Co-promotion, also known as co-marketing, is something not too many brands are taking advantage of. But you should because there are a ton of benefits wrapped around it. Just in case you don’t know what co-promotion is, it is where two or more businesses collaborate to promote each other’s products or services. You can think of it as trade by barter.
Speaking of benefits, Co-promotion can be beneficial, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Think coffee shops, consulting firms, wholesalers and distributors, and software development companies.
10 Benefits of Co-Promotion for Small Businesses (SMEs)
Ready to explore the benefits of co-promotion? Here is what you stand to benefit from when you collaborate with a brand in your industry or outside your industry:
1. Increased Reach
Co-promotion lets you tap into each other’s customer bases and help you reach a wide audience. With co-promotion, you don’t have to invest a significant amount of money in marketing to increase your reach. This is because having another brand promote your products or services will introduce you to a whole new market you might have never been able to reach.
Think of this as a music collaboration between two artists. Each artist has his own fan base but collaborating with another artist will introduce him to the other artist’s fan base, hence, increasing his popularity. The same ideology can be applied to brands.
2. Cost-Effective Marketing
Speaking of cutting down on marketing costs, co-promoting with another brand can help reduce marketing expenses. You can achieve a dramatic reduction in marketing expenses by sharing marketing resources and efforts.
Think of it as a wrestling match where you tap in your partner to come into the ring and help you defeat a foe. This beautiful partnership can mean drawing a marketing budget, drafting out strategies, taking action, and sharing the profits together.
3. Access to New Audiences
Co-promotion will increase your reach which will grant your business access to new audiences. Believe it or not, this is one of the smartest ways to attract potential customers who are likely to have an interest in related products or services.
Let’s say you’re a travel agency, you could co-promote with a photography equipment manufacturer. This co-promotion would enhance people’s travel experience by promoting high-quality photography equipment and attracting more customers to both industries.
Both brands can create joint advertisements showcasing beautiful travel destinations captured with high-quality cameras. You can also do collaborative social media campaigns featuring travel bloggers or influencers using the latest photography gear in exotic locations that was made possible by your travel agency.
The benefit for your brand, the travel agency, would be attracting photography enthusiasts and hobbyists who are keen on capturing their travel experiences with high-quality gear. On the other hand, the photography equipment manufacturer would benefit from an increase in brand exposure as travelers share their high-quality photos on social media, indirectly promoting the camera equipment.
4. Enhanced Credibility
Now here’s the sweetest part: co-promoting with a big brand as a small brand. Remember at the start of this article, we talked about co-promoting being beneficial, especially to SMEs. Here’s why: co-promoting with brands that have already established a reputation can help boost your credibility. Aside from boosting your credibility, you’ll also gain an increased level of trustworthiness in the eyes of your target audience.
Like, imagine a top brand like Apple or Coca-Cola co-promote with you. Imagine how much popularity, credibility, and trustworthiness you’ll get in a split second! It’s just like influencer marketing – get a super popular influencer to promote your products with and you’ll get popular in minutes.
We know it can be hard to get the big sharks to co-promote with you. It takes hard work and talent to get them. It’s more like upgrading your class so you can roll with the big boys. To get to that stage, you need to have a solid brand identity, prove credibility, have a good customer success rate, some level of popularity, and, of course, craft a compelling proposal. But you can always start with brands that are a foot ahead of you.
5. Diversification of Marketing Channels
The thing is, you can never be great at all platforms. Come to think of it; there are lots of platforms out there where you can market your products and services. But at the end of the day, you might only be great at one or two. For instance, you may have a lot of engagements on LinkedIn but your Instagram needs some saving. Or you don’t have an email list but have built a loyal customer base on TikTok.
You’re not an island. And so are every other brand you see out there. Co-promoting with another brand grants you access to diverse marketing channels. In other words, you can leverage their marketing channels alongside yours to reach a wider audience.
So, you can leverage your partner’s Instagram account with a super loyal fan base and a great email list alongside your TikTok and LinkedIn accounts. You can also leverage their physical stores too!
Conclusion
To summarize, co-promotion is an effective technique for small and medium-sized businesses to expand their marketing efforts by collaborating with other firms. It can help you reach more people, save money, and gain credibility.
Businesses can complement one another and produce stronger marketing efforts by sharing resources and experience. This alliance creates new opportunities to sell more products and expand their businesses. Co-promotion can be an effective method for helping small businesses flourish and stand out in a competitive market.
Don’t know where and how to start? Contact us and let us be your light, guiding you through every step towards success with expert advice, personalized strategies, and unwavering support.
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