the "Oprah of LinkedIn" by Huffington Post and her video channel won LinkedIn Top Voice. I knew her incredible experience working with brands, and her tremendous business savvy, would make her the perfect influencer’s voice to bring to the show. Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Goldie Chan about: ♉️ The best, and worst, influencer marketing campaigns ♉️ How brands should structure influencer marketing programs ♉️ Why and how brands can empower B2B influencers Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/b2b-influencer-marketing-from-the-influencers-pov-w-goldie-chan/
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| 13 Jan 2023 | How To Approach Strategic Partnerships and New Opportunities w/ Dr. Mark Brigman | 00:30:22 | |
According to a CMO Council report, 85% of C-level business leaders view partnerships and alliances as essential or important to their business, but only 33% report having a formal partnering strategy in place. That’s astounding! If you’re anything like me, you want to be among that top 33% who are leveraging partners and delivering positive ROI, and that’s why I am starting this new interview series with a bang. I’m talking to one of the leading experts on strategic partnerships, Dr. Mark Brigman, author of PARTNERNOMICS, and he’s going to be sharing with us his Strategic Partner Leadership Model™ and more. Mark is an expert at architecting partnerships that result in a competitive advantage. Throughout his career he led hundreds of global multi-million dollar partnerships touching nearly every industry. He authored PARTNERNOMICS, which introduced the Strategic Partner Leadership Model™ (SPLM) as the culmination of his 20+ years of experience in forging industry-leading partnerships. Mark earned a Masters in Economics and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. PARTNERNOMICS on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3BFDGTk Ready to scale up? Then it’s time to sign up: https://www.agorapulse.com/calendar Full notes & transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-approach-strategic-partnerships-and-new-opportunities/ Powered by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 20 Nov 2023 | How To Drive Successful Content Partnerships with Josh Bernoff | 00:36:14 | |
One of the keys to successful partnerships is the creation of great content.
You might not always equate partnerships with content, but the fact is, the partnership space is filled with content-filled satellites such as onboarding, case studies, pitches, white papers, reports, sales introductions, books, and of course the more obvious rockets such as blog posts, eBooks and webinars.
Each one an opportunity to partner with a colleague within your organization, or a partnership leader from another brand.
How can we ensure these content partnerships succeed?
That’s what Josh Bernoff is here to help us with.
Josh is a prolific writer and is dedicated to helping other businesses and authors publish amazing content. Books he has written or collaborated on have generated over $20 million for their authors. Josh’s daily blog at Bernoff.com has topped 4 million views. He was formerly senior vice president, idea development at Forrester Research, where he spent 20 years analyzing technology and business.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton will ask Josh Bernoff on Date at Time:
♉️How brands can leverage content partnerships ♉️Where to start to ensure a successful partnership ♉️What pitfalls to avoid with content partnerships
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Josh Bernoff
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 13 Jan 2023 | How To Build Strong Relationships With Clients w/ Rob Walch | 00:34:57 | |
When you're starting out, it can be hard to get clients. It's even harder to keep them happy and coming back for more of your services. The most successful businesses work on fostering relationships with their clients. But how do you build these types of relationships? How can you make sure they grow over time? And what are the best ways to leverage them in order to grow your podcasting business? Our next episode of Partnership Unpacked features Rob Walch, VP of Podcaster Relations at Libsyn. He'll be sharing insights into how he works with and manages relationships with his successful podcast clients. You'll learn about the different benefits that come from having a good working relationship with your clients, as well as some tips for ensuring this partnership remains beneficial over time, no matter what your business or industry. Rob Walch was inducted into the Podcasting Hall of Fame in 2016. Rob is the Vice President of Podcaster Relations for Libsyn (LSYN). Prior to joining Libsyn in 2007, he was President and founder of podCast411, Inc. Rob is Co-Author of the book “Tricks of the Podcasting Masters” - Que 2006, an editors pick as a Top 10 Reference book for 2006 by Amazon.com. Rob was listed as the 5th most influential person in podcasting according to the book “Podcasting for Dummies” – Wiley Press 2005. Ready to scale up? Then it’s time to sign up: agorapulse.com/calendar Full notes & transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-build-strong-client-relationships/ Powered by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 21 Aug 2023 | Personal Branding for Partnership Leaders and Marketing Executives with Bob Cargill | 00:27:51 | |
Relationships are everything. That’s been the resounding theme throughout every episode of this podcast. From developing strategic brand partnerships, to working with brilliant influencers, every guest has stressed how important it is to develop key relationships. What they haven’t said though is how important personal branding is to that endeavor.
