Why You Should Partner With Another Brand to Build Your Business

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Brand partnerships have become much more commonplace in today’s business landscape. Take one look at some of the most successful brand partnerships and you’ll easily see why. For example, furniture company Pottery Barn partnered with paint company Sherwin-Williams. Together, they created an exclusive line of paints, and on the Pottery Barn website, customers could see how certain furniture paired perfectly with curated, custom-created colors.

Then, there’s the partnership between mattress company Casper and high-end furniture company West Elm. Through this partnership, Casper placed their mattresses in West Elm bedroom furniture, which allowed customers to try out the product while browsing.

The mattress company, who had already achieved some viral notoriety, offered 100-day return policies; however, with a lack of physical showrooms, they needed a partner who could portray their product with sophisticated style. On the other hand, West Elm was able to capitalize on a brand that went viral as well as provide shoppers with a comfortable furniture browsing experience.

As you can see, brand partnerships can be highly beneficial. Here are a few ways how:

Higher Brand Value Perception

When you work with another brand, you essentially give your own brand higher value perception. Simple math makes it easy to understand how this works. There’s an old adage that goes, “two minds are better than one”. Similarly, two brands are also better than one. The combined value of two brands equals more than either of the two brands standing alone. Of course, this is only true if both brands are in good standing and have solid reputations. As you start to research potential brand partnerships, it’s crucial that you conduct your own due diligence.

Brainstorm With New Minds

When you partner with a company, you have the opportunity to develop strong, lifelong business relationships with other professionals who are just as valuable to you as you are to them. Partnerships force you to go back to the drawing board and start thinking more creatively about how to position your brand. Take advertising, for example.

In today’s platform-enabled ad world, it’s not uncommon for business owners to set up an ad based on a few quick Facebook algorithm findings and let it go. Many brands aren’t connecting deeply enough with their markets. Partnerships not only encourage you to think outside the box but to do so with other business owners who might think of ideas you may not have thought of otherwise, and vice versa.

As stated by Will Funk, the executive vice president at Turner Sport, “Breakthrough creative ideas can only be formed through true partnerships, ones maniacally focused on connecting with people on a deeper emotional level.”

Joint Marketing Budgets

One of the biggest benefits of working with another brand is that you’ll have double the marketing budget and, therefore, double the potential. For example, if you wanted to create a joint content marketing strategy to promote your partnership, you’d have two businesses actively working on SEO together, which increases your ability to get your brands in front of your target markets across search engines.

Together, you can come up with a list of the best SEO companies, and with a combined budget, you will be able to hire a reputable agency. As a solo brand with a limited budget, an SEO, marketing, or web design agency may have been an impossible feat, but together, you’ll be able to make it happen. You’ll also be able to share other marketing expenses, like social media promotion, ad placement, etc.

Capitalize on Another Audience

Working with a brand allows you to extend your reach even further. This is because you can capitalize on your partner’s customers, too. Let’s say you run a local coffee shop. You might partner with a local bakery or brewery to bring in baked goods or craft ales, depending on the premise of your business. In turn, perhaps, a bakery would sell coffee using your branded beans.

A customer who walks into the bakery that you’ve partnered with would purchase a coffee and probably recognize your brand the next time. Because of this, you now have a  customer or fan in someone who’s never set foot in your actual retail location.

You also have the potential to reach new market segments that weren’t in your original marketing plan. For example, let’s say you run a business that sells surfboards. You market your company as a lifestyle brand, and you consider males aged 18-28 as your target market. However, imagine that you then partner with a company that sells custom wetsuit apparel, and through this partnership discover that you have a new market: men and women taking summer road trips, usually with a campervan.

While you may have thought of certain demographics as a potential for your business, perhaps you didn’t focus on other areas because you couldn’t be too certain of whether it would be profitable. But, if you worked with another company that has a different segment in the same market as you, you can easily see how there could be some crossover when it comes to sales and interest.