[Business Strategy] Cross Promotion

In business, competition has been the historical norm. Yet a growing number of savvy companies are realizing that joining forces with others can reap much more significant rewards than going it alone. When it comes to promoting a company, collaboration is a particularly powerful strategy.
Known as “cross promotion,” the concept involves working with individuals, groups or companies to create more business for everyone through common promotional activities. At the simplest level, this process might involve referrals from satisfied customers or from companies that offer complementary services. More creative partnerships may result in shared promotions between companies that have a common target audience or between companies that offer similar services in different geographic areas.
Kare Anderson, author of the book Walk Your Talk: Grow Your Business Faster Through Successful Cross-Promotional Partnerships, says, “Cross promotion has the potential for a big marketing payoff because partners can successfully expand through each other’s customer base.” She suggests using the “marketing multiplier method” in which companies save marketing dollars while “multiplying the credible ways and places hot prospects see your service.” For instance, companies may print joint promotional messages on their receipts or offer a discount if customers buy products from two or more partnering companies.
In some cases, even direct competitors can benefit through cross promotion. For instance, two small companies may be able to attract a large account by combining forces. While neither company could handle the large account alone, they can work together to share the profits. For many businesses, having a piece of a large pie is better than having no pie at all. And in many cases, the smaller companies together can outmaneuver larger competitors by offering lower prices due to lower overhead.
“Affinity marketing” is a related strategy that allows companies to partner with trade or non-profit organizations. A common arrangement in these partnerships may involve companies serving as sponsors or donors for fundraising events. The organization hosting the event promotes the sponsor company in exchange for some form of support. Since more than 75 percent of adults say they are more likely to purchase a product or service associated with a cause they support, this can be a very successful marketing strategy.
Companies that share promotional activities benefit in many ways. They tend to gain more attention in a less competitive environment, save time and money on promotional costs, expand their reach and frequency in delivering messages to their target market, and gain credibility by standing together with other businesses.
While the benefits are clear, business owners who want to explore cross promotional opportunities need to do their homework. In addition to conducting research in order to accurately identify your target market, it’s important to check out potential partners and make sure that both companies are trying to reach the same consumers. Once a mutual market is defined, it’s best to approach potential partners with several ideas for low-risk, low-cost, initial activities. To express your commitment to the process, it helps to make the first action even more beneficial to your partner than it is to you, Anderson suggests.
Business partnerships of any kind work best when all parties understand and agree to their part in the process. To avoid misunderstandings, document in writing the details of any cross promotional activity, including each partner’s cost and anticipated benefits. All partners should review and approve the resulting agreement.
Advertising is one area in which cross promotion is particularly useful. Many companies find advertising, especially television commercials, to be prohibitively expensive. Yet companies that share a common service in different geographic areas, for instance, can benefit from paying for a portion of a well-produced ad that simply inserts the appropriate company information for use in a specific area. Companies that offer complementary services can save by sharing costs for an ad that promotes both products or services.
Anderson urges business owners to think creatively about “bundled offerings” with companies that share the same target market. Co-branding, shared display or office space, and co-produced special events are some examples of this growing trend. For instance, pest control companies can partner with landscapers, tree service firms and lawn care companies to offer bundled — and discounted — packages of seasonal services. As added incentive, all customers who purchase the package then may be eligible for a special prize drawing. And speaking of prizes, an easy way to promote a partner company is to enter your customers in a drawing for a partner’s product or service. When the contest is over, switch roles so that your company provides a prize for a contest offered to your partner’s customers.
Another example of creative partnering pairs pest control companies with local health care providers or community health organizations to draw attention to the potential health risks associated with various insects that are known to spread disease. From filth flies to ticks to mosquitoes, pest control professionals are important to controlling potentially harmful pests. Consider creating joint informational materials or advertisements, host joint informational sessions, or offer joint media appearances featuring pest control professionals and physicians on the topics of disease sources, control and treatment.
“(Companies can) walk their talk by thinking about the customer first, rather than the product, and looking for other ways the customer would gain convenience, savings, awareness or other benefits through the joint efforts of multiple vendors reaching out to them,” Anderson says. Fortunately, the cross promotional strategy is as good for the company as it is for the consumer.

The author owns Compelling Communications, 800-779-0067, www compelcom.com. She specializes in helping pest control companies create a professional image and attract customers.