Whether you’re a seasoned marketing executive or an up-and-coming B2B influencer, personal branding is essential for establishing critical connections online.
We all know LinkedIn is the network to focus on, and that we need to show up regularly, but what does that mean, exactly? How do we create content and activity that builds community and grows our network?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Read any blog post about personal branding and you’ll read trite advice like:
That’s superficial at best. Because you and I are busy, goal-driven professionals, we want advice that’s tactical and strategically relevant to us as marketing and partnership professionals.
That’s exactly what our guest today, Bob Cargill, is going to talk to us about.
Bob has worked for hundreds of clients over the years, when he wasn’t leading the American Marketing Association of Boston or the New England Direct Marketing Association. Where, by the way, he delivered award-winning content about LinkedIn. He’s a writer, a podcaster, a YouTuber, an adjunct professor, a social media consultant and a speaker… and that’s why it should come as no surprise that his book is titled, “Twenty Jobs, Twenty Lessons – a Long, Strange Career in Marketing, from Junk Mail to Social Media.”
We’ll have the link to the book in the show notes but even better, we’ve got Bob here in the studio with us so we can pick his brain!
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Bob Cargill about:
♉️ How to measure the success of personal brand and social media
♉️ The key steps and tactics for marketing executives and partnership leaders
♉️ How to balance full time work with “personal” social media activity
Learn more about Bob Cargill
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/personal-branding-for-partnership-leaders-and-marketing-executives-w-bob-cargill/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 07 Aug 2023 | Understanding the Impact of AI on Influencer Marketing and Partnerships with Jeff Fransen | 00:26:54 | |
Every once in a while, there’s an advancement in technology so profound that it impacts every aspect of human life and productivity. Automotives. Airplanes. Computer processors. And now, Artificial Intelligence... AI.
While AI isn’t new, recent developments have vastly improved and accelerated mainstream adoption of AI capabilities and enhancements - so much so that it can be, admittedly, overwhelming to keep up and understand how it’s impacting areas of importance to us, such as partnerships and influencer marketing.
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Have you ever ridden Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress?
It’s a serene and relaxing ride in Tomorrowland that capers through the decades of American innovation and development, from electricity and refrigerators, to virtual reality and voice assistants.
The pervading character, voiced by the same narrator of The Christmas Story, always remarks after each decade on how much progress they’ve made and how easy they have it now.
Imagine what we will be saying soon about how artificial intelligence has become a part of our everyday lives - particularly when it comes to business processes like content creation, optimization and, yes, even influencer marketing and partnerships.
Wondering how AI can and should be a part of your organization?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Jeff Fransen, is here to help us with.
Jeff has been in the influencer marketing space for over 9 years and has worked with brands like NASA, Uber and Topps!
He now leads partnerships and alliances for Affable.ai, an award-winning influencer marketing SaaS solution that helps marketers run fast and intelligent campaigns, built on Affable’s proprietary AI and machine learning technology.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Jeff Fransen about:
♉️ How AI is changing influencer marketing
♉️ Ways AI can positively impact partnership development
♉️ Where influencer marketing and partnerships are headed with AI
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Jeff Fransen
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/understanding-the-impact-of-ai-on-influencer-marketing-and-partnerships-w-jeff-fransen/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 09 Oct 2023 | How To Get Internal Buy-in For Strategic Partnership Success with Daniela Garcia | 00:25:36 | |
Have you ever vouched for someone only to have them fall well short of the mark?
How’d that make you feel? Disappointed? Embarrassed?
How likely would you be to recommend that person again, and, worse yet, how would your recommendation be received in the future?
That’s the kind of problem that can occur when you don’t have buy-in from your internal stakeholders and your own organization when you kick off a partnership with another company. You might make promises on behalf of your company to a partner, only to be let down and embarrassed.
How can we avoid those situations?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that I’m in the midst of implementing a brand new partnership motion at Agorapulse, nearbound. I’m working with our sales and revenue teams, operations, marketing, and customer success, to be able to leverage our partner’s client relationships to increase our own sales and retention.
I wrote an article about how I got buy-in for this initiative because it was about more than just the investment in new technology. It’s also my time, of course, but I also needed to get all of those other departments I mentioned aligned with the project. Because these kinds of partnerships cannot work if a bunch of the people involved don’t see your vision and aren’t investing in making it a success.
