Today, companies have to radically revolutionize themselves every few years just to stay relevant. That’s because technology and the Internet have transformed the business landscape forever. The fast-paced digital age has accelerated the need for companies to become agile.

~ Nolan Bushnell

The nature of businesses has taken a huge leap in recent years, owing to the impact of an ever-advancing digital era. Be it the IT sector, marketing, retail, automobile industry, and so on, digital transformation undeniably has its mark in all the streams of businesses. In this swiftly running world where every firm aims at leading the crowd, a strategic partnership doesn’t only give mutual benefits but also ensures long-term profits.

What is Strategic Partnership? How Does it Work?

A Strategic partnership is an arrangement between two businesses (B2B) with mutual goals. These organizations aim at achieving their objectives by working together.

A strategic partnership works on the basis of few common motivational factors such as:

• 99% of the partners see ‘reassurances’ as a fundamental obligation.
• Service enhancement and job sharing to ensure customer as well as employee satisfaction.
• Consistent financial rewards or transparent referral fees are encouraging.
• Reciprocal referrals or asset sharing can be beneficial for mutual success. The companies can contribute to each other’s financial requirements or expertise needs, labor or equipment requirements.
• The agreements should comprise of separately designated responsibilities among the companies.

Types of Strategic Partnerships

Strategic business alliances can be of five types:

1. Strategic Marketing Partnerships- In this kind of partnership, one company is entitled to the production of products, while the other is responsible for its selling and marketing. Such partnerships are normally practiced in the automobile industry.
2. Strategic Supply-chain Partnerships- Two companies share their resources to achieve a common motive in such partnerships. These have been prevalent in the entertainment industry primarily but are now seen being used in the technology sector too.
3. Strategic Integration Partnerships- These partnerships aim at making their databases more customer-centric. These can be seen mostly between hardware and software companies or software-software companies.
4. Strategic Technology Partnerships- When a company cannot produce in-house tech expertise, it needs to hire it from outside. The strategic technology partnership is an arrangement between an organization in need of technical dexterity and an IT service-providing firm.
5. Strategic Financial Partnerships- These are the partnerships that involve one company looking into the financial aspects of the other company for revenue growth. These are the most challenging arrangements to foster between two companies.

What is Digital Footprint in Business? Why is it Important?

A company’s digital presence says ample about its reputation. The digital marketing efforts can fall down to zero if a brand lacks the required presence on social media platforms. The Digital footprint is crucial to your business because:

According to the statistics, the number of social media users which was 0.97 billion in 2010 has increased to 3.02 billion in 2021. Some strong strategies to take your online presence to the next level are:

• A website speaks volumes about an organization. A strong webpage would not be outdated, would not lack the contemporary style, and would have promising marketing messages. Hence, a website should be compatible or in sync with the services and products that your company offers.
• It is important to optimize your website with mobile also so that it can be accessed by the users even on their mobile phones and not be restricted to pc or laptop accessibility alone.
• Expand your online presence with social websites like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc.
• Maximize the user experience by data analyzation.

How Partners Can Enhance Social Media Footprint?

Two partner firms working together for common goals demands teamwork. Let us see how the two companies can help each other in forming strong grounds on social media platforms:

The Collaboration of efforts and teamwork is the governing aspect of a successful strategic partnership where both the companies reach their goals with common interests and determination. The customers, who also happen to be a part of the widely spread social media network, are the strings that attach an organization to its success or failure. To conclude, it would be wise to quote Bill Gates, who once said,

“Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning.”