The Growth Hack For Female-Owned Brands
Whilst the number of female entrepreneurs increases year on year, the odds are sadly still stacked against us. We continue to face more challenges than male founders, including funding gaps, visibility, and access to the right support networks.
And while things are slowly improving, we can’t afford to sit around waiting for the rest of the world to catch up. If we want our businesses to grow, we need to get proactive and in many cases, make our own luck.
One of the smartest ways to do this is through collaboration. Real, sustainable growth often happens through community, connection, and teaming up with others. It’s easy to forget just how many people are out there who would happily help, support, and work with us if we reached out.
Brand x Brand collaborations are your secret Growth weapon
For Female owned brands, don’t treat brand collaborations as a nice-to-have, an afterthought, or something you’ll squeeze in when you have more time. They have the potential to completely transform your business when done right.
Founders, especially startups and those working with tight budgets, need to be clever and strategic with their marketing. And swapping audiences with another brand is one of the most cost-effective ways to grow. Every collaboration increases your brand awareness, cements your credibility, and introduces your business to a new, highly relevant audience.
And the opportunities for collaboration are endless. Here are just a few ideas and the business goals they can help you achieve:
Social Media Giveaway – Grow your following and reach new audiences
Newsletter Giveaway – Increase your email subscriber list
Sampling – Drive sales, gather feedback, and encourage reviews
In-person or Online Event – Build community, increase brand engagement
Co-branded Product – New product development and drive sales
Gift Bundles – Boost sales, introduce customers to new products
Discount Swap – Attract new customers and drive conversions
Content Collaboration – Blog posts, Reels, or podcast episodes to add value and swap audiences
Joint Instagram Live – Engage both audiences in real-time conversations
Which female-founded brands can we take inspiration from?
There are some brilliant examples of this already happening:
Neom and Wild Nutrition teamed up to host an Instagram Live about the benefits of Magnesium. A perfect fit, since Neom offers beauty and body care products containing Magnesium, and Wild Nutrition specialise in nutrition and sell a Magnesium supplement.
Our Remedy and Ovviovita created a hair care bundle for their customers, combining Ovviovita’s hair products with Our Remedy’s supplements designed to support hair growth.
Perfect Ted and The Good Grain launched the first-ever vanilla matcha overnight oats, blending Perfect Ted’s famous Matcha with The Good Grain’s overnight oats expertise.
These kinds of collaborations not only generate buzz but deliver genuine value to both audiences.
Where to start with brand collaborations
Getting started with collaborations is easier than you might think.
First, plan collaborations early. Ideally, factor them in when mapping out your wider marketing strategy. This gives you time to find the right brand partners, develop your ideas, confirm any stock or budget needs, and set yourself up for success.
You’re also far more likely to secure partnerships if you give other brands plenty of notice.
Secondly, every collaboration should tie directly into your business goals, otherwise they serve no purpose.
- If summer tends to be quieter, plan a discount swap or giveaway to maintain momentum.
- If you want to grow your newsletter subscribers, aim for a quarterly newsletter giveaway.
- If you have a big revenue number to hit, plan a discount swap.
When shortlisting potential partners, prioritise brands that are highly relevant to your audience. It’s tempting to reach out to big-name, established brands, but you’re more like to get a response from businesses similar in size to yours. Even better if you can group multiple brands together for a bigger activation, like a multi-brand Instagram Giveaway or gift bundle.
Top tip: When reaching out to other brands, you need to Pitch the opportunity. Let them know what they get out of collaborating with you. Is it a highly engaged audience? A loyal subscriber list with a good open rate? This is especially important for startups that don’t come with a name like Nike or Skims, you need to let the other brand know what's in it for them.
Make the first move
The journey as a female founder isn’t easy, but it’s a lot lighter, and a lot faster, when you don’t do it alone. Brand collaborations aren’t just a marketing tactic; they’re a way to build community, grow your business, and uplift others as you rise. So, make the first move. Reach out to that founder you’ve been following, pitch an idea, and start building authentic growth.
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Amber is the co-founder of PartnerUp, think a dating site but for brands! She’s streamlined and redefined the process for mutually beneficial brand x brand partnerships and collaborations. After three years as a full-time digital nomad working in sales and partnerships, Amber launched PartnerUp in 2024 out of sheer frustration with clunky workflows and chaotic processes. She never planned to become a tech founder, but now she’s on a mission to simplify and modernise how brands team up for growth, all while travelling the world and learning to balance the tech startup life with her love for adventure.
