Is a White Label Email Marketing Agency Right for Your Business?

Should you invest in this or that? Is it better to use this strategy or that strategy? Which agency is better? Which agency works for your industry?

All these questions are common facets of email marketing. They form a massive bulk of a brand’s early marketing identity, and your choice of marketing agencies can make or break your business! Dig deep enough, and you’ll also find another question: Should you use a white-label email marketing agency?

Long-time readers of my blog will know the drill by now. However, for the newcomers, let me explain how this goes. We’ll start with the basics and build up from there. By the end of the blog post, you’ll be able to tell whether or not you want your email marketing efforts supported by a white-label product!

So, let’s get started!

What Is “White Label” Email Marketing?

First, we need to know what we’re talking about.

As Investopedia’s Carla Tardi explains, a white-label product is anything manufactured without its own label. Ostensibly, these no-name products will be repackaged under new branding. The practice stretches back to the 1990s and is most commonly seen on grocery store shelves. Think of all those “generic” brands — those Walmart “Twist ‘n’ Shout” Oreos, CVS “Adhesive Bandages,” and assorted varieties of “resealable bags.” All of these product offerings are white-label goods; they were manufactured by a third party and repackaged by another.

Now, apply this idea to email marketing software.

The definition remains the same. You’re still using one service (the email marketing platform) to create something (your email marketing campaigns) with your own branding.

White-Label Email Marketing Software at a Glance

Much like those knockoff Oreos and wanna-be Band-Aids, white-label email marketing software simplifies your workflow. Both agencies and in-house marketing teams enjoy more features, on-demand support, and full-service email marketing tools without the hassle of a proprietary platform.

In this analogy, think of the marketing platform as the outsourced manufacturer. That software is helping your brand promote itself and allowing you to overwrite its name. So you can — for example — use MailChimp to send email campaigns with your own branding. (As opposed to the default “Powered by MailChimp” footer of the free version.)

You also gain access to campaign management and assorted advanced features. The specifics of these extras depend on your chosen email service provider. However, most paid plans from email service providers include services such as:

• Advanced Analytics: These tools allow users to access in-depth information about their email marketing campaigns.
• Automation Tools: Most basic pricing plans include email automation tools (e.g., personalization, scheduling, and targeting).
• Customer Support: While support lines are open for everyone, many providers offer decreased response time for paying customers.
• Customization: A white-label email marketing suite usually includes basic customization features. At the very least, you’ll be able to apply brand colors to your campaigns.
• List Management: These tools offer clients the ability to conveniently monitor and manage their subscriber list.

Generally, clients taking the white-label route also enjoy a suite of exclusive management tools. These can be further customized to meet a business’ needs. For example, a service might offer custom pricing tiers with a defined set of key features.

And, again, all email campaigns will bear the sender’s branding. You’re unlikely to get this defining feature of white-label email marketing with a free plan; you’ll need to be a paying user. Otherwise, you’ll be sending email campaigns with annoying footers, which usually say something akin to “Sent with Generic Marketing Platform.”

So, What Is a White-Label Email Marketing Agency?

By extension, this makes a white-label email marketing agency an organization that uses its eponymous toolset to accentuate its core competencies. These days, most email marketing agencies use white-label software. (And we’ll get to the reason for that in a moment!)

While some of these companies may have their own platform, much of the work utilizes a host of white-label products. Furthermore, those products are attached to branded email accounts, which then send a white-label email when updating clients. Thus, clients enjoy a sense of consistency and stability while enjoying a reasonable turnaround time.

You generally won’t be able to tell if an email has been “white labeled.” After all, the goal is to appear genuine. Like Batman, marketers want to become the brand. They want to assume the brand identity, and that connection allows skilled teams to create a seamless stream of drip campaigns.

Examples of White-Label Email Marketing Software

Stretch the definition even further.

Most major email marketing platforms fall under the “white-label” umbrella.

They offer services — in this case, email marketing tools — that can be repackaged by another brand for a small fee. And as white-label solutions, these platforms provide brands and agencies with affordable on-demand email marketing.

Some of the most common examples of white-label email marketing software include:

• Constant Contact
• HubSpot
• Klaviyo
• MailChimp

All these platforms — and many others — offer a basic free version. This tier does not include white-labeling services. Users must pay for additional key features.

What Are the Perks of White-Label Email Marketing?

With that in mind, it’s time to move to the next topic. Why is white-label email marketing software so popular?

The answer is far from simple. As you’d expect from a business matter, there are multiple benefits. White-labeled email marketing is an excellent solution for many, and the precise reasoning varies. However, I can offer a general overview of its strengths.

White-Label Email Marketing Is Efficient

One of the biggest pulls of a white-label email solution is its efficiency.

Think about it this way: Would you want to create your own email marketing software? Does your small business have enough staff to do so? Similarly, do you have the resources to maintain that platform? And — once everything is set up — who will manage campaigns? What happens if you need additional sub-accounts?

