How To Run Your Brand x Brand Collaborations On Instagram

One of the misconceptions in businesses is that you have to destroy all your competitors to get to the top.

But why compete when you can collaborate?

In recent years, brands have discovered the value of collaborating to achieve different marketing goals, such as increasing product awareness and generating more sales.

Let’s go through some of the benefits of engaging in a brand x brand collaboration. We will also teach you how to run your first collab and give you some successful collaborations to take inspiration from.

Steps To Start Instagram Brand Collaboration

Why Brand x Brand Collaborations Are Important?

There are a plethora of benefits that Brand X Brand Collaborations can bring. The most significant advantage is that it can massively increase your sales and save you a lot of advertising money.

A study from AMEX found out that mid-sized companies in Australia must collaborate 5 times a year to get $319,000 in savings or $430,000 in increased sales.

Collaborations also allow you to reach new potential customers through well-crafted cross-promotions. It helps you generate more content for your social media platforms, engage your existing audience, and gain the support of your collaborator’s existing followers.

Successful collaborations also generate buzz and attract more publicity.

Who doesn’t want to reap all these benefits, right?

But before you get all too excited, we must first understand the basics of running a successful collaboration.

Just like any marketing activity, rushing through Brand X Brand collaboration without a solid strategy/plan will end up a waste of money and time.

Australia Instagram Brand Collaboration

Running Your First Brand X Brand Collaboration On Instagram

Are you ready to launch your first collaboration on Instagram? Find out by answering the five questions below.

Here are the steps on setting up your first brand x brand collaboration on the platform.

1. What Is Your Campaign Goal?

Having a collaboration for the sake of it will not do you any good. Just because other brands are doing it doesn’t mean you jump on the bandwagon without any sense of purpose.

Identify your marketing goal first. Then, design your campaign from there. What do you want to achieve in this collaboration? Do you want to build your email list or get more Instagram followers? Are you aiming to increase product sales, or create content for your social media channels?

Once you identify your goal, communicate this to your partner. For sure, they have their own goals, too. Evaluate if your objectives align or if there is a way to achieve both goals through collaboration.

2. Who Is Your Collab Partner?

After identifying your goal, it’s now time to find your collaborator.

For starters, you can start finding other brands that are within your complementary industry spaces.

But if you want to think outside the box, you can collaborate with brands that operate in a different industry but have a similar target audience.

For example, who would’ve thought that food and fashion collaborations could be so successful?

Forever21 came up with a rejuvenating and brilliant idea to team up with Taco Bell for a #F21xTacoBell

Forever 21 Instagram Collaboration

Although the two brands work in different industries, they share a similar target audience, the Millenials and Gen Z. It was such a winning strategy that they used the idea again and partnered with another famous food brand, Cheetos!

Famous Forever 21 Brand Collaboration

3. Why Should The Other Brand Collaborate With You?

What can you bring to the table? Why should the other brand work with you?

Think about the value that you can offer very carefully before proposing a collaboration to a prospective partner.

Your products, skillset, venue space, services, content creation, social media, email channels, and time are precious business assets. Everyone has something to offer, so don’t ever undervalue your brand/business.

4. How Will You Reach Out To Your Prospect Partner?

Since we are talking about brand collaborations on Instagram, the fastest way to send a proposal is via DM. But DM’s are not the only way to reach out to brands! You can try the old fashion way like sending them email proposals.

If you haven’t picked out the perfect partner yet, you can check out websites like Collabosaurus. They serve as brand partnership platforms and can help you find and reach out to other brands faster.

Whatever method or platform you use to connect with other brands, always remember to put effort into your proposal. Make it sound personalized and professional, and don’t forget to tell them about the value you can offer!

5. Do you have a contract?

Having a simple contract in place is always essential when you come up with brand collaborations. It could be a Joint Marketing Agreement or a Memorandum of Understanding for smaller collaborations.
Brand Partnership Platform

I Finally Secured A Collaboration… Now What?

If you have answers to the five questions above, then great news! You are now ready for your first brand collaboration.

By now, you’ve probably secured an agreement and signed contracts. Now, all you have to do is get to the actual work. That means producing the output of your collaboration and sharing it on Instagram.

Here’s what’s next.

^

Work on the output

It’s now time to put in the actual work. It is the part where you produce the output of your collaboration.

It could be the limited edition collection, the social media content, or whatever you and your partner brand have decided.

^

Tell People About Your Collaboration

One of the main points of collaborating is to tap on each brand’s existing audience. 

You can announce the collaboration right after you’ve finalized the agreement. Your audience will get excited about your upcoming collaboration and look forward to your final output.

Once the product is out, maximize the collaboration’s exposure by posting on Instagram. Evaluate each post’s performance and compare the results with your expectations.

^

Consider Future Collaborations

Don’t just get contented with one campaign. Feel free to have more collaborations (AMEX says you should get at least 5 in a year).

Come up with fresh ideas for each new collaboration to prevent boring your audience.

In case you need some ideas for your next collaboration, check out the following list below.

Excellent Brand Collaborations To Take Inspiration From

Need inspiration for your next brand x brand collaboration? Check these successful collaborations below.

Tommy x Zendaya

Tommy reaches out to a younger audience by collaborating with Zendaya on a collection. Zendaya is the perfect choice to revive the brand.

The young Hollywood actress has over 100m followers on Instagram, and her style resonates with Tommy’s target audience.

Zendaya Tommy Collaboration

Loewe x My Neighbour Totoro

Leathercraft brand Loewe and Studio Ghibli’s classic anime was a match made in heaven.

Both brands have a great passion for artistry and craft. So, when their collaboration came out, it was an instant hit.

The collaboration resulted in leather products, ready-to-wear pieces, and accessories with scenic landscapes from the film.

Studio Ghibli Mechandise

Louis Vuitton x Supreme

Although both brands are in the fashion industry, Louis Vuitton and Supreme still looked like complete opposites.
Louis Vuitton is an ultra-luxurious fashion brand, while Supreme is the king of streetwear.

However, both brands are known for banking on exclusivity and scarcity. They also love splashing their logo on their clothing pieces. In 2017, the two brands joined forces and came up with a collection that became one of the most hyped collaborations in the past years.

Supreme Louis Vuitton Brand Collaboration

0 Comments

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Why Do You Need InstaRush? • Insta Rush - […] are crucial factors to attract brands for sponsorship and collaborations. For businesses, these are vital to reaching your prospective…
  2. Instagram Collabs: Everything You Need To Know - Insta Rush - […] Instagram Collabs comes with plenty of benefits. Let us use numbers to paint a bigger […]

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Boost

Buy Instagram Followers and Likes to grow your account!

Nick Bilton from HBO tested if for you.

Click on INSTA FAMOUS

for the REAL LIFE test

insta famous