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If you’re looking for ways to increase revenue for your business, you may have read about the various partner programs offered by vendors in your industry.
Many programs are free to join, making them perfect for budget-conscious marketers.
However, like many things in business, to reap the benefits of a partnership program, you must invest some time and effort to make it work effectively.
Good news?
If your business has a strong customer base, the foundation for a successful partner program is already in place.
However, this does not mean that small businesses cannot benefit. In fact, many programs provide all the resources (like software and product guides) you need to get started and acquire new customers along the way.
Here’s what you need to know about the Partner Program and how it can increase your revenue.
What is the Partner Program?
a partner program (or partnership program) is a business model in which a product or service vendor collaborates with a channel partner to maximize revenue.
By joining our partner program, you can earn financial incentives for helping vendors acquire new customers. These incentives vary by industry and business, but can take the form of payments or product discounts.
If your business operates in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry, you may want to take a look at the channel partner programs you participate in.
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How the partnership program works
Although some partnership programs have complex structures, the way they operate is very simple.
For example, a restaurant owner might encourage customers to visit a local coffee shop and get a free latte from time to time.
This informal partnership benefits three parties:
- Customers are happily caffeinated.
- The coffee shop gains new customers.
- Restaurant owners receive free coffee in exchange for their referral efforts.
Local small business owners may not see the benefit of formalizing this type of partnership. But for high-growth companies with an online presence, participating in a partnership program makes sense.
If you run a digital agency, joining a partnership program is as easy as signing up on your company’s website and completing the onboarding steps.
Many SaaS companies that operate agency partner programs offer partner relationship management (PRM) software that provides sales teams with all the resources they need to achieve success.
Partner ecosystem
A business ecosystem is a network that connects actors from different industries, including product and service providers. Like natural ecosystems, business ecosystems often involve both competition and cooperation.
For example, if you are involved in software development, you can collaborate with other companies to share resources and optimize your development process.
If you are an independent software vendor (ISV), you compete with other vendors for potential customers.
The partner ecosystem, on the other hand, focuses on cooperation rather than competition.
Mutually beneficial interactions with other companies, whether in the field of digital marketing, e-commerce, web development, design, etc., allow you to form a partner ecosystem.
For example, you may have used the services of a digital marketing company to promote your business. Or, your web app developer may be offering you a way to increase your web app sales. WooCommerce store.
If you’re benefiting from the products and services of other companies in your ecosystem, it’s only natural that you want your customers to benefit as well.
For example, if you value a manual approach to web hosting, you can recommend the following choices to your clients: Fully managed hosting.
To benefit even more from our partner ecosystem, consider joining a reputable brand’s partner program.
Whether your business is technology-centric or simply has an online presence and an established customer base, you can grow within a partnership ecosystem. You can also maximize your profits by joining our partnership program.
Partner type
Business ecosystems thrive because of different types of partnerships. There are three main types of partner programs: affiliate, reseller, and referral partnerships.
affiliate partner
Even if affiliate marketing isn’t a key growth strategy for your business, there’s still a lot to gain by becoming an affiliate in a channel partner program.
For example, if you regularly post articles on your website, you can optionally attach affiliate links. Then, when an end customer clicks through and makes a purchase, you earn a commission.
Digital marketing agencies can promote vendor services and product offerings through various channels such as email marketing, case studies, and social media.
resale partner
Depending on your business setup, becoming a reseller can be a little more complicated than affiliate marketing.
However, if you already sell products or services online, all you need to do is add a new product line or become a value-added reseller. As a reseller, you can buy products from vendors at deep discounts and sell them for a profit.
If you are already a systems integrator, value-added resale is an attractive partnership option.
Many integration partners use application programming interfaces (APIs) to leverage the functionality of different companies’ software programs.
Referral partner
If your customers often ask for recommendations for products that you don’t offer, such as web hosting, you can refer them to trusted vendors and get paid in return.
For example, the Liquid Web Partner+ program offers referral commissions ranging from 5 percent to 20 percent. You also get access to a dedicated account manager and partner enablement tools.
Key benefits of joining the Partner Program
Whether your once booming business needs a side hustle or your startup wants to gain an edge, partner programs offer significant financial and other benefits.
Here’s what a partnership program can do for you and your business ecosystem:
increase in revenue
It can provide additional revenue streams for your business and give you access to new markets, such as the web hosting industry. According to Statista, web hosting revenue is Average annual growth rate 12.42% From 2023 to 2027.
help other businesses
You can also help another company increase sales while increasing your own revenue. Partnership programs help vendors and partners stay competitive and weather economic storms.