So where do we start?
That’s exactly what Daniela Garcia is going to talk to us about.
Daniela has just joined Triple Ten as Head of North American Partnerships and has spent years fostering partnerships and relationships in industries from cosmetics to B2B MarTech! She’s been featured by some of the top partnership publications and productions in the industry, and she absolutely embodies value-driven metrics and partner-led growth.
♉️ Why getting internal stakeholder buy-in is critical
♉️ How to identify and leverage internal stakeholders
♉️ What the real benefit to your external partners will be
Learn more about Daniela Garcia
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-get-internal-buy-in-for-strategic-partnership-success-w-daniela-garcia/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 08 May 2023 | How To Partner With Your Audience To Amplify Your Brand with Rachel Stephan | 00:30:11 | |
Check this out.
98% of employees use at least one social media site for personal use, but only 50% post about their company.
And yet, we know that a recommendation from a friend or family member makes 83% of Americans more likely to purchase that product or service.
If word of mouth is that effective, and businesses have a treasure trove of employees and social channels to leverage… why aren’t they? What should that look like? Where do we get started?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
I shared a moment ago that nearly every employee of your company has at least one social account, but that at least half aren’t talking about your brand online in any way.
That’s a problem, right?
The solution, though, is a bit tricky. We can’t force employees or our audience members to talk about us. And it’s not always easy, either. Do we send an email? A Slack message? Tag ‘em on company posts? How do we track whether they even do anything?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Rachel Stephan, is going to talk to us about.
Rachel is an event marketing strategist, event tech startup founder and industry speaker on topics that cover event marketing and influencer marketing. When meeting planners and association professionals need to get more butts in seats, they call Rachel! She is a force to be reckoned with, whipping up creative solutions to event marketing challenges for 22+ years. Challenges… and opportunities… that apply to every business with employees.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Rachel about:
♉️ The importance of word of mouth marketing
♉️ Important considerations before partnering with your audience
♉️ How to get started in a way that is measurable and scalable
Learn more about Rachel Stephan
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-partner-with-your-audience-to-amplify-your-brand-w-rachel-stephan/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 24 Jul 2023 | How CMOs and Partnership Leaders Can Scale Partner Onboarding and Co-Selling with Rob Rebholz | 00:26:55 | |
You have a new partner! That’s awesome!
What’s next?
How do we make sure that the partnership and the relationship continues forward in a positive, constructive way? How do we set this partner up for success and, at the same time, make sure that our time is spent as efficiently as possible so that we can bring on more and more partners and drive more revenue?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And today is going to be fun because we’re talking about a topic that’s of keen interest to me personally - how to scale a robust partner program and create a predictable revenue engine driven by partners.
Maybe that sounds good to you but maybe, like me, you’ve struggled to build a sustainable program. Maybe you’ve had a few too many instances where you brought on a new partner but nothing ever materialized. Or maybe you know that many of your prospects are already working with your partners, but you haven’t been able to successfully bring them into your sales process yet.
That’s what our guest today, Rob Rebholz, is here to help us with.
He has founded a SaaS company, Superglue, that’s devoted to helping CMOs and partnership leaders scale their partner-led revenue but, before that, Rob was in the trenches building another SaaS business where he learned the in’s and out’s of strategic partnerships. At that business, over 70% of the revenue was partner-driven!
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked Rob about:
♉️ How to properly onboard partners
♉️ The challenges CMOs and partnership leaders face trying to co-sell
♉️ What opportunities AI and automation bring to scale
Learn more about Rob Rebholz
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-cmos-and-partnership-leaders-can-scale-partner-onboarding-and-co-selling-w-rob-rebholz/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 29 Jan 2024 | The Importance of Trust, Communications, & Diplomacy in Strategic Partnerships with Greg Rust | 00:40:12 | |
Warren Buffet once said, “Partnership is not a legal contract between two equal individuals. It’s an emotional alliance between two people who are committed to each other’s success.” And that’s true, isn’t it? Whether you’re new to strategic partnerships or have been doing this for years, you doubtless understand that your most successful endeavors have been due to the relationships you forged with your partners.
But as the field of partnerships has grown in recent years, so too has the challenge to partnership leaders who are now tasked to support every aspect of a business.
