6 Alternatives to Co-Branding for Partnership Marketing

Exploring the landscape of partnership marketing beyond co-branding, we’ve gathered six expert insights from founders to SVPs. From leveraging affiliate marketing programs to collaborating on content creation, these professionals shed light on creative alternatives to traditional partnership strategies.

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Leverage Affiliate Marketing Programs

Affiliate partnerships are a great alternative to co-branding that many e-commerce brands overlook. Rather than collaborating with another brand to create a new product, affiliate programs leverage existing products and the audiences of influencers and content creators.

A few years ago, one of my clients launched an affiliate program offering commissions of 15-20% on all sales driven through affiliate links. They partnered with micro-influencers in their niche, many of whom were already promoting similar products. Within six months, affiliate links were driving over $50k in monthly revenue at no upfront cost.

The key to a successful affiliate program is finding the right affiliates. Look for influencers with engaged audiences that align with your target customers. Make sure any content they create featuring your products is authentic and valuable to their followers. And be generous with commissions, especially when launching a new program. Affiliates are taking a risk by promoting your brand to their audience, so reward them well for their performance.

If done right, affiliate marketing can be an extremely effective partnership model. Brands gain exposure, influencers monetize their audiences, and customers discover new products they genuinely want. It’s a win all around.

Steve Pogson, Founder, First Pier

Host Co-Sponsored Events

Event sponsorships, such as co-hosted seminars and workshops, are a great way to introduce cost-sharing and expand your reach to each other’s audiences. So long as the partnership makes sense logically, it can enhance your business’s credibility and provide additional value to new and existing customers. For example, we partner with marketing agencies for our local events to provide even more expertise to our attendees.

Chris Hunter, Director of Customer Relations, ServiceTitan

Engage in Influencer Marketing

One partnership alternative is influencer marketing. I’ve worked with medical practices who partner with healthcare influencers, like nurse practitioners or physician assistants. 

These influencers promote the practice to their social media followers and online communities in an authentic way. In return, the practice provides the influencer with promotional offers, products, or a sponsorship fee. This allows the practice to tap into new audiences and build brand awareness.

For example, I worked with a dermatology practice that partnered with an aesthetic nurse injector. She promoted monthly deals on Botox and fillers to her email list and social media following. The practice saw a 15% increase in cosmetic procedure bookings that quarter through her promotion. The key is finding influencers whose audience aligns with your target patient profile.

Jeff McGeary, Founder & CEO, PracticeVIP LLC

Create Joint-Venture Partnerships

A joint-venture partnership is one alternative to co-branding that I’ve had success with. JVs allow two companies to collaborate on a short-term project or promotion that benefits both parties. The key is finding a partner company with a similar target audience but non-competing products or services. 

For example, I once partnered with an eco-friendly water bottle company to cross-promote to each other’s email lists. They offered my readers an exclusive discount on their bottles, and in turn, they promoted my online courses to their customers. This single promotion generated over $15,000 in sales for my business with very little additional effort or cost.

JV partnerships are a win-win when structured properly. The key is starting small, with a short-term project to test the partnership before committing to anything long-term. Be very clear on each party’s expectations, responsibilities, and promotional offers upfront. With the right partner, JVs can be an extremely effective way to reach new potential customers and boost revenue.

Will Mitchell, Founder, StartupBros

Develop Joint Products

While co-branding is a powerful tool, it’s not the only path to successful partnership marketing. Joint product development offers a more strategic and long-term approach. By collaborating on creating a new, unique product or service, partners can tap into untapped markets, strengthen their brand positions, and generate significant revenue.

We partner with a CRM platform to develop a donor management tool integrated directly into their system. This not only created a valuable new product but also deepened the partnership, increasing customer stickiness and lifetime value for both companies.

Raviraj Hegde, SVP of Growth & Sales, Donorbox

Collaborate on Content Creation

While co-branding can be a powerful partnership marketing strategy, it’s not always the right fit for every brand.

An alternative that I’ve found incredibly effective is content collaboration.

Instead of merging brand identities to create a new product or service, content collaboration involves partnering with another brand to create joint content that resonates with both audiences. This could take the form of co-authored blog posts, joint webinars, podcasts, or even social media campaigns.

I’ve personally seen the power of content collaboration firsthand. I once worked with a health and wellness brand that partnered with a fitness influencer to create a series of workout videos and blog posts. This collaboration not only introduced the brand to the influencer’s audience but also provided valuable content that resonated with both communities, leading to increased brand awareness, engagement, and ultimately, sales.

In my opinion, content collaboration offers several advantages over co-branding. It’s a more flexible and accessible option for brands of all sizes, as it doesn’t require the development of a new product or service. It also allows brands to leverage each other’s strengths and expertise, creating content that is more diverse and engaging than what they could produce alone.

Liga Rudzite, Author, The Traveler

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