Partner Newsletter Audit

Prerequisites

• Target partner identified (company name and domain)
• Clay account for enrichment (or manual research workflow)
• Web browser or web search API access

Steps

1. Find the newsletter. Search for the partner's newsletter signup page. Check: their website footer, /newsletter or /subscribe path, their blog sidebar, their LinkedIn company page (often links to newsletter), and their Twitter/X bio. Record the signup URL.

2. Assess audience size. Look for public signals of subscriber count:

   • Check if they publish subscriber count on their signup page ("Join 10,000+ subscribers")
   • Search Substack leaderboards if they use Substack
   • Check SparkToro for estimated audience size: query their domain and look at the "Newsletter" or "Email" audience estimate
   • Use Clay's claygent to research: "How many subscribers does {company}'s newsletter have?" with sources

   Clay Claygent prompt:
   "Research {partner_domain}. Find their newsletter. Estimate subscriber count
   from public sources (landing page claims, press mentions, Substack rankings,
   social proof). Return: newsletter_name, estimated_subscribers, source_of_estimate,
   signup_url, publishing_platform (Substack/Beehiiv/Ghost/Loops/ConvertKit/other)."
   

3. Analyze content and audience fit. Read the last 3-5 issues of the newsletter. Assess:

   • Topic alignment: Do they cover topics your ICP cares about?
   • Audience persona: Is their reader your target buyer (title, industry, company size)?
   • Tone and format: Would your blurb feel native in their newsletter?
   • Existing co-marketing: Do they already feature partner content? If yes, what format (blurb, banner, dedicated section)?

4. Check engagement signals. Look for:

   • Social shares on newsletter issues (check Twitter/LinkedIn)
   • Comment threads on Substack/blog posts
   • Reply-to engagement (do they encourage replies?)
   • Frequency and consistency (weekly newsletters with no gaps signal healthy engagement)

5. Score the partner newsletter. Rate on a 1-5 scale across four dimensions:

   • Audience overlap (1-5): How well does their audience match your ICP?
   • Audience size (1-5): 1 = <500, 2 = 500-2K, 3 = 2K-10K, 4 = 10K-50K, 5 = 50K+
   • Engagement quality (1-5): Based on social shares, comments, and consistency
   • Co-marketing friendliness (1-5): Do they already feature partners? Is there a clear way to pitch?

   Total score out of 20. Prioritize partners scoring 14+.

6. Record findings. Store in your CRM (Attio) on the partner company record:

   • Newsletter name and URL
   • Estimated subscriber count
   • Publishing platform
   • Frequency
   • Audience overlap score
   • Overall partner newsletter score

Alternative Tools

• SparkToro: Audience intelligence for newsletter research
• Beehiiv Analytics (if partner shares): Direct engagement metrics
• SimilarWeb: Traffic estimates to newsletter landing pages
• Apollo: Find the newsletter editor/partnerships contact at the partner company
• Clearbit: Enrich the partner company for firmographic context