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Cross marketing examples of conditions. Cross marketing - what is it? The best examples of joint marketing. Joint advertising of several brands: how to make it effective

      Among advertisers, advertising with the terrible name cross-promotion is becoming increasingly widespread: when one campaign is paid for, but two brands are advertised. The new trend is not met with great enthusiasm among advertising agencies, but allows advertisers to significantly save their budgets.

One head it's good, but two better

The market dictates that companies need to increase their marketing budgets in order to maintain the required level of influence on consumers. Unfortunately, only large “monsters” of the food and industrial markets can afford this. But what should companies do that do not have a large advertising budget?

Look for ways to save money. One option is to divide advertising costs “for two,” or even “for three.” In this situation, joint promotion, or cross-promotion, is one of the most obvious and effective ways to achieve the desired effect with limited marketing budgets. This occurs by combining the attributes of two or more brands to achieve greater effectiveness of the promotional campaign.

It's about overall marketing efforts with the right partner. The following practice is becoming increasingly widespread: two brands are actually promoted within one promotional campaign. We wash in a washing machine of a well-known brand and use powder also of a very advanced brand - it is recommended to be used by the manufacturer of that same washing machine.

Not only is the very idea of ​​combining the financial capabilities of several companies tempting, especially since it also happens that only one party pays for joint actions. Such cooperation, with the correct formulation of the problem and choice of tools, will lead to mutual support of brands in the market. In a joint struggle for consumers, you can prove your technical excellence, high social status, commitment to fashion and ideological appeal.

A good illustration of maintaining the image of two prestigious brands is the original project developed by Nokia and Lexus. Its essence is that the intelligent Lexus Integrated Phone System (LIPS) on Lexus cars only works with the Nokia 6310i mobile phone model. Unlike traditional hands-free solutions, the owner of a luxury car in this case gets the opportunity to conveniently and safely control the car's audio system and powerful navigation tools. Communication is completely wireless; the driver only needs to place his Nokia 6310i phone in a special holder hidden on the center console and start the car. After this, the system will be activated. In particular, the numbers from the phone's memory are displayed on the color display of the dashboard, which is much more convenient than looking at them on the small screen of the phone. This is not only convenient, but also really safe, because... does not interfere with complex maneuvers on a busy road.

Co-op Rules
Experts identify two possible options for participating in this kind of advertising or promotional tandem:

1. Division into brand “locomotive” and brand “cars” occurs on the basis of the functions that trademarks perform during cross-promotion campaigns:
- by source of financing;
- according to the priority of the goals of a particular brand.

The “locomotive” brand, as a rule, acts as a source of financing; accordingly, the priority of the assigned marketing tasks within the framework of the CP is on its side. In other words, the stated goal of “increasing consumer loyalty” refers specifically to this brand (including through the tangible/intangible attributes of the “car” brand).

If the leading brand has a high level of fame, then for a “small” participant in this situation it will be useful to increase its awareness at the expense of the leader with a minimum of financial costs. In fact, all that is required is the product itself. This technique is most often used in mechanics aimed at promoting FMCG, for example, the standard “gift with purchase”. But what benefits does the “wagon” brand receive?

At first glance, if one of the partner brands is clearly larger than the other, then the smaller participant benefits more. After all, the very fact of cooperation with a more well-known company attracts the attention of potential consumers. Thus, she acts as a kind of locomotive for the “fry” and the still weak beginner. True, truly unequal partnerships are simply impossible - by and large, not a single major brand will agree to “pull up” and attract such a “dependent” into the people, resting on the strong shoulders of an already promoted brand. Even if this “dependent”, claiming a share of fame, is ready to pay for it.

But, on the other hand, a smaller company or an unpromoted brand, as one of the participants in the promotional alliance, will not always remain on the sidelines. In joint marketing, both parties play equally important, albeit slightly different, roles. After all, everyone pursues their own goals. Finally, a popular or simply bright brand, for example, of a not the largest local company, may turn out to be just a desirable partner for large global brands that want to declare themselves in a certain niche and localize themselves in a specific crowd. And in this case, it is still unknown who is “pulling” whom along!

2. The situation when brands act as equal partners. Most often, the technique of conducting cross-promotion campaigns is used in the mechanics of promoting expensive and high-tech products. For example, when purchasing a jet ski and scuba diving equipment at the same time, the buyer receives a discount on both products. This is the principle of a “wholesale discount” with the only difference that wholesale in this case is not a specific number of units of a product of one brand, but the total number of units sold of 2 brands. Here, equal conditions for financial investments in the project are possible; accordingly, material and intangible benefits are equally distributed.

In addition to these rules, there are other important conditions that influence the choice of a partner for a joint promotion. First, brands must be non-competing with each other. And secondly, the promoted products must complement each other. For example, for food products, taste compatibility is important. It is unlikely that any consumer will have a desire to taste both meat and dairy products or receive as a gift when purchasing 4 packs of pasta a coupon for visiting a fitness center, which, as if by chance, but offensively for the buyer, reminds him of flaws in the figure. But chips and beer are quite compatible.

When it's taboo

Cross-promotion also has its limitations, which depend mainly on the goals set and the current situation with the brand. There are several situations where this method is not recommended.

