As the office for national statistics recently reported, 90% of UK households now have internet access, and 73% of adults have internet on the go with tablets or mobile phones (Office for National Statistics, 2017). The continued rise of consumers using the internet has lead companies to battle for online presence. For many companies, they have not been able to create an online platform large enough to effectively market digitally. However, this does not mean companies cannot gain the benefits of digital marketing. Companies are constantly forming partnerships online, for one company to be able to use another company’s digital infrastructure, and the other to gain access to new customers.

Companies can use an online partnership to enhance the service they already provide. Fast food and café shops now see it as vital to offer a form of free Wi-Fi to customers, but surely just offering a free Wi-Fi portal is not fully utilising the potential of this consumer interaction. Starbucks looked at a potential solution to this, when they partnered up with Yahoo. They created an online platform called Starbucks Digital Network, and as Business Wire summarises offers Wi-Fi users a unique platform to each store and each customer. The network displays local news, events on around town, local weather, as well as access to other business’ resources like the entire marvel DC catalogue (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110323006330/en/Starbucks-Digital-Network-Partnership-Yahoo!-Debuts-Content). As Ryan and Jones (2012) mention, digital marketing offers the benefit of mass one-to-one marketing and therefore an effective partnership should show some signs of personalisation of content to the specific consumer, much like Starbucks and Yahoo offer.

Online Partnerships also offer a chance for a company to access an online distribution platform. In order for a partnership to be effective, it should be evident the consumer base the digital platform offers is relevant to the company wishing to use it. For example, when Disney and YouTube created an online partnership to create various exclusive digital series, Disney was well aware of YouTube’s estimated 144 million unique under 18 users a month. The Disney Channel currently has 2.5million subscribers and there most viewed video has over 100 million views (https://www.youtube.com/user/disneysshows/featured). In comparison Disney channel had 31 million viewers over a 7 day period this spring (https://www.statista.com/statistics/228939/cable-tv-networks-disney-channel-watched-within-the-last-7-days-usa/). When analysing a partnership where one company is using another company’s platform it is most important to consider whether the demographic the platform provides is relevant.

Online partnerships can also be used to upsell products, or as it is also known affiliate marketing. Many online websites have large userbases of a certain demographic and therefor offer opportunities for effective marketing. For example, IMDB partnered with Amazon and Amazon Prime so that any time a user views a film through the website, is linked to a buy now button to buy it through Amazon Prime. While in this case, Amazon is the parent company now to IMDB, the majority of the time the company will pay royalties or a proportion of the sale for the link. For affiliate marketing to be effective, the company must ensure that the customer is viewing a page that is relevant to what is being offer, and that there is or could be purchasing intent behind them viewing the page. As Marketing Land mention, it is also important to add the ability to buy the product and not just try and sell the product directly (https://marketingland.com/7-big-mistakes-new-affiliate-marketers-make-19195). The IMDB page still contains all the information users initially came to the page for, and the option to buy now is a small yet findable part of the page.

While partnership marketing can be very beneficial to both parties, it needs to be carefully planned in order to be fully effective. Companies need to decided whether the partner is the best option when trying to create purchase intent or distribute the companies content online. A good partnership marketing campaign should show a clear focus on what the consumer wants when they visit the website, and should add value to the customers experience when visiting the page. The examples used all show how the partnership produces a better quality product for the viewer, and not one just pushing a sale.

Extra Links and References

8 Examples of successful business partnerships (not all digital) – http://www.imediaconnection.com/articles/ported-articles/red-dot-articles/2012/jan/8-marketing-partnerships-that-succeeded/

5 examples of successfully integrated partnerships online – https://www.econsultancy.com/blog/69285-five-great-examples-of-integrated-brand-partnerships-online/

Business Wire. (2017). Starbucks Digital Network, in partnership with Yahoo!, Debuts New Content Providers: The Economist, ESPN insider and Mediabistro with Marvel Digital Comics Coming Soon.  [online] Available at: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110323006330/en/Starbucks-Digital-Network-Partnership-Yahoo!-Debuts-Content [Accessed 27 Nov. 2017].

Office for National Statistics. (2017). Internet access – households and individuals. [online] Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/householdcharacteristics/homeinternetandsocialmediausage/bulletins/internetaccesshouseholdsandindividuals/2017 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2017].

Ryan, D. and Jones, C. (2012). Understanding Digital Marketing. 2^nd ed. London: Kogan Page.