Collab your way to Growth: The How to Guide

By reading this, you'll learn:

🟣 The key benefits of cross-collaboration (with supporting stats)

🟣 Who you should collaborate with to maximise impact 

🟣 The best content formats for long-term success 

🟣 A step-by-step method to executing a successful collaboration 

🟣 Real-world examples of LinkedIn creators doing it right

Why you Should Cross-Collaborate

Cross-collaboration is one of the most powerful ways to grow your LinkedIn presence without spending a penny. If you're looking to expand your reach, build trust with a new audience, and improve content engagement, this guide will show you exactly how to do it.

🟣 Performance Stats: Collaborative posts see up to 30% more engagement than solo content. Co-branded efforts also increase brand recall by 22% compared to individual campaigns.

🟣 Trust Multiplier: People trust recommendations from those they already follow. If a respected creator collaborates with you, their audience is more likely to engage with and trust your content.

🟣 Skill Enhancement: Collaborating with creators who have different expertise helps you learn and grow faster. If you're great on camera but lack strong writing skills, partnering with a skilled copywriter can improve your messaging. Likewise, teaming up with a data-driven strategist can help you understand analytics and refine your content strategy

Who to Collaborate With

Not every collaboration will deliver results. To maximise success, seek out partners who align strategically with your goals:

✅Audience Overlap: They don’t have to be direct competitors, but their followers should align with your target audience. For example, if you're a sales strategist, partnering with a LinkedIn ads expert can attract the same business professionals looking to grow revenue.

✅ Shared Goals: Collaborate with individuals or brands that share similar long-term goals. This is something difficult to know on face value but by positioning cross collaboration and communicating well, this should come out. 

✅ Content Style & Voice: Ensure that your collaborator’s content style and tone resonate with your own. You don’t want a mismatch in voice that could confuse your shared audience. A fun and informal brand pairing with a highly professional and formal tone may not align well, making the collaboration feel inauthentic.

Example: A business coach and a productivity expert teaming up to create a content series on “Sustainable Growth Habits for Ambitious Founders.” Their audiences overlap (entrepreneurs and high-performing professionals), and they bring complementary insights, one focused on mindset and business scaling, the other on systems and time leverage.

Best Content Formats for Long-Term Success

One-off collaborations can work, but long-term efforts drive the best results. Here are some high-impact formats:

🔹 Industry Trends & Insights (Quarterly) Stay ahead of industry shifts and position yourself as a thought leader.

💡 Example: A marketing strategist and a tech founder break down the latest LinkedIn algorithm update, one focusing on engagement strategies, the other on organic reach.

🔹 Weekly 3-Minute Videos Short-form video keeps content digestible and engaging.

💡 Ideas: 🟣 "How to Write a Hook That Stops the Scroll" 🟣 Expert Q&As (Think LadBible’s "X Minutes With A...") 🟣 Data-driven insights: "The Numbers Behind Viral LinkedIn Posts"

📌 Pro tip: Alternate hosting responsibilities to keep both audiences engaged.

🔹 Challenge Series Run a structured challenge over a week or month to encourage audience participation.

💡 Example: A sales trainer and a mindset coach co-host a "5-Day Confidence in Sales Challenge," covering overcoming rejection, building rapport, and closing techniques.

Step-by-Step Guide to a Successful Collaboration

1️⃣ Research the Right Person - Use our LinkedIn community or LinkedIn search to find creators in your niche. - Are their followers actively engaging? - Look at past collaborations, what worked well?

2️⃣ Reach Out With a Clear Value Proposition - Focus on mutual benefits, not just what you need. - Suggest a simple idea first, make it easy to say yes.

3️⃣ Plan the Content Format - Choose from the formats above based on strengths. - Decide on responsibilities: Who writes? Who designs? Who posts? How often? Rules of engagement after posting to drive reach - Set a timeline 

4️⃣ Communicate Clearly to Your Audience - Explain why this collaboration makes sense: “We teamed up because…” - Highlight the value:  What’s in it for the audience?

5️⃣ Track & Optimise -  Use LinkedIn analytics to see what performed best. - Feedback is a gift! How did your audience respond? - Plan future collaborations based on insights.

Final Thoughts

Cross-collaboration isn’t just about doubling your audience – it’s about building long-term relationships that drive engagement, trust, and business growth. The best collaborations aren’t forced – they’re built on genuine value exchange. Start small, test what works, and scale from there!