Situation 1. Your brand is doing well, the brand has a clear differentiation from competitors, there is high consumer loyalty/brand recognition, as well as stable growth dynamics, and finally, your brand occupies a leading position in the market. In such a situation, organizing tandems can negatively affect consumer perception of the brand, because “negative attributes” (and they usually always exist) of a partner can “tarnish” the brand’s image. Experts do not recommend abusing this type of communication. The fact is that the success of a promotion does not always depend on the brand itself; the environment of the partner brand is also taken into account. Consequently, the share of risk increases.

Situation 2. Pharmaceuticals. In this situation, it is generally dangerous to use any consumer-promotion methods (and cross-promotion is one of them), because people make purchasing decisions under the influence of BTL tools less often. The main opinion-makers are doctors, pharmacists, and sales consultants. Therefore, for pharmaceuticals, if we talk about BTL methods, trade-promotion is more effective.

Situation 3. When the criteria for evaluating a partner are not fully met, it is better not to carry out joint actions in order to avoid risk. What these criteria are will be discussed in the next section.

The perfect combination

The algorithm for preparing and conducting cross-promotion campaigns depends on many factors, the main of which are goals. Accordingly, the first task is to determine what the company wants to achieve using joint promotional tools. After all, sometimes it happens that in order to achieve some goals it is not at all necessary to take a partner. For example, if the task is to introduce a new brand to the market, opening an as yet unknown product category (as Nescafe once opened the “instant coffee” category), then communication with the consumer should be built exclusively on the advantages of the product itself. Otherwise, the USP of the product will be “dull”, i.e. the consumer simply will not notice the “uniqueness” of the product, because the environment of the partner brand (no matter what category) will draw a certain share of the consumer’s attention.

But the most important task before starting a CP is to choose the right partner who meets certain criteria.

1. Partner's target audience. The very concept of CP implies the impact of 2 or several brands on one consumer. Those. During communication, the consumer may encounter at least two brand-messages. But there is only one consumer. Accordingly, his purchasing behavior is a consequence of a subjective idea of ​​material and (or) intangible values. For example, if a person drives a latest model BMW, then he prefers to drink expensive cognac. It would be stupid to offer him a set of cheap glass glasses as a gift for buying elite cognac. Therefore, partner brands must match each other at least in terms of the socio-demographic characteristics of their target audience.

2. Positioning. This is where the concept of brand equity comes into play, which is expressed in intangible resources and is determined by the level of loyalty to the brand. Experts argue that if the brand equity of the promoted brand is higher than that of the partner brand, then it is unlikely to increase as a result of the company’s participation in a cross-promotion campaign. And in some cases, on the contrary, it decreases, for example, if suddenly, while promoting two equivalent brands, a rumor spreads that one of them has frankly low quality. Such “PR” can have a negative impact on the level of loyalty to the partner, and there is always a risk.

3. Purchase situation. When developing joint promotions at points of sale, you need to know exactly WHAT the buyer came to the store for. If he clearly understands what product and what brand he wants to buy, he is unlikely to pay attention to advertising communications. As a rule, this situation is typical for goods of “non-impulsive” demand, or pre-selection (such as cars, household appliances, etc.). It’s a different matter with “impulsive” purchases from the FMCG market, when the choice of product is most often determined at the point of sale in a largely spontaneous manner. Accordingly, communication through the use of the cross-promotion method will be more likely to be successful.

If a customer came to the store to buy dumplings, then it would be quite logical to offer him his favorite sauce as a gift for packaging. Examples of successful combinations of partner brands include the following: meat products + seasonings; pasta + ketchup; low alcohol products + snacks; beer + chips (crackers); cars+auto accessories+motor oil; tourist vouchers + accessories for recreation.

So, when choosing a partner, do not forget about the rule - “measure twice, cut once.”

This tendency to organize advertising and promotional tandems does not at all delight advertising agencies and the media. And this is understandable. Therefore, they strive, by hook or by crook, to somehow limit such initiatives of thrifty businessmen. Rumor has it that television people are already seriously discussing the possibility of introducing an additional fee for placing “double” advertising...

One of the most striking examples of cross-promotion is the promotion of several brands in the film industry.

Companies that place a product in a feature film build a full-fledged advertising campaign based on its plot, using the main characters and video images. All promotion channels are being activated - television, radio, outdoor advertising, displays, stands, posters at points of sale, PR.

Cinematography shares with product manufacturers a ready-made story, creativity, and well-promoted brand bearers. Who is comparable in popularity to... (fill in the blank with the name of the star that comes to mind for you!). However, the cinema is not offended either - after all, by advertising their products, producers are promoting the film itself. Support from advertisers helps the film industry reduce marketing costs, which average between $20 million and $50 million per film in America.

In the penultimate Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, several world-famous manufacturers featured their products: BMW, Ericsson, Martini, Smirnoff, Brioni, Omega, Visa, Heineken, Avis rental cars, L’Oreal. In the latest episode of “The World Is Not Enough,” Catterpillar and Fujitsu joined this glorious cohort. The cost of cross-promotions carried out by promotional partners for the film “Tomorrow Never Dies” was, according to various estimates, from 100 to 120 million dollars.

One of the areas of cross-promotion is advertising campaigns and PR events directly in cinemas where the film is shown. All Bond's promotional partners actively used this technology, and what is most gratifying is that it reached Russia already in 1997 during the release of Tomorrow Never Dies.

