Brand Collabs on TYB: Best Practices

Brand collaborations are one of the highest-visibility things you can do on TYB. When two complementary communities come together around a shared moment, both brands benefit from cross-pollinated reach, a spike in engagement, and a more compelling prize than either brand would offer alone. This article covers how to find a partner brand, how to make the ask, and how to actually run the collab once both sides are aligned.

Why Run a Brand Collab

A well-executed brand collab on TYB delivers a few things at once:

Exposure to an adjacent, highly engaged audience that your existing marketing does not already reach

A high-value giveaway prize without bearing the full product cost alone

A natural spike in challenge entries and community growth driven by both brands promoting simultaneously

Cross-community discovery through the TYB feed, where members from both communities can find and enter the challenge

Step 1: Finding the Right Partner Brand

The best collab partners share your customer demographic but do not compete with you directly. Think about the brands your customers already buy alongside yours.

What to look for in a partner:

Complementary product category (e.g. skincare + wellness, haircare + fragrance, food + beverage)

Similar price point and brand aesthetic, so the audience overlap feels natural

An active TYB community with a consistent challenge cadence -- a collab works best when both brands are actively showing up for their communities

How to find brands on the platform:

Browse the TYB discovery feed to see which brands are active and growing. You can also ask your brand success team to suggest brands that may be a strong fit based on community size, category, and engagement.

Step 2: Come In With a Specific Idea

This is the most important part of a successful outreach. A vague "want to partner?" message is easy to ignore. A specific, timely idea with a clear hook is much harder to say no to.

Before you reach out, decide on the activation concept. Some examples of what this looks like in practice:

A seasonal moment: "We are planning a Mother's Day gift set giveaway and think our communities are a natural fit -- would you want to co-prize with us?"

A launch tie-in: "We are dropping a new SPF next month and want to run a summer skin routine giveaway. Your brand fits perfectly alongside it."

A shared interest or value: "Both of our communities skew wellness-forward. We would love to run a morning routine challenge together."

The more specific your ask, the easier it is for the other brand to say yes and move forward quickly. The goal of the initial outreach is not to negotiate - it is just to get aligned on whether the concept works for both sides.

Step 3: Making the Ask

Once you have your concept, keep the outreach short and direct. One clear ask is enough.

If you know the brand:

Tell them what you are planning, why their brand fits, and ask if they are open to a quick conversation.

If you do not know the brand:

Ask your brand success team to facilitate the intro. We can reach out to the other brand's account manager and connect you directly if they’re open to it. This is the fastest path and removes the friction of a cold outreach.

What to include in the initial ask:

The specific activation concept you have in mind with a blurb

Why the fit makes sense (shared audience, complementary categories, timely moment)

A low-pressure next step (e.g. "Would you be open to a quick 15-minute chat?")

Step 4: Aligning on the Structure

Once both brands are in, align on the following before anyone builds anything:

Each brand runs their own challenge/series

TYB does not support a single shared challenge posting across two communities. Each brand sets up and posts their own version of the challenge in their own admin. Both challenges should be live simultaneously and should reference each other clearly in the title and description. Coordinate on the copy so the experience feels cohesive from either entry point.

Agree on the prize

Each brand typically contributes product to create a combined gift set. Be specific: agree on the retail value and the number of winners before you go live.

Set the timeline

Most brand collab challenges run for 7 to 14 days. Align on start and end dates before either brand begins building.

Decide on winner count and selection

We recommend at least 2 to 5 winners to maintain excitement. Document the agreed selection method upfront.

Step 5: Building the Challenge/Series

Each brand sets up their version of the series independently in their TYB admin. For a step-by-step walkthrough of how to create a series, refer to the Series guide.

Recommended structure for a collab giveaway:

Challenge type: Giveaway (Series format works well for multi-step entry)

Suggested title format: [Your Brand] x [Partner Brand] -- [Activation Name, e.g. Mother's Day Giveaway]

Suggested entry steps (Series format):

Join [Partner Brand] on TYB and screenshot

Tag a friend who would love this collab in [your or your partner's] latest Instagram post and share a screenshot

Tell us: which product from each brand would you gift this [season / moment] and why? (Text response)

Challenge description tips:

Name both brands in the title and description

Spell out the full prize (products, quantity, number of winners)

Include the end date so members know the urgency

Reference both brands' social handles so members know who to follow

Step 6: Promoting the Collab

This is where most of the impact happens. Both brands should actively promote the challenge across owned channels for the full duration of the giveaway.

Recommended promotion checklist for both brands:

Instagram feed post announcing the collab (coordinated separate posts from each brand)

Instagram Stories with a swipe-up or link to your TYB community

Email to your customer list highlighting the collab and the prize

Mention in your TYB community chat

SMS blast to your subscriber list if applicable

The more symmetrical the promotion effort, the better it performs for both sides. If one brand has a significantly larger audience, it is worth discussing expectations upfront so both teams are aligned on what they are each committing to.

Community growth during a collab:

A well-promoted collab is one of the strongest organic community growth moments you can run. Both brands should have their cross-channel activation in place before the challenge goes live - an active post-purchase email flow, your TYB link in your Instagram bio, and a mention in your marketing emails - so that new members who discover your community during the collab have a path to join and stay engaged. If you need help auditing your activation setup before the collab, reach out to your brand success team.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of a Brand Collab

Have a specific activation hook. Seasonal moments (holiday gifting, summer routines, New Year reset) and product launch tie-ins perform better than standalone giveaways with no surrounding context.

Brief your brand success team before you go live. We can help coordinate timing, review your challenge setup, and flag any opportunities to amplify the moment.

Make sure post-purchase flows are active. New members who join during a collab are most likely to become long-term community members if they receive a follow-up email after their first purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do both brands need to be on TYB?

Yes. Both brands need active TYB communities for a full cross-community collab. If your partner brand is not on TYB, the giveaway can still run in your community with the partner contributing product, but the cross-community reach will be limited to your audience only.

Who handles winner fulfillment?

This is for both brands to agree on upfront. Most collabs handle fulfillment separately -- each brand ships their own product portion directly to winners.

Can we run coordinated challenges at the same time in both communities?

Each brand sets up the challenge in their own admin, with coordinated timing, copy, and promotion. This doubles the reach while keeping the setup simple on both sides.

How do we measure performance after the collab?

Your Advanced Analytics dashboard will show community growth, challenge entries, and engagement during the collab window. You can also use Klaviyo to segment members who joined during the campaign period and build a targeted follow-up flow to convert new members into active buyers.

Have questions about running a brand collab or want help identifying a potential partner? Reach out to your TYB Customer Success Manager and we will help get it started.

Brand Collaborations