White-label email services are a simple solution to these problems, as they…

• Can serve multiple clients.
• Have campaign management tools to keep content organized.
• Include easy-to-use drag-and-drop solutions to complex design problems.
• Include on-demand support and troubleshooting.
• Offer multiple tools to handle email marketing.
• (Often) include integrations to support additional features (e.g., signup forms and pre-built templates).
• Promote a company’s branding with simple email builder interfaces.
• Provide reliable email marketing services.

More importantly, these features are included with the white-label marketing platform. Small businesses don’t have to worry about a small-scale proprietary project manager crashing. Likewise, a white-label marketing agency can rest assured that its email marketing services will always be available.

Note, too, that this efficiency gives users great flexibility and scalability. As a marketing agency grows, it can turn to its white-label email marketing platform for additional services. For example, an agency might upgrade its paid plans to include tracking for additional revenue streams, thus improving its cross-channel marketing campaigns.

It’s Cost-Efficient, Too!

And don’t think I’m limiting the benefits of white-label email marketing software to the logistics. Agencies also enjoy lower costs, which translates to lower prices for small businesses.

Again, think about the outsourced nature of white-label email marketing.

A white-label solution improves everyone’s experience. Agencies enjoy an extensive feature list without in-house maintenance teams. Meanwhile, clients get reduced development costs and improved lead generation.

Clients Reach More People and Get Better Branding

Naturally, this means everyone gets better branding.

On the surface, this newfound connection can create unconscious associations. As different users acclimate to a brand’s identity, they become more likely to move down the sales funnel. Eventually, campaigns become a perennial source of brand recognition, further improving your sales!

You can create your own brand identity, of course. Even without a white-label email service, you can fund a custom domain and draft guidelines for your brand’s style and voice. However, most small businesses don’t have the time to do this much work! A white-label email marketing agency can do the heavy lifting, deftly combining a brand’s innate identity with a marketing-minded spin.

Boost Email Deliverability With an Agency Partner

Furthermore, a skilled email marketing agency can increase your deliverability, ensuring your message reaches your customers.

There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes technology at work here, but the bottom line is that white-label solutions offer easy access to a dedicated IP address and other spam-mitigating features.

Consider, for example, an email marketing platform’s simple drag-and-drop email builder. On the surface, this elegant solution to email marketing design streamlines a marketing team’s implementation process. However, it also creates something known as a plain-text email, a behind-the-scenes tool that email service providers use to determine a campaign’s legitimacy.

And Why Should I Use an Email Marketing Agency?

Finally, I want to approach one last topic…

Why is an email marketing agency a viable solution for so many brands?

We must consider the obvious cost efficiency. An outsourced email marketing team is more readily available than an in-house group, and they often have a better grasp of their email marketing tools of choice. This allows marketers to actively engage with the marketing platform on a level much deeper than the average user. They don’t need additional training, either; they already know the ropes!

Moreover, skilled experts can manipulate any email marketing platform to fit a business’ unique needs. Whether you're in IT services or you're selling office furniture, you need tailored email marketing. They can go beyond a custom domain, implementing advanced analytical measures to promote future success. And you don’t have to worry about that free plan; your marketing team will create an account for you and manage campaigns on their own.

But what else makes this outsourced style of email marketing so popular? And why do agencies — many of which heavily utilize white-label email software — keep getting more clients?

It’s All About Results

Obviously, skilled email marketing pros understand the industry. They can use that drag-and-drop builder to craft immersive inbox experiences, turning otherwise bland concepts into remarkable campaigns. But the results do the heavy lifting!

That white-label solution is the base for countless successes. It’s more than a contact management tool; for a marketing agency, that email software is a gateway to profit. It’s a direct line of contact between a brand and its valued customers, the perfect way to create a lasting relationship.

Moreover, thanks to white labeling, agencies can easily juggle multiple clients. And they get results for everyone.

Improve Your Engagement

With the right white-label email service, an agency can easily pinpoint high-yielding potential customers. Then, the team zeroes in on that target.

Email automation, personalization, and segmentation are just some of the tools email marketers use to drum up business. And — as I’ve established — the simplistic nature of most white-label email marketing software makes it easy to create highly specialized marketing campaigns.

This means that your business sees more opens, better conversion rates, and increased brand loyalty.

Moreover, skilled marketing experts can easily templatize content. That high-performing campaign from a few weeks ago can become a series of profitable email templates, which can be easily deployed at the click of a button. And those fancy personalized ads? A marketing agency can tackle those, too!

Keep Your Customers Interested

Together, these key features of modern email marketing help you maintain a solid grip on your audience.

An email marketing solution is more than a convenient way to increase your revenue. It’s a gateway to extended customer relationships. More importantly, when you hire an agency, you eliminate the hassle of juggling your daily duties with your email marketing software. You can spend more time doing what matters while the agency handles your customers!

If that sounds like something you’re interested in, now is the time to act!

My team at The Email Marketers can build an email marketing solution for you. We’ll use those email templates to their full potential, ensuring your customers enjoy unique, engaging experiences. And — of course — we’ll also wrangle that email marketing software for you, too.

So, go ahead! Give me a call and schedule your free strategy session!