When planning a campaign, every detail matters – from creative concepts, to messaging, timing and target audiences. But one of the most crucial, and often overlooked elements, is partnerships. The right partners, or ambassadors, can not only elevate a campaign, but also help amplify reach, add authenticity and add impact – whether it’s a doctor, expert, dietitian or influencer.
However, choose the wrong partner, and you could be leaving yourself open to challenges, missed opportunities or at worst, reputational risks.
In this article, we’ll explore how choosing the right partners for PR campaigns can amplify messaging and increase reach, but how they potentially have the power to break a campaign too. We’ll look at what makes an effective partnership, common pitfalls to avoid and how to implement a strategy that truly matches your partnership to your campaign.
Keep the Partnership Authentic
A partnership that feels forced or unnatural can be off-putting to audiences. It’s important that before you even start the partner discussions, that you put the research and time in to discover what they’re about.
What products do they share organically? Do they have qualifications in the right space? How proactive are they on social, and on what channels? What kind of engagement do they get on their content?
Asking these questions up front, and delving a little bit deeper, can help ensure you’re choosing the right fit from the start.
If your whole campaign is to drive social traffic, but you work with a partner who doesn’t commit to social regularly, then having them suddenly post a series of brand heavy content, won’t be effective. The audience will see right through it, which in turn, will undermine the campaign.
Partnerships should feel natural and authentic to consumers, and building an authentic ambassador for your campaign, is one of the best ways to help drive consumer loyalty.
Start on the Right Foot
So, you’ve planned your campaign, and you’ve had some ideas of who you’d like to work with to amplify the activity. Now what? Often, you’ll find most established partners – whether it’s a doctor, expert, dietitian or influencer – will have a team behind them that should be your first go-to.
It can often be tempting to bypass the agent, but unless you have a strong relationship with the partner already (who would likely pass you over to their team anyway), we always suggest starting with the agent. The agent can help navigate communications with the partner or talent, while keeping discussions open and transparent – especially when it comes to negotiating deliverables, any potential conflicts, timings and fee.
Good communication is essential in any partnership, and from our experience skipping this at the start of a relationship only leads to trouble down the line – with partnerships perhaps not being as effective as imagined.
So, while it might be tempting to DM that partner direct, if they have a team, then make sure to drop them an email first.
Make Sure Goals, Values and Vision are Aligned
One of the most common reasons that partnerships don’t work, is due to not agreeing on goals, values or sharing your vision upfront.
If your partner isn’t on the same page about what they (and you!) want to achieve, or don’t share the same values as you or your brand, then the campaign could suffer from inconsistent messaging or conflicting priorities.
This can lead to activity that not only lacks cohesion but doesn’t resonate with the intended audience either.
When choosing a partner, before you even sign the contract (and yes, contracts are important!), make sure you have set out the activity overview and goal, clear messaging, and mutually agreed objectives and deliverables. When both parties understand the overall goal – whether its increasing brand awareness, driving sales or engaging new audiences – it sets the bar for a cohesive and purposeful campaign.
At Ceres, we always have these conversations up front, before outlining everything in a tailored contract and brief, that ensures everyone’s on the same page.
Build a Relationship
A trusted partner = someone you can build a long-term relationship with. And it’s these relationships that are key to a successful campaign or campaigns.
We all know of, or have worked on campaigns, that have had to adapt or change due to audience sentiment or response, market trends and the media agenda – and if you have a partner who is resistant to change or unwilling to pivot as needed, the campaign may suffer.
Taking the time to build real relationships with partners – both short and long term, can benefit the brand across multiple campaigns, lead to better collaboration, higher quality outputs and a greater understanding.
At Ceres, we’ve built a strong network of partners over our 25+ years. Having long-term relationships with many of our partners builds brand engagement and consumer trust but is also excellent for those last-minute requests you may need help with, or simply, to turn to when you need a spot of advice!
In today’s interconnected world, partnerships have the power to make or break a campaign. When chosen carefully, the right partners bring complementary strengths, amplify each other’s messages, and open doors to new audiences, creating a cohesive campaign that resonates with consumers.
To summarise, the most important things to remember when it comes to working with partners include keeping it authentic, doing your research, starting on the right foot, making sure your values and goals are aligned and building a strong relationship – all of which will ensure a successful and fruitful campaign.
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