How do you secure the right background for a successful career? And how do we develop the necessary skills to foster emotional alliances that achieve business results?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
When I left college after having studied History and Computer Science, my first salaried job was handling ERP support for Dana Corporation and helping our 80,000 employees deal with their questions about Baan, Lawson and Oracle. After a few years, I joined a local IT firm as Sales Manager and a few years after that, took a break from IT and sold swimming pools and hot tubs in Northern Ohio. Later I became an entrepreneur and started my own marketing business, The Social Media Hat, leveraged that into a role as CMO of Sitesell, and then shifted to Agorapulse where I’ve been leading partnerships since 2018.
While one could say that I’ve been in sales & marketing for over twenty years and that the majority of that time has been in the digital space, the reality is that my career has not been a straight line.
Surely it doesn’t always have to be like that. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a better understanding of what partnership leader roles today require in terms of skills, and how those can be developed and applied?
That’s exactly what Greg Rust is going to talk to us about.
Greg is the Senior Director - Global Holdco's & Digital SI Partnerships at Oracle and a 5 time Partner of the Year. He has decades of experience as a Global Strategic Alliance Executive that’s based on years working in sales, product management, and more. He’s established trusted relationships with key executives across multiple industries and verticals, and has just the diverse background and perspective we need to tackle this topic.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Greg about:
♉️ The ideal career path of a partnership leader today
♉️ The importance of establishing trust, both internally and externally
♉️ The role of communications and diplomacy in business partnerships Learn more about Greg Rust
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/the-importance-of-trust-communications-amp-diplomacy-in-strategic-partnerships-w-greg-rust/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 11 Jan 2023 | Introducing Partnership Unpacked | 00:01:54 | |
Why are partnerships important? What do businesses have to gain from them? How are busy executives supposed to find the time to manage partnerships of any kind? Those questions and more are what we're exploring in this podcast. Listen as your host, Mike Allton, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Agorapulse, sets the stage. | |||
| 12 Jun 2023 | How This Strategic Partnership Leader Managed 65M In Revenue At Google with Kevin Kim | 00:36:38 | |
Imagine who a few of the biggest brands are in your industry. Got a few companies in mind?
Now imagine you’re responsible for working with them on partnerships that measure revenue in the millions of dollars.
Where do you start? How do you keep on top of it all?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Back in our very first episode with Dr. Mark Brigman, we talked about how there are many different kinds of partnerships, and that has set the premise for this entire show. Sometimes we’re talking about influencers and affiliates, other times, clients or employees.
Today, we’re talking about brand partnerships - a very specific kind of brand partnership where there is tremendous amounts of revenue involved, and incredible pressure to succeed.
Are you interested in sourcing seven figure deals with partners? Do you want help navigating how to forge relationships and proactively communicate to all stakeholders?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Kevin Kim, is going to talk to us about.
He spent years working for big brands like Google, AdWeek, and Bizzabo, forging partnerships - with both internal and external stakeholders. Kevin’s passion for adtech, advertising, people and community led to him managing over $65M in revenue at Google, and I want to know how he did it and what he learned.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Kevin about:
♉️ Tactics to drive and achieve high performance revenue goals
♉️ How to manage external C-Suite and internal stakeholders with ease
♉️ The kinds of partnerships and relationships you should focus on
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Kevin Kim
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-this-strategic-partnership-leader-managed-65m-in-revenue-at-google-w-kevin-kim/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 05 Jun 2023 | Why Legal Tech Matters In Partnerships with Colin Levy | 00:26:36 | |
Whenever we talk about partnerships, it always boils down to cooperation between two or more entities. Whether that’s a couple of brands, a brand and an influencer, or some other combination.
And while we might enter into these partnerships with the best of intentions and the highest of hopes… what happens when things don’t go as planned? What do we do when, say, one of the partners doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
So, my question for you is this: why aren’t you using contracts and other legal tools as part of your partnership operations?
Is it because you don’t think you need to? It’s too hard? Too expensive? Too confusing?
What do you think might happen if you aren’t considering legal ramifications, and something does go sideways?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Colin Levy, is going to talk to us about.
