4.5Collaborations & cross-promotion
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Collaborations expose each creator to the other's audience: win-win growth.
- Aim for channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
- Cross-promotion relays its videos elsewhere (social networks, newsletter, site).
Fil Lina — Collaborations & cross-promotion
Lina is preparing an exchange with another designer. She must define the format, expectations, usage rights and cross-promotion before filming.
Continuation of the common thread: Lina builds “Lina Atelier” step by step, a channel of sewing and DIY tutorials.
1. Understand
We rarely grow up alone. Collaborations between creators are one of the most effective growth levers: by working with another channel on a similar topic (common video, cross-appearance, mention), each exposes themselves to the audience of the other — an audience already interested in the subject, therefore likely to subscribe. It's a win-win exchange: two creators add up their audiences instead of fighting over them. The most fruitful collaborations bring together channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
Beyond collaborations, cross promotion consists of relaying your videos elsewhere: on social networks (Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn depending on the audience), in a newsletter, on a website or a blog. We shouldn't rely solely on internal YouTube discovery: each additional channel brings views and new viewers. The Shorts and extracts on other platforms (section 4.1 and 5.5) participate in this logic. The general idea: get out of your bubble, go where your potential audience is, and build relationships with other creators. Growth accelerates when you combine good content (which retains) with active distribution (which discovers). Making yourself visible is part of the job, as much as producing.
2. Key points
Collaborations expose each creator to the other's audience: win-win growth.
Aim for channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
Cross-promotion relays its videos elsewhere (social networks, newsletter, site).
Growth combines good content (retain) and active distribution (discovery).
🔎 Concrete example — Concrete example — Collaborations & cross-promotion
Identify creators of comparable size and complementary themes for win-win collaborations.
Propose a joint project (video for two, joint appearance, mention) exposing each to the other's audience.
Relay your videos on the channels where your audience is located (social networks, newsletter, site/blog).
Combine good content (which retains) and active distribution (which introduces people), and build lasting relationships between creators.You accelerate your growth through collaborations (added audiences) and cross-promotion (active distribution) — not just on YouTube.
Section vocabulary
- Collaboration
- Joint project between creators (video, appearance, mention) exposing each to the other's audience.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Collaboration (collab)” in her channel project: collaborations & cross-promotion.
What it is not: Reduce “Collaboration” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Cross promotion
- Relay of its videos on other channels (social networks, newsletter, site) to broaden the audience.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Cross Promotion” in her channel project: collaborations & cross promotion.
What it is not: Reduce “Cross Promotion” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Additional audience
- Audience from a similar topic channel, likely to be interested in yours during a collaboration.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Complementary Audience” in her channel project: collaborations & cross-promotion.
What it is not: Reduce “Additional Audience” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Social networks
- Platforms (Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, etc.) used to relay and discover your videos.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Social Networks” in her channel project: collaborations & cross-promotion.
What it is not: Reduce “Social Media” to a one-size-fits-all recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
- Distribution
- All actions to distribute your videos beyond YouTube and reach more viewers.
Simple example: Lina mobilizes “Distribution” in her channel project: collaborations & cross-promotion.
What it is not: Reduce “Distribution” to a single recipe or setting unrelated to the audience.
Reflex: Does it clarify the promise, format, or value to the audience?
In practice — Collaborate and promote your videos
- Identify creators of comparable size and complementary themes for win-win collaborations.
- Propose a joint project (video for two, joint appearance, mention) exposing each to the other's audience.
- Relay your videos on the channels where your audience is located (social networks, newsletter, site/blog).
- Combine good content (which retains) and active distribution (which introduces people), and build lasting relationships between creators.
Script ready to say — Collaborations & cross-promotion (25 sec)
“Collaborate with other creators and share your videos on social networks to accelerate growth. I rely on this benchmark: collaborations expose each creator to the audience of the other: win-win growth.”
Short formulation, to be adapted to the recipient and the context.
Copy and paste template — “Collaborations & cross-promotion” checklist
CHECKLIST — Collaborations & cross-promotion
1. Collaborations expose each creator to the other's audience: win-win growth.
2. Aim for channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
3. Cross-promotion relays its videos elsewhere (social networks, newsletter, site).
4. Growth combines good content (retain) and active distribution (discovery).
EXPECTED RESULT: You accelerate your growth through collaborations (added audiences) and cross-promotion (active distribution) — not just on YouTube.Express version
Collaborations expose each creator to the other's audience: win-win growth.
As a team
Aim for channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
Point of vigilance
Cross-promotion relays its videos elsewhere (social networks, newsletter, site).
Control before distribution
You accelerate your growth through collaborations (added audiences) and cross-promotion (active distribution) — not just on YouTube.
✓ Best practices
- Collaborations expose each creator to the other's audience: win-win growth.
- Aim for channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
- Cross-promotion relays its videos elsewhere (social networks, newsletter, site).
✗ Common pitfalls
- Treat “Collaborations & cross-promotion” by feeling without defining the objective or the audience.
- Copying a viral recipe without checking that it serves your topic and format.
- Publish without proofreading the title, thumbnail, sound and rights before distribution.
Key takeaways
- Collaborations expose each creator to the other's audience: win-win growth.
- Aim for channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
- Cross-promotion relays its videos elsewhere (social networks, newsletter, site).
- Growth combines good content (retain) and active distribution (discovery).
48 hour challenge — apply tomorrow
Put “Collaborate and promote your videos” into practice in a real case of Lina: Identify creators of comparable size and complementary themes for win-win collaborations. Time it for 20 minutes, publish or test the result, then note what changed.
- I can explain and apply: Collaborations expose each creator to the other's audience: win-win growth.
- I can explain and apply: Aim for channels of comparable size and complementary themes.
- I can explain and apply: Cross-promotion relays its videos elsewhere (social networks, newsletter, site).
Frequently asked questions
How do you propose a collaboration when you are a small channel?
First, target creators of comparable size to yours: a small channel is unlikely to have a huge one accept, but two modest channels with complementary themes have every interest in joining forces. Then, provide value before asking: take a sincere interest in their content, comment, share, build a real connection rather than sending a cold message “are we doing a collab?” ". When you propose, be concrete and win-win: a precise idea for a joint video or exchange that clearly benefits both audiences (not just you). Show that you have thought about what you bring. Many creators are open to collaborations because they know the value — but they also receive a lot of opportunistic requests. The difference is made by the relevance (sticky themes), the sincerity of the relationship and the mutually beneficial nature of the proposal. Collaborations are often born from patiently built relationships, not from cold messages.
Do you have to be present on all social networks to promote your channel?
No — it’s better to be effective on a few channels than scattered everywhere. Spreading yourself over all the networks at once is the best way to do poorly and burn out. Choose 1 or 2 platforms where your target audience is actually located and which lend themselves to your content: TikTok and Instagram Reels for dynamic vertical snippets, LinkedIn for professional/B2B content, X for news and discussion, a newsletter for a direct and loyal link, etc. The ideal is to recycle intelligently (a long video extract becomes a Short or a Reel — see 4.1 and 5.5), to promote without doubling your workload. The goal is not to “be everywhere” but to not depend solely on YouTube’s internal discovery, by seeking viewers where they already are. Start with a well-maintained secondary channel, and only expand if you have the capacity.
What should we remember from “Collaborations & cross-promotion”?