What are the best practices for creating a co-marketing agreement and setting clear expectations?

Understand first what makes your company unique or product unique for other companies to jump on and collaborate. You definitely have strength points in business so use them to build more relationships even with others who are not from your industry. Most importantly focus on a package value proposition for the other companies to offer a package value proposition for both your customers. That’s is the key to successful business!

Pick a partner with complementary strengths that shares the same target consumer. Agreement should be clear on: * objectives * expectations of all parties * responsibilities of each partner * costs to be borne by all parties * timeline

When I was a Product Manager at Motorola, we comarketed with one of our major suppliers because of the win-win results for both companies. We received recognition from using the well-known product from this supplier, and the supplier received recognition from its ability to support the challenging size requirements of biometric data.

Defining objectives and metrics for co-marketing can be challenging when each partner has different KPIs. Here are some steps to help navigate this situation: 1. Align on overall goals: First, both partners should align on the overall goal of the co-marketing campaign. 2. Identify shared KPIs: These could include metrics such as website traffic, email sign-ups, or social media engagement. 3. Assign weight to each partner's KPIs: This will help ensure that each partner's KPIs are still being tracked, but they are being evaluated in the context of the shared KPIs. 4. Set benchmarks: This will help both partners understand what success looks like and ensure they are working towards the same goals.

Today, I think co-marketing agreements should start with a pilot. Because most co-marketing partnerships have a lot of friction. Both parties have conflicting priorities internally, and they need to see success in order to scale an agreement or make it valuable. For example, two companies could structure a pilot where they each anticipate getting 3 demos booked from a campaign featuring social posts, sales enablement, and integration pages. If that goes well, then you have proof and a reason to "spin the wheels". If not, it might not be worth the lift.

One great example of CoMarketing campaign is Google Android x Samsung. Android Google and Samsung have partnered in several comarketing campaigns over the years to promote their products and services. One notable campaign was the "Ultimate Upgrade" campaign, launched in 2019, which aimed to promote Samsung's Galaxy S10 phone and Google's Assistant. The campaign focused on the phone's features, such as the camera and the user interface, and how Google Assistant can be used to enhance the user experience. The campaign included TV commercials, social media posts, and digital advertisements. Samsung and Google also collaborated to offer special promotions to customers who purchased the Galaxy S10, such as a free Google Home Mini.

Here is a few pointers I would like to highlight: Intellectual Property and Branding Guidelines: Discuss and agree upon using intellectual property, including branding guidelines for consistent representation. Measurement and Reporting: Define the metrics and KPIs to evaluate the success of co-marketing efforts, establishing a reporting cadence and format. Confidentiality and Data Protection: Include clauses addressing confidentiality and data protection, ensuring the secure handling of sensitive information. Termination and Exit Strategy: Plan for contingencies by establishing a termination and exit strategy, safeguarding the interests of both parties.