Collaborative Content Marketing: How Co-Creation Can Boost SEO and Brand Reach
- giuliapedrinivisio
- Jun 10
- 5 min read
Author: Giulia Pedrini
Co-Creation
In this world, where we are all interconnected, the economy is also transforming and becoming more and more networked. A network that unites, that links, that connects everyone for the creation of value. In recent years, technology has evolved and with the advent of the Internet, consumers have changed their behaviour.
Compared to the last 20 years, consumers are more aware and informed about products, alternatives and the characteristics they expect from the object/service. This initially alarmed businesses, who only later realised that this could be something to exploit. Creative collaboration with customers, employees and partners has become a fundamental part of the production process at all stages. This is how collaborative content marketing was born.
The Value of Dialogue
These days, the idea that the creation of a product or the development of a service is studied within the walls of an office no longer exists. Co-creation starts from this concept: everyone wants to be part of the process. From employee to consumer. Everyone wants the product or service to reflect at least a part of themselves, to have the colour shade they want.
Collaboration between companies operating in the same sector has become of importance in all processes. Consumer co-creation in new product development also allows the company to get closer to the target audience of the product itself. Furthermore, in marketing, creative collaboration plays a key role because it also creates a network in the promotion of the product.
Dialogue between companies and with consumers is the basis for product success. Who better than consumers knows their needs and desires? Who better than the companies that deal with consumers knows how these needs and desires are met?
The Advent of Collaborative Marketing
Starting with traditional marketing, let us now define what is meant by collaborative marketing strategy.
In fact, if we were to define traditional marketing, we would list channels such as television, press, radio, etc. These tools are still used today for that part of the population that is unable to use digital resources. For example, in this group of consumers we certainly have the majority of the over-70s or people who are attached to classic tools.
From traditional marketing there has been a shift to collaborative marketing since the early 2000s. The first to talk about this were C.K. Prahalad and Venkat Ramaswamy in their famous book “The Future of Competition: co-creating unique value with customers” (2004). The book discusses topics such as company value creation, the consumer as active creator and customisation. It is exactly customisation that allows the consumer to be an integral part of the product design process.
There is no longer a competition between products, but a differentiation in the model of audience engagement. Value is no longer created for the customer, but together with the customer.
4 P Co-Marketing
Different co-marketing strategies can be established between two companies, based on the 4 P's of the marketing mix. We are talking about product, price, place and promotion. Each of these areas can involve collaboration to improve the image of the product for the public.
Let us analyse the possible marketing collaborations:
Product co-marketing, involves the two brands collaborating on a product or service such as the collaboration between Philadelphia and Milka;
Promotion co-marketing is when two brands agree to promote each other such as McDonald's and Disney when the fastfood chain promotes new animated films;
Price co-marketing if two companies agree to package their products at a favourable price in order to support each other, such as airlines and car rental companies;
Place co-marketing if two brands agree to sell each other's products in their shops with special offers.
SEO and Brand Reach
Co-creation of content not only gives visibility to the brands image, but also allows through the correct application of SEO to increase organic website traffic. But what is SEO?
SEO is Search Engine Optimisation, which is a set of strategies that use keywords to show your website on the Internet. This tool is particularly important for standing out among the multitude of sites on the Internet. This makes it easier for consumers to reach your business and thus choose your products.
Besides SEO, another valuable tool is branding, which involves the creation of an idea that represents the company. This idea can include an image, a logo, values, products and makes the company recognisable to consumers. The more coherent the brand, the more the company will remain in the mind of the consumer.
An effective combination of branding and SEO can make a business successful if:
the content is quality and brand-consistent
brands appear on the first page of search
there are links between sites (backlinks)
Furthermore, if the marketing strategy also includes other digital channels, such as social networks, then success is assured.
Spotify and Starbuck for a Unique Experience
Exactly because of the benefits of collaborative marketing, there have been many brands that have joined forces to improve their market offerings. Examples are Redbull-GoPro, Coca-Cola-McDonald's, Nike and Apple or Spotify-Starbucks.
Let us try to analyse Spotify's collaborative marketing strategy with Starbucks. In fact, the two brands have signed an agreement to improve their services. The project is to include Spotify's music service in Starbucks shops. But how?
Starbucks has decided to reward its regular customers with a loyalty programme called My Starbucks Rewards, which can be subscribed to both online and through the app. The programme is constructed as a collection of points (‘stars’) that allow you to earn rewards such as food, drinks or branded accessories.
The partnership between Spotify and Starbucks allows Spotify Premium subscribers to get ‘stars’ to spend in Starbucks shops to buy coffee, drinks or products. In addition, Starbucks has included Spotify in its app so that users can access music played in the shops. But that's not all! Customers who are members of the loyalty programme can also create playlists and share tracks, while employees can benefit from their own Spotify Premium membership offered by Starbucks.
As we can see, the collaborative strategy of Spotify and Strabucks aims to make the customer experience unique, which nowadays is almost more important than the product itself being sold.
Bridges between People
In conclusion, as we mentioned earlier, today's world and today's customers have different needs and desires than 20 years ago. People not only want to be heard, they want to be artisans of the product and the idea behind it. Companies alone can no longer satisfy customers who are increasingly informed and therefore demanding.
This is why collaborative content marketing was born, to build bridges between companies, between consumers, between people.
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