Perhaps the largest-scale campaign was carried out by BMW at the Moscow Kodak-Kinomir cinema. The centerpiece was the drawing of a Z3 car among the spectators. In addition to being present on all media offered by the cinema (rental of advertising videos before the show, placement on printing: flyers, booklets, tickets, invitation cards, placement of banners in the foyer and banners on the street), BMW also took advantage of other forms of advertising. In particular, the Maximum radio station was involved in the cross-campaign. Every day, free tickets to the “Tomorrow Never Dies” session were drawn, and every day the password was announced on air. The program was designed for 18 days - the number of James Bond films. Every day a winner was determined. As a result, a car was raffled off among them. In addition, before the premiere in Moscow, BMW organized a private VIP party at the cinema with the invitation of leading media. Ericsson held a drawing of mobile phones among cinema visitors.

Shared advertising is paid for by both parties, which is part of its appeal for mid-sized companies. However, often such a tandem is paid for by one party, because each of the participants in the cross-promotional program has their own interests. Let’s say one seeks to gain access to a partner’s audience, and the other seeks to achieve fame and recognition of their brand.

Tells Victoria Samsonova,

Once in Travelat I was given the task of organizing affiliate mailings as a free channel for promoting our brand, and getting everything possible out of it. Why not? If you use barter, this channel is completely free. And most importantly, you are advertising the product to a live user base.

Cross-promotion is a set of marketing campaigns between two or more non-competing brands for the purpose of mutual benefit.

Then a more depressing condition appeared - with the help of cross-mailing we need to replenish our email database. Naturally, the partner will not just give up his emails: you need to get the user to leave the email voluntarily. In total, I had 3 tasks - to agree on a partnership, collect emails and at the same time not to make myself look like a layman.

Where to begin?

As they say, the main thing is to start, and then everything will work itself out. 🙂 After I presented examples of cross-promotion campaigns implemented in Travelat at one of the email marketing conferences, I received several offers for mutual advertising. But that was later, but for now...

Step 1. Highlight your audience and possible overlaps with partners.

To find partners, you need to very clearly formulate a portrait of your audience. Age, gender, how they behave on the Internet, how they are used to making purchases, and most importantly - what else is your client interested in?

For example, if your topic is health and fitness, then your audience will probably be interested in the sports food that is fashionable today. If you are organizing evening events, readers will probably like special taxi services (business class cars, ordering several taxis at the same time, etc.).
Have you formulated a sphere? Now Google your partners.

If your audience profile is blurry, it's important to highlight a few key features of your specific business. For example, many people are interested in tours - almost everyone who vacations outside of their dacha in the summer. Namely, the service for online booking of tours, given that the vast majority of the market is occupied by offline travel voucher sales, is of interest only to advanced Internet users. That is, those who are accustomed to ordering online, easily navigate metasearch engines and are not afraid to pay with a bank card.

Thus, the audiences that intersect with Travelata are, for example, grocery buyers in online stores, fans of technological innovations, modern young travelers, as well as people who want to keep abreast of the current political situation and subscribe to many modern information channels ( progressive youth, in a word:).

We can assume that online buyers of clothing and shoes are the right audience for us, but this audience is still very diverse. Some people buy only promotional items or look for better prices on goods from popular brands, and some more often order from regions in large wholesale to save money. In this case, it is better to focus on the average bill. If your product/product is aimed at “Medium+” income and above, then look for an online store or brand with similar indicators.

It is also worth remembering that the portrait of the newsletter readers and the buyer audience may differ. You can find out who reads your newsletter from Google Analytics service statistics by setting up a report for an email channel and specifying additional parameters in the report content (for example, Users -> Age / Mobile device brand / etc.). If the database is not large enough to collect adequate statistics, you can arrange a survey using free services such as SurveyMonkey. For example, ask what your readers do in their free time, how they prefer to buy concert tickets, and basically anything else!

Step 2. Find how to contact marketers directly

Extroverts and other talkative activists are especially lucky in this field. If you know a lot of Internet marketers or (it doesn’t matter whether you know each other in real life or just like them on Facebook), it’s easy to get in touch with them by simply writing a message on the social network. This is almost a 100% hit on target!

If you don’t have such acquaintances, select several companies, find their common email or marketing department address and write an attractive offer in the letter.

At some point it begins to seem to you that what you are doing is “monkey work.” Few people answer, and the work resembles shelling at a “cold” base. In such cases, think that your partner will also benefit without spending a penny. He needs your offer no less than you!

Step 3. To set up a contact

To figure out how to write a compelling headline, look through your work inbox. Try to stand out from this crowd, while maintaining a formal style and not going beyond the bounds of decency.

Sent an email but didn't receive a response? Duplicate it a couple of times. If there is no answer, then it is better not to knock on doors that are not interested in you.

Instead of immediately sending your proposal with a detailed narrative, ask a short question. For example, “Who does email marketing in your company? How can I contact him?”, using phrases that are as close as possible to colloquial ones in order to stand out against the background of letters with “cold”, inhuman language. A short question requires a short answer, and once you get the first answer, it will be easier to maintain communication.

Step 4. To make a sentence

When it comes time to describe what you really want from your partner, break the information into 3 blocks.

  1. Who we are and how our audiences coincide;
  2. What we offer - conditions (mutual benefit/free), what it will look like;
  3. Numbers: approximate volume of the database (for example, “more than 100 thousand subscribers”), percentage of opens, percentage of clicks.

Be sure to add at the end of the letter that you are ready to consider other options for cooperation. Perhaps they will offer something interesting.

