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How to Use Brand + Brand Partnerships to Thrive on Instagram

Writer's picture: Andrew K.Andrew K.

Updated: Aug 19, 2020


Marketers are increasingly utilizing brand partnerships on Instagram to promote their company online and boost their following. Brand collaborations are different from influencer partnerships. They involve alliances between two or multiple brands to produce an offering that is relevant across their shared audiences.

Marketers are increasingly utilizing brand partnerships on Instagram to promote their company online and boost their following. Brand collaborations are different from influencer partnerships. They involve alliances between two or multiple brands to produce an offering that is relevant across their shared audiences. This enables marketers to implement engaging campaigns well within their budget. In this article, we reveal all the essential details about brand + brand partnerships on Instagram.


Introduction to Brand Partnerships on Instagram

Collaborations typically mean sales meetings, influencer partnerships, internal teamwork, etc. However, brand + brand alliances are a new online brand promotion method. Brand + brand cooperation involves two or more companies teaming up, creating exclusive and unique elements for their campaign, and helping the growth of each other. The best part is some collaborations are free.


Advantages of Brand + Brand Alliances


The first thing you should know is that brand collaboration can be 25x cheaper compared to digital advertising. Besides, benefits like alignment opportunities, network growth, and omnichannel marketing make brand collaborations a cost-effective and robust marketing strategy for any company.

A study by AMEX reveals that Australian mid-sized firms that collaborate at least five times a year can increase their sales by up to $430,000 or save up to $319,000 in costs. Thus, the gains are massive.

A study by AMEX reveals that Australian mid-sized firms that collaborate at least five times a year can increase their sales by up to $430,000 or save up to $319,000 in costs. Thus, the gains are massive. We provide you more details about other key advantages of brand + brand partnerships below:

  • Build buzz and attract publicity

  • Increase your network and social platform community

  • Engage your followers

  • Produce relevant content

  • Add/boost revenue streams

  • Use smart cross-promotions to reach new prospects

You can reap the above benefits by smartly selecting your partner(s) and implementing an effective marketing strategy with them.


Brand + Brand Alliances on Instagram


Social media is one of the best places for brand + brand cooperation. A lot of brands decide to create exclusive products or events for their Instagram campaign because of the reach and engagement they get on this platform. You can reach new followers cost-efficiently and rapidly by using content collaborations, hashtag challenges, giveaways, competitions, and other tactics.


For instance, the Tuchuzy + Elle Effect Instagram giveaway campaign was launched to drive sign-ups for email lists and the brands collaborated to offer a co-branded prize to their audiences. The results were impressive as there was high engagement across the Instagram accounts of both brands and they also significantly grew the number of sign-ups for their newsletters.

For instance, the Tuchuzy + Elle Effect Instagram giveway campaign was launched to drive sign-ups for email lists and the brands collaborated to offer a co-branded prize to their audiences. The results were impressive as there was high engagement across the Instagram accounts of both brands and they also significantly grew the number of sign-ups for their newsletters.

How to Launch Your First Brand + Brand Campaign on Instagram


To help you reap the same advantages, we provide you a multi-step process to create your first brand alliance on Instagram.


Pinpoint Your Campaign Objective

To start, you need to be clear about what you wish to achieve in your brand cooperation. You do not require a big collaboration idea to begin. Understand your marketing goal which may be content creation, product sales, Instagram growth, or more email list subscribers. This clear objective can help you select a suitable brand partner for your campaign.


Find a Fitting Partner

You can use relevant online marketing platforms that match your company with ideal brands. Simply list an opportunity to pitch your concept on the platform, and they’ll match your brand with suitable partners from their database of businesses and brands. There is no need for research or heavy lifting.


However, if you want to do it the old-fashioned way, ensure your target markets are similar, you’re in complementary industry spaces, and your objectives are in alignment to provide value to followers. These will make your cross-promotions more effective.


For instance, a personal trainer + nutritionist thematically makes sense and also has complimentary audiences. The Bumble + Gelatino Messina collaboration was a successful ice-cream promotion campaign that delivered multiple marketing ripple results such as media mentions and user-generated content (UGC) on social platforms.

