If you’re looking to increase your travel brand’s reach and revenue, cross-promotion could be the ingredient you’re missing from your digital marketing strategy. It’s essentially when brands team up to market to each other’s customers. Think Scrub Daddy X Crocs, where the cleaning brand created a custom Crocs sponge, or Heinz teaming up with Marvel’s Deadpool and Wolverine movie to release special edition ketchup and mustard bottles, as well as a trailer with the characters replaced by the condiments.
Cross-promotion is particularly effective for travel businesses, as by partnering with complementary brands such as airlines, hotels, tour operators or restaurants, you can:

If you’re not convinced about the value of cross-promotion, its success lies in leveraging the psychological principle of social proof. When consumers see two trusted brands collaborate, they are more likely to view both brands favourably because the partnership serves as an endorsement, signalling that each brand values and trusts the other.
Sold? Excellent – everything you need to know is in this guide.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Cross-Promotion for Travel Brands
How to Choose the Right Partner Brand for Your Cross-Promotion Strategy

Forming strategic partnerships with complementary brands can do great things — but to reap the rewards, you’ll need to find the right business to partner with. Choose a brand that aligns with your values, target audience, and marketing goals. Look for companies that complement your offerings and have a similar customer base — for example, a luxury resort may partner with a high-end spa or gourmet restaurant to provide a comprehensive, upscale experience for their guests.
Here’s how to find the right one:
1. Research non-competing companies that share a similar target audience.
It’s all about finding brands that complement your own rather than compete. For example, if you’re a small hotel, consider partnering with a local tour operator or popular restaurants in your area.
2. Assess their brand alignment and values.
Does their brand align with yours? Your audience can tell from a mile away if it’s not an authentic partnership, so only consider companies who share your values. Look at your audience, including their demographic and interests, and then find other brands they might be interested in.
For example, if your brand focuses on wellness retreats or mindfulness breaks, there may be a better fit than partnering with a boat-party company!
3. Check their online presence and engagement levels on social media.
One of the most important factors to consider is selecting a company with an active online presence. Look at their engagement levels, too—you want their audience to be interested enough to click through to your site or social media, as that’s the whole point of the collaboration!
4. Read online reviews.
The last thing you want to do is partner with a company only to discover its negative reputation, as this can rub off on your own brand by association. Instead, check a few reputable sources for online reviews, including their website, social media, and sites like Trustpilot.
5. Reach out to suitable candidates.
Once you’ve identified suitable candidates, contact them with a well-crafted proposal that highlights the benefits of collaboration, such as increased exposure, shared marketing costs, and access to new customers. Pitch that it’s a win-win situation, and go from there.
How to Create a Cross-Promotion Strategy

Once you’ve partnered with a complementary company, it’s time to collaborate on joint marketing campaigns. Identify your shared goals and target audience preferences, and work from there to create a strategy that meets these aims.
When creating cross-promotional content, focus on providing genuine value and relevance to each brand’s audience. Share insider tips, exclusive offers, or unique experiences that showcase the benefits of your partnership and encourage followers to engage with both brands.
These could include:
1. Content collaboration:
Co-create blog posts, videos, or other engaging content that showcases both brands’ expertise and offerings. For example, a hotel and a local tour operator could create a joint blog post highlighting the best attractions in the area.
2. Social media partnerships:
Craft original shared content, share each other’s content and promote special offers across social media channels. This can involve creating co-branded social media campaigns, running joint contests, or tagging each other in relevant posts.
Airbnb is an official sponsor of the Paris Olympics, but they’ve also taken their collaboration to social media, sharing videos about an exclusive Airbnb experience in Paris on both accounts, appealing to both audience bases!
@olympics Spend a dreamy night in the Musée d’Orsay’s clock room—now on @airbnb —surrounded by Impressionist masterpieces and enjoying epic views of Paris2024. See the link in Airbnb’s bio for details and rules. #Olympics
♬ sonido original – Olympics

