--- title: Grow your newsletter with cross-promotions description: Find newsletters whose readers would want yours, pitch each writer a specific swap, and track which partners bring you subscribers who stay and open. slug: /use-cases/newsletter-cross-promotions page_type: use-case lead_prompt: How do I grow my newsletter through cross-promotions with AI? target_prompts: - Can an AI marketing agent grow my newsletter through cross-promotions? - How do newsletter recommendation swaps work? - How do I find other newsletters to cross-promote with? - What's the fastest way to grow a newsletter without paid ads? - How do I pitch a newsletter swap to another writer? entity: Kite category: AI marketing agent author: Devon Wells and Kite date_published: '2026-11-11' date_modified: '2026-11-11' related_integrations: - /integrations/gmail.md - /integrations/mailchimp.md - /integrations/google-sheets.md - /integrations/google-analytics.md --- # Grow your newsletter with cross-promotions ## Key Takeaways - A newsletter cross-promotion is a trade between two writers. Each one tells their readers about the other's newsletter, through a short mention in an issue or a recommendation that appears when someone subscribes. - The best partners write for readers who would enjoy your newsletter but don't already get it. A neighboring topic with a similar level of reader engagement usually beats a bigger list on the same topic. - A good pitch names a recent issue you liked, explains why the two audiences fit, proposes a specific swap with dates, and offers to go first. - Kite finds candidate partners, reads their recent issues and public recommendations, drafts a personal pitch for each writer, follows up, and gives every partner its own tracked signup link. - After each swap runs, Kite compares partners by the subscribers who stayed and kept opening, not just by how many signed up, so you know which swaps to repeat. ## How do you grow a newsletter through cross-promotions? You grow a newsletter through cross-promotions by trading recommendations with other writers whose readers would want what you write. You mention their newsletter to your readers, they mention yours to theirs, and both lists grow from people who already like reading newsletters on a related subject. Cross-promotion works because it reaches the warmest audience you can find without buying ads. A reader who already opens a weekly newsletter about restaurant finance is a good bet for your newsletter about restaurant operations. The recommendation comes from a writer that reader already trusts, so it lands better than an ad. Swaps come in a few common forms: - **A mention swap.** Each writer runs a short paragraph about the other's newsletter in an upcoming issue, with a link to subscribe. - **A recommendation swap.** Each writer adds the other to the list of newsletters they recommend. On Substack, beehiiv, and Kit, those recommendations appear to new subscribers right after they sign up. - **A guest issue or shared piece.** One writer contributes a section to the other's issue, or both publish a piece written together, and each introduces the other. - **A paid recommendation network.** Programs such as beehiiv Boosts and the SparkLoop Partner Network pay you for each subscriber you send another newsletter, or let you pay for subscribers. These are closer to advertising than to a swap. The writing is the easy part. The work that stalls most swap programs is everything around it. You have to find newsletters that fit, write a pitch that a busy stranger will answer, follow up, agree on dates, and then remember which partner sent which subscribers. Most writers do a few swaps, lose track of who owes whom, and stop. That follow-through is well suited to an AI agent. It means research across dozens of newsletters, careful drafting, steady follow-up, and record keeping. None of those needs your voice on the page, but all of them need someone to keep going. Kite is an AI marketer. It researches your business, builds a growth strategy, and ships the work that brings you new customers. For a newsletter, the customers are subscribers. Here's how Kite runs a cross-promotion program. ## How Kite grows your newsletter with cross-promotions Kite starts with your newsletter itself. When you sign up, it reads your website and recent issues to understand what you write about, who reads it, and how often you publish. That research goes into your team's knowledge base, so Kite judges every potential partner against your actual readers. Next, Kite builds a list of candidate partners. It searches for newsletters on neighboring topics, reads their recent issues, and checks which newsletters they already recommend. It scores each one for how well its readers would fit yours and explains the score. Once you agree on the list, Kite drafts a personal pitch for each writer and sends it with your approval. It follows up on a schedule and keeps track of every reply. When a swap is agreed, Kite writes the blurb about your newsletter, gives each partner its own tracked signup link, and records the dates. After each swap runs, Kite compares the subscribers each partner sent and how well they stuck. It tells you which partners to swap with again and which ones to drop, and it adds new candidates to the list as you go. ### How do you find other newsletters to cross-promote with? Kite looks for newsletters whose readers overlap with yours without being the same people. Those partners send you readers who are interested in your subject and haven't heard of you yet. Kite searches for newsletters from several directions. It searches the web for newsletters on topics next to