Product Launch Strategy: How to Approach Affiliates – Part 2

My first responsibility in the biggest launch campaign of my career (so far) was to set up a nationwide network of promotional partners. Gaining the respect of promotional partners is not an easy task, but there is strategy to it.

At the time, my client was a Fortune 500 company that required nationwide promotional partnerships as a part of the launch plan. As an information marketer, you probably aren’t looking to setup such a large network all at once. More than likely your goal is to create a small group of trusted promotional partners you can work with over the long term.

In this two part article series, I borrowed from my experience to create a simple example of how to get promotional partners excited about your upcoming launch campaign. The first article explained what to say to get their attention. This second article focuses on two more lessons to help you secure excellent partners for the long haul.

Don’t put your faith in email. If you want a worthwhile relationship, you’ve got to do more than send emails back and forth. For my nationwide launch client, we prioritized face-to-face meetings. That meant that I had to get on a plane, visit each of our promotional partners, and engage them in conversation.

Your information business may not require plane travel and face-to-face meetings, but it will require more than email communication. You can use Skype, teleconferences, and screen sharing tools to communicate with prospective partners. Be ready to discuss what your upcoming launch is all about, the target customer you plan to reach, and why it is so important that you have them as a partner.

Don’t put your faith in bribes. My client had the option to send me into the meetings with a bag of money and say, “We’ve got X number of dollars we’re willing to pay you right now if you partner with us.” Yes, a large down payment may get people interested in the short-term, but will it keep them excited after the bag of money is spent?

This may sound simple, but the best way to keep a promotional partner’s attention is to offer a quality product. Prove that your special southern dessert recipes are the hottest available, and your upcoming launch is going to take sales to the next level. Once your promotional partners see that you offer a valuable product that people are buying you won’t have any trouble keeping their attention.