As SMEs, one challenge unites us all: how to raise your brand’s profile and grow your customer pool – all whilst operating on a modest, if not shoestring, marketing budget.

Traditional customer acquisition channels such as paid media are the obvious starting point. However, particularly in the post Covid landscape, these spaces are becoming less fruitful for smaller businesses. Bidding costs are becoming unsustainable, attribution is becoming ever more opaque and ads are cannibalising organic traffic. But what about if we went a little more old-school? What would happen if we turned our attention back towards the softer marketing channels, adding value and building connections through storytelling, content and (my favourite) partnerships?

Here at Biscuiteers, partnerships have always been part of our marketing mix, but they are becoming an increasing focus for us as the digital marketing space becomes more crowded. Admittedly, we’re well set up for creative and fun collaborations given the nature of our product. Our hand-iced biscuits are a true blank canvas and our amazing team of icing artists really can bring everything and anything to life in biscuit form. Our range is baked and iced at our purpose-built HQ in London (aptly named the Ministry of Biscuits) and so we can be agile with production. From Paddington to Nespresso, Emma Bridgewater to the Natural History Museum, we’ve partnered with some amazing brands over the years on limited-edition collections which have allowed us to reach new audiences and add value with exclusive products. But as we grow the partnerships channel of Biscuiteers, the ways that we are partnering with brands is expanding. From competitions to content to special offers, these ideas can be applicable to lots of different businesses.

Brand partnerships don’t just have to centre on product. Something like a joint newsletter competition is quick to get off the ground, offers exposure to each other’s communities and the opportunity to capture new leads – in a much more cost-effective way than paid channels. The only cost is your time and the value of the competition prize. It’s also a chance to create content that can be re-purposed across multiple channels. We try to think about all our touchpoints at Biscuiteers when it comes to partnerships. How else can we broaden the impact? Is there a PR story to be told? Could we host a customer or influencer event together? In a world where consumers are scrutinising brands more and more, a partnership between two businesses that feels authentic and meaningful cuts through far more powerfully than an ad. Choosing the right kind of partner – aligned to your values and with a similar customer profile – should mean you’re driving quality as much as quantity with that database growth and awareness.

That’s absolutely not to say that there isn’t also value in working with a business that’s quite different to your own. Think about your objectives. Is there a particular region where you’d like to grow? Do your research to identify businesses that look to be strongly indexed in your target location and see if they’d be interested in collaborating in some way. Are you wanting to grow your social media presence or appeal to a younger demographic? Look for a partner with really engaged social channels.

And if the key thing for you is getting your product into consumers’ hands, then working with a closed membership group or loyalty and rewards programmes with a special introductory offer is a great way to drive that first sale and access a new customer profile.

Partnerships are a great way to earn engagement, rather than just buying it. When brands endorse one another and collaborate, it builds trust across their audiences. Interacting with a new business through a co-branded product, a fun competition or an interesting piece of content feels more like a reward than something purely transactional. It’s a more creative and memorable way to discover a brand than through an ad – and we’d all like to be remembered.