No man is an island. Pretending to do everything alone when it is clear that two could work more productively doesn’t make much sense, and this is true more than ever in the world of marketing: asking for support from those who can help you do better is not a bad thing, on the contrary, it’s a great strategy. It’s such a good strategy, I think, that a term was born to indicate collaboration between companies: Co-Marketing, or a partnership between two or more companies – offering different products or services – where both promote a specific campaign and share the profits. The advantages of this type of relationship are many and decidedly varied: companies can gain new customers, contacts, money, or visibility.
Co-Marketing: What You Need To Get Started
The collaboration is usually implemented between brands that operate in the same field for rather trivial reasons: the services offered must have a common purpose so that a single well-constructed campaign touches the interests of the Buyer Personas of both companies, with half the starting costs and twice the chance of success. Sounds comfortable, right?
Why it is: essentially, a marketing campaign is created using much more resources than usual and with more ambitious goals and objectives. But it’s not an easy project – and above all, it’s very different from the regular campaigns you’re used to launching: it’s not just your interests at stake, and the last word isn’t yours alone. You must be willing to collaborate and, if necessary, to compromise: after all, it is a team effort. And, like any self-respecting team effort, it depends not only on you but also on your partners. Let’s see the main steps to carry out a successful Co-Marketing campaign!
Define What Your Goals Are
As with any marketing strategy, your first step is to define what the ultimate goal will be. Suppose you decide to undertake a Co-Marketing campaign. In that case, you can afford to aim higher than you normally would: remember that, even if you haven’t found your ideal partner yet, you won’t be alone on this journey, and therefore you won’t have to rely only on your strength.
If the initiative comes from you, think of content to offer to the public, or – if you have noticed amazing content in which you could and would like to invest – contact the person who produced it and propose to cooperate. Then, think about what you want to achieve with this campaign. Leads? Customers? Visibility? Based on what you decide, study a relevant document in terms of content and format to offer your audience a webinar, an ebook, or articles.
Look For A Suitable Partner
This is the most relevant part of the entire strategy and the most complex because it doesn’t depend solely on you. Finding a partner who shares your interests and vision and offers a service or product that can be linked to yours is not trivial: but when it comes to business, you need to know how to compromise and find a balance.
The objectives must be very similar, and so are the Buyer Personas: in fact, the target audience must be more or less the same: for example, an ideal collaboration could start from the idea of cross-selling, in which a company deals to provide a product and the other to offer services or products related to the first. Identifying the potential collaborator is only the first step: it will then be necessary to advance the proposal, conclude an agreement and divide the work.
Divide The Tasks
Now is the time to see if you and your new partner are right for each other. Or if you can stand each other, at least. Working on the landing page, engaging content offers, and emails are the tasks of both: after all, everyone must ensure that the campaign is in line with their objectives. All pages provided to the public should feature both companies’ brands, and be sure to put written consents to the use and sharing of information – whether legally or unofficially, it is at the discretion of the collaborators.
Even if a single team developed some content, it would be the case to get feedback from the partner before inserting it into the campaign: communication is the most important element in a group. In this regard, a potential inconvenience could be more complex to manage: since there is no single point of reference, the problem could take longer than expected. To make sure you’re doing things right, it’s a great idea to double your time frame for each task so you’re on time. Finally, take advantage of your different skills: having other skills and points of view will help create more complete and on-target proposals.
Share The Loot
Once your campaign has ended, it’s time to reap the benefits: check the numbers obtained and evaluate how profitable it was, and analyze with your partner whether it was successful or not – if the figures are as expected, the buyer personas correct, the offers clicked. Share with him the information collected and the contacts obtained in line with the previous agreements. And don’t forget to study the results: if you think you are still dealing with the company you partnered with, having a history of previous performance will go a long way in optimizing a new strategy.
Conclusions
Although it is not easy to find the right company to undertake a Co-Marketing action, this practice is a “win-win” that is advantageous for everyone: it costs less than a normal campaign, brings more results, and offers a better service. Ample. Not to mention that you will come into contact with a slice of prospects with high conversion potential, i.e., those leads who, previously obtained from your partner, will most likely view your combined campaign.
Also Read: CRM, A Growth Tool For Small And Medium-Sized Companies
