The world of marketing is always changing, and businesses must keep up. Today, more and more brands are beginning to realize the benefits of a symbiotic relationship with one another through collaborative marketing.
What is collaborative marketing? It’s a special relationship between two brands with similar interests where parties combine their strengths to their benefit. It’s all about engaging with followers and expanding their client base.
Its benefits are numerous, yet, like all other aspects of your business that need plenty of planning and the rigorous attention of a hard-working and competent team, such as your outsourced software testing, it’s challenging and requires dedication.
Why Collaborative Marketing?
Using this method of marketing certainly pushes your business into unknown territory. Trusting another brand with your goals has its challenges, but don’t forget that it’s also a coming together of shared interests for the mutual benefit of both businesses.
Here are some undeniable pros:
1. Growing Your Personal Network:
Brand collaborations can double your network in size. The scope and influence of your brand partner will bring new interest directly to your products and services. An increased network will increase the attention on your website and services, meaning more clicks on your SaaS landing page.
2. Content Promotion:
Your content is going to reach farther than it ever has before because of your combined reach and influence. With another brand on board, your combined impact and reciprocal promotion can be used to boost each other’s visibility.
3. Your Content Becomes More Credible:
Collaborative branding with the right brand partner can strengthen your brand’s credibility and recognition. Being endorsed by another player in your field and growing your social media following will build your brand’s authority.
4. Learn By Reading Your Own Content:
Both brands will have different expertise and strengths. Through collaboration, you’ll be able to improve your content. Examine your old content. How does it compare to that of your competitors and even your partner? Is it engaging? How can it be adapted to suit your target demographic and that of your new collaborator? Answer these questions and make the changes to see progress.
How Does Collaborative Marketing Work?
Initially, you need to make sure you’ve chosen the right partnership. If you discover that the brand you’re considering working with has different goals, an entirely different target audience, or conflicting ideas, then you’ll need to rethink your choice.
Collaborative marketing shouldn’t feel restrictive. There are so many possibilities.
1. Partnership Marketing
Brands split the costs for a mutually beneficial marketing campaign. This can be experienced through ads, content marketing, giveaways, or even a pop-up shop.
2. Instagram Collaborations
Brands take over each other’s Instagram accounts for marketing, including giveaways, referrals and affiliate programs, product shoutouts, and joint product releases.
3. Collaborative Content Marketing
This method includes guest posting, expert roundups, podcasts, and interviews. These should include features important to both brands, such as closed captioning transcription and subtitles to embrace a global audience.
4. Joint Ads
Split the cost of a traditional advertisement with partners to reduce expenses. This way, both partners get recognition in the ad and receive the same amount of benefits.
5. Mailing List Exposure
Share your mailing list and vice-versa. This swap of contacts can be very successful in gaining new customers. Consider some ways to make the most of email marketing.
Whatever method you use, you must dedicate yourself to your collaboration for it to work effectively.
How to Make Your Collaboration a Success
The success of this marketing endeavor relies heavily upon your relationship with your new brand partner. Communication is key. When virtual communication is necessary, embracing collaboration software, such as using a whiteboard app online to bounce around ideas, can be the perfect solution.
Your collaboration’s success relies upon your dedication and enthusiasm as you get back what you give out. The process to success involves the 7 R’s:
1. Research:
Tapping into the resources and skills of others can be tricky, especially for the first time. You must do sufficient research- just as you would if you were crowdtesting your software. This process also requires clear communication with your partner.
- What are your primary goals for the project, and how are you going to measure them?
- What’s your timeframe?
- Are there any possible conflicts of interest?
- What supporting infrastructure, training, logistics, or contingencies need to be in place before you begin?
2. Reputation:
Once your research is completed, you’re ready to reach out to collaborators. Key questions are:
- Do potential collaborators have influence and a broad audience?
- Will you gain new interest through a collaboration?
3. Review:
Now you can reach out with project materials. The review process includes:
- Communication with your partner
- Considering your partner’s portfolio
- Establishing your partner’s availability for the project
4. Relationships:
Collaborative marketing projects require an extremely high level of resource and people management to deliver outstanding results. Virtual meeting solutions make this highly possible even for remote work environments. These relationships include those within your teams and audience.
5. Reinforce:
The power of the project lies within your team. Establishing the contributions, skills, networks, and project goals with your partner and their audience are crucial to breaking into a broader market.
6. Repurpose:
Once the project is complete, you need to consider how you’re going to reveal your collaboration. A successful method is the ‘Drip Feed.’ Release teasers and behind-the-scenes content to your audiences and networks. This creates a promotional network.
7. Recycle:
So, your project was a success? Great! But it doesn’t stop there. Now, you need to consider if you’ll run a collaborative marketing experience again. There’s now a foundation in place to allow you to recycle these benefits in future projects.
Whether you’re determining the ROI of SEO efforts or ad campaigns, you need to maintain an awareness of which elements of your collaboration work best and make decisions based on this data.
Successful Collaboration
Collaborative marketing can be hugely successful. With the right partner, you become a team, investing your time and energy to exchange and increase your client base and career success.
You must follow the 7 R’s and remain dedicated throughout. If executed as we’ve instructed, it can completely shift the future of your business.
