Have you ever noticed how DJ Khaled shouts out his name at the beginning of a LOT of songs?
"D....J....KHALED!" is within the first 30 seconds of numerous billboard hits. It's much more than an after thought, it's actually an example of a brilliant form of growth hacking known as integration marketing
Khaled tags along as a featured artist on songs that are going to be massively popular (with or without him) and he makes sure his presence is known right out of the gate.
Khaled builds his brand and gets more exposure (and paid of course). The main artist gets a nice boost of credibility and hype with him on the track.
It's a win win for both parties (although I'd argue that DJ Khaled is usually the bigger winner).
In this short article, I'll show you how to use it to tap into huge opportunities and grow your authority in your space without spending a dime.
What Is Integration Marketing?
Integration marketing is the process of naturally incorporating your business or brand into another business that already has the attention of your target audience.
Examples of integration marketing
Explaining this is best done through examples, so here's one....
Integration Marketing Example #1
Let's say that you sell a workout supplement.
You reach out to an influencer in the fitness space and get them on board to test your product.
If they like it, you just ask that they include it in their "recommended products page."
Once you've landed your product on that page, you are going to be gaining a small percentage of all the traffic that visits it. This is essentially free ad space that is laser focused for your audience.
In this example, it would be standard to offer an affiliate commission to the influencer, but as I promised at the beginning of the article, that is at no upfront costs to you. You'd pay after sales are made and only if sales are made.
Alright, that's one example but it might not excite you as much since it's pretty straightforward affiliate marketing.
Here's another example...
Integration Marketing Example #2
I have a friend who is a terrific copywriter. I have an email automation that triggers about 100 broadcasts per day.
I reached out to her and said, "hey, would you be willing to help me improve my sequence? In exchange, we can add a link to one of your pages to an email in the sequence."
Now, she is getting a free broadcast to roughly 100 people per day showcasing her asset. This means she'll be getting around 5 free, laser focused clicks per day from me.
This number is far more exciting when you see that as 3,000 impressions and 150 clicks per month. That's even more exciting when you understand the value of targeted clicks (she'd pay $1+/click if she were to buy similar traffic from Adwords) and the fact that that was just one single integration effort!
The beauty of integration marketing is that your efforts stack. Unlike buying traffic where you can be limited to how many clicks you can get, there is no limit to how far you can push integration marketing.
Here are other ideas for inspiration...
Contribute Your Expertise for Free: If you're in the information marketing space, you can build your brand authority by doing things like adding free training videos to courses from other influencers in your space. This is easy and will help you demonstrate your expertise fast.
Be a Guest on a Podcast: Podcast hosts and podcast production companies are always looking for guests. Getting yourself on relevant shows will put you front and center to your dream followers or customers.
Master Quid Pro Quo Offers: There are an endless number of ways that you can collaborate with others in your space. Be vigilant and constantly on the look out for mutually beneficial deals you can make.
Think to yourself...
- What do I have that I want promoted? This isn't always a product. It could be a blog post, a lead magnet, a video, a free trial...etc.
- What do I have to give in exchange? Think hard on this. Even if you're still a relatively small player in your space, you surely have something you can give to make a deal.
Leave a Testimonial: Leaving a testimonial and landing on the homepage of a high authority website can help you grow exposure, and build backlinks to your own website.
Pay attention. Integration marketing opportunities are everywhere.