How to run a co-marketing campaign

You have a product, a small following and a short email list, and another small brand already sells to the people you want. This guide shows how to run a co-marketing campaign with that brand: one joint campaign, planned on one page, run for 14 days and counted by partner. Most founders ask three big brands for a "collab", offer nothing clear, hear nothing and give up on partners.

Do these three things

About 4 hours a day, every day. Judge your messages after 1,400 (2 weeks), and judge each campaign 7 days after it ends.

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1. 1Today: list 100 brands that sell to your buyers but do not compete with you, and pick one joint campaign you can run in 14 days: a newsletter swap, joint posts with a giveaway, a bundle, a joint guide or a joint webinar.
2. 2Every day: send 100 personal messages to those brands with that one idea, and follow up 3 times. Once a partner says yes, post about the campaign 2 times a day on each channel you both use.
3. 3Every Sunday: count replies, yeses, and the sign-ups and orders from each partner's own tracking link and code. After 1,400 messages, change your first line if fewer than 1 in 100 said yes.

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1. List 100 brands that sell to your buyers but do not compete with you

A good co-marketing partner sells something different to the same buyer. Every day, add 100 such brands to a sheet, each with a named founder and a way to reach them. You need that many because most brands will not answer.

Where to find them:

• Ask your customers. In your next customer chats, ask everyone who has bought or signed up: "What else do you buy or use for this?" Write down every brand they name. Those are the brands your buyers already trust.
• Your competitors' partners. Open the sites and posts of 10 competitors. Note every brand they have run a giveaway, a bundle or a joint post with. Those brands say yes to partners.
• Who your buyers follow. Open the Instagram, LinkedIn or X accounts of 20 people who fit your best buyer and list the small brands they follow.
• Newsletters and podcasts in your niche. A newsletter writer or a podcast host with your buyers as readers is a partner too. Search "[your niche] newsletter" and look at the hosts you would pitch as a podcast guest.
• The next category over. For a store, search Shopify and Etsy for products your buyer uses with yours. For software, look at the tools your product connects to, and at the integration marketplaces where they list their partners.

Pick brands about your size. Start with brands that have up to 3 times your followers or email subscribers. Much bigger brands rarely say yes to a brand they do not know. Add a few bigger names each day, but most of your list should be your size.

Let AI do the reading. Paste 10 brand websites at a time into ChatGPT or Claude. Ask for each one: what it sells, who buys it, the founder's name, and whether it has done a partner campaign before. Check each fact before the row goes in. That is about 30 seconds a row, so 100 rows take about an hour. Keep it the same way you would keep a lead list: about 3,000 rows a month to send 100 messages a day.

Brand | What it sells | Who buys it | Founder or marketing lead | Email or DM | Instagram followers | Email subscribers (if shown) | Past partner campaigns | One true reason it fits | Try 1 | Try 2 | Try 3 | Reply | Next step

If you run a B2B company or a SaaS: your best partners are tools and services your buyer uses in the same week as yours, and consultants who serve the same buyer. Look at your buyers' tech stack, at software directories in your category, and at the speakers at events your buyers attend.

If you run an agency: partner with a business that serves your clients but does not do your work, such as a web designer, a bookkeeper or a software tool your clients use. If they want to send you clients again and again, turn it into a referral partnership.

• Tool: Google Sheets, and ChatGPT or Claude to read the websites.
• Time: about 1 hour a day.
• You will have: 100 new rows a day, about 3,000 a month.
• It worked if: 9 in 10 rows have a named person and a way to reach them, and every row says why the brand fits your buyer.
• Common mistake: listing only famous brands 50 times your size, or brands that sell almost the same thing as you.

2. Pick one joint campaign you can run in 14 days

Before you message anyone, choose the one campaign you will offer. A brand says yes to a clear, small idea with dates. It ignores "would you like to collab?" Pick the format from the table, and plan to do almost all the work yourself.

The decision rule: a D2C store starts with joint posts and a giveaway, plus a cross-discount. A SaaS or B2B company starts with a newsletter swap and a joint guide, and moves to a joint webinar once one campaign has worked. An agency starts with a joint guide for the shared client. If your email list has fewer than 100 people, do not lead with a newsletter swap. You have little to swap yet. Lead with a format where you bring the work or the prize.

Make it easy to say yes. Offer to write every post, email and page, design the images, and pay for your half of the prize. The partner only has to approve and post. That is the offer that works when your audience is small. A joint guide also earns each of you a link from the other's site, which helps you get backlinks.

Write the offer in two sentences: what you will do together, and what each brand gets.

[Your brand] and [their brand] run [the campaign] for 14 days from [date], to reach people who [what your shared buyer does or wants].
I make all of it: [the posts / the email feature / the guide / the giveaway page], and you approve each piece before it goes out; you get [what they get: new email subscribers who ask to hear from you, a feature to my list, a link from my site, a share of the sales].

