Introduction
As marketers, we are always looking for new ways
to get more bang for our buck. Co-marketing does
just that. In fact, co-marketing is all about doubling
your chances: double your leads, double your
resources, all while spending half of the budget. As
the adage goes, “two heads are better than one.”
But what exactly is co-marketing? Before we dive in
too deep, let’s take a second to define exactly what
it is.
co • mar • ket • ing (noun)
A partnership between two or more companies
where both companies promote the campaign and
share the benefits
In other words, co-marketing allows two or more
companies to work together on a project with
the purpose of sharing in the reward, whether
that’s leads, buzz, awareness, or new customers.
By leveraging the relationship and reach of a
partner, these campaigns are designed to deliver
substantial rewards without having to wait for the
content to rank and organic search to pay off.
But before you agree to co-marketing because it
sounds like a quick win, know that it’s far from an
easy task. To pull off a fruitful campaign, you’ll need
top-notch organization and forward-thinking skills.
As HubSpot’s Co-Marketing Manager Christine
White says, “Planning and executing a co-marketing
campaign can derail pretty fast if you don’t keep
an organized project plan at your fingertips that’ll
ensure you don’t miss a beat.”
For those ready to take on the challenge, we’ve
crafted this comprehensive guide to be your ultimate
co-marketing companion. To get started, flip to
the next page to find our Ultimate Co-Marketing
Checklist. Print this out or save it in a handy place
for future reference. Then, click on each of the ten
steps for in-depth instructions and insight.
No matter how many campaigns you’ve been a part
of, every co-marketing campaign is different. Use
this checklist to stay focused and ensure you are
using this incredible lead generation opportunity to
it’s fullest potential.
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 THE ULTIMATE
Co-Marketing Campaign Checklist
1. Evaluate your co-marketing goals 6. Create your content
2. Choose your partner 7. Create the landing page

3. Reach out to the potential partner 8. Create the promotional assets

4. Choose your content 9. Share the rewards
5. Write your co-marketing agreement 10. Evaluate the partnership
1. Evaluate Your Co-Marketing Goals
It’s possible you’ve heard of a similar partnership
strategy before, but have referred to it by another
name. In fact, there are a lot of terms that all refer to
a similar (but not always exactly the same) strategy:
co-marketing, co-branding, affinity marketing,
partnership marketing...the list goes on and on.
Specifically, you’ve probably heard the terms “co-
marketing” and “co-branding” thrown around quite
a bit. But what’s the difference? Is there one?
Turns out, they’re actually pretty similar.
While co-branding refers to a partnership in which
two companies combine their products or expertise
to create an even more valuable product or offer
(think: Doritos Locos Tacos), co-marketing takes
things a step further.
Co-marketing campaigns provide teams with an
opportunity to work together to promote a shared
offer, such as a co-branded product or a piece
of content. In a co-marketing partnership, both
companies promote that offer, and share the results
of that promotion with each other.
Why Do Co-Marketing?
The overall goal of co-marketing is twofold: to help
brands build a new audience and to get a new
type of content in front of their current audience.
The most common form of co-marketing is for two
companies who have similar readerships to work
on a piece of content together, and then promote
that content to both audiences.
This content -- an ebook, webinar, templates, etc.
-- typically sits behind a lead generation form to
capture contact information. The goal is for both
partners to share the downloads from the offer, thus
getting twice the leads as they normally would.
Determining Your Goals
Now that you know the big-picture purpose of co-
marketing, what are your specific goals? Because
of the various types of marketing a campaign
can consist of, there is not one sure recipe for
co-marketing. As in the example above, you may
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choose to collaborate on an ebook, webinar, or
template if your goal is to generate new leads. But
if you goal is to generate buzz, consider how co-
marketing can help you host an event for half the
cost. If you are in search of wider brand recognition,
a series of blog posts on each other’s site might do
the trick.

In a later section, we’ll look closer at all the different

campaign options. But for now, nail down your
goal. This will be the key determining factor as you
identify the right partner.

