Co-marketing is nothing new, but it has gained a lot more attention recently. There have been some very visible examples, such as blockbuster movies and major consumer brands coming together for national television ad campaigns. Co-marketing is not limited to high-dollar ad campaigns, though; it could be argued that it is most valuable to smaller businesses looking to expand their reach and get the most out of their limited marketing budgets.
Co-Marketing Explained
Co-marketing occurs whenever two (or more) companies work together on a single marketing campaign. It can take as many different forms as there are different ways to market your business, from shared advertising and promotions that can boost your ROI to co-authored blog posts and infographics that can help your company grow.
The idea is that, by combining efforts and audiences, both companies can benefit. Of course, there are both pros and cons to the approach.
Potential Benefits of Co-Marketing
- Expanded reach. Much like guest blogging, co-marketing can get your message out in front of a new audience. Though there will likely be overlap between the customer bases or readership of the two companies, at least part of their audience will be new prospects for you (and your audience will be new prospects for them).
- Synergies. Each company has its strengths. If one company is good at producing videos, and the other is good at creating promotions, the combined effort will be better than either could accomplish on their own.
- Reduced cost. Though the co-marketing campaign will have a somewhat higher overall cost, that cost will be split between the two companies. From your standpoint, it will be cheaper than going it alone.
- SEO. Online, the interlinking and expanded social media shares can be seen as a positive by search engines. In fact, exchanging links could be considered the most basic form of co-marketing.
Potential Disadvantages of Co-Marketing
- Start-up costs. It takes more effort to get a co-marketing campaign off the ground. First and foremost, you have to find a partner and agree upon a co-marketing plan. You may have to approach multiple potential partners, and you might spend a lot of time in discussions without ever coming to an agreement.
- Incompatibility. For co-marketing to work, the companies involved have to be compatible. That usually means that they target the same general audience, and yet do not compete for customers. The brand personalities and marketing goals must also work together. If not, co-marketing can actually harm one or both of the brands.
- Diluted message. Though the combined campaign will reach more people, the message will not be entirely about you. By splitting the cost, you also split the ad space. And any differences in the tone or style of the two companies must also be split; you may have to compromise on exactly how your message is presented.
Execution
So is co-marketing right for you? In the end, it all depends on how you go about it. Co-marketing is a great idea if done correctly. The disadvantages can be avoided with proper execution; the question is whether you and your partners can successfully work together to execute it properly.
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