Running a successful business requires a lot of things, but one of the most important aspects? An actual audience of people who want to buy what you’re selling. While you’re completely capable of building that audience yourself, it usually takes a lot of time. Which, as an entrepreneur, you don’t have a lot of. Another option is to buy audiences through paid marketing tactics or outsourcing, but that costs money that you might not have a lot of, either.
Our favorite solution? Borrowing audiences with the help of brand collaborations! Collabs are not only a great (and cost-effective) option if you’re just starting out, but they can help grow your business in the short- and long-term.
What are collaborations?
Collaborations can look anything like:
- Joint giveaways
- Cross-promotion on social media
- Guest appearances (blogs, videos, podcasts)
- Instagram takeovers
- Joint products or services
- Community events
- Courses, trainings, and webinars
- And much more!
It may sound like these can be just as time-consuming as buying audience attention, but hear us out. Below, we’re sharing 5 tips why brand collabs are much easier and more impactful.
1. Increase your visibility
First thing’s first: You need brand visibility before you can grow your brand loyalty. You’re already in front of your own audience, but with collaborations, you can get in front of other people’s audiences. Whether it’s a small shoutout on an Insta story or a quick byline on an article, you can get your business even more recognition without shelling out a ton of time and cash on other (less successful) tactics.
2. Establish authority
When other entrepreneurs invite you into their space, they’re looking to you to provide added value for their audiences. From podcast interviews to online trainings and everything in between, you can capitalize on those opportunities and start to position yourself as a thought leader and expert in your space. By bringing your unique experiences and knowledge to others’ platforms, you can establish trust and authority with audiences you may not have reached otherwise.
3. Grow your audience
Once you have that trust and authority with other audiences, it’s only a matter of time before they become a part of your audience. While that might happen organically, you still need to put work into it to make sure there’s some actual follow-through. Maybe that means asking collaborators to encourage their audience to give you a follow, join a group, download a free resource, or any other selling point that’s valuable to them and you.
Pro tip: One of the quickest ways to grow your audience? Do a joint giveaway! Typically, the rules to enter require following all participating accounts, which can help boost your audience. From there, it’s on you to make sure you’re creating quality content to keep them engaged and inch them closer and closer to conversion.
4. Get referrals
If audiences trust the person or business you collaborate with, they are much more likely to trust you. In fact, 83% of consumers say they trust recommendations from family and friends. And even though there may be no actual relation involved in a brand collab, it’s super easy for followers to feel like they’re friends and family with influencers and businesses (we do!). The short of it? People need to know (and trust) who you are before they hire you, and you’ll have a solid head start through the right kind of collaborations.
Pro tip: Each time you do a successful collaboration, ask your creative counterpart to consider you for future client referrals and offer them the same! More often than not, fellow entrepreneurs are totally willing to support a fellow #boss because they want a strong referral system, too.
5. Save time
Creating new content on a consistent basis can be incredibly time-consuming. But collaborations? Rinse and repeat, baby! Here’s what we mean: If you create a signature presentation for one collaboration and are invited to a similar one in the future, use it again. This tactic is obviously more helpful if you’re asked to speak to the same thing each time, but creating collab resources and assets ahead of time and reusing them can save tons of time — which every entrepreneur could use more of.
Collaborate + create with Styled Stock Society
Collaborations can be incredibly fun and rewarding, but they can also look really, really good. With a Styled Stock Society membership, you can create collaborative social posts, deliverables, templates, and so much more! The best part? You can use it for your own business, too. Gain access to perks like:
- A library of over 8,000 downloadable stock images
- More than 2,000 customizable templates for virtually ANY digital asset you can think of
- 200+ done-for-you Instagram graphics
- Content planning resources
- And so much more!
See for yourself how we can help elevate your business and rock future collaborations. Join Styled Stock Society today!