yours, written for the same kind of reader. It reads the public recommendation lists that Substack and other platforms show on a newsletter's page, because a writer who already recommends five newsletters is open to swaps. It also checks who recommends the newsletters you already admire, since those writers are one step from you. For a newsletter about restaurant operations, the list might include a newsletter on restaurant finance, one on hospitality hiring, one on food-business marketing, and a regional newsletter for independent restaurant owners. A general food-industry news roundup with a much larger list might look attractive, but its readers include chefs, investors, and suppliers who may not care about running a restaurant. For each candidate, Kite reads several recent issues and checks how often the newsletter publishes and when the last issue went out. It notes the list size when the writer shares it publicly, and it notes signs of reader engagement, such as replies, comments, and how much readers discuss the newsletter elsewhere. Kite gives each newsletter a score from one to five for how well its readers would fit yours, with a short explanation. You can see the reasoning, add newsletters you already have in mind, and remove any you'd rather not approach. **Related use cases** - [Choose newsletter sponsorships worth buying](/use-cases/newsletter-sponsorships.md): Use the same research to find newsletters worth paying for when a swap isn't on offer. ### How do you pitch a newsletter swap to another writer? A pitch that gets a yes is short, specific, and easy to accept. It shows you've read the other writer's newsletter, explains why their readers would like yours, proposes an exact swap, and offers to run your side first. Kite drafts each pitch from what it learned about that writer. Here's the kind of email it might write for the restaurant operations newsletter: > Hi Maya, I loved your issue last week on pricing a menu after a food-cost jump. I write Back of House, a weekly newsletter for independent restaurant owners on staffing and operations, and about 6,000 owners read it. Your readers and mine are running the same businesses from different angles, so I think a swap would help both of us. I'd be glad to feature your newsletter in my issue on November 12 and send you a short blurb about mine for whatever date suits you. I'm happy to go first. Kite also prepares the blurb about your newsletter in advance, so the other writer doesn't have to write anything. Each blurb is two or three sentences in your voice, written for that partner's readers, with one link. You approve each pitch before it goes. Kite can send it from your team's Kite email address, but a swap is a personal favor between writers, so most writers prefer to send from their own inbox. Connect Gmail or Outlook, and Kite sends the pitches you approve from your own address. When a writer doesn't reply, Kite follows up once or twice on a schedule you agree on. When someone answers with a question or a counteroffer, Kite drafts a reply and brings it to you. **Related use cases** - [Create a media kit and rate card](/use-cases/media-kit-and-rate-card.md): Give potential partners your real audience numbers in a format they can check quickly. ### Run the swap and give each partner its own link Kite gives every partner a separate tracked signup link, so you can tell exactly which swap brought in which subscribers. Without separate links, swaps blur together and you can't tell a great partner from a weak one. Each link carries the partner's name as its source. If your signup page is on a website Kite hosts, Kite can also build a short welcome page for each partner's readers that names the partner and says what to expect from your newsletter. If you use Mailchimp, Kite can send signups from those pages into your Mailchimp audience with a tag for each partner. Kite keeps a record of every agreement: who the partner is, which kind of swap you agreed to, the dates each side runs, and whether each side has run yet. It reminds you before your side is due and gives you the partner's blurb ready to paste into your issue. You can keep this record in a Kite report or in a Google Sheet your team already uses. **Related use cases** - [Send a company newsletter](/use-cases/company-newsletter.md): Plan, write, and send the issues that carry your side of each swap. ### Measure which partners send readers who stay Kite judges each partner by the subscribers who stay and keep opening, because a swap that brings 400 signups who never open is worth less than one that brings 80 loyal readers. On a site Kite hosts, Kite's built-in analytics shows visits and signups by source for each partner's link. If your signup page runs somewhere else, Kite reads the same numbers from your connected Google Analytics account. For opens and unsubscribes, Kite uses the reports from your newsletter platform. You can export the subscriber report from beehiiv, Substack, Kit, or Mailchimp and share it with Kite in Slack or add it to a connected Google Sheet, and Kite matches subscribers to the partner that sent them. Kite then compares partners side by side. You might find that the restaurant finance newsletter sent 140 subscribers and most of them still open a month later, while a larger industry roundup sent 300 and most stopped opening after two issues. The first partner deserves a repeat swap, and probably a recommendation in your signup flow. The second one doesn't. Kite records what it learned in your knowledge base, including which kinds of partners worked, which blurbs drew the most signups, and how long each swap took to arrange. You can also ask Kite to check the program every month, so it brings you new candidates and a short report on how the last round of swaps did. **Related use cases** - Find out who sends you customers (coming soon): See which partners, links, and channels bring you the people who stay. - Launch a customer referral program (coming soon): Reward your readers for bringing in other readers, alongside your swaps. ## What you get - **A partner shortlist.