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2. Choose Your Partner
The most challenging part of co-marketing often
boils down to one thing: your partner. Can you find
a partner who launches campaigns with the same
strategy and thoughtfulness as you do? Oftentimes,
it’s a struggle to work with people who don’t value
the relationship as much as you do.
Above all, you’ll have to make sure the purpose
and goal of the project is similar for both parties. If
one partner wants leads, but another is looking for
ticket sales to their annual event, you will be hard
pressed to find a project that satisfies both needs.
To get started, create a running list of brands and
influencers in your industry that you admire from
a marketing standpoint. If you’re an online wine
distributor, for example, a great potential partner
to include on this list would be a popular wine
accessory company. Chances are, your audience
would want cool wine accessories and gifts for
their family and friends, and the wine accessory
company would want an audience of wine lovers to
buy more accessories. It’s a win-win!
Once you nail down a list of companies that are a fit
for your buyer persona, it’s time to dig in a lot deeper.
When determining whether or not to do co-marketing
with a partner, I look for the following things:
Do they have a similar type of
audience that my company has and
wants to grow?
Think about what you’ll get out of the deal. If the
potential partner’s audience will not resonate with your
content and product, the value you would get out of
promoting your content to their audience may not be
worth it.
Is there a risk of a competitive
overlap?
It’s common sense not to partner with direct
competitors. But what about the gray area of similar
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products? Are your potential partner’s products
differentiated enough? My best piece of advice
when evaluating this gray area is to make sure
you’re not fighting for the same keywords. This
means you can both drive traffic and leads to each
other without cutting into each other’s business.
What is the quality of their content?
Sometimes the best way to find out if their company
markets their brand and content well is to subscribe
to their updates. Is the content they’re promoting
lovable? How often are they sending emails? Is
there an unsubscribe link? Remember, they’ll likely
be creating half the content. Make sure they value
content marketing as much as you do.
How many new leads am I going to
get from this partnership? Is it large
enough to be worth my time?
Evaluate the company’s profiles on Twitter,
Facebook, and LinkedIn. Don’t just look at the
number of followers -- check out engagement,
replies, and the type of content their social team
is posting. It’s important to know the reach of
your partner’s social accounts so you can assess
potential exposure.
Then, gauge their overall web and content reach on
www.alexa.com and www.similarweb.com. These
sites will give you a rough idea of traffic, bounce
rates, keywords, and sources people are using to
find that site, as well as the next action they take after
visiting. Use BuzzSumo to determine what specific
type of content performs well in your target industry.
Do they have some expertise that I
don’t have?
Let’s say my audience is dying to know more about
how to optimize for local SEO, but my knowledge
base is limited to general SEO knowledge. Maybe I
partner with an expert on local SEO who feels more
comfortable writing the chapters that I don’t know as
much about.
Does their brand and name have a
good reputation?
Don’t partner with people who will bring down your
credibility. Google the company and check out
the first few pages to see what comes up. Don’t
overlook the “News” section of Google, or you might
regretfully learn you’ve partnered with a company on
the verge of bankruptcy, That said, if the latest news
is about their impending IPO or recent funding, go
get ‘em!
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Are the people enjoyable to work
with?
As we’ve mentioned, there are a lot of moving pieces
involved with co-marketing. This means clear and
constant communication is key. Look for partners
that you actually look forward to working with. Check
out their LinkedIn to see what experience they bring
to the table and, if you have any connections in
common, ask your network for references.

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3. Reach Out to the Potential Partner

Do you have your list of companies narrowed

down? Great! Now comes the part you’ve probably
been anxiously anticipating: reaching out to your
potential partner.

Make the Connection

There’s not a single answer when it comes to
deciding how to make the initial connection. Of
course, if you already have a relationship with the
other company’s co-marketing manager, it’s best to
reach out via email to set up a time to talk.

Since you’ve already done a LinkedIn search

for the company’s co-marketing manager, you
should know if you have any mutual connections. If
applicable, ask for an introduction or go ahead and
send a LinkedIn direct message. Consider our Co-
Marketing Manager Christine White reached out to
a potential partner via LinkedIn.

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Twitter is another option for making a cold connection.
Below is an example of how HubSpot’s Co-Marketing
Manager reached out to Iconosquare for a potential
co-marketing campaign -- and yes, it worked!
No matter which method you use (even in the 140
characters of a tweet), you’ll want to include:
• A warm greeting
• A compliment on either their overall content
marketing strategy or a specific piece of content
• An open inquiry to explore working together
Craft Your Pitch
After the initial connection is made, always
schedule a half hour call to get to know each other
before agreeing to do a campaign. This will give
you enough time to evaluate whether this person
and company will be worth partnering with.
But before you pick up the phone, do your
homework and have your idea pitch ready.
Learn what you can about the company and
their audience, tailor your ideas to what would
be appealing to them, and show them the value
you’re going to provide. There’s no need to have a
definite decision made on what type of content you
want to produce. However, having a solid vision of
what format would resonate with both audiences
will only help your pitch, especially if you’re the
smaller fish in the relationship.
During the call, ask yourself a few questions to
make sure you’re both aligned:
• Do they seem excited about the campaign?
• Did they come with great questions?
• Are you aligned on goals?
• Does the conversation flow well?
• Does their team run similar campaigns and know
how to promote content?
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4. Choose Your Content

Given the introductory conversation goes well,
both sides of the table should have a clear idea
of the pitch at this point. Now comes my favorite
part: brainstorming and choosing the content you
will create!
the work -- someone writes the content and someone
else lays out the design. Below is an example of an
ebook HubSpot created with Canva.