Colin’s legal career focuses on the intersection of business, technology, and law, and he is a strong advocate for legal technology. He is on a mission to educate and inspire others about the endless possibilities that legal tech has to offer. He is the Director of Legal and Evangelist for Malbek, a leading Contract Lifecycle Management company, and an Advisor for Proxy, a leading legal workflow management platform, and he’s here to help us sort out how legal can be of help in this fast-paced world of technology and partnerships.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Colin Levy about:
♉️ What Legal Technology is & why CMOs and Partnership Leaders should care
♉️ How Legal Tech helps partnerships
♉️ What happens if we ignore Legal Tech Learn more about Colin Levy Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/why-legal-tech-matters-in-partnerships-w-colin-levy/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 19 Jun 2023 | How Relationship Marketing Can Strengthen All Your Partnerships with Jessika Phillips | 00:43:17 | |
Robin Dimond once said to me, “Partnerships are a long term relationship. You don’t expect to wife up right away. Same thing with a partnership. You have to work that relationship and really get to know them on every level.”
But in today’s world of short form video and voice texting and Slack messages… how do we really get to know partners and potential partners? Are long term relationships really that important?
Isn’t it easier and more efficient to focus on processes and workflows and other aspects of the business that can be scaled, and aren’t so individualized?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Do you feel like your partners care about you? Would they go out of their way to help you or work with you if you needed them?
How do we move purely transactional exchanges into long-term relationships where brands and influencers can collaborate more fully? And what’s the ROI for these kinds of partnerships?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Jessika Phillips, is going to talk to us about.
Jessika IS the Queen of Relationship Marketing. She founded NOW Marketing Group in 2010 with only a laptop and vision to give people with heart an upper hand, and over the ensuing years she’s demonstrated time and again how powerful relationships can be. From building a Forbes-recognized Agency Partner, to assembling the annual Social Media Week Lima event that’s packed with the most incredible marketing experts and speakers.
And I can’t wait to get her help us unpack the importance and relevance of professional relationships.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Jessika about:
♉️ What Relationship Marketing is, and how to integrate it into your brand activities.
♉️ How the Relationship ROI Flywheel can help you build community & advocates.
♉️ Tips on how to build relationships with other brands and influencers.
Learn more about Jessika Phillips
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-relationship-marketing-can-strengthen-all-your-partnerships-w-jessika-phillips/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 02 Oct 2023 | How To Grow Internationally As A Creator with Victoria Blinova | 00:39:12 | |
If you want to become a creator and influencer today, you have a tremendous number of options when it comes to platforms and formats.
Do you focus on short-form content on X or Threads?
And regardless of which platform and format you choose, you will have an opportunity to reach a global audience and international brands to potentially partner with.
How do we make good strategic choices here?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And we’ve talked a lot about influencer marketing, how to set up contracts, navigate developments in artificial intelligence, and even how the Hollywood strikes had an impact.
What we haven’t explored at all is the reality that social media audiences are global audiences, and savvy creators are aware of that and can even leverage those distinctions.
But how?
That’s exactly what Victoria Blinova is going to talk to us about.
Victoria has managed multimillion dollar budgets for C-level executives, has led digital marketing for the B2B business of Nestlé, and is the Strategic Partner Manager for YouTube. She’s a co-founder and consultant and has leveraged her experience in marketing, influence, and partnerships to help creators and entrepreneurs around the world.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Victoria Blinova about:
♉️ How creators can grow their community on different platforms
♉️ How creators can work with key international brands
♉️ How to build your influence across international borders
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Victoria Blinova
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-grow-internationally-as-a-creator-w-victoria-blinova/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 15 Jan 2024 | How To Go To Market With Partners Using Events with Kabir Uppal | 00:33:09 | |
Because events are not only great for lead generation, but also for attendees to learn about you as much as other attendees, they’re a hot bed for growth and opportunity. And like all marketing and sales motions, events are even better with partners.
How can we use events to go to market with partners, and what does that even look like?
That’s what we’re covering in our first episode of Partnership Unpacked, season two!
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
I’ve been hosting massive online conferences virtually every quarter since 2018, and they’re a tremendous amount of work. Countless hours building agendas and assets and driving attendees.
But they’re also extremely valuable and rewarding. Our annual Agency Summit, for instance, attracts over 3,000 marketing agency owners and technicians every year, and features dozens of speakers and dozens of partners.
How can you integrate events into your go to market strategy, and how can bring partners along to make these events even more effective?
That’s exactly what Kabir Uppal is going to talk to us about.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Kabir Uppal about:
♉️ What a GTM co-marketing event partnership might look like
Learn more about Kabir Uppal
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Learn more about Agorapulse with a free demo
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-go-to-market-with-partners-using-events-w-kabir-uppal/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 10 Jul 2023 | How Influencers Can Protect Their Work Despite The AI Overlords with Eric Farber | 00:33:44 | |
By now you’ve no doubt seen how incredible generative AI can be at helping to create outlines, emails, scripts and articles.
