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If you can find the right partner to team with, you can get a lot more marketing boost for your buck. A few ideas on how to do it:
1> Have a contest
2> Buy them a beer
3> Support a charity
4> Check it out: Horrible logos for $5
1> Have a contest
The whole point of a contest is to get a bunch of buzz and awareness for whatever you’re giving away — so it makes sense to get other partners involved. People loved Virgin America’s recent partnership with online sensation Awkward Family Photos. The contest offered four round-trip tickets to anywhere Virgin flies for the best “awkward” photo submitted to the site as voted on by fans. Before it was all over, Awkward Family Photos received a record amount of submissions and thousands of votes.
The lesson: The more you can involve partners in your giveaways and promotions, the more fans you’ll meet.
Learn more: Brandflakes for Breakfast
2> Buy them a beer
Before you spend big bucks on the solo campaign, consider what some smart marketers are doing to share the spotlight: buddying up. Recently, Austin’s Birds Barbershop teamed with Lone Star Beer for a local print and online campaign. The ads feature real customers showing off their new hair styles and a fresh Lone Star (which is complimentary with each haircut).
The lesson: If you’re going to spend the money on an ad, look for ways to partner with a non-competitor who shares the same customers.
Learn more: The Wall Street Journal
When you’re launching something new, it helps to find a friend who’s already well-connected in the community (online or off) who can help introduce you. Dickey’s Barbecue partners with a local charity for every new franchise’s grand opening. The causes range from supporting families with cystic fibrosis to raising money for local schools, and they all help to get the local community immediately involved with the new restaurant.
The lesson: When you’re the new kid in town, try finding another business or cause who can help introduce you to the community.
Learn more: FoodFranchise.com
4> Check it out: Horrible logos for $5
As they say on their website, Horrible Logos has been drawing bad logos for beer money since 2010. For just $5, you get a horrible logo and they get to buy a beer.
Check it out: HorribleLogos.com
