If you're looking to ramp-up the marketing for your wedding venue without spending a lot on paid traffic, consider partnering with other sustainability-focused brands for a cross-promotion.
A cross-promo can take many forms. For example, if you sell several products from different brands, you should get in touch with your suppliers to discuss a ideas for cross promoting each other's products/stores between your social media channels. If your product donates to causes or communities with their own social media channels, there's another great opportunity for a cross-promo, where both brands can leverage each other's following to gain new fans and spread awareness. You could even run a competition that promotes your product and another like-minded service at the same time, or something as simple as mentioning each-other on your websites (as a preferred partner, for example.)
This mutually-beneficial partnership can work wonders for all involved, and all for very little cost, if any.
Increase your reach.
A successful cross-promotional brand partnership means you're combining the audiences of two brands. That could mean your reach increases by a little, or a whole lot. And that's just online.
If your cross-promo also happens in the physical world, like in an office or restaurant, that's even more eyes on your content, or participants in your campaign. And let's not forget; where there's a more captive audience with people spending time sitting in one place, then your content is less likely to get lost in the noise (or get scrolled past).
This means - greater reach, more eyes on your brand, more people engaging with your content, without paying for that extra reach.
Expand into a whole new market segment.
As well as the extra reach in numbers, you're tapping into (potentially) a whole new market segment. A group of people who don't follow you or know about your service.
You get to reach outside of that 'bubble' of people you already have access to.
AND you're leveraging the brand affinity and the trust of your partner's brand within their own audience.
A shortcut to trust,
Expanding into new audiences means you've got a new group of people who don't know your brand, haven't heard of you, and will need some warming-up before they consider trusting you or buying your product. This takes time, money, and campaign structure.
BUT, when your message comes from a brand they already like, know and trust enough to be a follower or a customer, it's a little like a recommendation from a friend. This new audience skips from top-of-funnel straight to the middle.
Search Engine Optimisation
You can also leverage the relationship for an SEO boost. Both brands can include links to each-other's sites on your own pages, as well as in blog posts. You might even mention each-other in your email marketing.
Having links to your website appearing all over the web helps improve your search engine ranking. Think of it like a 'vote' for your website - the more links, or 'votes' that appear across the web, the more preference search engines will give to your website.
Is it worth the effort?
Absolutely! A cross-promotional campaign can be successful with only a small outlay of time, and it gives you the opportunity to make valuable connections in your digital community. You don't even need to spend money.
At very little cost and with far-reaching benefits, brand partnerships are a very cost-effective way to expand your reach, find new customers and leverage the existing trust and reputation of another brand.
So don't be shy! Go make some industry connections and see how you can help each-other out with your marketing.