If your partner’s base is smaller than yours, you can ask him to somehow make up for the lack of volume and advertise you on social networks. If a partner has a larger database, he may agree to send your offer to the entire database, or he can select a segment of recipients, calculating it using the formula:

The size of our database * uOpen Rate indicator (the number of people who opened the letter on our side) = the number of subscribers in the partner’s segment * the partner’s Open Rate indicator

Let's say our base = 50,000 users. uOpen Rate = 20%
This means that the partner’s newsletter will be seen (because it will be opened) by 10,000 users.
This means we must receive 10,000 openings of our banner from our partner.
If a partner has a base of 100,000 users, and uOR = 25%, then they should send our banner to a segment of 40,000 users (then 25% will open the newsletter - exactly our 10,000 openings). Unless, of course, they want to send it to the entire base out of the kindness of their hearts :)

There is no need to spend a lot of time creating a special design. Most of the newsletters are content organized in the form of blocks. Just insert your banner between the blocks. Ask your designer to create a banner that best matches the design of your partner’s newsletter.

Don't forget to add a link to your landing page with UTM tags. In my experience, links framed with text are even 2 times more effective than a banner. Sometimes a button with a CTA is more effective (depending on how interested the subscriber is in the offer itself described in the text).

Since I also needed to collect the database bit by bit, my proposal looked like this - our banner, which we offered to the partner, indicated a favorable discount for a purchase on our portal. By clicking on the banner, the subscriber went to the landing page, which we quickly created using the convenient and inexpensive LP Generator service. This landing page asked to leave your email, after which the subscriber received a coupon code for a discount. The step is difficult and long, but we believed that those who are really interested in your proposal will definitely go through it.

Specialized mailings that contain only your offer are not a common practice, so you shouldn’t even offer this type of cooperation for free. It is much easier to agree on the placement of your banner in a partner’s newsletter.

Step 5. Check results

Be sure to agree in advance how you will conduct the work. On what dates will the newsletter be sent to each party, when is the deadline for sending materials to the partner, will a mailing test be sent, when and how will you summarize the results of the promotion and everything else that you still need. All agreements must be recorded in electronic correspondence.

It is not customary to send screenshots of mailing statistics from the mailing platform. But you can request a screenshot of a statistics line in Google Analytics or a screenshot of a heat map.

What are the pitfalls?

Bureaucracy on the partner's side

An email marketer in a company reports to the head of Internet marketing or even all marketing in the company. And it’s not always a simple guy at the next table, as often happens in startups, who you can ask permission over a joint business lunch. In many companies, absolutely any decision must be agreed upon with management. And the management is on vacation / in a bad mood / thinking only about the number of units sold - in short, everything is complicated.

It is worth recognizing that the modern world is still full of bureaucratic conventions. To approve the promotion, you may need one of three options:

  1. Verbal consent of the manager;
  2. Signing an agreement with the company and sending the signed original by courier;
  3. Fulfillment of certain conditions. For example, one very well-known company, despite all its innovation, has a strict condition for each partner - placing on its website a link to this partner, open to robots. You don’t have to figure out who needs it and why, just understand that your SEO specialist will be against it (so as not to divert traffic and reduce the site’s ranking).

In any case, if negotiations take a long time, it is better to stop them - your time also costs money.

Unfair execution of agreements

Since it is not customary to send visual evidence of sending a newsletter (so as not to reveal the size of the database), we can never be sure whether the newsletter was sent to a database of the agreed size. The only guarantee is that the partner is aware of the fact that your personal mailboxes can be subscribed to the mailing list, and if you receive a letter without your advertising block, you will begin to be indignant. Therefore, be sure to subscribe to our partner’s newsletter. It’s even better to do this before writing a proposal to understand how best to fit your banner into the design and concept of your partner’s mailings.

Mailings are handled by a third party company that automates all email marketing.

In this case, the chances that the company will agree to cross-promotion tend to zero. Therefore, it is better to immediately feel out which companies have outsourced their mailing. Select several email marketing giants and look at the list of their clients; if you find a company on the list that interests you as a partner, cross it out of your plans. Among such companies are Out of Cloud, Emailmatrix, EmailSoldiers, SendPulse.

Is the game worth the candle?

The results of cross-promotion that can be seen and evaluated are usually very small. The effectiveness of the promotion is expressed in the number of customers who used the coupon. Also, for statistics, you can calculate the conversion from the number of views of the mailing (OR of this particular mailing) into transitions to the site. When a sufficient number of such promotions accumulate, it is easy to determine which audience will convert better (provided that the banner and offers are the same for all partners).

The difference in the results of working with different partners turned out to be insignificant. The leader in terms of new subscribers and purchases is the service that provides paid subscriptions to news publications. Culinary services have not taken off at all. And children's products collected the most clicks, but did not bring in a single sale from the partner. An ad unit with fitness services (“get pumped up for your vacation”) also turned out to be very popular, which proves the importance of relevant, topic-related offers.

In just six months, 8 partners agreed to similar actions with Travelata, and two offered cooperation themselves. Almost no one was satisfied with the result, although they did not expect magic. Therefore, the secret of success will be your mutual confidence that what you are doing is useful and mutually beneficial. At the same time, you should not expect fabulous results. If the activity is free and does not require time or other costs, then why not do it?

