Today, the partnerships team at Instamojo is building a partner program called the Ecommerce Squad.
The key objective is to drive consumption & adoption by MSMEs & SMBs & fueling their D2C Journeys.
Who am I? Well, I lead partnerships at Instamojo. So I am the perfect person to tell you why we started this project and what we hope to achieve.
Before I start, let’s address the first question on everyone’s mind:
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What is a partner program?
Simply put,
A partner program is a strategy to build more value for your end customer by enabling/incentivising value creation by your potential partners.
Partners enable this by providing value-added services like
- Custom store setup
- Creative design
- Copy & content services
- Social media management
- Marketing
They build unmatched value for Instamojo Merchants.
How does this fit in with Instamojo’s vision?
Every merchant we onboard today is unique. Their aspirations, struggles & path to success will, of course, be unique.
We understand that the vital win is not just setting up their independent eCommerce store but running a successful eCommerce business.
Not surprisingly, we have religiously adopted this as our vision for the partner program: To drive consumption & to enable our merchants to run a successful eCommerce business.
How do we do this today?
Our partners come with years of experience as capable advisors & doers. They work with potential merchants & help build a store that matches their aspirations.
They also help with best practices & patient hand holding to help our merchants get off the mark quickly. Inevitably helping reduce the learning curve for their eCommerce journeys.
eCommerce Squad partners understand small businesses, and they know their constraints. They work with these merchants to drive value-for-money results.
Related read: 10 powerful marketing tools & features you can find on the Instamojo dashboard
What about existing Instamojo users? How can they benefit?
When a merchant reaches out to the Instamojo team, they have a specific goal in mind. It could be creating content, designing creatives, or running social media campaigns.
Based on their goal, the right partner is connected to help drive the desired outcome.
How easy is it to build a new partner program?
Not easy at all. Patience is key. Being flexible early on is a must-have requirement. Being open to feedback from partners is also a must.
Some of the significant challenges we face today:
Finding the right partner:
Different partners have different aspirations. We need to identify & work with those partners whose aspirations match our vision. We are always willing to invest time & effort to help our partners find their fit. Hence, our preference is for partners to be ready to invest in long-term value creation.
Helping partners get started:
Today, the program is tailor-made for partners working with MSME merchants. We work with such partners helping them craft unbeatable value propositions for their end customers. It takes time for any new initiative & we patiently work with them.
End of the day, in the Partnership team our mantra is to build Trust & remain Partners first.
This blog was written by Anas Shakil, the Director of Partnerships at Instamojo. You can connect to Anas here.
