When executed correctly, cross-promoting a product with that of another, noncompeting brand is a valuable and effective way to maximize your marketing efforts. Developing a co-marketing campaign gives both you and your partner brand the opportunity to expand your audiences by promoting each other’s products or services.
Of course, to do this well, you need to find the right partner and have the right strategy in place. To help you pull it off, we turned to the members of Forbes Agency Council. Below, they share their best tips for brands planning to align their efforts and create a co-marketing campaign with another company.
Members offer their best advice on developing co-marketing campaigns.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Align Products And Services That Support Each Other
Two brands can align nicely with noncompetitive but supportive services. For instance, a home services company could align with an appliances company and cross-market services and brands, showcasing how the entire picture could come together for the consumer. – Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, Hawthorne LLC
2. Focus On A Specific Event
There are so many ways to create a co-marketing campaign, and the best way to do it is to focus the effort on a specific event. For example, because of Covid-19, a brand in the food industry could collaborate with a brand in the healthcare industry to create an educational campaign around prevention. Create content first, and then focus on product placement. – Stefano Mongardi, TheWebMate
3. Co-Host A Webinar Or Panel Together
I have found that some of the most effective co-marketing campaign tactics are educational webinars and panels. These give the opportunity for both companies to prove themselves as thought leaders and strategic advisors. Rather than just giving a joint sales pitch, providing an educational opportunity to clients and prospects is much more effective to help spread your message. – Jason Wulfsohn, AUDIENCEX
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4. Link To Your Partner’s Social Media Channels
If using Facebook ads, you can link to your partner’s Facebook or Instagram account in your ads using the branded content feature. This allows consumers to see that the ads are being promoted by both companies. It’s a great way to get double exposure while still paying for a single ad. – Brian Meert, AdvertiseMint
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5. Get Firsthand Experience With Your Partner’s Product
To align with a noncompeting company to develop a larger reach within the market, you first need to make sure that you believe in the noncompeting product. Use the product firsthand or hand out samples for feedback so that you can organically understand the co-marketing campaign as you promote each other. – Greg Carney, Freedom United Social
6. Find Common Customer Pain Points
Find common pain points and interests that each company’s customer profiles share. Focus on these areas of overlap and help solve problems that apply to both customer bases. It’s also important to remember to keep the messaging positive. – Jonas Muthoni, Deviate Agency
7. Show The Value Of Using The Products Or Services Together
Collaborate with your co-marketing partner to create messaging that clearly communicates how your respective products provide more value for the customer when used together. Back up this message with proof points, case studies and other supporting data. – Wendy Covey, TREW Marketing
8. Evaluate Decisions Against Your Own Company Goals
Evaluate every decision and the final agreement against your individual brand and company goals. Partnerships require compromise so that every brand wins, but it’s easy to dilute your desired outcome in the spirit of collaboration. This practice will ensure that you’re set up for success. There’s no shame in respectfully speaking up for what you need to succeed. Otherwise, it’s not the right partnership. – Edward Hoffman, Spool Marketing & Communications
9. Have Each Party Promote Different Aspects
Brand partnerships will work for both companies if you promote different aspects of the collaboration in your communications strategy. Since each company has its own identity and audience, it will serve as part of a strategic alliance that can increase brand awareness, provide positive associations and strengthen your efforts marketing to new markets. – Adrian Falk, Believe Advertising & PR
10. Create Mutual Value
Create a partnership with mutual value. For example, if there is a service provider (perhaps a payment platform) that you want to fold into your own product stack, promoting yourself as a “proud partner of XYZ” in exchange for a reduced fee would be mutually beneficial. You are promoting their brand along with your own (while saving some cash). – Bernard May, National Positions
11. Do Your Homework On Your Partner
As you consider partnering with another company for a co-branding campaign, be sure to do your homework on your partners at the other company. Do you trust them? Is their culture similar to yours? Are their values similar to your values? As you associate more closely with the other company, if they fail to live up to customer expectations or do something negative, that can fall back on your brand as well. – Jason Wilson, Strategy, LLC
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Author: Expert Panel®, Forbes Councils Member