Photo www.freepik.com

Example of companies with similar audiences that are not competitors:

Beauty salon - cosmetics stores - fitness center - women's clothing stores - agency for organizing festive events - photographers - children's centers (after all, women live there too).

Affiliate Marketing Examples

1. Carrying out joint actions.

The simplest thing you can think of is discounts. For example, you give a discount to a buyer who presents a loyalty card from a partner company, and vice versa. For example, a fitness club and a sports nutrition store could do this. Or a clothing store and hairdresser.

You can easily determine how many new people came to you from this partnership. For efficiency, it is better to set a limitation on the validity period.

2. Using products from partners that are suitable for your buyer.

If you see that your products do not satisfy all the buyer’s needs, think about what else you can offer.

Olga Zhukova

Commercial Director of a business solutions agency"KIT MEDIA" :

We worked to increase sales in the Teskoma premium kitchenware store. To achieve this, we introduced a partnership program with an eco-friendly household goods store: the buyer received dishwashing detergent as a gift along with expensive dishes.

The promotion hit the target audience, because both the partners advocate a healthy lifestyle, and the Teskoma store makes tableware from environmentally friendly materials.

Result: Sales of expensive pots and pans increased by 7%.

Joint promotion of a dishware store and a dishwashing detergent brand

4. Sales through an aggregator.

Emilia Manvelyan

Founder of the clothing brand “Art Flash”:

We have entered into agreements with several companies: partners send an offer about our service to their clients, we pay them a percentage of sales as agents for attracting clients.

5. Organization of mutual PR.


Guest post on Nina Zaitseva's blog

How to find a business partner and do cross-marketing

1. Make a list of possible partners.

  • You can find a partner for your company in almost any field. You just need to look at everything from a different angle - not as an owner, but as a buyer: what else might you need if you purchase a product like yours.
  • You can conduct a survey among your customers on social networks: where they go, what stores they visit, what they buy.
  • Look for partners among those whose pricing policy is equivalent to yours.

2. Think about the format in which it would be interesting to interact with each of the possible partners.

In a short presentation you can write:

  • plan, conditions of the promotion, timing;
  • benefits for each party: specific results you plan to achieve;
  • resources to be spent;
  • what kind of promotion will there be;
  • How will you track the results?

3. Meet or call the decision maker.

That is, you need to negotiate a partnership with the store director, and not with the seller, with the club owner, and not with the administrator, and so on.

4. Sign an agreement if we are talking about large investments.

5. Prepare all resources and materials.

6. Launch a marketing campaign and track the results.

Cross marketing is the latest method of product promotion. It is carried out jointly by several companies to increase sales of interested companies.

The advertised products or groups of products are complementary (accessories, additional devices) or related (the product is necessary for the use of another product). Advertising is also carried out to promote similar products by many manufacturers.

An example of cross-marketing is stimulating sales of SIM cards and phones, when when connecting to a cellular operator it is offered to buy a phone at a reduced price. Another example is the advertising of dishwasher detergent tablets in hardware stores or the promotion of milk sales in the region by various farms.

Cross-marketing activities

  • Stock.
  • Raffles with prizes.
  • Fairs, exhibitions with special offers.
  • Promotions.
  • Holiday lotteries.
  • Advertising with bonuses.
  • Loyalty programs.
  • Cross-partners with favorable conditions.
  • Discount programs.
  • Direct marketing.

The history of cross-marketing

Cross-marketing or cross-marketing arose in the USA in the early 90s (20th century), when the market was oversaturated with a variety of products, and the consumer became more picky and picky. However, the concept of joint sales (co-marketing) was developed during the Great Depression (30s). Unconfirmed sources claim the use of cross-technologies by Benjamin Franklin, a famous American politician, innovator and inventor.

The heyday of cross-selling was the end of the 20th century. Modern science positions cross-marketing as an inevitable trend.

Conditions for using cross-marketing

The most popular cross-marketing is:

  • in case of insufficient financial resources (partnership assistance);
  • if there is a cross-audience (target consumers);
  • if necessary, improve the image of the product at the expense of a well-known manufacturer;
  • in the joint production of the main and related goods;
  • when products of different groups have a common need;
  • if the buyer sees benefits in purchasing these goods;
  • when heterogeneous products are in the same price and quality segment.

Benefits of Cross Marketing

Cross marketing has obvious benefits.

  • Saving money when carrying out marketing activities.
  • Joint partnerships with larger manufacturers.
  • Benefit from cross-selling.
  • Opportunity to significantly increase sales volumes.
  • Target audience (interested) reach and access to new markets.
  • Creating a favorable image and promoting the brand.
  • Bribing the consumer with trust and forming associative connections.
  • A quick psychological trick that offers all the necessary goods or services in addition to the main purchase.

Types of cross marketing

  • Tactical (one-time cooperation).
  • Strategic (long-term partnership).
  • Cultural (international).
  • Equal (cooperation between equally well-known companies).
  • Unequal (collaboration with benefits for both the branded company and the less recognizable one).
  • Branding.

Cross-marketing technologies or techniques

  • Providing discounts on cards.
  • Publishing cross-references in electronic media and social networks.
  • Providing a bonus product (gift, discount certificate, individual promotion).
  • Receipt of goods is offered through exchange or as a gift.
  • Attachment of samples from another company upon purchase.
  • Sponsorship of competitions, festive events, sweepstakes.
  • Providing unique conditions for the luxury consumer.
  • Display of related products on display.
  • Distribution of leaflets, booklets.
  • Joint advertising on TV.
  • Offering an assortment in online stores in the column “they often buy with this.”