Understand the Value You Offer

Successful partnerships deliver win-win value exchanges, so you need to be aware of what benefits you have to offer before engaging a partner or asking about your gains. For the collaboration, you can use your valuable assets like email channels, social media, content creation, venue space, skillset, time, services, and products. So fully understand the usefulness of your offering and skillset before initiating a brand collaboration.


Reach Out Warmly

Do not use LinkedIn messages, direct messages, or informal communication. Keep in mind that your potential collaborators are human. Therefore, don’t copy/paste, but personalize your introduction note by doing thorough research. Keep your partnership offer message friendly, personalized, short, sweet, and focused on the benefits the other brand can gain from the combined campaign.


Be Welcoming to Negotiations

Approach an alliance with a flexible attitude and solid objectives about creative execution so that you can negotiate a favorable deal. For a small-scale collaboration, you can use a MOU document or joint marketing agreement.


Aim to Get the Best Results

You should publicize your joint campaign and make it visible to your audiences. Leveraging is therefore important and you should develop a marketing strategy for both brands that take full advantage of all the marketing channels available to each of you.


Be Flirty

Brand partnerships need not be one-off campaigns that are performed by big enterprises. As mentioned earlier, to get effective results a brand should collaborate at least five times a year. You need to keep switching your collaboration types to sustain your audience’s interest.


Schedule, Publish, Communicate and Track

After finalizing your campaign details, you can now share your content. You can easily create hype about your co-branded marketing campaign on Instagram by using features like shopping tags and countdown stickers on Instagram Stories to sell your product.


After your campaign goes live, it’s vital to monitor its performance and communicate constantly with your collaboration partner. You should share your insights and results with the partner. Also, compare the results with your marketing goal to learn if the campaign is effective. You can also compare the performance of this campaign with your other initiatives or content.


Since 5+ brand partnerships are ideal per year, you should compare the results of each campaign to learn which ones deliver the best ROI. Share the stats and results with your collaboration partner to keep them informed.


3 Successful and Inspiring Brand + Brand Partnerships on Instagram


#1. Chani Nicholas + Spotify

Astrology specialist Chani Nicholas collaborated with Spotify to launch ‘Cosmic Playlists’ which offers suitable music for your star sign. The alliance used publicity, social media, and outdoor advertising, and provided a personalized and unique experience to Spotify customers with excellent cross-promotion. The release has earned the collaborators over 400,000 followers as well as a Webby award in 2019.

Astrology specialist Chani Nicholas collaborated with Spotify to launch ‘Cosmic Playlists’ which offers suitable music for your star sign. The alliance used publicity, social media and outdoor advertising, and provided a personalized and unique experience to Spotify customers with excellent cross-promotion. The release has earned the collaborators over 400,000 followers as well as a Webby award in 2019.

#2. Seafolly + Chandon

These brands collaborate each summer to offer a limited-edition wine. The Chandon wine bottles feature Seafolly’s hero swimsuit print. This ideal summer pairing has earned both brands plenty of engaging UGC to use.



#3. Mon Verre + Sourced Styling Studio

Melbourne-based lifestyle and product photographer and stylist, Sourced Styling Studio was searching for methods to develop her portfolio and boost her web presence. She found a crystal glassware brand named Mon Verre that was looking to create images and content to capture its products.

The two brands collaborated to produce attractive social content. Mon Verre got the benefit of generating beautiful new product content while Sourced Styling Studio reaped the advantages of free products, portfolio growth, and exposure to hundreds of potential new clients. In this way, the small brands cooperated to obtain amazing results.


Wrap Up


With each brand + brand partnership, you can double your reach, grow your network, and create new content to engage your audience – all with a limited budget. With tools like our free Social Media Content Planner, you plan your campaign in a fraction of time.

Social media content planner is an essential tool for any business. If increasing online presence of your business is one of your goals, it is crucial you utilize tools and resources available. The Social Media Content Planner is simple to use printable template that will guide you through defining your monthly and weekly social content goals, and assist you in developing an effective course of action.

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