Start with a shared document to do a brain dump

and outline your plan. I use a Google Doc to
allow the partner to share ideas and comments.
Ultimately, this stage of collaboration can be
what makes or breaks the campaign. Value your
partner’s unique expertise and be open to new
ideas. In terms of timing, allow both teams about a
week or so to hash out their ideas for the format,
working title, and outline.

Next, consider how each campaign format could

help you and your partner reach your goals.

Ebook
First time creating an ebook? Not sure where to begin?
An ebook is one of the most common forms of co- Check out How to Write an Ebook for a detailed guide
marketing content because it’s so easy to split up on each step from ideation to promotion.

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Series of Blog Posts
Co-creating a blog post or series of blog posts is
one of the easier ways to do a co-marketing project.
Here is an example of a Q&A hosted by SEMRush
featuring BuzzSumo’s director Steve Rayson:
Template
Like an ebook, templates generally live behind
a gated landing page and are created for lead
generation. In fact, templates often work well
paired with an ebook. Below is Social Media
Content Calendar Template HubSpot produced in
partnership with Buffer.
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Webinar
Webinars are often the go-to type of co-marketing
content. Why? Well, it’s pretty easy to find an expert
who is willing to talk for an hour on the topic of their
expertise. It is also an ideal format for education
materials. Here is an example of a webinar
HubSpot hosted with Unbounce co-founder Oli
Gardner on how psychology influences the success
of design and content.
Twitter Chat
A Twitter chat is a virtual event where people
gather to discuss a common topic. For example,
Google and Twitter partnered on a campaign
around Small Business Saturday. In the week
leading up to Small Business Saturday, they dished
out helpful advice on Twitter using a common
#SmallBizSquad hashtag, and then aggregated all
of the Tweets on a webpage.
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Video
Co-creating a video with a partner is a great way to
have your message heard. It’s even better if your
co-marketing partner has videography and editing
resources you typically don’t have access to. Below
is an example of a video partnership between Moz
and Wistia.
Event
Co-marketing is also an excellent opportunity
to minimize the cost and workload of a larger
event, whether it’s online or offline. Unbounce, for
example, hosted a #CROday, featuring speakers
from companies around the globe who hosted
online events and webinars on the topic of CRO.
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Interactive Site Page
Speaking of minimizing cost and combining
resources, co-marketing opens up opportunities
for larger multimedia projects. Consider how
MailChimp partnered with some of the top names in
digital media and ecommerce to share their holiday
marketing tips.

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5. Write Your Co-Marketing Agreement
The similarities between planning a co-marketing
campaign and producing one of your own are
great. However, there is one stage specific to co-
marketing that is absolutely critical not to skip:
writing a co-marketing agreement.
For things to run smoothly, it’s important that
you over-communicate goals, expectations,
and deliverables for your project to ensure both
partners hold up their end of the bargain. Agree
on a topic and theme for the content that will be
mutually beneficial to both audiences. Then, decide
what each team’s strongest skills are and divide
work with efficiency and quality in mind.
Speaking of timing, I suggest doubling however
long it takes your team to create an ebook or a
webinar on your own. This will allow more time for
approvals and feedback.
Ultimately, these conversations will culminate into a
formal co-marketing agreement. This exists so you
have a document to point back to if anything goes
wrong or any miscommunications arise. This might
be a legal document if your legal team wants to get
involved, or a non-legal document of good faith. To
be safe, we highly suggest consulting your own legal
department before your first co-marketing campaign.
From a high level, this document
should include:
• Topic you will be covering
• Timeline for the project
• Goals
• Ownership of content and assets
• Where the content will be hosted
• Lead sharing agreements
• Timeframe for promotion
• Promotional plan
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6. Create Your Content

Once you have agreed on the outline and split up between two very different styles, err on the simple
the work, your writer can jump right in and start the side. Use a tool like Kuler to curate a color palette
content creation. If you’ve never created a gated that compliments both brands and limit your font
offer or simply want a refresher, check out our How choices. Finish off your design with both logos
to Write an Ebook guide. featured prominently and equally on the cover.
Finally, send the design over to your partner to
Typically I split the creation of content between reciprocate the feedback.
partners by having one partner write and another
design, so that the voice and design are consistent.
The other option is to have each partner write
and design half of the ebook, and then fuse the
two together. Keep in mind that this will require a
thorough consistency check once both parts are
bound together.

After the first draft is complete, send to the partner

to share feedback. I suggest leaving a week
between the writing due date and feedback due
date if at all possible.