Cross Marketing Tools

  • Online cross-marketing “cost per action” or “pay per action” (CPA). Companies pay for the number of attracted consumers who follow the link of an online platform to the advertised site and buy the product. This includes: banner advertising, popup windows, push notifications, native advertising.
  • A joint advertising campaign (advertising) is carried out through various channels (TV, radio, media, Internet, fairs).
  • A joint competition involves attracting a wide audience. By investing money to implement an idea, manufacturers acquire potential customers.
  • Joint events are carried out taking into account the specifics of the goods. Usually these are fairs, holidays, tastings, master classes, exhibitions, conferences, etc.
  • Joint production takes place in conditions where goods do not compete with each other. The need for combined production is appropriate for products with accessories and removable parts (parts), as well as for ease of transportation. Sometimes businesses team up to develop a new product line.
  • Co-branded cards offer the client to take advantage of a bonus (points, discounts) available from the company’s partners.
  • A loyalty program is designed for a certain category of consumers in order to force them to make a purchase. At the same time, an individual approach and care for the client are emphasized (discount on partner’s goods, etc.).

Stages of drawing up a cross-marketing plan

To create a cross-marketing plan, use an action plan that includes:

  • Search for partners producing related goods or services who agree to such cooperation.
  • Personnel training and education.
  • Selecting a promotional product and developing a special offer for a partner.
  • Creation of a database of cross-companies that responded to the terms of the transaction.
  • Final verification of information about partners, conditions of cross-marketing promotions, methods of presenting information.

How and where to find a partner for a cross-marketing program

  1. Initially, study the list of partners (by city, region) with a similar target audience.
  2. Send the terms of cooperation or commercial proposal to the company representative.
  3. Companies are searched through:
  • City portals, forums, bulletin boards.
  • Internet (browser requests).
  • Company directories (published annually).
  • Outdoor advertising.
  • Newspapers and magazines.
  • Search in social networks (filters).
  • Google Maps, Yandex maps.
  • Business connections and relationships.

Cross marketing commercial offer

A commercial proposal for affiliate cross-marketing is presented in the form of a short report or presentation. The information reflects the essence of the offer and the benefits for the partner.

The points of the commercial offer are:

  • description of the company and the advertised product;
  • characteristics of the cross-project;
  • cost and timing of implementation;
  • educational materials (calculations, graphs, images);
  • program effectiveness;
  • partner's benefit;
  • action coordination mechanism;
  • data transmission channels.

The commercial proposal is drawn up based on the existing project plan (briefly, informatively). The resume is sent by email, fax or delivered in person. Depending on the scale of the promotion, proposals are sent out en masse or as responses are received from firms.

If a partner is interested in cooperation, they additionally send a project release and agree to hold negotiations.

How to draw up a cross-marketing agreement

The cross-marketing agreement is drawn up according to a standard form, taking into account the specifics of the agreement. It states:

  • names of partners;
  • their certificates of registration as legal entities or individual entrepreneurs;
  • name of product groups participating in the promotion;
  • goals of cross-marketing activities (general, individual, other);
  • whether goods are provided for sale and terms for returning part of the profit;
  • conditions for providing assistance to partners;
  • rights and obligations;
  • nuances of conducting common affairs (mandatory meetings, negotiations);
  • terms and responsibilities under the agreement.

Examples of products/services with a similar target audience

Cross marketing in tourism

Tourists are the most solvent audience. Cross-companies in the tourism industry offer various promotions and advertising.

  • They offer cheap hotels.
  • They advertise beach accessories, glasses, swimsuits, suitcases, etc.
  • They provide points when purchasing air tickets (for which you can later purchase a free ticket).
  • They promote a healthy lifestyle, the ideals of slimness and beauty.
  • Inform clients about advantageous offers on travel packages, hotel reservations, and convenient flights.

Tourists are often faced with an offer to buy an Upsell product, which is a kind of improvement to a completed purchase. Such goods include excursions, services of guides, photographers, medical procedures and massages, transfers, etc.

Cross marketing in the restaurant business

The restaurant business has a slightly different cross-partnering option. Any audience is suitable. Catering enterprises work closely with suppliers of products, sauces, spices, etc. Signature dishes are famous for their presentation, the skill of the chef, and special ingredients. When ordering them, you usually receive a “compliment from the chef” or a discount on a cocktail or dessert.

Restaurants also hold joint events of a cross-type nature. Basically, these are discount cards that are valid in 2 or more cafes, bars, bistros.

Catering enterprises cooperate with organizers of festive events, sports competitions, artists, DJs, and vocal performers. Sometimes cross-PR becomes a campaign by the “face of the company,” a well-known and respected figure.

On Internet sites you can often find bonus codes, discount coupons and promotions for restaurants that cooperate with non-target consumers: users of online games, the Internet and social networks, clothing buyers, customers of holiday services and goods.

Restaurants mainly cooperate with shopping centers, travel agencies, hotels, beauty salons, and radio stations. When organizing children's parties, coupons and discounts on animation and entertainment services are widely used.

The target audience is sought in zoos, cinemas, educational institutions, aquariums, and children's exhibitions.

