I’ve been thinking a lot about partnerships lately. We’re a relocation service founded in Russia, and we’re looking at the US market with a lot of hope but also a lot of uncertainty. The idea of co-branded campaigns with US brands sounds amazing in theory—like, imagine partnering with a US coworking space company or a relocation-friendly employer for co-created content and shared audiences. But I have no idea how to actually find those partners, and more importantly, how to know if they’re worth partnering with.
I know the platform has partner-matching features, but I’m not sure how to use them effectively. Do I just browse through and reach out to brands that seem related? Do I look at their follower count? Their engagement? Their existing partnerships?
The other thing that concerns me is whether I’m being strategic about this. We could probably find some brands willing to collaborate, but finding the right brands—ones where our relocation services are actually a good fit for their audience, and vice versa—that’s a different story.
I’m also curious about how other founders have approached this. Did you find that one or two really solid partnerships early on were better than trying to hustle lots of smaller collaborations? How did you actually vet whether a potential partner was trustworthy before investing time and resources?
What’s your actual process been for identifying and vetting US partners, especially when you’re coming in as a relatively unknown brand from abroad?
Oh, this is music to my ears because partnership-building is so much of what I do. Let me be real with you: the partner-matching feature is a starting point, but it’s not a silver bullet.
Here’s how I think about it: you’re not just looking for brands in adjacent spaces. You’re looking for brands whose audience has a genuine need for relocation services. So instead of starting with ‘coworking companies,’ think about it more specifically: ‘which coworking companies have customers who are international, mobile, and regularly relocating?’
When I’m using the matching feature, I actually do this: I look at three things: (1) does their audience align with people who might need relocation services, (2) are they actively creating content or running campaigns (meaning they’re actual partners, not just dormant accounts), and (3) do they have a track record of collaborating with other brands?
Then, before I reach out, I spend time understanding what they actually care about. Do they seem focused on growth? Community building? Brand awareness? That tells me how to frame the partnership conversation. A company obsessed with growth wants to know ROI. A company obsessed with community building might care more about how the partnership feels authentic.
My advice: start with one or two really solid partnership conversations instead of blasting 20 brands with generic outreach. Quality over quantity always wins.
Also, don’t underestimate the power of asking for warm introductions. If you know someone in your network who knows someone at a promising partner company, use that. Warm intros convert way better and you immediately have social proof.
I’d add a data layer to this: before you commit to a partnership, pull their content performance over the last three months. Look at their engagement rates, audience growth, and the types of content their audience actually engages with most.
Here’s what I learned: a brand with 100k followers but 1% engagement is often a worse partner than a brand with 20k followers and 8% engagement. Why? Because the smaller brand’s audience is actual humans who pay attention. The bigger brand might have bought followers or have a disengaged base.
For relocation specifically, I’d also look at whether a potential partner’s audience matches your target customer profile. If you’re helping startup founders relocate, partnering with an HR software company makes sense. But if you’re helping remote workers relocate, maybe a coworking company or digital nomad app is better.
I usually create a simple scorecard: audience alignment (1-5), engagement quality (1-5), brand reputation (1-5), growth trajectory (1-5). Any partner scoring below 12/20 is probably not worth the time investment.
Does the platform show you engagement data for other brands? If not, I’d ask that question directly before you reach out to anyone.
We did this for our European expansion and made some real mistakes early on. Let me share what actually works:
First partnership we pursued: a huge recruitment company. They seemed perfect on paper. Big audience, European focus, related services. Took us six weeks to negotiate a partnership agreement. In the end? Their audience wasn’t interested in what we were doing. Wasted a lot of time.
Second partnership (which actually worked): a much smaller company—maybe 15k followers—that helped young professionals navigate international career moves. Smaller brand, but super engaged audience. That collaboration converted actual customers for us.
The lesson: talk to founders or partnership people at the companies first, before you get excited. Ask them directly: ‘who are your ideal customers, and would they benefit from relocation services?’ You’ll get honest answers and fast. If they see the fit, they’ll be excited to work with you. If they don’t, you’ve saved yourself six weeks.
Also, I learned to prioritize partnerships where there’s actual complementary value. We’re not just adding features to their platform—they’re solving a real problem for their users with our services, and we’re getting access to their audience. That symmetry matters.
I’m going to give you the honest agency perspective: most brand partnerships fail because one side (usually the smaller partner) doesn’t have clear expectations about what success looks like.
When you approach a potential partner using the matching feature, have these conversations before you start planning campaigns:
- What does success look like for them? Is it leads? Brand awareness? Content for their channels?
- What are they actually willing to commit? Time from their team? Budget? Audience access?
- What’s the timeline and exclusivity? Some brands won’t partner with competitors, some will.
- How will you measure results and optimize?
I’ve seen partnerships with the right brand fall apart because neither side understood what the other actually wanted. Don’t let that be you.
Also—and this is crucial—start small. First partnership should be a single co-branded content piece or campaign, not a multi-month exclusive deal. That gives both of you a chance to see if you actually work well together before you lock into something bigger.
For vetting trustworthiness, I literally ask for references. ‘Can you introduce me to one other company you’ve partnered with?’ Most legit brands will. If they can’t or won’t, that’s a red flag.
From a creator perspective, I’m always watching which brands are collaborating with other creators authentically versus just trying to extract value. So if you’re partnering with a brand, ask yourself: are we actually creating something good together, or are we just cross-promoting to extract each other’s audiences?
The partnerships that feel authentic to me are the ones where both brands genuinely use and believe in each other’s services. Like, if I partnered with a relocation service, I’d want it to be because I actually thought ‘my audience would genuinely benefit from knowing about this.’
So when you’re vetting potential partners, also think about this: would a creator want to make content about a partnership between these two brands? Would it feel like a genuine recommendation or just an awkward co-marketing deal?
If the answer is the latter, maybe rethink the partnership.
Strategically, I’d recommend thinking about partnership tiers:
Tier 1 (validation): Small, fast partnerships (2-4 weeks) with brands where audience alignment is clear and risk is low. Goal is to create repeatable proof points that the co-marketing model works.
Tier 2 (scale): Once you’ve validated with Tier 1, move to bigger brands or longer-term collaborations. But you now have case studies showing partnership ROI.
Tier 3 (integration): Deeper partnerships where services are actually integrated (like relocation + employer sponsorship deals, etc.). These require more trust and longer timelines.
For finding Tier 1 partners using the matching feature, I’d look for: (1) brands with 10k-100k followers (not billions), (2) high engagement, (3) audiences in your target geography, (4) evidence they’ve done partnerships before.
Before you reach out, I’d also research their recent content and customers if possible. Can you see who they’re helping? If that profile overlaps with your target customer, you’ve got something to work with.
One more thing: create a simple partnership brief before you pitch. ‘Here’s what I think we could do together, here’s why our audiences overlap, here’s what success looks like.’ Brands are way more likely to say yes to a concrete idea than a vague exploration.