You Get More Business.
By Lori Lorenz, MS-MOT
CEO, Pixie Dust L.L.C.
Imagine you are a best-selling romance novelist. Your fans love you. Sales are OK but they could be better. What do you do? Change it up.
Innovation often starts by combining two things to make something new. Novelists use book covers to attract an audience. It is a good place to start to add interest.
Randi Alexander, New York Time best-selling author, did just that. She found a new book cover model who happened to also be a Country Music star. Since her stories include cowboys, this was a great start.
Jackson Young, model, actor, Country Music artist, was also looking for a way to attract more fans to his fan base called JYC Rowdy Nation. What better way than to find a friendly referral into a new crowd of potential fans in Randi’s fan base.
It doesn’t stop there. Randi and Jackson are both savvy business people. They noticed the new energy and new interest. How can they build on what they found?
This is where cross-promotion comes in. Since their individual markets were similar but still unique, they have an opportunity to expand into these adjacent markets.
Cross-promotion has multiple target audiences but a shared experience or product. Jackson performs in Country Music concerts at Romance readers conventions where Randi speaks on panels and signs books. Randi was in one of Jackson’s music videos (Drunken Angel) doing what she does best, signing books.
What about social media? This is where cross-promotion has the most leverage. By having a shared campaign or contest, all the types of social media get similar messages and drive traffic back to one landing page to register or participate.
For example, you can see a great example of cross-promotion on Jackson’s website for the Once in a Lifetime Whisky Giveaway. The promotion ran from June 1, 2015 to December 12, 2015. It offered a free song track for registering. After a person registered, then they had access to special priced offers for Randi’s e-book and a JYC R.E.D. t-shirt. There were two prize packages, the Lucky 7 and the Grand Prize. The prize packages included products from both of them plus an exclusive bottle of Jack Daniel’s Whisky (Sinatra Century bottle in special packaging and a USB drive replica of Frank’s tie clip containing a never-before-released complete concert recording from The Sands Hotel and Casino in 1966.). The prizes appealed to both markets. If you read this before Dec 12, 2015, you can get in on the action by registering on Jackson’s website: http://jacksonyoungcountry.com/whiskeygiveaway/
Who wins with all this marketing going on? The fans win with high value contests and more content about their special interests. Randi and Jackson win with increased market membership, and creative new ways to share information with their fans. The romance novel community and country music community also win with increased public awareness.
When you see this much of a win-win-win, you know there is collaboration going on. Yes. Collaboration. My favorite type of business is collaborative digital business that supports community building.
How do you duplicate this type of cross-promotion marketing? Find a like-minded, successful business or entrepreneur who has an adjacent market. Look at what each other’s clients or fans would find interesting in the other business. Is there a match?
Run a test cross-promotion with a podcast, video blog, or event to gather feedback and see if there is a positive match. You will feel it when people comment on your blog or talk to you at an event. If you have a big enough result with the trial run, you might even see a jump in your marketing analytics. Note that the results could be negative just as easily as positive.
Cross-promotion is like a blind date. Your friends can see the potential but they don’t know what the chemistry will be in real life. Keep searching for the right match. It is worth it.
For more about Randi Alexander and Jackson Young, listen to Episode 8 of Communication Hero Radio to hear them talk about how they are doing more business and bringing a richer experience to their fans by working together.
You can find out more about Randi Alexander at www.randialexander.com. For more about Jackson Young, go to www.jacksonyoungcountry.com.
Lori Lorenz, CEO of Pixie Dust LLC, is an author, technologist, app developer, and marketing strategist. Visit www.pixiedustapps.com or www.lorillorenz.com for more.