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Campaign Types

Forward to a Friend

A feature allowing email recipients to share the email with others while tracking the forward.

Definition

Forward to a friend is an email feature that allows recipients to easily share an email with others through a tracked link rather than using their email client's forward button. The feature typically generates a web-hosted version of the email that can be shared via link or email. This enables tracking of viral sharing and attribution of new signups.

Why It Matters

Organic sharing extends your email's reach beyond your list. When recipients forward emails, it is a strong endorsement. Tracked forwarding helps you identify your best advocates, measure content virality, and attribute new subscribers to sharing. It is free acquisition driven by quality content.

How It Works

A 'Forward to a Friend' link in your email opens a sharing page. The recipient enters email addresses of friends who receive the email (or a link to a web version). The system tracks who shared, to whom, and whether those people signed up. This differs from native email forwarding which is untrackable.

Best Practices

  • 1Place forward links prominently in shareable content
  • 2Incentivize sharing (but stay CAN-SPAM compliant)
  • 3Include a signup link in forwarded versions
  • 4Track which content gets shared most to inform strategy
  • 5Thank and recognize your best sharers

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, but social sharing has grown alongside it. For email-centric content (newsletters, reports), forward-to-friend remains valuable. For broader content, social sharing may be more natural. Offer both options.

Native forwards (using email client) do not track separately - opens by the new recipient may appear as multiple opens from original. Tracked forward-to-friend links attribute correctly. Consider this when analyzing engagement data.