And the imagery and video that AI is capable of producing is advancing swiftly.
But all of that content is based on creative work that already exists, and that could potentially include your work! Is that something you need to protect yourself against? Where do you even start?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Imagine that you’ve spent countless hours building up an incredible, and valuable, archive of content - whether that’s blog posts, videos, or podcasts - and now suddenly other businesses are using generative AI tools to create content of their own that’s drawing on your work.
Is there anything you can do to safeguard your content, and your audience? Should you really be worried?
And what about when you’re working directly with brands, as an influencer or content creator, how should you approach these relationships?
That’s what Eric Farber is here to help you with.
He is the Founder and CEO of Creators Legal, the first and only DIY Legal Solutions company for the creative industry. He spent decades working as a sports and entertainment attorney and has represented a variety of artists and entertainers such as the Tupac Shakur Estate. Farber started Creators Legal to help those in the creator economy get high level, quality contracts and legal solutions at a reasonable price. And I can’t wait to get his expert help today with everything that's going on with AI and influencer marketing.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Eric Farber about:
♉️ How AI is impacting creators and influencers today
♉️ How creators and influencers can protect their work
♉️ Why contracts are important, and how to proceed with them
Learn more about Eric Farber
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-influencers-can-protect-their-work-despite-the-ai-overlords-w-eric-farber/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 27 Feb 2023 | The State of Partnership Ops in 2023 with Asher Mathew Kelly Sarabyn | 00:47:27 | |
Are you by yourself right now?
No, I don’t mean are you alone… I mean, are you the only one in your organization managing partnerships?
I know I am! And in that respect we aren’t alone… in a recent survey of 664 professionals by Hubspot and Partnership Leaders, 59.6% of the respondents reported having at least one employee working full time on partner operations.
The report went on to share some pretty interesting findings with regard to the size of partner ops, the different kinds of partnerships and metrics involved, and the impact all of that has on company revenue.
But what does that industry really look like?
What kinds of partnerships are companies exploring today, and how are they managing that? Should you hire more staff? Invest in more partner tech? Explore more integrations?
That’s exactly what our guests today are going to talk to us about, and you and I are lucky because I have twice as many guests as usual in the studio today.
Kelly Sarabyn is the Platform Ecosystem Advocate at HubSpot, where she is responsible for growing the ecosystem through partner content and engagement. Before that, she worked in marketing at Pandium, and was a partner at Woden, a branding agency. She believes companies that leverage partnerships and ecosystems can drive more revenue and build stronger brands. And I definitely agree with her on that.
Asher Mathew is a co-founder of Partnership Leaders. He’s worked in sales, marketing, customer success and business development, as well as partnerships in venture and bootstrapped businesses.
Partnership Leaders is the top community for partnerships and alliance leaders looking to advance their career and improve their partner programs.
So clearly, we’ve got the right people on the show today!
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Asher Mathew & Kelly Sarabyn about:
♉️ How brands are growing using different kinds of partnerships
♉️ How different partnership programs are driving revenue, and real ROI
♉️ Why tech-savvy brands are driving more revenue from partners
Learn more about Asher Mathew
Learn more about Kelly Sarabyn
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/the-state-of-partnership-ops-in-2023-w-asher-mathew-amp-kelly-sarabyn/ Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 17 Apr 2023 | How To Leverage Live Shopping Influencers To Grow Sales with Geoffroy Robin | 00:35:17 | |
Coresight Research has estimated that the US livestreaming market would hit $20 billion last year. Then, by 2026, it will more than triple to an estimated $68 billion in sales.
And interestingly, 50% of Millennials trust product recommendations from influencers.
So it would seem that combining an influencer with a live shopping event that showcases your brand and product offerings would be a lucrative match. But it’s not as easy as it sounds.
How do you get started with live shopping influencers? What kinds of events should you arrange? How do you measure ROI?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Now listen, we all know how powerful video is for reaching and engaging new audiences, and we all know how effective influencer marketing can be for transferring trust. So it makes sense that integrating influencers into your video - specifically, live shoppable video - should be a successful and lucrative tactic for businesses.
But wait. How are we supposed to produce live shopping videos? And how do we find influencers who can handle this new medium? Is this really a good idea?
That’s exactly what our guest today, Geoffroy Robin, is going to talk to us about.
