Co-marketing is when two or more companies that aren't direct competitors but share a similar target audience, work together on a marketing campaign. (Like a lawn care company and a tree trimming company.) Through co-marketing, you can achieve remarkable feats that would otherwise be impossible.
One popular type of co-marketing campaign is a joint webinar. I've seen companies get between 10,000 and 20,000 webinar registrants by partnering up together.
There are 3 main roles companies can play in a co-marketing webinar: host, speaker, or sponsor.
Host Company
Responsibilities
Hosts are responsible for orchestrating the entire campaign. The success of the event rests on their strategic marketing, project management, and leadership skills. Here are the host's responsibilities:
- Secure speakers (one or more) from other companies that have a strong following and share their own company's target audience.
- Coordinate with the speakers to create presentations that are of high value to the target audience (a.k.a choose awesome topics).
- Create and sell sponsorship opportunities for companies that also share a similar target audience.
- Develop promotional materials to share with all involved parties (emails, tweets, associated graphics, online advertising, etc.)
- Secure the webinar technology and moderate the event.
Benefits
Putting on an event like this can cost a good chunk of change, but getting sponsors can help offset the cost, and maybe even bring in a tidy little profit.
If you're looking for a way to quickly grow your email list and generate leads without buying a list (which is definitely not best practice), this can be a lucrative solution. Best of all, the new list of people have raised their hand to learn more about a topic related to your offering, which makes them even more valuable to your company.
Speaker and Sponsor
Responsibilities
Speakers obviously have to create their portion of the webinar presentation. Both speakers and sponsors need to promote the event to their own following via email marketing, social media promotion, etc. The easier the host company makes it for them, the more likely they are to actively promote the event.
Speaker Benefits
Speakers normally don't get paid to do these types of events, so why would a high-profile personality volunteer their time for something like this? Same reason why the host company is putting on the event: to get in front of an audience they might not otherwise have access to. The tangible reward for the presenters is a list of the registrants to help them grow their own email list and generate leads.
Sponsor Benefits
The sponsors normally do pay to advertise at the event. They may get their logo on promotional materials, have a "commercial" during the event itself, etc. They also get a list of the registrants, which are potential leads for their company.
In order to have an ultra-successful event for everyone involved, everyone needs to be involved. If one party doesn't do its part, it's not fair to the group as a whole. The unengaged party gets the reward without putting in the work.
Webinar Registrants
Responsibilities
Webinar registrants don't technically have "responsibilities". The hope is that they'll register, attend, and share the event with their network!
Benefits
The webinar registrants get access to great speakers and presentations for free. The more high value the content is to the target audience, the better the campaign will be for all parties involved. The goal is for the attendees to think "Oh my gosh, I'm so glad I didn't miss this. I want to share it with all my colleagues - they need to hear this information!"
Participating in co-marketing campaigns is a great start to building strong business partnerships, developing a relationship with a new group of people, and generating new leads.
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