Launching, developing and implementing a marketing campaign, as well as conducting target audience analysis and
research
on marketing trends, requires a lot of financial resources and time. In addition, sometimes even the most
successful
marketing analysts encounter a problem when they lack new ideas and solutions to make the company and the product
it
offers stand out from the competition. In this case, cross-marketing comes to the rescue, striking the right
balance
between audience reach and depth of impact.
The essence of cross-marketing is to bring together two or more companies with similar target audiences to
collaborate
on marketing. Companies develop a common marketing program and become partners.
Let's take a look at what types of cross-marketing exist (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 - Main Types of Cross-Marketing
If companies are focused on short-term cooperation, for example, a one-time joint action, the purpose of which is
the
urgent stimulation of product sales, this type refers to tactical cross-marketing. When companies are focused on
long-term partnership, i.e. long-term cooperation, this type of cross-marketing refers to strategic
cross-marketing. In
addition, there is such a type of cross-marketing as cross-cultural marketing, which involves the cooperation of
companies from different countries.
A cross-marketing campaign is implemented in 6 stages (see figure 2).
Figure 2 - Main Stages of Cross-Marketing Campaign Implementation
Thus, at the initial stage you need to set goals, they may depend on the stage of the life cycle of the business
or
product, you also need to determine the expected results, and then you can start looking for partners. When the
question
of finding partners is solved, it is necessary to develop a budget, to calculate costs, and then a marketing
program is
developed, a joint campaign is carried out. At the stage of analysis, the results are evaluated, if it is a
long-term
cooperation, the program can be changed.
In addition, the partners need to choose and agree on the format of the events, i.e. choose marketing tools, the
main of
which are presented in Figure 3.
Figure 3 - The Main Tools of Cross-Marketing
Collaboration in marketing can be of different formats, in particular, partners can hold joint events, various
competitions, etc.
For example, such a format as cross-promotions, in this case customers can receive various bonuses or prizes, or
discounts on the purchase of products of the partner's company. Such partnership, in general, has a long-term
character,
as an example, bonus programs, when customers get points for purchases, which they can then also pay for. And such
a
format as holding joint events can be a one-time event, i.e. it is a short-term collaboration. Co-packing is the
production by partners of joint packaging for complementary products. Such a format as cross-competitions allows
companies to increase the loyalty of their customers and acquire new ones. If companies enter into a partnership
to
co-produce products, this format is called co-branding.
Figure 4 shows the main benefits of cross-marketing.
Figure 4 - Main Benefits of Cross-Marketing
In today's highly competitive environment, establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with a marketing
partner
doesn't just mean lower costs, cross-marketing has the effect of reaching a wider target audience, and therefore
has the
effect of strengthening market positions.