Even in today's hybrid environment, agency relationships – indeed all relationships – flourish when teams meet stakeholders face to face.

Whether it's a brainstorming session or a chat over lunch, true momentum is only achieved through in-person engagement. And with over half of our clients being supported by one of our partnership agencies, we know that facilitating environments where feedback can be shared, and new ideas can be uncovered is critical.

That's why we invested the time at the end of last year to embark on an Agency Roadshow and meet with eight key agency partners. While some were long-term partners, others were much newer. What all these meetings gave us was the opportunity to gain industry insights and understand the strategies they're developing to continue supporting their clients. Most importantly, we gained essential feedback on their experiences working with us – in-depth information that's difficult to garner through a video call.

After meeting with Lydia Draper and the team at affiliate marketing agency GrowthHQ, she told us, "We thoroughly enjoyed connecting with the impact.com team on their Agency Roadshow. We already work with impact.com across several of our clients, and it was great to finally meet the team face-to-face. We got to learn more about their innovations in the affiliate space and are looking forward to seeing what 2023 holds for our partnership".

And it's only through sessions like these that we can gain key information to evolve our offering in line with the objectives and needs of our partners.

Three themes became apparent as a result of those conversations:

• Brands are increasingly looking to the affiliate channel as a cost-effective way to engage with new customers.
• Agencies managing multiple programs are seeking out ways to help them deliver greater efficiencies and save time.
• Emerging partnership categories, such as influencers and brand-to-brand, are high on an advertiser's agenda to explore.

With the roadshow coinciding with the launch of our Agency Partnership Program, this also gave us a chance to explain it clearly, address any questions and identify ways this could be used to support the differing needs of each of our partners.

As a player in the partnership economy, nothing is more critical to our success than relationships. And while countless technologies exist allowing companies to engage with clients virtually, nothing can replace face-to-face.

Yes, a Zoom call is easy to set up and time-efficient, but I urge any business to take time out to go and meet with your clients. It's by being physically present that you build rapport, openness and trust, which are essential for meaningful, sustainable, and effective long-term relationships.

From a well-being perspective, it's good to get out and meet other people. It's also good for the business, and if others aren't taking the time to do it, it gives you a competitive advantage. That's why we're already planning our next round of client visits.

Also published in: Marketing Donut