Geoff is the Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Livescale, one of the top live shopping platforms in the world. Livescale makes Live Streaming Shopping possible for retailers and influencers, and it’s used by big brands like L’Oréal and Lancôme.
He’s spent over twenty years in the digital ecosystem as an entrepreneur, innovation enthusiast, and a passionate voice for emerging technologies, and he’s a wealth of knowledge when it comes to live shopping and the utilization of influencers.
So you know I’ve got a ton of questions for him, so let’s get started.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Geoff about:
♉️ How Live Shopping has evolved for influencers and brands alike.
♉️ How brands can track ROI from influencers and live shopping events.
♉️ Where brands are getting influencer marketing right... and wrong!
Learn more about Geoffroy Robin
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-leverage-live-shopping-influencers-to-grow-sales-w-geoffroy-robin/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 26 Jun 2023 | Using LinkedIn To Foster Real Relationships & Partnerships with Raquel Borras | 00:36:01 | |
In the early 2000’s, when I was the sales manager for a local IT company in Ohio, I needed to meet and build relationships with other business owners in the area so that when they had an IT need come up, like upgrading their server or expanding their network, my company and I were top of mind.
So I attended weekly breakfast networking meetings, and showed up at fundraisers and other community events. I spent time getting to know the people in my community.
Fast forward to today and most of us are now focused on global ecommerce and building communities of followers, connections, clients and partners - people who may not live or work anywhere near us. It’s a digital community, and that presents a challenge when it comes to relationship building.
How are we supposed to develop deep, personal relationships today with people we may never meet face to face?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
And today we’re talking about one of the core tenets of partnership - relationship building. But as I mentioned, so many of us are focused on building relationships on a global stage, relying on digital tools and digital networks, that we lack the capability and benefit of face-to-face meetings and in-person exchanges.
Ironically, it was at an in-person event where I met today’s guest, Raquel Borras, and she is an absolute treasure when it comes to social networking.
Raquel is the marketing manager for New American Funding and the host of her own YouTube Channel, Raq The Boat where she’s creating fantastic content for and with kids - and that aligns with her mission for RAQVISION, a safe social network for youth. What I love about Raquel is her unparalleled passion and enthusiasm, which is demonstrated in her role as Chief Excitement Officer of True To You Branding. She’s been helping others understand how to develop personal brands that are true to them on social networks, particularly LinkedIn, which lead to real connections, real community, and real conversations. And I couldn’t be more excited to have her and her expertise in the studio with me today.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked Raquel Borras about:
♉️ How to build personal relationships even on digital platforms
♉️ Why LinkedIn in particular is so powerful for personal branding
♉️ Top strategies and common mistakes for CMOs and other executives
Learn more about Raquel Borras
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/using-linkedin-to-foster-real-relationships-partnerships-w-raquel-borras/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 13 Feb 2023 | Using Podcasts To Develop Partnerships Relationships w/ Adrian McIntyre | 00:47:51 | |
Stop me if this sounds familiar. You open LinkedIn on your phone and there at the top of the feed, LinkedIn has recommended a post by the CMO of a huge brand you know your sales team is targeting. You tap on their profile and figure if you could connect with them on LinkedIn, maybe you could strike up a conversation and build a case for your solution. So you smash that connect button and smile at your cleverness. But then, nothing happens. Days go by and your request goes unanswered. In fact, none of your attempts to connect with and build relationships with target stakeholders are working. What’s going on here? Is there a better way to build rapport with target accounts? Now listen, LinkedIn is an absolute treasure for networking and building relationships. Whether you’re targeting stakeholders to eventually pitch to, or potential partners or influencers you’d like to collaborate with, they’re all there. The problem is, they’re unlikely to want to connect with you if they don’t know you or, worse, think you’re only interested in what they can do for you. And I see you in the back, waving your hand because you make it a point to write a charming introductory note every time you send a connection request. Bravo. But you’re still leading with an Ask… an ask to connect. What if I could show you a way to initiate a connection with someone that starts off by offering them something of real value, something that will potentially foster a real relationship that could lead to a sale or a partnership. That’s exactly what our guest today, Adrian McIntyre, is going to talk to us about. Dr. McIntyre is a cultural anthropologist, keynote speaker, and communication advisor. He has lived and worked in over 30 countries, spending a decade in the Middle East and Africa as a researcher, journalist, media spokesperson, and marketing consultant. Adrian has been podcasting since 2016, serving as a host, producer, or featured guest on more than 300 podcast episodes, and he’s turned that experience into a channel for thought leadership campaigns and B2B podcasts for professional firms. He’s graciously agreed to help me understand how I can use this podcast to further partnerships and sales for Agorapulse, so y’all get to listen to my consulting session. Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Dr. Adrian McIntyre about: ♉️ Why the traditional approach to podcasts is so wrong for B2B brands ♉️ How podcasts actually help build and strengthen relationships ♉️ How to measure success and ROI from podcasts Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/using-podcasts-to-develop-partnerships-amp-relationships-w-adrian-mcintyre/ Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||
| 23 Oct 2023 | Finding Success in B2B SaaS Partnerships w/ Kate Skerrett | 00:34:29 | |
One of the key tenets of our podcast here is the fact that there are a lot of different kinds of partnerships out there. Affiliates, influencers, tech integrations… and of course sales and marketing.
