Things To Keep In Mind Before Requesting For A Collaboration

It’s great that you want to partner up with someone for a collaboration. When we come together to share our creativity, community, and ideas, we often end up doing much more than what we could have all alone. But collaborations have to be strategized carefully — there’s more to it than simply approaching someone who has a lot of followers. There are times when people leave behind a simple ‘Let’s collaborate’ message and you can’t help but ignore it. Or there are those who request you for ideas in the first introduction itself- chances are you won’t get a response for such an email.

While this is not the ultimate collaboration Bible, there are some pointers you can keep in mind before collaborating. Namely —

Identify a relevant brand and know why you are collaborating
Do you wish to collaborate with a brand? Great. But what is it that you are looking for? Before you approach a brand, you need to understand the purpose of your collaboration and what is it that you aim to achieve together. Only then will you understand the type of brands that you have to approach, and you will also be able to share your vision. If you don’t identify your own goals it might happen that the other party, even though interested, might offer something which does not support your goals, and the last thing you need is to feel like you have been taken advantage of.

Identify the value that you will be bringing to the other brand
When you approach another party for a collaboration you need to make them understand that collaborating with you will also help them. Collaboration is a two-way process and it should be valuable to both the parties, which is why it is important that you be ready with #1

Have a pitch that explains who you are, what you wish to do, how are you doing it and why are you collaborating
It’s important to understand your brand completely and be able to sell it across to the next party so that they believe in your common goal. It helps to give a pitch that has relevant examples and why you think it did well. Data always helps.

Have a plan of action ready (number of deliverables, the kind of content you’re aiming at commercials, etc)
Once you know that the other part is on board it is time to decide the plan of action. Don’t play it by the ear — instead, before the collaboration freeze upon the number of deliverables what is it that you are expecting in terms of content, reach, commercials, etc.

Do not approach someone and ask them to give you ideas for a possible collaboration- this is fine but it helps to come prepared. And lastly do not reach out with a cold “Hey I like your content and would like to collaborate” message because 9 out of 10 times it will be ignored.

Not every brand is going to be the right collaborative partner for you. Collaborating with the right partner can be super exciting, and can leave you with long-lasting relationships. Go well prepared and allow the magic of collaboration to take over 🥰