Restaurant marketing is becoming widespread when organizing professional holidays or celebrations (wedding companies, gift and souvenir shops, leisure companies).

Joint cross-marketing with fitness clubs

The audience of fitness clubs is diverse.

  • Visitors to healthy food restaurants.
  • Car owners.
  • Security structures.
  • Using the services of beauty salons and medical centers.
  • Visitors to salons and beauty salons.
  • Buyers of sporting goods and equipment.
  • People exercising in sports clubs or visiting sports centers.

The audience is also notified within the office environment through information leaflets. A small part is attracted through various stores through promotions.

How to conduct a cross-marketing campaign

  • Select one partner so as not to distract the consumer’s attention.
  • Choose the format of a cross-marketing event (advertising in a store, on the Internet, in crowded places, mailing).
  • Develop a project (advertising materials, conditions for buyers).
  • Involve project developers, typographic works, Internet designers, programmers, IT managers.
  • Deliver samples, flyers, cards, coupons, promotions, or merchandise to the promotion location.

How to use promotions to control customer purchases

First, determine the volume of promotional goods or the timing of the promotion.

Control over purchases is carried out using periodic reports and electronic commerce tools (software, cash register, warehouse accounting programs).

In the online space, control is carried out using special software that controls the number of clicks on links and other attributes.

At sales points, the purchasing process is accompanied by trained consultants and managers. They monitor the correct display of the product, and in many cases make a purchase decision when the buyer has insufficient knowledge about the product and its properties. It is also advised to purchase products if you have your own experience or a profitable promotion.

The top management responsibility for executing a cross-marketing event rests on the shoulders of the chief marketer and the initiators.

How to stimulate sales on promotions

To increase the number of promotional sales, use additional marketing tools.

  • Issuance of invitation leaflets.
  • Placement of advertising signs.
  • Offering more favorable purchasing conditions (gradation of bonuses depending on the cost of purchase, number of purchases, etc.).
  • Consulting on promotions when meeting at the point of sale (leading the client, informing).
  • Control over the availability of advertising materials and goods.
  • Adequate behavior of employees in relation to ordinary consumers (competent presentation of information).

What mistakes are made when organizing cross-marketing?

  • They select partners with competing services (fitness center and yoga center).
  • They use BTL (luxury) technologies to promote goods of different price points (expensive kitchen furniture and a discount on a set of simple pots).
  • They do not take into account the consumer’s vision for the action (inappropriateness, going beyond reason, unaesthetic, illiterate and everything that “hurts the eye”).
  • Do not use special identification means (clothing, branded accessories).
  • Sale promotion is planned and carried out by people who are far from sales.
  • Promotion dates are not specified.

How to hold an event without any controversial issues arising

You should conclude an agreement with your partner, spell out all the nuances of joint actions, as well as rights and obligations. With a competent approach to the matter, controversial issues arise only at the stage of interaction with the consumer (defective goods, lack of awareness about the conditions of the competition, promotions).

How to calculate the costs of cross-marketing

The calculation of cost per share directly depends on the expected profit. If the company's goal is simply to attract consumers, they count on reserves. Each expense item is planned when drawing up the project:

  • costs of prizes, gifts, discounts;
  • employee benefit costs;
  • costs of advertising materials or electronic promotion;
  • transport costs;
  • costs for consumables, samples, exhibition samples;
  • registration costs.

Cross-channel marketing results

  • Increase in sales of retailers (15% on average).
  • Raising the image of manufacturers (sales growth in the future).
  • Brand awareness as a result of using various advertising channels.
  • The ability to identify promising areas of advertising.

How to calculate the return on a stock

The effectiveness of a promotion is obtained using indicators:

1. ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment) or return on investment (DR)/R

  • D - income from the share.
  • P is the cost of carrying out the action.
  • If the total according to the formula is less than or equal to 1, the promotion is ineffective.
  • Cha is the number of checks for the promotion.
  • H is the total number of checks.
  • The higher the percentage of checks, the better the action was organized.

3. Analysis of the cost of attracting (returning) a guest Salary

  • The fewer rubles spent on one purchase, the cheaper it costs the client.

4. Profit D-R (as a rule, companies do not have unprofitable shares).

5. The effectiveness of cross-marketing is assessed by comparing profits in promotional and non-promotional periods.

Global cross-marketing experience

Cross-marketing is used by large companies, as well as network structures. It is common in the banking, insurance, tourism sectors, as well as in the sale of goods and services from the automotive industry, furniture and textile industries, catering establishments, equipment and household appliances manufacturing enterprises. Cross-selling is rare in craft production, private manufacturers and B2B sales.

Not really

Cross marketing is a relatively new, but already proven highly effective tool for promoting goods and services, as well as managing the company’s brand on the market. Most experts define cross-marketing as any joint activity of different companies in the field of marketing. The essence of cross-marketing comes down to expanding the customer base at the expense of the partner’s audience, potentially interested in the company’s products. The economic effect is achieved through a more focused impact on the target audience, optimization of promotion costs, “reducing the cost” of new customers and increasing consumer loyalty.

Objectively, the advantages of cross-marketing activities are based on two main mechanisms: using the strength of both brands and consumer loyalty to them, as well as maximizing the proximity of target audiences. At the same time, the consumer gets the opportunity to save time and often receive a product or service from a partner company on special, more favorable terms, which is an additional motivation for him. A competent company policy when conducting cross-marketing events allows you to reduce advertising costs by up to 50% while maintaining (or even increasing) the reach of the target audience.

