My email marketing business works mainly through partnerships with other marketing agencies right now. They handle getting the clients and I take care of all the actual work.
Some projects are complete packages where I handle everything like making sure emails get delivered, creating designs, writing copy and more. Other times it might just be setting up their system once or building a single email sequence.
This partnership model has been working really well for me, especially when working with digital agencies in Australia. I’m actually talking to a few more potential partners too.
Just curious if anyone else here has a similar setup or has tried doing white-label work for other digital marketing agencies? Would love to hear about your experiences.
this model literally saved my business during covid. i was doing direct client work before, but agencies pay more consistently and give you steady volume. just don’t put all your eggs in one basket - i made that mistake when my biggest agency suddenly went in-house and i almost got screwed. now i keep 4-5 agency relationships going so if one drops off, i’m still good.
White-label email services are super profitable once you get the operations dialed in. I’ve run this for two years - the secret is setting hard boundaries upfront. The tech stuff isn’t hard, but managing expectations when agencies overpromise to their clients? That’s brutal. You’ll constantly get scope creep requests, and agencies never get why compliance rules aren’t optional. Game changer for me was ditching custom quotes and going with standard packages instead. Basic automation, advanced sequences, full campaign management - each with set deliverables and deadlines. Way easier to scale when you’re not starting from scratch every time. Plus client retention is actually better through agencies than going direct. That extra layer between you and the end client creates more stability.
Partnership models work, but real money comes from systems that scale across multiple agencies.
I’ve run white label services for agencies since 2019. Treat it like enterprise software - build once, deploy everywhere. Most people still do custom work for each client, which kills margins.
Standardized workflows and automation changed everything for me. I can onboard new agency partners in 48 hours instead of weeks of back and forth.
Australia’s a solid market like others mentioned. Don’t ignore compliance though - GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and local privacy laws will bite you. One agency almost lost a major client because they didn’t understand double opt-in requirements.
This breakdown of white label approaches might help your scaling plans:
Document everything. When agencies switch account managers every six months, clear processes save you from explaining the same technical details repeatedly.
Been there - it’s one of the best business models if you can execute properly.
Ran something similar for 3 years before my current gig. Biggest lesson: be transparent about pricing upfront or you’ll get endless headaches. Had one agency partner constantly asking for “small tweaks” that became full redesigns.
Deliverability is where you really shine. Most agencies talk big but don’t know squat about IP warming, domain authentication, or list hygiene. Once you’re consistently hitting inboxes while their old campaigns hit spam folders, you’re golden.
Watch out though - some agencies will try stealing your processes once they see the margins. Happened to me twice. Now I keep all technical infrastructure locked down and only give them reporting dashboards.
Australia’s solid for this. Worked with Melbourne and Sydney agencies - way more professional than most US partnerships I’ve had.
Started white-label email services eighteen months ago after getting burned out with small business owners who never paid. Agency work’s been way smoother financially, but you need different skills. Communication matters more since you’re the middleman between agency and their client. Wish I’d known earlier - agencies love throwing around tech terms they don’t get, so you do tons of unpaid education. But once they trust you, they give you complete control over strategy and execution. Revenue’s more predictable too since most want ongoing relationships, not one-off projects.