If your team is tasked with designing the ebook,

do your best to balance the style guides of each
company. Sometimes if the style guides are similar,
this is a breeze. But if you find yourself stretched

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7. Create Your Landing Page

In your co-marketing agreement, you should For more information on how to create a landing page
have already specified where the landing page within HubSpot’s software, check out this resource
will live -- whether that’s on your domain or your from the HubSpot Academy.
partner’s domain. To keep things organized within
your marketing automation tool, we also suggest
that you use a specific naming convention to
differentiate your co-marketing pages from your
existing ones.

Both your content and landing page should be co-

branded -- and it should be obvious. This means
using both logos in the header and mentioning
both partners throughout the content. Notice how
we co-branded our ebook with Scoop.it clearly at
the top of the landing page.

Since you’ll likely be sharing the offer’s leads

with your partner, you’ll need to consult with your
legal team about the proper disclaimer to include
at the bottom of the form. For example, ours
simply states that we are authorized to share their
information with the specific partner after they
download this ebook.

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8. Create Your Promotional Assets

With your agreed upon launch date approaching, it’s
time to start executing your promotion strategy. About
two or three weeks prior to the launch date, have a
brainstorm to discuss what promotional tactics would
work best for the specific offer. Then, decide when you
will employ these strategies within the promotional
period specified in your co-marketing agreement.
The second way we promote our content in a blog
post is through the use of tweetable text and an
eye catching call-to-action. This CTA lives on both
the launch post and any tactical posts related to the
topic of the co-marketing offer.

Below are a few examples of how you can promote

your content across various inbound marketing
channels:

Blog Posts
Blog posts are a great way to drive traffic to your
upcoming co-marketing offer. At HubSpot, we promote
our content on the blog in two ways. First, on the
launch day, we create what we call a “launch post.”
These posts are different than our normal educational
posts, as they run only a few hundred words and their
main purpose is to inform our audience that we have an
exciting new offer. To set the expectation, we allude to
the offer in the title.

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Social Media
Promoting your content on social media is a great
way to drive awareness for your campaign and
attract visitors to your site. For added value, don’t
forget to tag your co-marketing partner in the tweet
or Facebook post. Depending on your budget and
agreement, you might also consider using paid
advertising to increase your reach.
Below is an example of a tweet sent out by Twitter
to promote a webinar we did with them on holiday
marketing best practices:
Remember to create unique tracking URLs to
monitor your partner’s promotional efforts versus
your own. For more information, check out this
resource from the HubSpot Academy.
Email
Email is still one of the best ways to get a large
number of people to attend your co-marketing
event or download your piece of content. Keep
emails visual, and be clear that this piece of content
comes from two companies. The last thing you
want is for people to be surprised when they start
hearing from both companies after they fill out the
form. For an example, check out the email we sent
when promoting a webinar with Unbounce.
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9. Share the Rewards

Your campaign is live and being promoted -- good

work! Now it’s time to look back and see if your
initial efforts were successful. As dictated in your
co-marketing agreement, you must share the leads
you’ve earned with your partner.

Often times the easiest way to do this is to

simply download the CSV files of leads from your
database or marketing automation software. If
you’re looking for a less manual process, I suggest
using a tool like Zapier or IFTTT to send specific
leads from your platform to your partner’s.

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10. Evaluate the Partnership
Now that the promotion period has come to a
close and you’ve shared the final leads, there’s one
step left to complete: evaluate the partnership and
determine whether or not you’d work with them
again. Remember, co-marketers are relational. This
sort of debrief is necessary to determine whether
you should keep up the relationship in the future.
First and foremost, was the original goal hit? If so,
good. If not, why? What happened? Did you fail to
hit the mark or was it your partner? (See why those
tracking tokens are so important?)
However, it’s not all about the number of leads.
Remember, quality always seems to have the
upper hand on quantity. Look to see if the leads
generated were as high of quality as the leads
generated by your own individual content. Things
to consider here are: lead-to-customer conversion
rate, quality rating within your automation tool and
CRM, and whether or not your sales team felt the
leads were up to par.
Next, take a step back and measure in more of a
qualitative way. Was the partnership successful?
Was it difficult to work with them, or smooth as can
be? Did you get high quality content that you may
not have been able to make without them?
While the ease of collaboration is definitely an
important factor to consider, there is one final
consideration that trumps them all: Did your
partnership create value for the customer?
While you may have had an enjoyable, painless
experience working with your partner, did you
create something more than just a series of subpar,
re-purposed blog posts on each other’s blog?
Ultimately, partnerships that are meant to last
value the audience experience -- both partner’s
audiences -- above all.
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