If we take into account that every product or service has a target, wouldn’t it be interesting to be able to actively listen to users’ opinions? And it would be even more interesting if, based on consumers’ opinions, products could be offered that meet their expectations. This is how it works, for example, with students who at one time needed help and now have endless writing help online services.
This is precisely what collaborative marketing is. Although it is not new, because it is more than sixty years old, social networks and other digital marketing resources make it one of the most interesting strategies for companies today.
What is collaborative marketing?
Collaborative marketing could be defined as a series of commercial strategies aimed at opening communication channels between the company and consumers to produce positive feedback for the brand.
Some advantages of collaborative marketing
Being able to grow as a company by proposing a communication channel with customers is only one of the advantages of collaborative marketing, but derived from this, it is possible to list some very interesting benefits for the company.
A collaborative marketing campaign allows users to feel more involved in the company’s decision-making regarding those necessary or important products.
Taking buyers into account is understood as a sign of recognition and gratitude to those people who trust that brand over others.
Consumers feel identified with a company or its products and feel that the company provides a more precise response to their own needs, which collaborative marketing can make more personalized, listening to and taking into account the suggestions of the final recipients of the product.
Compared to invasive advertising, which more and more consumers define as annoying, collaborative marketing is a type of advertising that is moderate and that enjoys a priori the sympathy of consumers. In short, it increases customer loyalty to the brand.
Some collaborative marketing strategies
Collaborative marketing strategies are directly related to the active listening of consumers, and therefore, to choose the most appropriate one, it is necessary to know the target very well.
The aim of these strategies is to increase profits and improve brand marketing or increase positive impressions – product or brand reviews – those consumers find online.
Product testing
This is one of the most interesting and widespread forms of testing, as practically any type of company can carry it out. It involves selecting a representative group of target consumers who can test the product free of charge for a period of time.
Periodic information and opinion surveys can be gathered from this test and suggestions for improving the product for users.
There are companies dedicated to pre-selection of user’s word-of-mouth marketing, which has pre-selected users to participate in this type of study.
Bloggers
Identifying the target can be a good resource, but there are people who have a certain influence on the target. In television or radio advertising, the image of a well-known person and possible user of the company’s products was used. In the age of technology, it is the bloggers.
An event with bloggers, a product presentation in which the most famous bloggers are invited, or a product test will increase the positive opinions that users will find on the network and increase visibility.
In addition, information can be gathered both from the opinion of the bloggers and from the comments of their followers.
Events on social networks
Product presentations, new formats, or the company’s new TV spot. One way of promotion is to involve followers in the presentation process, simply by creating an event on social networks and then directing the interest of users through reminders.
The goal is to arouse interest and reach the largest number of users, but in the middle of the process, you can also collect other data (what consumers expect from the brand, how they react to new products, suggestions for new products…).
Contests
There are many types of company contests, the most common of which are barcode sweepstakes or codes that directly increase sales. But there is another type of contest that aims to know the opinion of the consumers of the product target.
These types of contests originate as the presentation of several products that will be on the market for a short period of time and from which consumers will be able to vote for one, or at most two, of the products they are interested in.
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