How Do You Run a Partner Recruitment Campaign?
You run a partner recruitment campaign by building a target partner list, creating a compelling proposition founded on the partner's business case, and advertising across partners' preferred channels with role-specific messaging. Recruitment leverages your value proposition to attract prospective partners and motivate them to collaborate with you.
Start by building a target list of channel partners — the specific partners whose business and customer base fit your product and strategy. This focuses the campaign on partners worth pursuing rather than broadcasting indiscriminately.
The heart of recruitment is a compelling proposition built on the partner's case. Having identified the business and financial case for the partner when you set your channel strategy, develop messaging targeted at partners with that business case as the foundation. Incorporate your story, the value your product brings to customers, and the benefits of the partnership — and increase credibility by weaving in evidence that presents your company and products as the solution to the opportunity and a clear fit with the partner's existing business. Partners join when they see a clear path to their own profit and a fit with what they already do.
Advertising creates awareness and opens dialogue. Run an advertising campaign with highlights from your value proposition to build brand awareness among potential partners, targeting multiple roles within the partner organization and adjusting key messages to suit each role. Reach prospective partners across their preferred channels — industry events, tradeshows, paid social, and targeted emails — and use professional networking platforms to identify the stakeholders responsible for channel partnerships, such as supplier or vendor relationship managers and channel managers. Engage them with your value proposition and always end with a clear call to action.
Personalize the first real contact. When establishing contact with prospective partners, research some of the potential partner's own customers to personalize your introduction and explain how you can help them win further business. This research-driven, personalized outreach shows partners you understand their business — which is far more compelling than a generic pitch. By targeting the right partners, leading with their business case, advertising across their channels, and personalizing contact, the CEO runs a recruitment campaign that attracts partners genuinely motivated to sell the product.
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