Important lesson in marketing online : Strategies for Co-Branding

Online co-branding can be a little complicated. If an Internet user clicks

on a link on your website and is taken to a web page that has a different

brand or company it can get a bit confusing. They will wonder why they

have been directed to an entirely different web page with unrelated

content. When it comes to co-branding you need to choose partnerships

that have something in common with the product or service that you’re

selling.

Co-branding can be very cost effective, particularly for small online

businesses. However, if you choose the wrong partner, or too many

partners, it might be more harmful than beneficial. 

Adding Partners to your Website

As a small business you need to be cautious with your marketing budget. 

When you add a partner to your website you need to ensure that you’re

going to see strong and positive results from the union. These positive

results can include more traffic to your website, increased online sales, or

more contact with your customers. Online branding can be costly so be

sure to choose partners that can benefit your business.

Co-branding is known by a variety of definitions that include:

 Joint promotions

 Value endorsements

 Joint ventures

 Alliances

Co-branding works best when both you and your partner company each

provide a related service or product to the same types of customers. 

Powerful Co-branding: Studies show that most online users like the idea

of co-branding because it helps them to make decisions about the

hundreds of brand name products that they come into contact with on the

Internet. When top-quality brands join together in a partnership it

strengthens their customer’s approval. If you have a lesser know brand it

will be to your benefit to partner up with a more well known brand so

that your overall image is improved and so that you get more exposure on

the Internet. And if a popular brand partners up with a lesser known

brand it won’t harm the popular brand. Your best bet is to partner up

with a company that is equal to you.

A partnership needs to make sense and customers need to understand the

connection.

Guidelines for Co-branding: If you have the right partner you can share

the costs of marketing as well as strengthen your company brand. You’ll

also have access to a larger customer base. Following are some

important co-branding guidelines:

 What does your co-brand partnership say to your customers? Will

it make your customers feel better about themselves?

 What do you and your partner have in common? Are both of your

products innovative? Are they dependable? You want to make

sure that your image makes sense for your current customer base.

You don’t want to lose your current customer base but instead you

want to build on it.

 How does your co-branding partnership benefit your customers? 

Will it save them money? Or will it save them time? Your

marketing campaign should make the benefit very clear to your

customers.

 Your goal with co-branding should be to find the best solutions for

your customers.

 There should be an equal value for both brands in the partnership. 

You need to have an equal partnership or your marketing strategy

will be uneven.

 Will your customers easily be able to see the connection and value

of your partnership?

 Does the co-branding partnership bring you into contact with new

customers?

The above guidelines need to be answered before you join in a co-

branding partnership. Joint promotions take a great deal of time and

thought to be implemented correctly. However, when done correctly and

accurately, a co-branding partnership can bring you results that are far

better than other traditional online marketing methods.

One of the basic rules of online marketing is: take your message,

content, and promotions to your customers rather than focusing too much

energy on the effort of trying to bring customers to your website.

Integrating Partnership Products

When it comes to co-branding partnerships you need to take the time to

include the benefits of both brands into the overall design of your

marketing promotions. This way your customers will understand the

connection between both products or services.

Simply putting your company logo, or a link to your website, on another

company’s website will save you time and money but at the same time

may cause you to lose some potential customers. Co-branding that is

successful never leaves your customers wondering exactly what website

they are on. Partnerships should improve a customer’s shopping

experience by helping them to make buying decisions. You’ll want to

exchange content with your partner so that you both expand your

expertise in the industry. However, you’ll need to incorporate this

content into your website so that it flows naturally and fits in with your

own content. The end result will be beneficial to both of you when you

maintain professional consistency.

Complementary Partners: Your website will be more legitimate and

competitive when you have co-branding content that is well integrated

into your own web pages. Co-branding will only help your business if it

complements the business goals you have defined for your company. 

Always keep your business goals in mind no matter what online

marketing strategy you’re trying to incorporate into your business. This

means that all your website content, promotions, and activities with your

co-branding partners encourages your customers to follow through with

the sales action.

: Strategies for Co-Branding

: Strategies for Co-Branding

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