• Tool: your partner sheet and a note on your phone.
• Time: 30 minutes.
• You will have: one campaign and a two-sentence offer you can paste into every message.
• It worked if: a friend reads the two sentences and can say what both brands get and when it ends.
• Common mistake: offering three formats "or anything you like". The partner then has to plan it, so it never starts.

3. Send 100 partner messages a day and follow up 3 times

Every day, send 100 personal messages to brands on your list, each with your two-sentence offer and one true line about them. Follow up 3 times.

How 100 a day is possible. AI drafts each message from the row's "one true reason". You read it, fix the first line, and send it.

1. 1

   Draft (30 minutes)

   Paste 20 rows at a time into ChatGPT or Claude with the template below. Check each fact, and rewrite any first line that could be about anyone.

2. 2

   Send (1 hour)

   Send one at a time from your own inbox, LinkedIn or Instagram account. Log the date in Try 1, Try 2 or Try 3.

3. 3

   Reply and book (30 minutes)

   Answer every reply the same day, and book a 20-minute call with everyone who says "maybe".

Spread the 100 across channels, inside each one's limits. Send cold email from a second domain you have warmed up, about 30 a day from each mailbox, follow-ups included. LinkedIn allows about 100 connection requests a week, so send LinkedIn messages to people you can already reach. For small consumer brands, also send Instagram DMs from your brand account. Write each one yourself. Pasting the same text to hundreds of accounts is spam, not volume. Each brand gets 3 follow-ups, 3 to 4 days apart, then stops.

Do not post "looking for co-marketing partners" in public groups and wait. Those posts mostly bring people selling services. Ask brands one by one.

Subject: [their brand] x [your brand]: one idea for [month]Hi [first name],[One true line: a customer of mine named you, a post of yours, a product launch, a past giveaway you ran.]We both sell to [the shared buyer]. Here is one idea: [your two-sentence offer].If it sounds good, I can send a one-page plan this week. If not, no reply needed.[Your name], [your brand] · [link]

Hi [first name], one more line on this. [New true fact, or the first draft: "I made a draft of the post so you can see it: [link]."] Worth 14 days in [month]?

If you run a SaaS: offer something the partner's users can use, such as a joint guide that shows both tools together, or a discount for their users. If your products connect, say so in the first line.

• Tool: Gmail or Google Workspace on a second domain, LinkedIn, Instagram, and ChatGPT or Claude.
• Time: about 2 hours a day.
• You will have: 100 messages sent a day, each logged, and every reply answered the same day.
• It worked if: after 1,400 messages (2 weeks), at least 1 in every 100 brands said yes. Under that, change your first line and your offer, and test them on the next 500.
• Common mistake: writing "want to collab?" with no idea, no dates and nothing the partner gets.

4. Agree the plan on one page before you make anything

When a brand says yes, write the whole campaign on one page and get both of you to approve it by email. It settles the dates, who makes what, how each brand counts its results, and who gets which sign-ups. Most joint campaigns that go wrong were never written down.

Fill in the template, send it, and book a 20-minute call to go through it. Give each brand its own UTM-tagged link and its own discount code, so you can each see what the other brought. If you sell online, check your conversion tracking records sales from those links before day 1.

Never swap email lists. Each brand sends to its own list. On a joint sign-up form, each brand gets its own consent box, unticked, naming the brand. In the UK and EU, consent to marketing must name the company that will send it. "Our partners" is not enough.

Campaign: [name] · Brands: [your brand] and [their brand]
Dates: starts [date], ends [date, 14 days later]. Results shared on [date, 7 days after the end].
Goal for each brand: [new email subscribers / orders / signups / leads]Who makes what: [your brand] writes and designs [every post, the email features, the entry page]. [Their brand] approves each piece within 2 days.
Where it runs: Instagram [Collab posts from both accounts, 2 a day]; [other channels, 2 posts a day each]; one email feature from each brand in the week of [date].
Offer: [the giveaway prize, the bundle, the discount, the guide or the webinar], worth $[total].
Links and codes: [your brand] uses [link with utm_source=their-brand] and code [CODE]; [their brand] uses [link with utm_source=your-brand] and code [CODE].
Sign-ups: the entry form has one unticked box for each brand. Each brand gets only the people who ticked its box. No list swaps.
Costs: each brand pays for its own half of the prize and its own shipping.
Rules: free entry, official rules linked from every post (step 5), "In partnership with [other brand]" on every post.
Either brand can stop the campaign with 2 days' notice.

If you run a B2B company: if the campaign is a joint guide or webinar that collects leads, agree before launch who follows up with whom, and in what order, so a buyer does not get two sales emails on the same day. Then follow up with your own leads by email.