3. Email list swaps:
Promote each other’s products or services to respective email subscribers. This allows both brands to reach new, targeted audiences who have already shown an interest in similar offerings.
4. Bundled promotions:
Offer discounts or incentives for purchasing both brands’ offerings together. For instance, an airline and a hotel could offer a package deal that includes discounted flights and accommodations.
Look at how you can tap into each other’s customer bases while delivering value to your audience. You can achieve this by providing educational, inspirational, or entertaining content or even special offers or discount codes.
How to Measure the Success of Your Cross-Promotion Campaign
To measure the success of your cross-promotion campaigns, it’s essential to set goals to track your KPIs (key performance indicators). By defining your objectives early on, you can create a campaign that works towards these goals. For example, you might want to increase website traffic, generate leads or boost sales, and identifying metrics to track these will help you gauge your progress.
Some essential KPIs to track include:
- Website traffic: Monitor the number of visitors to your co-branded content and landing pages, as well as the sources of this traffic (e.g., organic search, social media, referral links).
- Conversions: Track the number of visitors who take desired actions, such as filling out a form, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase.
- Revenue generated: Measure the total revenue attributed to your cross-promotion campaigns, including direct sales and lifetime customer value.
- Social media metrics: Measure follower growth, reach or engagement rates; these indicate success in brand awareness and community growth.
Regularly monitoring and analysing your cross-promotion campaign performance can gain valuable insights into what works and what doesn’t. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and optimise your future cross-promotion strategies and partnerships.
For example, if you notice that certain types of co-branded content consistently outperform others, focus on creating more of that content in the future. Similarly, if specific retargeting ad formats or targeting criteria yield better results, allocate more of your budget towards those tactics.
Cross-Promotional Campaigns: Challenges You Might Face
Working with another brand boasts plenty of benefits, but potential pitfalls can sink a campaign before it’s even begun. Here are a few tips to ensure both parties benefit from the partnership:
1. Make sure you’re working with the right partner.
Before committing to a partnership, evaluate the potential impact on your brand and ensure that the collaboration will generate mutual benefits for both parties involved. You don’t want to compromise your brand integrity or values, so ensuring it’s the right match is key.
2. Establish clear roles, responsibilities and expectations.
Begin by defining each partner’s contributions and deliverables for the campaign. This may include creating content, sharing social media posts, sending email newsletters or hosting events. Ensure each partner understands their specific tasks and how they contribute to the overall campaign goals.
Next, set realistic timelines and budgets for each initiative. Be sure to account for potential delays or unforeseen challenges during the collaboration process.
3. Communication is key.
Establish regular communication channels between all parties involved. Schedule regular meetings and check-ins to discuss progress, issues and amendments. Organisation tools and software, such as a shared content calendar or a dedicated campaign group chat, can be beneficial for keeping everyone on the same page.
4. Ensure brand alignment and consistency across cross-promotion materials.
Develop a shared style guide and messaging framework that outlines vital visual elements, tone of voice and messaging points for all co-branded content. This will ensure that all the materials accurately represent both brands and resonate with their respective audiences, as the last thing you want is to put loyal consumers off because you’ve suddenly changed your tone of voice or messaging.
Before cross-promotional content is published, establish a review and approval process for quality control, as each partner should have the opportunity to provide feedback and suggest revisions.
5. Monitor your partner’s online presence.
Keep an eye on the other brand’s online activities. Monitor their social media, website, and other digital platforms to ensure their messaging and visuals continue to align with the agreed-upon guidelines. If you notice any issues, address them promptly to maintain the integrity of the collaboration.
6. Avoid over-promotion or spamming each other’s audiences.
While cross-promotional campaigns aim to expand your reach and engage new audiences, you don’t want to spam or over-promote, as this can switch followers off. Limit the frequency of cross-promotional messaging to avoid overwhelming or alienating your audience. Intersperse co-branded content with your regular, value-added posts to maintain a balanced and engaging social media feed.
You can always leave your audience wanting more; if the campaign succeeds, you can always revisit doing another campaign. A great example of this was Duo Lingo and Scrub Daddy’s collaboration — audiences clamoured for more, building buzz and hype around the partnership, leading to more videos later.
Ideas for Cross-Promotion, Specifically for Travel Marketers
So you’ve decided to give cross-promotion a go, and you’re narrowing down brands you’d like to partner with, or you’ve locked down an agreement. Whether designing your strategy or pitching ideas to win them over, you’ll need plenty of concepts to find the ones that best suit both brands. Here are a few you can try:
1. Co-branded destination guides or travel itineraries.
Creating comprehensive destination guides or sample travel itineraries in collaboration with another travel brand can be a highly effective way to showcase both companies’ offerings. By highlighting each other’s products or services within the context of a specific destination or trip, you can provide valuable information to potential customers while also cross-promoting your businesses.
When developing co-branded guides or itineraries, focus on creating informative and inspiring content. Include detailed descriptions of the experiences or accommodations each brand offers, along with high-quality images and practical tips for travellers. Emphasise the unique benefits of combining both brands’ offerings, such as exclusive access to certain attractions or special discounts for package bookings.
To maximise the reach and impact of your co-branded content, promote it through various digital channels, including email marketing campaigns, social media posts, and targeted ads. Consider creating dedicated landing pages on each brand’s website to showcase the guides or itineraries and make it easy for customers to book their trips.
2. Collaborate on social media challenges or UGC campaigns
Leveraging the power of social media is essential for travel companies looking to expand their reach and engage with potential customers. One effective way to do this is through collaborative social media challenges or user-generated content (UGC) campaigns.
To create a successful co-branded social media challenge, develop a theme or prompt that encourages followers to share their travel photos, stories, or recommendations related to both brands’ offerings. For example, suppose you’re a hotel chain partnering with a local attraction. In that case, you might launch a challenge called ‘My Perfect [Destination] Day,’ asking followers to share photos and itineraries showcasing their ideal day in the destination, featuring stays at your hotel and visits to the partnering attraction.
Create a unique, branded hashtag for the campaign and promote it across both brands’ social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Encourage participation by offering prizes or features for the best submissions, such as free stays, tickets to the attraction, or social media spotlights.
As the challenge progresses, curate the best UGC and share it on each brand’s social media profiles, website, and email newsletters. This provides inspiring content for potential customers, fosters community, and encourages engagement among your existing followers – and often outperforms stock imagery.
Conclusion
By implementing these collaborative marketing ideas and best practices, travel companies can effectively partner with other brands to increase their visibility, engage potential customers, and drive more bookings. As you explore partnership opportunities and develop co-branded campaigns, remember to focus on creating value for your target audience while also showcasing each brand’s unique strengths and offerings.
Recommended read: The Power of Storytelling in Hotel Marketing For more marketing insights, tune into our podcast, Horizon by Hummingbird.
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