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COLLABORATING WITH BRANDS
Collaborating with brands in your industry is a great way to get your name out there. It is important to constantly show support to vendors and other small businesses within your industry. Creating supportive relationships is key. Supporting others without expecting anything back will create loyal and genuine relationships. You will find when you sincerely want others to succeed, they will feel the same way about you.
Always be looking for networking opportunities. Find out what those with similar audiences are working on and how you can support them. Remember, your ultimate goal is to serve your target audience. Once you have created a relationship, suggest collaborating on something together. The collaboration could be a podcast interview, guest blog post, coupon code, FB Live interview, Instagram takeover, or giveaway. You could also offer your services for free in exchange for a shout out. Everyone benefits in a good collaboration. Both parties are able to grow, increase their audience, better their business, & more.
If you want to put together a giveaway, make sure you and your fellow collaborators have a similar target audience.
Example Giveaway:
Theme – Prom
Target Audience – High School Girls
Venders – Photographer, Gown Boutique, Make Up Artist, Hair Stylist, Tanning Salon
Details – Put together a package that includes a service or product from each vendor. In order to enter they have to follow each of the vendors, leave a comment and tag three of their friends.
Example Giveaway:
Theme – Self Care
Target Audience – Mothers
Venders – Life Coach, Boutique, Massage Parlor, Hair Salon, Restaurant
Details – Combine gift certificates from all the vendors and create a day of pampering for a mother. In order to enter they have to follow each of the vendors, leave a comment, sign up for your newsletter and tag three of their friends.
THE WHO
Finding people to collaborate with can be tricky. Try using someone you already have a relationship with. Without an initial connection, it might be challenging to know if the collaboration would be a good fit. Start off with a smaller collaboration to see if you work well together. You want to ensure you are both dependable and committed so it will benefit both parties.
You don’t have to work with big influencers right away. Remember, the goal is to attract the right kind of clients and quality is more essential than quantity. Just because someone has a lot of followers doesn’t necessarily mean they have high engagement. You may think you can reach more people, but what if those people aren’t in your target audience? Then it’s not as beneficial to you or the influencer. Pitching to micro-influencers to collaborate can be more effective. When you are looking for a collaborator, look beyond the numbers.
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THE VALUE
Of course, your ultimate goal is to bring you more business, but your secondary goals is to create value for your collaborators. In order to get someone’s attention, it’s best to lead with how the collaboration could bring them value, rather than what you’re getting out of it. You want to make sure that there’s enough value for you, but there should be at least equal value for the person you are reaching out to.
THE ASK
It is important to have a plan before you pitch a collaboration. You don’t have to explain every detail, but prepare a few ideas. Remember to lead with the benefits that relate to them.
THE EXPECTATIONS
Communicate your expectations as soon as possible. This can be done by creating list of tasks that need to be completed from start to finish. Be specific on who will be doing what and when. Set deadlines for each task based on final target date. Setting expectations upfront is the best way to guarantee success with your collaboration.
Collaborating is an excellent way to grow your social media. Remember you want to make sure you are attracting the right kind of followers and that it benefits everyone involved. When you work with other entrepreneurs, make sure you give them more value and exceed their expectations; they’ll be more likely to want to work with you again. Building solid relationships with those who share your target audience is a great way to help your business grow.