• Tool: Google Docs, email, and a 20-minute call.
• Time: 45 minutes, including the call.
• You will have: a one-page plan both brands approved in writing.
• It worked if: both brands replied "approved" to the plan, and each brand has its own link and code working before day 1.
• Common mistake: starting to post before the dates, the codes and the sign-up rules are written down, then arguing about the results later.

5. Set up the giveaway or bundle so it follows the rules

Set up the offer the campaign points to: an entry page for a giveaway, a set or a code for a bundle, or a sign-up page for a guide or webinar. A giveaway has legal rules. In the US, a prize, plus chance, plus paying to enter makes an illegal lottery, so entry must always be free.

For a giveaway, check six things:

1. Free to enter. Entry is a sign-up form, not a purchase. Write "No purchase necessary" in the rules.
2. Official rules. One page linked from every post: who can enter (age and country), the dates, the prizes and their value, how and when winners are picked, and how they are told.
3. Instagram's lines. If you run it on Instagram, the rules must say that each entrant releases Instagram completely, and that the giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, run by or connected with Instagram. Do not ask people to tag themselves in a photo they are not in.
4. Keep total prizes under $5,000. In the US, New York and Florida require registration and a bond before a chance giveaway with more than $5,000 in prizes. A small joint prize stays far below that.
5. Say it is a partnership. Write "In partnership with [brand]" at the start of every post. The FTC says vague words like "collab" or "spon" can confuse people. If people post to enter, ask them to use a hashtag with the word "contest" or "sweepstakes" in it.
6. One consent box per brand, as in step 4.

If your buyers are outside the US, check your country's giveaway rules before you launch.

[Giveaway name]: official rules
No purchase necessary. A purchase does not improve your chance of winning.
Who can enter: residents of [countries or states], aged [18] or over. Employees of [both brands] and their families cannot enter.
Dates: opens [date, time, time zone], closes [date, time, time zone].
How to enter: fill in the form at [link]. One entry per person.
Prizes: [number] winners, each gets [prize], value $[amount]. Total value $[amount].
Winners: picked at random from all entries on [date], told by email within [2] days, and must reply within [7] days or a new winner is picked.
Run by: [your brand, address] and [their brand, address].
This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram. By entering, each entrant gives a complete release of Instagram.
Your data: each brand only emails you if you ticked its box. [Links to both privacy policies.]

For a bundle or cross-discount: the simplest version is two codes. Your store gives the partner's followers 15% off with their code, and theirs does the same for yours. To sell a set with both products, both of you can use Shopify Collective, which is free and lets one store sell the other's product while the maker ships it. It needs Shopify Payments and a supported country, including the US, Canada, the UK and most of the EU.

If you run a SaaS or B2B company: your "offer" is a sign-up page for the joint guide or webinar, with one consent box for each brand. Build it with your landing page tool and test it with a friend.

• Tool: Google Forms or your email tool's sign-up form, Google Docs for the rules, and Shopify discount codes or Shopify Collective.
• Time: about 2 hours, once.
• You will have: a live entry page with rules, or working codes and a bundle, ready on day 1.
• It worked if: a friend can enter without buying anything, sees two separate unticked boxes, and finds the rules from the post in one tap.
• Common mistake: "Buy to enter", "follow both accounts and tag 3 friends in the photo", or one shared box that sends every entrant to both lists.

6. Post the campaign 2 times a day on each channel for 14 days

For the 14 days, post about the campaign 2 times a day on every channel you both use, and send one email feature each in the same week. One joint post is easy to miss. 28 posts on each channel give both audiences many chances to see it.

Plan the 28 posts in one sitting. Mix four kinds: the offer (the giveaway, bundle or guide), how the two products or services work together (post ideas), each founder's short story, and a reminder with the end date. Ask ChatGPT or Claude to draft all 28 captions from your one-page plan, then edit each one and send the set to your partner for approval. Make half of them short portrait videos. Put every post on your content calendar.

On Instagram, use Collab posts. A Collab post shows on both brands' profiles and goes to both sets of followers. Before you publish, tap "Tag people", tap "Invite collaborator", search for the partner's account and tap "Done". The partner accepts it in their Messages: they tap the invite, then "Review", then "Accept". You can add up to 5 collaborators to a post, but not to Stories. Post from both accounts in turns, so each brand's followers see a mix. The Instagram guide covers the rest of your account.

On other channels, post from your own account and tag the partner's page on LinkedIn, Facebook and X. Cut each video and post to fit every channel, the way you would repurpose content. Every post links to the offer with your partner's own tracking link.

Email. In the same week, each brand sends its own list a short feature about the other: what they make, why you like it, and the offer. If you both use beehiiv, add each other in its recommendations too: its free plan includes the recommendation network. The newsletter guide shows how to grow the list you send to.

