Collaborating with other brands and businesses can be a game-changer for your marketing strategy. Sure, you want your brand to shine—but sharing the stage can make your marketing feel less salesy and more authentic. Plus, collaborative marketing tends to boost engagement, because it’s not just you talking about how great your product or service is. Instead, you’re taking a creative angle and providing true value. Here are five simple and effective ways to use collaborative marketing to engage your current audience with shareable content that’s more likely to make its way to more people.
1. Collab Posts on Social Media
When you partner up for a social media post, it’s like doubling your reach without doubling your effort. Think of it as a friendly handshake between your brand and another, each bringing your own followers to the table. This isn’t just about tagging each other in posts (though that’s part of it); it’s about crafting content that meshes your strengths and appeals to both audiences.
For example, the catering company, Merri-Makers, teamed up with a wedding photographer to showcase a recent wedding they both worked on. It not only demonstrated Merri-Makers’ culinary expertise but also painted a vivid picture of the memorable experiences they help create, all while highlighting the photographer’s ability to capture those special moments. It’s authentic, it’s engaging, and it puts both brands in front of eyes that might never have found them otherwise.
2. Co-Branded Campaigns
A shared advertising campaign can transform the way consumers think about the featured products and services. The goal is to craft a message that intertwines the strengths and stories of both companies, creating a new, unified message that speaks to the combined audience.
Take the partnership between All County Exteriors and AZEK. They launched a joint campaign to showcase how All County’s home renovation services perfectly complement AZEK’s high-quality siding and trim products. The campaign showcased the practical benefits of AZEK’s products alongside the professional service of All County’s experts. Both brands gain credibility in the eyes of homeowners looking for top-notch exterior solutions.
3. Social Media Contests
A social media contest is always a crowd-pleaser and can create a buzz rather quickly with the right timing, tactics, and offer. Pair up with a brand that aligns with your values, and together, cook up a contest that’s too good to scroll past. Ensure the prize is something both sets of audiences will love, and that the rules are clear and simple.
For instance, picture a collaboration between a breakfast waffle brand, a syrup brand, a coffee company, and a juice company to give away the ultimate breakfast package. The contest asks participants to follow all the brands involved, maybe even post their dream breakfast setup using the products, and use a specific hashtag to enter. This not only increases the follower count for each brand but also encourages user-generated content that’s authentic and highly shareable. The combined prize is more appealing than what any single brand might offer, making the contest more enticing and likely to be shared across social platforms. It’s a creative way to engage current followers and reach new audiences, all while providing some wholesome fun.
4. Cross-Promotion in Email Marketing
Your email marketing is a direct line to your most engaged audience, so why not spice it up with something besides your company news and usual offerings? You can add value to your newsletter with content from a partner brand that your subscribers will find useful or interesting. The key is to keep it relevant. Say you run a small eco-friendly clothing line; you could partner with a sustainable home goods store to feature each other’s latest products, special offers, or stories. This not only provides fresh content for your readers but also introduces them to a brand with similar values, enhancing the sense of community and shared purpose.
5. Success Stories
There’s nothing quite as powerful as a great success story, especially when it highlights a collaborative effort. These stories should showcase how your partnership with another brand brought about positive results for a customer or client. You’ll want to focus on the impact and the journey so that it’s relatable and inspiring. For example, if you’re a software company that partnered with an educational institution to improve online learning, share those triumphs. Highlight the challenges, the collaborative solutions you delivered, and the ultimate benefits experienced by students and teachers. Success stories are essentially case studies on steroids, with additional parties featured to strengthen the narrative and its emotional impact.
By integrating these collaborative strategies into your marketing plan, you can simultaneously expand your audience, increase engagement, and enhance your brand’s presence. Speaking of collaborating, we’d love to collaborate with you on implementing any or all of the above for your business. Contact us to start the conversation.