Which means one of the challenges facing B2B businesses is knowing which kind or kinds of partnerships to pursue.
Wouldn’t it be great to learn how other B2B SaaS companies are leveraging partnerships today?
That’s what Kate Skerrett is here to help us with.
Kate is the Head of Partnerships for Calendly, a powerful yet simple automated scheduling platform that we love here at Agorapulse and I use every day for scheduling podcast guests and partnership meetings. Kate is formerly of Deel and GlassDoor and is passionate about creatively finding new revenue streams through partnerships.
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to Kate Skerrett about:
♉️Successful B2B SaaS company partnership options ♉️What makes for a great B2B partner ♉️Tools and tactics for B2B partnership success
Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar
Learn more about Kate Skerrett
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/finding-success-in-b2b-saas-partnerships-w-kate-skerrett/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution.
Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Alton | |||
| 20 Mar 2023 | How To Develop Profitable Relationships With Big Brands with George Thomas | 00:42:16 | |
Imagine how your business might benefit from partnering with the largest brand in your industry.
How would that extend your reach or establish your authority? Whether you’re a solopreneur or the CEO of an established brand, partnering with a company that’s much, much larger than yours is called a Sumo Advantage. But where do you start?
That’s what we’re covering in today’s episode of Partnership Unpacked.
Welcome back to Partnership Unpacked, where I selfishly use this time to pick the brains of experts at strategic partnerships, channel programs, affiliates, influencer marketing, and relationship building… oh, and you get to learn too! Subscribe to learn how you can amplify your growth strategy – with a solid takeaway every episode from partnership experts in the industry.
Listen, I want you to stop for a moment and think about who the absolute biggest brand names are in your industry. The top two or three.
For me, at Agorapulse, that’s easily the major social networks themselves… Meta, LinkedIn, Twitter, and so on.
Got a couple of your own in mind? Cool.
Now think about what it might look like, and how it would benefit your business, if you were able to partner with some of those large brands.
And recall what we talked about way back in episode one, that partnership is about more than being a client and vendor. It’s about working together to create something new and innovative, like the marketing partnerships I’m working on right now with Meta and Linkedin.
So how do you go about getting the attention of one of those large brands and develop that kind of partnership?
That’s exactly what our guest today, George Thomas, is going to talk to us about.
George B. Thomas has been in sales and marketing for more than three decades, but in 2012, something changed. He started using HubSpot as a CRM and soon began partnering with them and working to help other brands improve their own sales, marketing and processes by leveraging HubSpot, one of the major brands in the MarTech space and host of Inbound, a huge event in Boston that attracts thousands of marketers..
George loves to truly come alongside other brands as a catalyst for growth, so in addition to being an expert in inbound marketing and sales, email and content marketing, and all-things-HubSpot, George brings a wealth of experience in partnerships and relationship building.
And he’s been a friend of mine for years…
Partnership Unpacked host Mike Allton talked to George B. Thomas about:
♉️ How he developed such a close relationship with a huge industry brand.
♉️ How to develop and nurture brand partnerships.
♉️ How relationships played a key role in his long term success.
Learn more about George B. Thomas
Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode
Full Notes & Transcript: https://www.thesocialmediahat.com/blog/how-to-develop-profitable-relationships-with-big-brands-w-george-thomas/
Brought to you by Agorapulse: the #1 rated social media management solution. Sign up for a free demo at https://www.agorapulse.com/contact/ Music by Jumbo, "Peripheral" (feat. Plum Soul) Produced and Hosted by Mike Allton | |||