How to Give Your Agency Access to Your Email Marketing and CRM

The short answer: to give an agency or freelancer access to your email marketing tool or CRM, invite them as a user from the account’s user settings. Mailchimp, Constant Contact, HubSpot and Klaviyo all let you add another person with their own login and choose what they can do. Pick a role that lets them build and send campaigns without touching billing or deleting the account, keep yourself as the owner, and remove them when the work ends. You never need to share your password.

Your email list and customer records are some of the most valuable things your business owns, so they deserve the same care as your bank login. This guide is part of our series on how to give your agency access without sharing passwords. It is written for any business owner, and it is exactly how we ask our own clients at Ambition Business Solutions to give us access.

Before you start: a quick checklist

• Make sure you are the account owner (or an admin who can add users). In some tools only the owner can invite people.
• Turn on two-step verification on your own login.
• Check your plan. Some tools limit how many users or which roles you can add on lower plans.
• Ask your agency what they will do: write emails, send campaigns, build automations, clean up your list or report on results.
• Enter the email address your agency gives you. Some agencies use one shared address for client access.
• Write down what you granted and when, so you know what to remove later.

How do I add a user to Mailchimp?

Invite them from the Users page in your account settings and choose a user level. Manager is usually the right fit for an agency: Managers can create and send emails, import audiences and view reports, but cannot see billing, export your audience or close the account. Admin has the same powers as the Owner, so save it for people inside your business.

1. Click your profile icon and select Account & billing.
2. Open the Settings drop-down and choose Users.
3. Click Invite A User.
4. Enter the email address your agency gives you, choose a user type (Admin, Manager, Author or Viewer) and add an optional message.
5. Click Send Invite.

Which levels you can choose depends on your plan. Mailchimp lists Manager on its Premium plan and Author and Viewer on Standard and Premium, so if Manager is not available, Author (create and edit emails and templates, view reports) is the next best choice. Plan names and features can change, so check what your account shows.

Official help: Manage user levels in your account

How do I add a user to Constant Contact?

The Account Owner adds users from Settings and chooses between two roles. An Account Manager can create and send campaigns, manage contact lists and view reports, but cannot see billing. A Campaign Creator can build campaigns but cannot send them or see your contacts, which is a good fit for a freelance designer or writer.

1. Click your profile name in the upper right and select Settings.
2. Open the Manage users tab.
3. Click Add New User.
4. Enter the email address your agency gives you.
5. Choose Account Manager or Campaign Creator.
6. Click Send invite.

The new user shows as Pending until they set up their login. The invitation expires after 72 hours, and you can resend or revoke it from the same tab. How many users you can add depends on your email plan.

Official help: Add and manage users in your Constant Contact account

How do I add a user to HubSpot?

A Super Admin adds users under Users & Teams and then sets their seat and permissions. Do not make your agency a Super Admin unless there is a clear reason: Super Admins get full access to every user, tool and setting, while custom permissions let you give access only to marketing tools, contacts or reports.

1. Click the settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar, go to Users & Teams.
3. Click Add users, then Create new.
4. Enter the email address your agency gives you.
5. Choose a seat, permissions and team. You can start with a template based on job function or build permissions from scratch.
6. Check the box to send an email invite, then click Add a user and Done.
7. Hover over the new user and click Edit permissions to fine-tune what they can see and change.

Paid seats in HubSpot can affect your bill, so ask your agency which seat type the work actually requires before you assign one. Some features, such as permission presets and teams, depend on your subscription level.

Official help: Add and update HubSpot users

How do I add a user to Klaviyo?

An Owner or Admin adds users from Settings and assigns one role. Manager is usually enough for an agency running campaigns and flows: it covers Klaviyo’s core features but cannot add or remove users or cancel the account. Admin can also manage users, and there is only ever one Owner, which should stay with your business.

1. Click your account name in the bottom-left corner.
2. Go to Settings, then Users.
3. Click Add new user.
4. Enter the email address your agency gives you and choose a language.
5. Under Role, pick one: Admin, Manager, Analyst, Support, Campaign Coordinator or Content Creator.
6. Click Add User. Klaviyo emails them an invitation to set up their login.

Analyst is a good choice for someone who only needs reports, and Content Creator suits a freelancer who designs emails. You can change a role later by clicking the user’s email address on the Users page.

Official help: How to add or delete users and manage permissions

Should I give an agency access to Google Workspace?

Usually not. Most marketing work never needs access to your company email or Google Workspace admin console. Give it only when someone is setting up or fixing Workspace itself (for example, adding users or connecting your domain), and only for as long as that job takes.

Gmail delegation, which lets someone read and send mail on your behalf, only works with people inside your own organization on work accounts, so it is not a way to let an outside agency into your inbox. If a trusted helper truly needs admin access, the usual approach is to create a user for them in your Workspace and assign the narrowest admin role that fits, not Super Admin.

1. Sign in to the Google Admin console as a super admin.
2. Go to Menu, then Directory, then Users, and click the person’s name.
3. Scroll down and click Admin roles and privileges.
4. Assign a specific admin role that covers only the task (for example, managing user accounts), rather than Super Admin.
5. Click Save. If your organization requires approval for role changes, another super admin approves it.
6. When the job is done, remove the role or delete the user.

Google’s own advice is to share management of your organization’s account only with people you trust. A Super Admin has full access to the Admin console, so keep that role inside your business and protected with two-step verification.

Official help: Make a user an admin

Common mistakes to avoid

• Making the agency an admin or owner by default. Admin roles can usually add users, change billing or export your whole list. Most email work does not need that.
• Letting someone else open the account. If a vendor creates your email or CRM account under their name, your list may leave with them. Open it in your business’s name and invite them in.
• Forgetting about exports. Your contact list is valuable. Prefer roles that cannot export contacts unless the job requires it.
• Not checking your plan first. If the role you want is missing, it may be a plan limit, not a setting you missed.
• Leaving old users in place. Former freelancers with live access are a common risk. Review users at least once a year.
• Sharing a login to save a seat. It breaks two-step verification and usually breaks the platform’s terms. Use a lower-cost or free role instead.

Frequently asked questions

Will adding a user cost me more?

Sometimes. Mailchimp and Constant Contact limit users by plan, and HubSpot charges for some paid seats. Check your plan before you invite anyone, and ask your agency which role and seat they actually need.

Can my agency send emails without my approval?

If their role allows sending, yes. If you want to approve every email, choose a role that can build but not send (such as Constant Contact’s Campaign Creator) or agree on an approval process in writing.

What happens to my list if I stop working with the agency?

Nothing, as long as you own the account. You remove their user, and your contacts, templates and automations stay exactly where they are.

Does my agency need access to my business email inbox?

Almost never. Email marketing tools and CRMs send from their own systems. Only give inbox or Workspace admin access for a specific Workspace setup or repair job, and remove it afterward.

If your follow-up lives in a mix of inboxes, spreadsheets and sticky notes, a simple system can help. Ambition OS puts calls, texts, emails and forms in one inbox and follows up on leads automatically, and our content marketing team can write the emails your customers actually read. Book a free strategy call and we’ll tell you exactly what access we would need, and why, before anything is shared.