Receive product/service incentives
In addition to cash incentives, some partnership programs offer free add-ons or discounted prices on top-of-the-line products.For example, the Liquid Web Partner+ program offers free SSL certificate To resellers.
Build relationships with other businesses
Join our partner program to build strong relationships with industry leaders like Nexcess and Liquid Web. These relationships have helped partners: name hero Find customized solutions to your business bottlenecks.
Try a new marketing strategy
Partner programs offer great opportunities to diversify your marketing strategy and learn from talented marketers. Many programs, such as Liquid Web Partner+, give you access to valuable marketing materials to help you succeed.
gain new knowledge
Participating in a vendor’s program provides important industry knowledge not available at other companies. You may not have access to all of a vendor’s confidential information, but you can learn about their growth metrics, value proposition, and sales process.
connect with customers
By joining the Channel Partner Program, you can maintain strong connections with your customers and even attract new customers. Partnering with a trusted company can improve your business reputation.
Additionally, if your customers are satisfied with your product or service recommendation, they are likely to recommend your business to others.
Revenue grows as your business grows
As your customer base and revenue grow, your revenue from partner programs can increase significantly.
For example, if you run a digital marketing agency and your clients’ web traffic increases, you might want to move from shared hosting to Enterprise level solutiondedicated server clusters, etc.
The Liquid Web Partner+ program has several tiers of fees and offers custom hosting solutions for high-growth businesses.
What to look for in a partner program
As partnership programs grow in popularity, you’ll find that there are many attractive options available for your business. Here are some things to consider before signing up:
- reliability.
- quality.
- value.
- support.
- tool.
reliability
Choose a trusted brand name with transparent pricing. It’s often better to associate your business with a well-established brand.
Nexcess and Liquid Web have been providing excellent service for over 20 years. When you sign up for Liquid Web Partner+, you and your customers have peace of mind.
quality
Make sure your vendor sells quality products or services. Otherwise, your customers may lose trust in your offer and business.
You can check a vendor’s service and product warranty before recommending it to your customers. When it comes to web hosting, you may want to check speed, security, and uptime.
value
If a customer doesn’t think the product you recommend is of value, they may question your motives.
Conversely, customers know better: cheap Products are not always good value.
For example, in web hosting, some no-frills plans can cost significantly more when add-ons are factored into the price.
All things considered, premium hosting options like Nexcess and Liquid Web offer great value for money, especially for customers who value managed hosting and easy scalability.
support
Look for potential partners with reliable technical support staff. If you or your customers have an issue with a product or service, you should be able to easily contact the vendor.
The Liquid Web Partner+ program offers 24/7 support, so you have consistent access to a team of web hosting experts.
Support from partner managers is also invaluable. Partner Managers are familiar with customer pain points and can provide advice to improve sales.
When it comes to program support, Liquid Web Partner+ has you covered. Every partner has a dedicated partner manager.
tool
If your vendor doesn’t give you the tools to be successful, you could be wasting your time on processes that don’t drive revenue, such as program setup and administrative tasks.
To ensure efficiency, join a program that is easy to join and track your progress.
Liquid Web Partner+ is partner stack Our partner portal makes it easy to track referrals and payments.
Successful Partnerships in Practice: Liquid Web and NameHero
NameHero is a web hosting and domain name registration company that has been partnered with Liquid Web since 2014.
NameHero became a Premier Partner in 2018. Since then, the program has helped NameHero gain a competitive edge by providing access to custom hardware products and significant product discounts.
Ryan Gray, the owner of NameHero, appreciates the program’s support and monitoring capabilities, and his customers benefit from it, too.
This partnership helped Ryan pivot his business during a period of disruption, as he knew Liquid Web was ready to scale instantly and support NameHero.
Finally: How to choose the right partner program for your business
Before you sign up, put aside finances and think about whether you have the resources to make the partnership work for both parties.
For example, if marketing isn’t your responsibility, make sure your partner vendor provides all the marketing tools you need to succeed.
It also pays to shop around, so check out the websites of the top companies in your industry to see what options are available to you.
Some companies, such as Nexcess and Liquid Web, have multiple partnership options for resale, referrals, and affiliate marketing.
If you want to steer your clients in the direction of industry-leading web hosts and be rewarded for your efforts, Liquid Web Partner+ Program.
