I got an email today from Sam’s Club and it  is a very cool example of cross-marketing,  using an  INTERACTIVE,  Internet Marketing Campaign.

Take a good look at this ad – it’s colorful and inviting, the food looks great!  Sam’s Club has the shopping list and great prices, and Kraft lets you create your own cookbook.  Plus!  You get the bonus of knowing what’s for dinner for the next two weeks!  We are all busy – they definitely targeted a niche there!

Think of the outcome of this strategic campaign:  First, if you aren’t a Sams Club Member – you just might become one.  If you aren’t focused on “Kraft” products – you are now.  The win-win is when you start interacting with this ad, creating your cookbook, and follow it by going out ot buy those products in Sams Club.  They both win!

In this challenging economy we all should be looking into our networks for opportunities to cross-promote.

Use your imagination!  If you do, you will find unique ways to combine talents with other businesses to win new customers.  The first win will be sharing the costs of a promotion – the second, sharing your customer lists (not physically, of course, but by creating a promotion and then using email to existing opt-in customers, you each send out the same ad to different customer groups).

How to get started?  Look into your network connections and find the obvious and (even better) unique business services and products that might marry well to yours.  Then make the call!  The worst they can say is ‘no thanks’.  Act boldly – Go for it!