From global retail chains to tech giants, brands have often used white-labelling as a shortcut to market expansion, and quite successfully so. The well-known US retailer Costco offers Krikland coffee roasted by Starbucks as part of its premium in-house brand. In the technology sector, some of the most commonly white-labelled solutions include payment gateways, website builders, marketing automation software or different types of consultancy services.
While white-labelling is often associated with B2C products and services, B2B partnerships are common across all verticals. This is especially true for fast-paced markets where timing is essential to gaining a competitive edge, such is the case with telecommunications. Mobile Operators too can expand their B2B offering with solutions delivered by specialised providers as this helps reduce time-to-market, operational costs, and business risk. Rather than spending months or even years hiring the right talent, developing a new technology, and creating a GTM strategy, Mobile Operators can enter a strategic partnership with a company that has already gone through all these processes.
In this article, we’ll discuss how Mobile Operators can leverage B2B white-label partnerships as part of their market expansion and business growth strategies.
What is a white-labelled B2B solution?
By definition, a white-labelled product is created or manufactured by one company and sold by another. The very term originates from the music industry where record labels used to send albums with blank covers to various DJs to test their popularity prior to releasing it.
In the modern economy, B2C white-labelling refers to products manufactured by a company specialised for the operational process and sold by a retail brand whose core focus is commerce.
Similarly, B2B white-labelling involves a collaboration between a provider of specialised technologies or services and an established brand looking to deliver a tailored new solution to its target market. For example, a marketing automation platform ActiveCampaign offers white-labelling solutions for marketing agencies whose core business is lead generation and reporting. They can rebrand the entire platform interface and offer it as part of their own service.
What’s in it for Mobile Operators?
Where software development is not a core business, creating a new communication solution from scratch can be a costly, lengthy, and risky process. For Mobile Operators it can be challenging to assemble IT teams to dedicate to such a project without falling behind on their key projects. This is when white-labelling should be taken into consideration as it ensures:
#1 Low production costs – by leveraging a market-ready solution, Mobile Operators can eliminate the need for:
- hiring and maintaining expert staff
- investing in research and development
- upgrading tech stack/infrastructure
- creating a GTM strategy
#2 Low barriers to entry – strengthening their B2B side of the business requires Mobile Operators to continually expand their portfolio. White-labelled partnerships allow them to do so in an efficient way.
#3 Low risk of failure – another key criterion that enables brands to confidently enter a new market is a low risk estimate. If no significant time and financial resources have been invested into solution development, brands have a lower bar to reach before they achieve positive ROI. More importantly, lengthy development processes will not impede growth of the brand’s core business (such as building and maintaining a communication infrastructure).
5 Ways to Accelerate B2B Business with White-Labelling
Thanks to the operational benefits outlined above, white-labelling provides Mobile Operators with a shorter, easier, and more stable path to market expansion. Here are five ways it helps them ensure competitive edge and grow their business.
#1 Drive communication innovation and tap into booming markets
As brands continue to focus on increasing customer engagements, A2P messaging will continue to drive a significant portion of Mobile Operators’ revenue. However, these services are projected to grow at a slower pace than emerging new B2B channels such as AI Chatbots.
A recent report by LivePerson revealed that 89% of brands are currently evaluating or planning to implement AI for customer engagement within the next six months. Analysts project that the conversational AI market will grow from $10.7 billion in 2023 to $29.8 billion by 2028, creating lucrative opportunities for communication vendors.
Mobile Operators can tap into this market by delivering a reliable AI Chatbots solution to both existing clients and the increasingly interested enterprise prospects. With timing being of essence to capturing the greater share of the conversational AI market, white-labelling is an efficient way to launch a new solution faster.
#2 Deliver in-demand solutions to build new income streams
With consumers’ increasingly expecting tailored communications, brands are under a greater pressure to elevate their customer engagement tactics. Mobile Operators play a key role in enabling them to transform their communications and meet users’ sophisticated needs. To achieve this, they need to strengthen their B2B portfolio and provide:
- Support for multi-channel strategies through integrations with key communication channels
- Simplified ways for brands to set up and run their communication campaigns with a single CPaaS interface
- Conversational AI enablement by offering an AI-powered chatbots solution
- Expanded reach and connectivity through globally available services
Rather than developing their own APIs or technology platforms, Mobile Operators can partner with an established CPaaS and conversational AI vendor to bring these new possibilities to their target customers. This way they can offer novel solutions and services without major investments and create additional revenue streams through cross-selling and penetrating new markets.
#3 Access new distribution channels and ensure economies of scale
One of the key factors to consider when bringing a new solution to the communications market is its ability to meet the needs of companies in different verticals and geographic regions at the right price. Mobile Operators looking to expand their portfolio with a white-label solution should choose a partner that is actively working with similar markets to get access to relevant new distribution channels. This way they can ensure economies of scale as they don’t need to invest in new sales and development resources or infrastructure expansion in order to meet the growing needs of their customers.
#4 Strengthen brand positioning and build loyalty
The fierce competition in the telecom industry requires Mobile Operators to continuously build not only their infrastructure, but also their brand presence. By strengthening your B2B portfolio to meet the evolving needs of your key revenue-driving segment, you can foster trust and build loyalty. Recent research by Aria and TM Forum reported that the global telecom revenue from B2B services grew by 3.1% in 2021, indicating the importance of focusing on this segment.
Through strategic B2B white-label partnerships, you can show your customers that you have your hands on the market’s pulse and can swiftly adapt your offer to it. This helps you position yourself as a vendor of choice for the most progressive companies which are constantly developing new customer engagement strategies. By building a more diverse and reliable portfolio than your competitors, you also ensure market authority that helps you position your brand in new verticals and locales.
#5 Drive more revenue through established markets
Portfolio expansion is typically used as a strategy to win new markets, but it is also a great way to generate more revenue through the existing ones. Your current, established routes are often open to expanding their collaborations, which is why it is a good strategy to focus on them when planning to launch a new solution or service.
In practical terms, Mobile Operators who are delivering Internet and messaging services to local banks can prioritise expanding their BFSI portfolio with a conversational banking solution. Retail and ecommerce brands relying on SMS to deliver transactional notifications, might be interest in expanding their customer engagements through Viber and WhatsApp. The similar logic can be applied to geographical markets as well. Mobile Operators focusing on a specific region can offer services and solutions that are booming in nearby locales and drive innovation and revenue out of the existing segments.
White-labelling helps you leverage the full potential of your established markets and ensure stickiness. By working with brands like GMS, you can rely on external expertise and industry knowledge to help you plan and execute the right strategy.
Conclusions
The growing pressure in the communications market is requiring Mobile Operators to swiftly adapt to the changing ecosystem. By strengthening your B2B offer, you can ensure business growth and capture profits in both emerging areas and existing segments. White-labelling offers you a quick route to the market, helping you strengthen your brand authority and gain competitive advantage.
GMS’ offers key conversational solutions you can customise and deliver to your customers and prospects. Contact us here to request more details.