And while influencer marketing gets all the attention, it’s not the only, or even the best, growth lever for early-stage businesses.

Brand x brand collaborations are often overlooked. Founders either don’t know how to execute them or treat them as an afterthought. But done well, they can be one of the fastest, most cost-effective, and sustainable ways to grow.

Let’s unpack why, and how you can start using this underrated strategy in your brand today.

A reality check of influencer marketing

There’s no denying influencer marketing has its place. But for startups, where budgets are tight and ROI needs to be reliable, it’s becoming harder to justify.

Once upon a time you could send a pretty package to an influencer in exchange for a post. Now it involves navigating their agents, hefty fees, restrictive contracts, and unpredictable algorithms. Coupled with consumers becoming more aware that they are being ‘sold to’ and thus being turned off by this.

It’s becoming harder and more expensive to grow your brand using influencers.

Brand x brand collaborations deserve more attention

Often seen as the forgotten ‘step sister’ to influencer marketing, brand x brand collaborations are treated as a last-minute job, not thoroughly thought through or executed effectively and therefore cannot reach their true potential. They are seen as a nice-to-do but not an essential part of a startups strategy. That’s where startup brands are truly missing out.

Swapping audiences with another brand is one of the fastest and most cost-effective ways to grow. Because when done right, collaborating with like-minded brands gives you instant access to highly engaged, relevant audiences with trust already built in.

The beauty of partnerships is that it can be implemented across a variety of mediums, encouraging growth from socials to revenue and beyond. Let’s get into those next.

Examples of brand collaborations for startups

To grow social media following, increase engagement and generate content you can:

• Run multi-brand giveaways
• Host an Instagram or Tiktok Live
• Co-create content (e.g. recipes or summer style inspo)

To increase your newsletter subscriber list you can:

• Run multi-brand giveaways

To drive revenue:

• Offer a discount code swap via email or social media
• Include product samples in each other’s orders
• Reward loyal subscription customers with surprise gifts from partner brands

Increase SEO:

• Swap blog posts and generate backlinks

What cost is involved with these types of marketing? Often minimal. A few products, time, and a discount code is usually all it takes.

How to get your brand started for collaboration success

Before diving into contacting other brands you’d love to partner with, you need a strategy.

Firstly, you should plan collaborations as early as possible. To give you time to find brands, put the idea together, ensure you have any budget or stock required available and to increase the success of your activity.

You’re also more likely to have another brand agree to partner with you, as you have given them plenty of notice.

Secondly, your collaborations should tie directly into your business goals.

• If you know summer will be a quieter period, plan a discount swap at this time
• If you want to grow your social following, run a giveaway once per quarter
• If you are taking part in Black Friday, then you’ll want to grow your newsletter subscriber list in the lead up to this, so run a newsletter giveaway in October

Once you’ve planned out your brand x brand marketing strategy, put together a list of brands that are highly relevant to your audience. It’s tempting to reach out to more established brands, and whilst this might sometimes pay off, there is less chance they will want to collaborate.

Therefore, aim for brands that are a similar size or slightly bigger than yours for the highest success in email replies. Even better if you can bundle multiple brands together e.g. Four brands for an Instagram giveaway.

Once your plans are in place and your partner brands are lined up, it’s time to implement the activity, learn and start again.

Don’t wait, collaborate

Collaborations are one of the last organic growth levers left for startups. It’s more authentic than influencer marketing, more affordable, and helps you build meaningful relationships that can be leveraged long term.

While influencer marketing has its place, brand x brand collaborations are the underrated growth hack startups should be prioritising right now.