Subject line idea: [the offer, in 6 words or fewer]In partnership with [their brand]
[One line: what they make and who it is for.]
[One line: why you like it, in your own words: how you found them, what you use.]
[The offer: the giveaway, the set, the code or the guide, with the end date.]
[Button: Enter free / Shop the set / Get the guide] → [your partner link]

Keep answering comments and DMs every day: people who ask questions are the start of a community around your brand. Reply to every question within the same day, and send entrants who ask about the products to your store.

• Tool: the Instagram app for Collab posts, your scheduler for other channels, your email tool, and ChatGPT or Claude for drafts.
• Time: 3 hours to plan and draft the 28 posts, then about 1 hour a day.
• You will have: 28 posts on each channel over 14 days, and one email feature from each brand.
• It worked if: 2 posts went out every day on each channel, every post carries the partner line and the right link, and both email features went out in the agreed week.
• Common mistake: one joint post on day 1, then silence until the end date.

7. Count what each partner brought every Sunday

Every Sunday, fill in one row for your outreach and one row for each live campaign. Count sign-ups and orders by each partner's own link and code, not likes. Seven days after each campaign ends, decide whether to repeat it, change the format or move on.

Outreach row: Week | Messages sent | Follow-ups | Replies | Yeses | Plans approved | Best first line this week
Campaign row: Partner | Format | Dates | Posts per channel | Visits from their link | Entries or sign-ups | Ticked your box | Orders or signups with your code | Cost (prize + shipping) | Repeat? (yes / change / no)

After 1,400 messages (2 weeks), check your outreach: under 1 yes per 100 brands, rewrite the first line and the offer. Under 5 replies per 100, your list is wrong: pick brands closer to your size and your buyer.

Seven days after each campaign ends, check three numbers in this order:

1. New subscribers who ticked your box. If it is under 1 in 2 entrants, your box or your brand was hidden. Put your name first next time.
2. Orders or signups with your code. No orders but many new subscribers: the list is still worth it. Send them a welcome email with the code and count again in 14 days.
3. Cost per new customer. Add the prize, the shipping and your hours, and divide by new customers. Compare it with your other channels, using the same sum as your cost to win a customer.

If a campaign brought orders, run it again with the same partner in a new format, and offer them an ongoing referral partnership or a spot in your affiliate program. If it brought nothing, thank the partner and give the next slot to the next yes on your list. Run one campaign at a time and keep the next ones booked: with 100 messages a day, you should have a new partner ready every 2 weeks.

If you run a B2B company or a SaaS: count leads and booked calls from the joint guide or webinar by source, and add them to your sales pipeline in your CRM or sheet. Ask every new customer "How did you hear about us?" so you know which channel brought each deal.

• Tool: Google Sheets, and your Shopify, email tool or analytics reports.
• Time: 20 minutes each Sunday.
• You will have: one outreach row a week, one row per campaign, and a decision for each partner.
• It worked if: you can say which partner and which format brought the most new subscribers and orders, and what you will run next.
• Common mistake: judging a campaign by followers and likes, or judging your outreach after 50 messages.

Where Scout7 helps

Scout7 speeds up one of the seven steps, step 6: making and scheduling your own posts for the campaign.

Making the posts. Scout7's image posts take an idea, such as "our two products used together on wash day", and make an original image and caption in your brand voice. You approve the concept and the finished post. Its video studio writes a script and makes a short portrait video with captions, and you approve the cut.

Scheduling 2 a day. Scout7 schedules posts to LinkedIn, X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Reddit and shows the 14 days in one calendar. Add the campaign's start and end dates as your own events, so the posts are planned around them. Nothing goes live without your approval. Post the Collab posts from the Instagram app, so you can invite your partner.

Your co-marketing checklist for your first campaign

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Step 1 · List 100 brands a day

• Set up your partner list and ask your customers what else they buy.
• Every dayAdd 100 brands that sell to your buyers but do not compete with you.

Step 2 · Pick one 14-day campaign

• Pick one joint campaign and write your offer in two sentences.

Step 3 · Send 100 partner messages a day

• Every daySend 100 personal messages to brands on your list.
• Every daySend today's follow-ups and answer every reply.

Step 4 · Agree the plan on one page

• Write the one-page plan with your partner and get it approved by email.

Step 5 · Set up the offer within the rules

• Set up the entry page with official rules, or the codes and bundle.

Step 6 · Post 2 times a day for 14 days

• Draft all 28 posts for each channel and get your partner's approval.
• Every dayPost 2 times on each channel and answer every comment and DM.
• Send one email feature about your partner to your list.

Step 7 · Count by partner every Sunday

• Every SundayFill in your Sunday sheet.
• After 1,400 messagesCheck your outreach and change the first line, offer or list.
• After each campaignCount the campaign's subscribers, orders and cost, and decide what to run next.

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