Co-Marketing
A collaborative marketing effort between two non-competing companies that share a similar target audience. Both companies contribute resources and both benefit from the combined reach. The B2B version of 'two brands enter, both brands win.'
Co-Marketing Doubles Your Reach Without Doubling Your Budget
Two companies with overlapping audiences each have 5,000 email subscribers. A co-hosted webinar reaches 10,000 people and both companies capture the full registration list. Neither company could have reached the other’s audience alone — at least not without paid advertising. That is the power of co-marketing.
Finding the Right Partner
The ideal co-marketing partner serves the same buyer but solves a different problem. If you sell email marketing software, partner with a CRM company. If you sell project management tools, partner with a time tracking platform. The overlap creates relevance. The difference prevents competition.
Execution Matters More Than Agreement
Most co-marketing partnerships fail not because of strategy but because of execution. One side does all the promotion. One side creates the content while the other just slaps their logo on it. Both teams need to commit equal resources — promotion emails, social posts, and sales team distribution. Draft a simple co-marketing agreement before creating any content.
Measuring Co-Marketing ROI
Track new leads from the partner’s audience (net new contacts you did not have before). Monitor conversion rates of co-marketing leads through your funnel compared to other lead sources. Calculate cost per lead including your team’s time investment. Good co-marketing delivers leads at 50-70% lower cost than paid channels.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best co-marketing tactics for SaaS?
Co-hosted webinars (split the audience, share the leads), joint research reports (survey both audiences, co-publish), guest blog post exchanges, joint case studies featuring both products, and co-promoted ebooks. Webinars are the easiest to execute and typically generate the most leads. Research reports take longer but have the longest shelf life.
How do you split leads in a co-marketing partnership?
Both partners get all leads — there is no splitting. Every registrant for a co-hosted webinar or co-published report goes to both companies. This doubles each company's lead generation for the cost of half the effort. Set clear expectations upfront: both teams commit to promoting, both teams get the full list, both teams handle their own follow-up.
