Summary
Gaining new customers via email partnerships requires a multifaceted approach encompassing legal compliance, technical configurations, and audience engagement strategies. Prioritize obtaining explicit opt-in consent over opt-out methods, ensuring lists are genuinely interested and compliant with regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM. Understand and adhere to jurisdictional laws related to email marketing. Implement technical measures such as SPF and DMARC to authenticate emails and protect your domain's reputation. Ensure data is thoroughly cleansed, validated, and managed with care, treating partner data with the same diligence as your own, including fixing errors and removing spam traps. Craft clear and transparent communication about the partnership with an engaging opt-in request, and create tailored content for segmented audiences to improve engagement. Monitor deliverability metrics, warm up new sending domains/IPs gradually, and implement feedback loops with your ESP to address issues promptly. Finally, establish data protection policies with partners to safeguard privacy and maintain trust.
Key findings
- Opt-In is Paramount: Explicit opt-in yields higher-quality lists and legal compliance.
- Technical Authentication: SPF and DMARC are crucial for email deliverability and domain protection.
- Legal & Ethical Compliance: Adherence to GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and transparency are vital for building trust.
- Data Hygiene: Clean and validate partner data to maintain sender reputation and engagement.
- Audience Alignment & Engagement: Tailored content and targeted messaging improve engagement.
Key considerations
- Jurisdictional Laws: Familiarize yourself with the specific laws in your target market.
- Data Protection Policies: Establish clear data protection agreements with your partners.
- Opt-In Messaging: Craft engaging and clear opt-in requests that resonate with the audience.
- List Segmentation: Segment partner-provided lists for relevant and targeted content.
- IP Warm-Up: Gradually warm up new sending domains and IPs to establish a positive reputation.
- Deliverability Monitoring: Regularly monitor deliverability metrics and adjust strategies as needed.
- Transparency: Be upfront about your partner relationship
What email marketers say
10 marketer opinions
Gaining new customers through email partnerships involves several key best practices. It's crucial to obtain explicit opt-in from recipients, rather than relying on opt-out methods, to ensure a higher quality list. Co-branded email campaigns leverage the combined audiences of both partners, fostering trust and generating leads. Defining clear roles and responsibilities between partners is essential for efficient and coordinated email efforts. Segmentation of partner-provided lists allows for tailored content that resonates with subscribers, maximizing engagement. Thorough list cleansing and validation improves sender reputation by removing inactive or invalid addresses. Ensuring alignment between the partner's audience and your target demographic enhances the likelihood of conversions. Joint lead magnets offer exclusive content to attract new customers. Tailoring messaging to resonate with the partner's audience improves engagement. Closely monitoring email deliverability metrics enables data-driven campaign adjustments. Warming up new sending domains or IPs gradually ensures optimal deliverability. Data must be treated with care, and cleaned and maintained as soon as you get it. Transparency in your emails to the customer on the relationship is also important.
Key opinions
- Opt-In Preference: Opt-in methods are preferable to opt-out, leading to better list quality and engagement.
- Co-Branding Benefits: Co-branded campaigns leverage shared audiences, build trust, and generate leads.
- Alignment Matters: Partner audience alignment with your target demographic boosts conversion potential.
- Data Driven Optimization: Regular monitoring of deliverability metrics facilitates data-driven campaign adjustments.
- List Hygiene: Data must be treated with care and cleaned often.
Key considerations
- Roles & Responsibilities: Clearly define roles and responsibilities with your partner to avoid overlap.
- List Segmentation: Segment partner-provided lists for tailored, relevant content.
- Audience Alignment: Assess the alignment of your target audience with that of your partner's.
- Messaging Tone: Tailor your messaging to resonate with your partner's audience.
- IP Warm-up: If using a new domain/IP, warm it up gradually to maintain deliverability.
- Transparency: Be clear about your partnership.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Customer.io explains that it is important to monitor your email deliverability rates closely, including open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates, to make data-driven adjustments to your campaigns.
17 Jun 2022 - Customer.io
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailchimp Blog responds that you should segment partner-provided lists carefully to target the most relevant subscribers with tailored content, and to avoid sending generic emails that may not resonate.
25 Mar 2025 - Mailchimp Blog
What the experts say
8 expert opinions
When acquiring new customers via email partnerships, prioritizing explicit opt-in over opt-out is crucial for deliverability and legal compliance. Understanding and adhering to relevant jurisdictional laws is essential, as is employing transparent communication about the partnership to build trust and minimize spam complaints. Data protection policies should be established, and partner data must be handled with the same level of care as your own, including diligent cleaning to remove errors and spam traps. Engaging introductions like "Hi! We’re CompanyX! Sign up for our newsletter!" can effectively solicit opt-ins.
Key opinions
- Opt-In is Key: Prioritizing opt-in sign-ups leads to better deliverability and a reduced risk of being marked as spam.
- Legal Awareness: Knowing the laws of your target jurisdiction is vital.
- Transparency Builds Trust: Honest and transparent communication about the partner relationship reduces spam complaints.
- Data Care is Essential: Partner data should be cleaned, validated, and handled with the same diligence as your own.
Key considerations
- Opt-in strategy: Employ a clear and engaging method for obtaining explicit opt-in from potential customers.
- Legal Compliance: Understand and adhere to the data protection laws and regulations applicable to your target audience.
- Spam Traps: Ensure that any opt-out strategy doesn't allow you to bypass spam traps.
- Data Policies: Establish data protection policies with your partner to comply with data regulations.
- Data Maintenance: Set aside time to clean your data to minimise the amount of bad data
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks suggests emailing users to request an opt-in instead of opt-out to ensure the ESP list is genuinely opt-in, leading to better deliverability and reduced risk of being blocked as spam.
31 Dec 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that you must treat partner data with the same care as your own. You can't be lackadaisical with partner's data.
18 Jun 2024 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
When gaining new customers from a partner using email, several technical and compliance best practices are crucial. Implementing SPF authentication improves email deliverability. Setting up DMARC helps protect your domain's reputation and minimizes unauthorized use. Compliance with GDPR and CAN-SPAM regulations, including obtaining explicit consent, is essential. Utilizing feedback loops with your ESP allows for the identification and removal of subscribers marking emails as spam. Including a clear and conspicuous opt-out mechanism in every email is required.
Key findings
- Email Authentication: SPF authentication enhances email deliverability when sending on behalf of a partner.
- Domain Protection: DMARC setup protects your domain's reputation and minimizes unauthorized use.
- Regulatory Compliance: GDPR and CAN-SPAM compliance, including explicit consent, is mandatory.
- Feedback Loop Benefits: Feedback loops with your ESP help identify and remove spam complainers.
- Opt-Out Requirement: A clear opt-out mechanism in every email is legally required.
Key considerations
- SPF Implementation: Ensure SPF records are correctly configured to authorize sending on behalf of your domain.
- DMARC Policy: Establish a DMARC policy to dictate how receiving mail servers should handle unauthenticated mail.
- Consent Management: Implement systems to capture and manage explicit consent from recipients before emailing them.
- Feedback Loop Configuration: Work with your ESP to configure and monitor feedback loops to identify and address deliverability issues.
- Opt-Out Process: Ensure your opt-out process is simple, clear, and compliant with regulations.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Support explains compliance with GDPR and CAN-SPAM regulations is critical. Obtain explicit consent before emailing recipients from your partner's list.
12 Feb 2022 - support.google.com
Technical article
Documentation from ietf.org explains using SPF (Sender Policy Framework) to authenticate your emails and improve deliverability when sending on behalf of a partner.
9 Mar 2025 - ietf.org
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