Cross promotion (CP) is also called link exchange or shoutouts - this is when two or more bloggers agree that they will recommend each other to their audience and thus exchange subscribers. However, CP is not free users, but rather barter and the approach when choosing a promo partner should be as if you were buying advertising.
What is suitable for cross promotion ?
- Blog / channel / account, a media resource that has subscribers (fans);
- The minimum number of live subscribers should be at least 100 in order to have something to exchange during the cross promo.
What is not suitable for cross promo?
- Any type of business (like shops, banks, restaurants) that does not create content i.e. those who do not have a blog;
- All those who want to sell something quickly and once, i.e. not interested in building long-term relationships with their customers or fans. For example, traffic arbitrageurs;
- Bot hoarders - blogs with fake audience, of course, they can deceive admin if you contact them directly, but they will not be able to do this through the Erzy platform, as their reputation will be damaged after the first cross promotion.
Cross Promotion Formats
Megas - this is when a bunch of channels are collected in a long canvas of links and then reposted. Ordinary megas are an ugly sight. 2017-2020s mega brought subscribers, but nowadays it will rather annoy your own subscribers. Another mega problem is the complete lack of tracking - it is not clear from whom users came to whom (although usually no one comes) ... Megas in 3-4 channels are acceptable, but they should be well matched according to the topic!
1-to-1 Cross Promotion is the kind of promotion in which no more than 2 channels participate ( can be carried out in Erzy). Channel admins are responsible to each other for the success of the promo. They always know exactly where the subscribers came from and they can track them. We have interviewed the admins of our channels and, under ideal conditions, they are ready to conduct
1-to-1 CPs weekly.
As a rule, CP is limited in time (usually 24 hours), however, there are forms of CPs when admins agree in advance how many subscribers must pass before the post is deleted. To do this, the average subscribers shared metric must be known and the admins agree on the number of subscribers slightly lower than their average subscribers shared.
Asymmetrical cross promotion-
this is a CP in which the channels post about each other at different times and thus the subscribers get the impression that the admin just posted a recommendation about another channel, and the second channel will post the partner’s promo post 1-2 days later. This format obliges the participants to have trust in each other or a reputation system that would monitor the fulfillment of the conditions of this cross promo.
Paid cross promotion allows small channels to run cross promotion with large channels without overpaying for ads. It's kind of like a trade-in when you trade in your old iPhone for a new one without having to pay the full price. A small channel also gains reputational reinforcement in the eyes of subscribers by partnering with a more popular channel. A larger channel in return receives not only money, but also new users.
More about paid cross promotion.
How often should a cross promotions be done?
In our opinion, the average channel can carry from 1 to 3 cross promotions per week, depending on the frequency of posting and advertising load. For example, if you find 5-6 suitable channels for cross promotion and conduct 1-to-1 CP once a week.
Using Erzy, you can immediately schedule posting for 5 weeks in advance, and focus on a more important thing - creating viral content.