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Before a campaign begins, it is best to set goals or expectations with your partners, so everyone knows what to expect, and what role they will need to play when it comes to marketing.
Lauren says that before the promotion begins:
“Every partner shares their email list size, as well as their audience reach through social media. We try our best to match impressions."
"For example partner A could have a list size of 500,000, and partner B could have a list size of 200,000, but a Facebook page with 1 million fans. In this case, partner A would send (1) dedicated email, and partner B would send (1) dedicated email and post 3x on Facebook.”
Generally though, Lauren says that everyone typically contributes a dedicated email blast and a few social posts because the group of partners is usually all about the same size. In addition, if one partner realizes they are underperforming, they will increase their media plan to try and catch up.
Usually, if you are the one looking to run a co-marketing campaign and you are acquiring partners, you’re most likely going to also be the one who is setting up and coordinating every aspect of the promotion.
Lauren says that in their case, one partner takes on the role of Project Lead. This person is the one who kicks off the campaign by reaching out to potential partners to gauge fit and interest.
However, the Project Lead is the one who really controls and coordinates it all, while always looking for feedback and input from the partners to help craft a successful campaign for all those involved.
Determining the person or company that will supply the prizes will come down to your individual agreement with partners, however, in almost all cases the partners always split the cost of the prizes, or they all contribute an equal dollar amount of prizes to the campaign.
However, if you are a smaller brand, or you are bringing in a partner that is a smaller brand, it’s possible that they will foot the bill for the prizes in order to be part of the promotion.
Our Advice: If you’re a smaller brand looking to partner with larger brands, it may be in your best interest to sponsor the prize to get your foot in the door.
The fact that you will cover prize costs is a huge selling point, and it should be used as one of the key benefits in your outreach emails as to why people should work with you.
There are terms that are agreed to by all partners before the start of the campaign, using a partnership agreement. While terms may vary for your own individual case, for Lauren, all partners put in the same amount of media, and therefore everyone walks away with the full list of email opt-ins.
In some cases, some partners are only looking for publicity and branding, and do not care about receiving the email opt-in list.
Once you secure all of your partners for a campaign, you will need to have them all sign a partnership agreement where everyone agrees to the terms of the promotion, and everyone is in agreement on what they need to be doing.
You can use this partnership agreement template we have put together for you, which will help you get started in putting together an agreement to have your partners sign.
Access Template
When dealing with a promotion where there are multiple partners, it is important to make entrants aware that they are going to be opted-in to multiple email lists when they enter the promotion.
Lauren says that she will always explicitly state the terms of entry on the landing page below the entry form. Something as simple as “By entering this sweepstakes, you agree to receive email communications from all partners and sponsors.”
According to Lauren, it feels sneaky to hide the opt-in terms in the rules, because if entrants know what they’re getting into and why they will begin to receive your newsletter, they’ll be less likely to mark you as spam, which is very bad for your business.
Our advice: Be upfront about what entrants can expect to receive after they enter your promotion. Make this known on the landing page, and don’t hide it from plain view.
Either use a generic statement like the one Lauren mentioned above, or, add an optional opt-in checkbox to the campaign that entrants must check off in order to be added to these email lists.
Lauren astutely mentions:
"The rules we use have been approved by our lawyers. Rules change based on eligibility, who you're targeting (US only, or open to Canada, etc.) and what the prize and age requirement is (18 or 21+)."
We always recommend that you have your lawyer check over your official rules before launching a sweepstakes. Additionally, there are limits as to what you can and can't do with the email opt-ins, so you have to make sure you're abiding by all CAN-SPAM laws.
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