What are the Benefits of Collaborative Marketing?

In this post, we’ll cover the following:

• What is it?
• Why is collaborative marketing important?
• How did EDGE Identify collaborative marketing?
• What is our approach to marketing?
• Examples of success
• How can EDGE help?

At EDGE Creative, through collaborative marketing, we have been busy working to bring our clients together, build connections and grow a network of professionals and businesses.

There’s a vast spectrum of benefits from bringing businesses together, and one of the most obvious of these is through expanding the reach of their business. Take a read of an interview with Mark, EDGE Creative’s Managing Director. Mark talks about how EDGE introduced collaborative marketing to their clients and how your business could benefit.

WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE MARKETING?

Collaborative marketing is the process of bringing like-minded businesses together and aligning their interests to share resources to increase brand exposure, increase leads and influence. Collaborative marketing starts with a common purpose, for example, if businesses have a common goal or mission, or if businesses have a common audience. Another purpose of collaborative marketing is to bring businesses together in numerous ways to create an influence and greater presence, for example, the Insights Magazine.

WHAT DOES COLLABORATIVE MARKETING MEAN FOR EDGE CREATIVE?

For EDGE Creative, this means aligning the objectives of our clients to build a network of businesses to expand their reach.

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATIVE MARKETING FOR A BUSINESS, WHETHER THEY ARE A GROWING BUSINESS OR WELL ESTABLISHED?

There are multiple benefits of collaborative marketing for a business. One main benefit is that it can drive awareness and sales. As a large percentage of consumers trust personal recommendations from their peers, word-of-mouth (WOM) is still one of the most effective ways of gaining brand exposure and building credibility.

Collaborative marketing can widen a business’ reach, add authenticity to a brand, and create a pool of recommended and trusted businesses. For a new business, building up trust and long-term advocacy is essential for growth and survival. For established businesses, collaborative marketing is about expanding and developing connections.

HOW DID EDGE CREATIVE IDENTIFY THAT THERE WAS A NEED TO INTRODUCE COLLABORATIVE MARKETING INTO THE MIX?

From the growth of our networking events, where our clients are invited to become a sponsor and be introduced to an established network of businesses from a multitude of industries, we found that our clients were feeding back to us that they wished to collaborate with others. This is where we identified that collaborative marketing was an approach both EDGE Creative and our clients would find beneficial.

WHAT IS EDGE CREATIVE’S APPROACH TO COLLABORATIVE MARKETING? (FROM START TO FINISH)

Our approach is not only about creating a network of recommended businesses, it is also about generating compelling and thought-provoking content that people want to see and engage with. The first stage of our approach is to identify a focal point, for example, with our last Insights Magazine, the focal point was to bring together a variety of different perspectives from within the financial services industry.

We pitched the idea to our clients and, with our clients’ enthusiasm, got the ball rolling to create the first edition of Insights Magazine, which was a great success.

CAN YOU GIVE SOME EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS EDGE CREATIVE HAS HAD?

“At KLO, a number of our staff have worked with Mark and his team at EDGE Creative on joint marketing ventures, including network events, round table meetings and, most recently, a magazine publication. As we complete the second edition, our feedback continues to be extremely positive, resulting in both the strengthening and increased recognition of our brand, along with direct introductions resulting in an increase in company income. I would not hesitate to engage Mark and the team on future marketing ventures and would recommend embarking on a series of collaborative marketing to strengthen any business.”

– Andrew Green – KLO Financial Services

“Easily one of the best agencies I’ve worked with. No job is too much trouble and the work produced is excellent. Highly recommended!”

– Jack Penfold – Vantage Insurance

“I have been working with Mark, Pete and the rest of the EDGE team for almost 5 years now. Our collaborations with EDGE gives us exposure to high level influencers and decision makers in the Birmingham business arena. I can ensure that my time spent networking, away from the operational element of my business, is always productive and time well spent.”

– Tony Elvin – Hotel Du Vin

WHAT DO YOU SEE FOR THE FUTURE OF COLLABORATIVE MARKETING?

From the success we have had so far, I believe that there is a big future in our clients collaborating.

“I worked closely with the EDGE team to create an article for the first edition of KLO’s Insights Magazine and found the whole experience to be very positive. We collaborated really well and I have had very positive feedback. EDGE Creative also helped me promote the article online through our website and social media channels very effectively. I would recommend EDGE Creative highly and I look forward to working with them again very soon on future publications.”

– Rachael Hurdman – Arch Inspire

HOW CAN YOUR BUSINESS GET INVOLVED IN EDGE’S COLLABORATIVE MARKETING?

If you’d like to find out more about our collaborative marketing and how it can benefit your business, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of the EDGE team on 0121 355 8092 or email info@edge-creative.com.

Alternatively, browse our range of services and see how we can help your brand or business with brand development, search engine optimisation, social media marketing and more.