In order for your cross-marketing project to show excellent results, you must follow certain rules, which can be divided into several main stages:

1.Choosing the right cross-marketing partner.

Many consider finding a suitable partner one of the main problems on the path to a successful project, and this is understandable. There are a huge number of companies on the market, each of which has its own characteristics that will not always be acceptable to you.

To find partners with whom cooperation will bring tangible results, you must first make a list of groups of goods and/or services with which you would be interested in combining cross-marketing activities. When compiling this list, focus on your customers: what special offers will be most interesting to them?

Once the list has been generated, it is necessary to identify brands within the previously defined groups. When preparing this information, focus on companies with similar target audiences and ideologies. Naturally, there should be no competitors on the list.

Once you have identified a list of specific companies with which you would like to organize a cross-marketing project, collect as much information about them as possible. It will be enough to collect information on the Internet:

  • Evaluate the work and content of their website
  • Check the number of subscribers and quality of communication on social networks
  • Read reviews about products and services

Once you have analyzed all the information received and identified a list of potential cross-marketing partners, you can move on to the next step.

2. Formation of the project concept.

Before establishing contact with a potential partner, it is necessary to identify possible. In cross-marketing, you can use almost all traditional tools; the choice depends on your specific goals and objectives. As a rule, companies unite for joint promotions, use partner products for a prize fund, unite in loyalty programs, create joint products and services, and interact with online resources.

After determining the direction of cooperation, it is advisable to make a detailed description or make a presentation with information about the approximate mechanics of a cross-marketing project. Be sure to reflect what exactly you offer to a potential partner as part of this cooperation and what you would like to receive from him. Describe in detail what target audience this event is aimed at. Also, for each project, the timing of its implementation is important, since goods or services may be seasonal, which must be taken into account when drawing up the terms of the project. If the project is geographically referenced, indicate its location.

If you don’t know in which direction you want to organize a project, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with examples of cross-marketing projects and try to apply some of the existing practices first.

3. Establishing contact with a potential partner.

The third, and probably the most important step of all, is connecting with another business. It is at this stage that the desire to organize a cross-marketing project most often disappears, since many do not imagine a way to solve this issue or it is not acceptable to them.

Many companies turn to advertising agencies to solve the problem of finding a suitable partner, but this usually does not bring the desired result, since agencies are primarily focused on their financial gain, and not on reducing the marketing budgets of their potential clients. Similar options for finding partners for cross-marketing could be cold calling or contacting friends. Recently, you can often find vacancies whose main responsibilities involve actively searching for partners through cold calling. The appearance of these vacancies and the growth in their number is associated with the active development of cross-marketing in Russia.

A convenient option for establishing contact is the partner search section on our portal, where you can either place your offer or respond to posted offers from other companies.

4. Agreeing on the terms for a cross-marketing agreement.

Once you've made contact and communicated your proposal, your potential partner may have additional ideas that can help improve the results of your cross-marketing project. By combining your expertise, you can optimize the mechanics and make them more interesting for your customers.

After determining all the details of the project, draw up an agreement and record the following points in it:

  • A general description of the mechanics of the project to promote each other’s products or services;
  • Geography covered by this agreement;
  • Responsible employees on each side;
  • The procedure for communication and interaction of field employees, with their participation in the project;
  • A list of competing companies with which your partner should not carry out cross-marketing activities;
  • Conditions and procedure for providing necessary materials to the other party;
  • Terms of use of each other's logos and trademarks;
  • Allocation of expenses;
  • Project preparation schedule plan;

The agreement does not have to be legal; this necessity depends on the specifics of the project and internal procedures in your company.

If you decide to draw up a legal document, then in addition to the points related to a specific cross-marketing project, it is necessary to reflect general conditions, such as the relationship of the parties, the duration of the agreement, liability, confidential information, and so on.

5. Test launch of the project.

Once all conditions have been agreed upon and the agreement has been signed, you can proceed to launching the project. It is always advisable to do the first, test run with limited coverage, so that there is an opportunity to optimize the mechanics.

After collecting the results, conduct an independent analysis and answer the following questions:

  • Was the goal achieved? If not, why not?
  • Has the partner fulfilled all of its obligations? If not, what exactly did he not do?
  • Did you feel comfortable working with this person? Despite the fact that cooperation takes place between companies, people who should be comfortable interacting are working on the project.

Next, you need to organize a meeting with your partner and share information. Even if a cross-marketing project has shown good results, still hold a meeting; bringing together marketing minds will yield positive results in any case.

For long-term projects, try to add new elements every iteration.

Cross-marketing relationships with colleagues from other companies and consolidation of efforts will allow you to achieve better results and reduce costs.

6. Expanding cooperation in the field of cross-marketing.

You can't partner with too many companies that compete with each other, but you can expand your collaboration with current partners and start collaborating in other markets. After you successfully implement the project and make a plan for its repetition schedule, start working on the search.

It is not always effective to involve a large number of partners in cooperation, since establishing contact and seeking mutual understanding may require a lot of time and effort. Therefore, it is better to establish contact with a limited list of companies and cover different areas of cross-marketing activities.

To summarize, we can say that the main thing in carrying out any cross-marketing project is a cohesive team. Thanks to coordinated work, all partners in the partnership will be able to increase awareness, increase audience reach and save budget.