2024 is in full swing but its not too late to start thinking of some new campaign ideas for the rest of the year. We all know it’s important to stay ahead of the game, so in today’s blog we want to cover our bet for the hottest marketing strategies this year!

Drum roll please…

Co-marketing and brand partnerships will be a big trend in marketing!

In a nutshell, co-marketing is a low-risk, high-impact marketing strategy, where brands partner together to expand their reach. By leveraging the relationship and reach of a partner, co-marketing campaigns are designed to deliver more leads, buzz, and awareness, with less work and less cost!

Here are 4 of the best reasons to start a co-marketing campaign this year:

Declining performance of social ads

Digital ads just aren’t performing in the way that they used to. In fact, in the second quarter of 2022, Facebook reported its first-ever decline in advertising revenue. Their earnings report marked the end of Facebook’s decade-long streak of ad revenue growth and is just the start of its future downward trend. 

So, what’s the reason behind this? 

Since the introduction of iOS14 where users can opt out of apps tracking their data and Google’s phasing out of 3rd party cookies, Facebook no longer has access to the data that they would use to recommend relevant ads to users. Without that data, it’s now less likely that your ads will be shown to your target audience, and therefore less likely that people will interact with them. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news…

Delighting customers with freebies, giveaways and discounts

With the current economic climate, customers have less disposable income than they had this time last year, so the more ways you can give them as much value as possible, the better. 

This could be a gift with purchase, giveaway or discount code. For example, with every purchase from your partner brand, customers receive a sample of your product for free.

The reason freebies and giveaways are so effective is because of something called ‘reciprocity’, which essentially means that we tend to give back what we receive. So, by giving away a free product to a new market of customers, it’s likely that in return they’ll come back to buy something else from your business, and increase your sales and brand awareness.

Did you know: 79% of people have said that they’re likely to research a brand after receiving a freebie from them. Talk about a no-brainer!

Building long term relationships

Collaborating with another brand can be a great way to foster positive long-term relationships with other businesses. If your co-marketing campaign goes well, you know that you’ve always got a team to work alongside again in the future.

Partnering with another business can also offer an interesting insight into how other marketing teams work, meaning you’re both likely to learn something new along the way. his isn’t just beneficial during your co-marketing campaign, but for all of the projects that your team will work on afterwards! 

Diversifying marketing strategy 

Experimenting with new methods of marketing allows you to cover more ground and stay ahead of the game. Finding some good alternative marketing strategies is essential if you want your brand to stand out over the next year.

Having multiple different marketing avenues also means that should your more traditional methods (such as social ads, email marketing, etc) start to decline, you’ve got it covered! By just relying on one or two strategies, you could unknowingly be preventing future growth.

As far as alternative marketing methods go, co-marketing is a lower-risk and highly effective strategy. If you’re interested in finding like-minded brands to join forces with this year, you can sign up to ShopSwap for free. Click here to get started.