What if you knew of a way that could give you a significantly higher return on your marketing investment?
We have entered a time of ‘survival of the fittest’ and businesses are working harder today than ever before to stay profitable and ideally grow. Many are looking for cost effective ways to get bigger returns and more emphasis is being placed on the success of marketing and promotional campaigns.
It has become crucial to business owners to proactively find innovative ways to maximise their return on investment in any way possible.
Cross promotion is not a new concept but one that a lot of businesses are starting to revisit.
What is cross promotion?
Cross promotion is partnering with one or more businesses that have complementary products or services to yours, with a goal of all parties attracting new clients and ultimately increasing sales.
Why is it effective?
When you partner with the right person, their clients are already in buying mode. Seeing your product or services which relates to their own purchase, is more likely to encourage them to buy from you as well.
What are the benefits of cross promotion?
- Cost savings
- Increased advertising exposure
- Shared workload for campaigns
- Both partners vested interested in success
- New audiences = potential new customers and ultimately increased sales.
Where do I start?
Your first step is to find a business, whose audience shares similar challenges with yours, but hasn’t necessarily heard about you – NOT a competitor.
There needs to be a mutual benefit to you working together and it needs to be enjoyable.
For example:
- A vet and a dog groomer
- A gym and a beauty salon/day spa
- A real estate and almost any home maintenance service
Make a Plan
Once you have found your partner with a good reputation (don’t partner with someone who will bring your credibility down) it’s time to plan.
Decide what type of promotion/campaign will benefit you both most and make the financial or time investment worthwhile.
There are a multitude of options including:
- Social media (remember to target the platform(s) your audience is most likely to hang out) – blogs, interviews, comments, podcasts, links, reviews etc.
- Newsletters
- Email marketing
- Physical displays in both workplaces – samples, flyers, coupons, vouchers, business cards etc.
- Joint direct mail campaigns
- Discount offers
- Competitions
Track, Measure and Analyse
The purpose of cross marketing is to increase sales. This last step is vital to understanding whether a campaign has been successful.
Remember your sales numbers alone do not indicate success or failure. It’s possible you have significantly increased your website traffic and the issue may lie in the customer experience there.
There are numerous ways to benefit from a cross promotional partnership. Working with lots of different campaigns and various partners will help you identify what works best for your audience and ultimately what will benefit your business most.
In today’s market and particularly with a push to ‘buy local’, it is more important than ever that we support each other’s businesses and in turn it will benefit our own.
Contact your local Kwik Kopy today to find out how they are supporting local businesses and how they can help you.
