Co-Marketing, or two companies teaming up and collaborating to market and promote two products together, allows both companies to work towards a common goal.This also allows for split costs, efforts, and creative development. It has had a lot of success and, for example, reaches back to the days of Dr. Pepper/ Bonne Bell chapstick.

As an SEO company, we constantly work with companies who can benefit from co-branding and marketing online with one another—many of whom don’t even realize the potential that’s out there. So what is the difference between Co-marketing and Co-branding, and more importantly how does Co-branding work and interact with online marketing in 2016?

Co-marketing in the Online World vs. Co-branding

The truth is that co-marketing and co-branding are actually quite similar. In fact, co-marketing is really just a further step of co-branding. Since co-branding is really all about a partnership between two companies which creates a valuable product or offer for the consumer, co-marketing is taking that product or service and using it to work together to promote that shared offer (and thus, reap the benefits of the product or service that is created through a marketing strategy).

In the online world this can look differently depending on if it is a piece of content or a product/service that is being co-branded. A key feature in either case is that it is ONE product or service with TWO companies/brands involved. Let’s break down the difference between the two:

Online co-marketing of Content: When two brands have a shared audience in some way, they may develop a co-branded piece of content. This could be in the form of a webinar, ebook, blog post, or other online marketing content. The idea is that those who download and benefit from this content are part of a similar audience and BOTH businesses will get the leads from the download. Audiences don’t necessarily have to be the same, but there has to be enough overlap there whatever kind of content that is developed will result in leads which can be shared equally by the two brands that participated.

Online co-marketing of Products/Services: While co-marketing content is the most obvious way to take co-branding and apply it to the online marketing world, it certainly isn’t the only way. If two brands team up to develop a product or service, or perhaps even an event, this can be marketed and promoted on the websites, blogs, and social media pages of both brands, leading to double the exposure. Again, having a shared audience is still important here because you want whatever you develop to be equally promoted by both business should ideally be interesting to both brand’s audiences and lead to equal lead generations for both. Below is an example of Doritos teaming up with Taco Bell:

tacobell

The Benefits of Co-Branding in Online Marketing

There are many benefits to co-branding, and the trick (as discussed above) is to really think about the partnership and what kind of audience you are hoping to reach. Here are some of the reasons that co-branding really is beneficial in 2016:

  • Maximum marketing efforts (more people, more creativity, more potential)
  • Leverage your position among the competition in your industry
  • Increase the perceived value in the minds of the consumers
  • Leverage multiple brands
  • New access to leads from a similar audience
  • You reduce investment and operational costs typical of marketing (even online)
  • The outcome is typically an increase of revenue and sales for both brands involved
  • Expanding your customer base through shared interest of another brand’s clients
  • Dividing and conquer with another team means you optimize efficiency

The benefits above are apart of any online marketing strategy, but by co-branding you are able to maximize the results you get purely because you double the effort, double the receiving audience, and cut the costs of marketing significantly. This can be called an economy of scale because you really are benefiting from combining advertising efforts.

Do Your Research & Strategize Accordingly

Unlike typical online marketing where you are developing content and creating strategies for your brand alone and you are solely responsible for the representation and promotion of your brand, in co-branding, you are working with another company and that brand is also responsible for representing you. As we have discussed, there are so many benefits to this approach, but you really need to do your research about potential brands you might want to work with. Here are some suggestions for things to consider before establishing a co-branding partnership:

  • Look to work with brands that share your core values and have a shared vision
  • Check out reviews, ratings, and overall web presence online—if you don’t like what you see DO NOT engage with that company in co-branding and marketing
  • Always review and check anything that is going to have your brand attached to it. This includes social media posts.
  • Make sure you share a reasonably similar industry and audience.
  • Do see to it that efforts on behalf of both brands are 50/50 and that both have voices in everything from creative development to marketing execution. The only way this works is if efforts are equal.
  • Try to develop a relationship with a brand that you might want to co-market with again in the future.

By doing research on the company you potentially want to co-brand with, you can develop a strategy that is going to work well for both parties, and make sure that maximum results are within reach once you start a campaign.

The Takeaway

Co-branding can be a really successful way to market in the online world in 2016. If brands collaborate in an authentic way, which benefits both parties, it can really be a way to increase brand exposure and a positive image of your company to an audience that may not have considered your products. Most of the examples that are popular (i.e, Dr. Pepper chapstick or the Doritos locos taco) are a product of two major corporations that have produced a product. However, remember, two much smaller businesses that are within the same field can produce a co-branded ebook, promote it online, and have a very successful co-marketing relationship.

Do you have any experience with co-branding or co-marketing with another company? Would you consider it after reading this article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.