How can a retail partner build connections with their sales partners?

Bol.com presents itself as “the shop for everyone” (de winkel van ons allemaal). And that’s what the retail partner had in mind for this campaign: to guide entrepreneurs on their e-commerce journey. The campaign was based on the platform we set up for bol.com: startmetonlineverkopen.be. Entrepreneurs were able to visit and learn everything about selling their products online through 4 webinars:

• How do I get the most out of the end-of-year period as an entrepreneur? - Mathias Vissers (iO)

• How do I generate online awareness for my shop? - Jente Kasprowski (Inventis)

• How do I handle shipping and returns when I sell (online)? - Benjamin Dieleman (Bol.com)

• How do I reap the benefits of customer communication? - Steven Van Belleghem (iO)

We put together these webinars, came up with the themes and provided two speakers. All speakers were experts in their field, which meant the target audience grew wider than just entrepreneurs who weren’t selling online yet. Those who already had a webshop could also learn a thing or two from these experts. This enabled bol.com to also help its existing partners grow.

The webinar themes weren’t chosen randomly. They were based on specific questions that entrepreneurs struggle with. More importantly, the Q&A sessions gave us valuable insight into the obstacles entrepreneurs face. Furthermore, we noticed that webinars like these were an important starting point for learning.

Even the technical aspects were taken care of: we set up marketing automation flows to handle communication before and after the sessions. And to make learning easier for the entrepreneur, we gave them access to the webinars afterwards. That way, they were able to rewatch the sessions whenever they needed to.

The face of our campaign was none other than Kamal Karmach. He knows his way around stand-up comedy but also has a thing or two to say about marketing. That became clear in 2020 when he became the face of Andermans Zaken. In this tv show, he helped businesses in need. Because of his credibility in the marketing and entrepreneur communities, we trusted Kamal with the campaign wholeheartedly. He wasn’t just a way to pull local entrepreneurs in. He was also a brilliant moderator during the sessions.

We gave our influencer marketing efforts an extra nudge with a more general advertising strategy. We advertised on social media and set up a radio advert of around 20 seconds.

In 2022, after all the lockdowns, bol.com keeps supporting its new and existing sales partners. With bol.com, we launched a content campaign to guide partners and help them grow. The goal of the campaign was to show partners that bol.com is a reliable retail partner who gets them. This story was translated into a main concept, which was implemented in several campaigns focusing on different themes. 

The concept, “growing together” (samen doorgroeien), spoke to all entrepreneurs and partners who were part of bol.com’s growth trajectory. That trajectory consists of 4 phases: 

• Wanting to grow: the phase in which prospects are finding their way

• Starting to grow: the phase in which new partners join 

• Growth power: the phase in which partners grow 

• Growth vision: the phase in which the most active and large partners go even further

The campaign was, therefore, both aimed at prospects and existing partners. 

With this concept, we positioned bol.com as the best online retail partner, one that is close to its partners. In order to emphasise that proximity, we came up with a general slogan bol.com could use for various campaigns. With a nod to “bol.com: the shop for everyone” (bol.com: de winkel van ons allemaal), iO came up with “the shop for growing together” (de winkel van samen doorgroeien). As part of this concept, we were able to set up coherent campaigns. 

Bol.com actively shared content on its own channel: the partner platform. Any prospect or partner can find heaps of information there. Bol.com uses it to share new insights and updates through articles, podcasts, webinars and videos. Partners can find tips and tricks to grow there. And last but not least: prospects can find out everything about how to become a sales partner.

The iO team created content for this platform. We wrote articles on pricing, advertising strategies, and advertising types and created tips and tricks to increase visibility for the website.

Besides owned content, bol.com also focused on branded content. Our team coordinated this content and connected bol.com with various media parties. For instance, the retail partner shared information on logistics, visibility in an online marketplace and growth for sales partners via various Belgian and Dutch media platforms, among which DPG, Twinkle and Ads & Data. 

With these campaigns, bol.com successfully managed to help (future) partners grow.

The 2020 lead gen campaign helped us pull in 2,000 registrations per webinar. More importantly, the webinars were a great success. Before we launched our content campaign in 2022, we tested the concept with a pretest. It allowed us to see if the target audience was open to the concept before we even launched it. What we noticed was that consumers in Belgium and the Netherlands appreciated the concept and that the concept fitted nicely within bol.com’s brand experience. After launching, we noticed a strong rise in brand authority in Belgium, as well.