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

• Connect with Colin Levy on LinkedIn

• Connect with Colin Levy on Twitter

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar

• Learn more about Agorapulse with a free demo

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

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

• Connect with Justin Levy on LinkedIn
• Connect with Justin Levy on Twitter

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar

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

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

• Connect with Jason Falls on LinkedIn
• Connect with Jason Falls on Twitter

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• Winfluence: Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand
• Winfluence podcast
• CIPIO.ai
• Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar

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/ 

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

• Connect with Jared Fuller on LinkedIn
• Connect with Jared Fuller on Twitter

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• PartnerHacker
• PartnerUp
• Reveal
• Subscribe to the show calendar: agorapulse.com/calendar

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/ 

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

• Connect with Rachel Stephan on LinkedIn
• Connect with Rachel Stephan on Twitter

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• Snöball

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/ 

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

• Connect with Dale Wilson on LinkedIn
• Connect with Dale Wilson on Twitter

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• adQuandrant

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/ 

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

• Follow Umair on Twitter
• Connect with Umair on LinkedIn

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• LazyMetrics Inc
• ClickUp
• Asana
• The State of Partnership Ops in 2023 w/ Asher Mathew & Kelly Sarabyn

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/ 

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

• Follow Geoffroy on Twitter
• Connect with Geoffroy on LinkedIn

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• Livescale
• Why So Many Brands Fail At B2B Influencer Marketing w/ Lee Odden

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/ 

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

• Follow Lee on Twitter
• Connect with Lee on LinkedIn

Resources & Brands mentioned in this episode

• Top Rank Marketing

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/ 

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/