What is Cross-promotion?

Cross-promotion is a marketing strategy where two or more brands, creators, or platforms promote each other’s content, products, or services to their own audiences. It’s a collaborative way to increase visibility, reach new followers, and build credibility.

On social media, cross-promotion is especially popular because it’s easy to tag, mention, or share someone else's content. For example, a brand might repost a creator using their product, while the creator tags the brand in their original post. Instagram Stories, Reels, Twitter threads, TikTok duets, and even pinned comments on YouTube are common ways to cross-promote in a way that feels natural and mutually beneficial.

Example of Cross-Promotion:

- A fitness coach promotes a nutritionist’s ebook on their Instagram Story, while the nutritionist shares the coach’s workout plan with their email list.
- A podcast guest shares the episode they were featured on, exposing the host’s show to a new audience.
- A clothing brand tags and promotes a local photographer who took their campaign photos—and the photographer does the same in return.

Cross-promotion works great on social media, email newsletters, blogs, or even product packaging and it’s especially useful for creators or small businesses looking to grow organically.

Cross-Promotion vs. Co-Marketing

While they sound similar, cross-promotion and co-marketing aren’t exactly the same.

While both involve collaboration, cross-promotion is about sharing and supporting each other’s existing content or messaging, co-marketing goes one step further. In co-marketing, two or more brands actually create something new together (like a joint campaign, a co-branded product, or a piece of content like an eBook or video). It requires more planning and collaboration but often delivers deeper impact and shared results.

In short, cross-promotion is like giving each other a boost with what’s already there. Co-marketing is about teaming up to build something new from scratch.