When you think of business collaboration, you likely think of high-budget marketing campaigns that draw in audiences of both brands or products that put both of your respective skills to good use. However, not all of the friendly interactions between you and other businesses are so high key, and some might even go relatively unnoticed.
Far from being negative, however, these small interactions can often provide you with opportunities to put your best foot forward. Furthermore, due to the inevitability of these minor collaborations, making the most of them and using them as an example to broadcast your collaborative values might end up having some of the effects of full collaboration.
End-to-End
Sometimes these collaborations are a natural result of both businesses providing their intended function – with market demands eventually necessitating that the two of you converge for the sake of the customer’s needs. When this happens, you might find that the two services combine with the help of an API gateway, or something similar, that can allow your two distinct brands to coexist and function together as seamlessly as possible. This might not be something that you traditionally see as a collaboration, but the digital proximity of your services is something that might start to form a sense of connection between your brands as far as your audiences are concerned, which is something to be aware of.
Social Media Interactions
Off-the-cuff, informal social media interactions are the tactic of some brands more than others, and while you might not think that it represents the kind of image that you want to exude for your business, there is value in that kind of approach. First of all, it’s something that can endear customers towards you when done right, allowing them to get involved and interact with you in a way that feels more relatable and personable.
Secondly, though, you can have small pockets of interactions with other businesses on social media platforms that can form the foundation for scaled-back instances of the aforementioned larger marketing collaborations. These don’t have to be anything serious or even planned, but they can exhibit a show of playful competition and acknowledgment that can make fans of the other more inclined to see what you have to say.
Unified Stance and Presence
There will also be times that are less about being fun and creative with your marketing, and more about issuing a serious statement to distance yourself from something negative or to inform your audience where you stand on a particular issue. While some might also see these times as a chance to cast doubt on other competitors who might be looking to do the same, it’s also an opportunity to showcase a unified front – putting your competition behind you momentarily in order to validate the authenticity of your message.
Understanding the professional power that each other holds can be valuable in understanding the benefits that competition can have and the pressurized environments that this can sometimes create.