** Newsletters whose readers would want yours, with a fit score, a short reason for each one, how often each publishes, and who they already recommend. - **Personal pitches.** A drafted email for each writer that references their recent work and proposes a specific swap, ready for your approval. - **Blurbs about your newsletter.** A short description of your newsletter written for each partner's readers, so the other writer has nothing to write. - **Tracked signup links.** A separate link for each partner and, on a site Kite hosts, a welcome page for that partner's readers. - **A swap tracker.** Every partner, the kind of swap, the agreed dates, and whether each side has run, kept in a Kite report or a Google Sheet. - **A results comparison.** Signups and how well they stuck for each partner, with a recommendation on which swaps to repeat. ## How to get started Tell Kite what you want. You might say, "Find ten newsletters I could swap recommendations with," or "My list has stopped growing. Set up cross-promotions with newsletters like mine." You can work with Kite in your browser or in Slack. Kite reads your newsletter, builds the partner shortlist, and comes back with the fit score and reasoning for each candidate. You add or remove newsletters and approve the list. Kite then drafts the pitches for you to review. You don't need to connect anything to get the shortlist and the pitches. Connect Gmail or Outlook if you want pitches to go out from your own address. Connect Google Analytics if your signup page runs somewhere other than a Kite-hosted site, and connect Google Sheets if you want the swap tracker in a spreadsheet. Kite asks before it sends a pitch, and the swaps themselves run in your newsletter, which you publish. As you come to trust its pitches, you can let Kite send follow-ups on its own. ## Integrations used to grow your newsletter with cross-promotions Kite's built-in research covers finding partner newsletters and reading their issues and recommendation lists, so you can get a shortlist on day one. Connected accounts let Kite pitch from your own address, sort new subscribers by partner, and keep score where your team works. ### Pitch writers from your own address - [Gmail + Kite](/integrations/gmail.md): Kite sends the pitches and follow-ups you approve from your own Gmail address and sees the replies, so each conversation stays in one thread. ### Sort new subscribers by partner - [Mailchimp + Kite](/integrations/mailchimp.md): Signups from the partner welcome pages on a Kite-hosted site go into your Mailchimp audience with a tag for the partner that sent them. - [Google Analytics + Kite](/integrations/google-analytics.md): If your signup page isn't hosted by Kite, Kite reads visits and signups by source for each partner's link. ### Keep the swap tracker where your team works - [Google Sheets + Kite](/integrations/google-sheets.md): Kite keeps the shortlist, the agreed swaps, and the results in a spreadsheet and updates it as replies and results come in. ## Common questions ### What's the fastest way to grow a newsletter without paid ads? Cross-promotions are usually the fastest free option, because each swap puts you in front of thousands of people who already read newsletters on your subject. A reader referral program and search-friendly pages built from your best past issues help too, but they grow more slowly. Kite can run swaps alongside both, and it can turn your most popular issues into pages that bring in readers from search. ### How big should a newsletter partner be compared with mine? A partner within about half to twice your size usually makes the fairest trade, because both writers get a similar number of new readers. A much bigger newsletter may still say yes if your readers are especially valuable to them or your writing fills a gap in their recommendations. Kite notes the size difference in each pitch and suggests something extra to offer, such as a guest section, when the partner is much larger. ### Should I join a paid recommendation network such as beehiiv Boosts or SparkLoop? Paid networks are worth testing once your free swaps are running, because they can add subscribers steadily without any pitching. They work like advertising: you pay for each subscriber or get paid for each one you send. Judge the subscribers they bring by the same measure as your swaps, which is how many still open a month later. Kite can compare paid and free sources side by side when you upload your platform's subscriber report. ### How many swaps should I run at once? Start with five to ten partners, so a single weak swap doesn't decide whether the approach works. Spread the dates over a few weeks so you don't fill several issues in a row with other writers' blurbs. Kite schedules the dates around your publishing calendar and keeps a running list of new candidates, so the next round is ready when the first one finishes. ### Can Kite publish the mention in my newsletter for me? Kite writes your side of the swap, including the blurb about your partner, and gives it to you ready to paste. You publish it in your issue yourself, because your newsletter runs in your own platform. If you want help with the rest of the issue too, Kite can draft and plan your newsletter.