Cross-promote with adjacent products

What to do

1. List products your users use before, after or next to yours. Think about the user’s workflow, not your category. A tool for freelance invoicing sits next to time trackers, proposal tools, freelance job boards and accountant newsletters. Ask your users: “What other tools do you use for this work?”
2. Keep only non-competing products that are your size. A partner with 500 users and a founder who answers email is better than a big company that ignores you. Look for products with a similar audience size, and ideally ones that already mention other tools in their emails or blog.
3. Find them where small founders hang out. Search:
   • Product Hunt and startup directories in your category,
   • X or LinkedIn for “building [adjacent thing] for [same audience]”,
   • newsletter directories and Beehiiv or Substack recommendations in your niche,
   • integration marketplaces of the tool your users both use.
4. Propose one small, specific swap first. Pick one format, not a partnership:
   • a newsletter swap: a short mention in each other’s next issue,
   • a mention in each other’s onboarding email or “tools we like” page,
   • a joint webinar or live session where each of you teaches one part of a workflow,
   • a bundle or shared discount for users of both products.
5. Share your numbers first and match the exchange. Say your list size or active users honestly. If they are three times your size, offer more placements or a better position to balance it.
6. Write the blurb for them. Send a ready-to-paste two-to-three-sentence blurb with a UTM link, so they do not have to think. Ask for theirs.
7. Track the result with UTM links. Use utm_source=partnername&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=swap. After the swap, send each other the clicks and signups. If it worked, agree on a repeat or a bigger format.
8. Keep a small list of partners and repeat every few months. Three reliable partners you swap with quarterly beat twenty one-off swaps.

Template

First message to a founder of an adjacent product:

Hi Lena, I run [Product], a [one-line description] for [audience]. A lot of our users also use [her product], and a few have mentioned it to me.

Would you be up for a small swap? I’d mention [her product] in our next newsletter (about [number] subscribers, [open rate if good]) and you mention us in yours. I’ll write the blurb for you so it takes two minutes.

If newsletters don’t fit, happy to do it in onboarding emails or a “tools we like” page instead.

Why it works

Your audience trusts recommendations from you, and the partner’s audience trusts theirs. Each of you reaches people who already have the problem, with a friendly introduction instead of an ad. It costs nothing but a few paragraphs in your own channels.

How it gets users

Results depend on the partner’s audience size and how engaged it is. A mention in a small, engaged newsletter can bring a few to a few dozen signups. A joint webinar with a partner your size might get a few dozen registrations. Most swaps are modest; a few partners will clearly work and are worth repeating. Expect to message 10–20 founders to get three or four swaps in the first month.

Common mistakes

• Pitching big companies before you have anything to offer them.
• Proposing a vague “partnership” instead of one specific swap.
• Partnering with products whose users are not yours, just because they will say yes.
• Exaggerating your list size or activity.
• Making the partner write your blurb.
• Not tracking results, so you cannot tell which partners to repeat.