Clients are the backbone of any successful digital marketing agency. Without clients, you wouldn’t be able to provide quality paid work, fill up your portfolio, pay your team members, or grow your business in the right direction!
But how exactly do you go about finding clients for your agency once you’ve set it up and are ready to get working?
The key here is marketing.
Most agency owners offer marketing services for other clients and businesses. But some still struggle as they aren’t focusing enough on their own marketing and advertising efforts. It may seem counter-intuitive at first glance, but you need to pay just as much attention to your own marketing plan as the ones you draw up for paying customers.
The marketing services you provide to clients are likely focused on the business to consumer (B2C) market, which differs considerably from the needs of business to business (B2B) strategies. If you’ve been wondering how to secure high-profile clients for your agency, we’ve got the answers.
Make Use of Online Directories
When most agency owners and teams think of building an online presence, their websites are the first things that come to mind. Your website is undoubtedly an invaluable tool for creating brand recognition and trust. However, there are many other ways to get your agency’s name in front of prospective clients.
One of the most effective ways available is to check out the many online directories to find companies that are looking for digital marketing services just like yours. General and popular directories like Yelp and Google are a great place to start. But we also recommend focusing on industry-specific directories, which include marketing agency directories established to help businesses like yours find the clients they need. These directories are particularly beneficial, as everyone who is using them is a qualified, paying client looking for exactly what you offer.
Local directories are another phenomenal form of tool for finding clients. Have your agency listed on local directories so that businesses and prospective clients in your area can find your contact details and get in touch.
Bear in mind that some directories are more popular, successful, and advantageous to use than others; some offer paltry listings at best, while others put serious effort into their work. Seek out directories that offer as many benefits as possible, including events, advertising and marketing opportunities, and online networking forums.
Focus on Building Your Portfolio
Take a second to put yourself in the shoes of a prospective client and see your agency from their perspective. Sure, you might be told that this agency is the best in the business and will produce awesome results – but will you truly trust these words until you see some proof?
Your leads want to see exactly how your work and expertise has benefited businesses in the past, and how it might benefit them too. This is why you need a professional, curated portfolio whenever you start networking with potential clients. Some certificates outlining your team’s skills and abilities and a few testimonials from past satisfied clients won’t hurt either!
Most digital agencies today upload and display their portfolios online. You can choose to do this through your website or provide a hard copy to potential clients – or both. Regardless of which format you choose; your portfolio needs to include a few key aspects to stand out.
- Firstly, it needs to include a diverse variety of different work examples for an equally broad range of brands. This shows clients that you are versatile enough to market any product or service for virtually any business, and that you’ll be able to handle their needs.
- Next, you want to tailor your portfolio in a way that reflects the kind of work that you want to attract. If you want to secure more clients in the food and beverage industry, make sure that you include plenty of past work examples for F&B brands, restaurants and bars in your portfolio. This will make your preferred niche and expertise in that niche clear, leaving potential clients in the industry eager to learn more about how you can help them attract customers.
Start a Marketing Blog
As the owner or leader of a digital marketing agency, you’re in a powerful position to share your knowledge and expertise with the world. Not only does this help you to build an online presence and an engaged community, but it can also help you to attract clients.
Agencies are some of the best teachers when it comes to online marketing. This is why so many clients hire them, after all. This means that there are few better people than you and your team to create informative marketing blogs that help other agencies, businesses, and clients to sharpen their skills and strategies.
Creating an SEO-optimised blog will aid you in attracting SEO clients. Your blog will act as evidence of your ability to drive traffic, engagement and conversion through the use of keywords and best SEO practices. It’ll also show your clients that you’re comfortable with practising what you preach, and that your marketing strategies actually work as you say they do. Keep your blog in easy-to-follow formats like how-to guides, statistics, and listicles to attract as many regular readers as possible.
Setting up a blog on your own website is a solid place to start. But if you want to expand your reach even further, consider writing guest posts for other sites and brands in your industry too. Some of the most trusted websites in the world – including the likes of Forbes and Harvard Business Review – use this strategy to bring in many different voices, opinions, and areas of expertise to keep their readers coming back for more.
Use These Methods to Get More Clients
The trick to keeping your agency growing and thriving is to secure a constant supply of prestigious, high-paying clients.
Here are our favourite methods for getting more clients flocking to your agency.
Google Ads
Google is king when it comes to online searches. We’re confident in saying that there are thousands of businesses searching for digital marketing agencies on Google with every tick of the clock. Many of these potential clients will browse Google for other reasons, too. Regardless of what they’re looking for, at least some of them can be convinced to hire you if they find true value in your portfolio and online presence.
If you want to take advantage of these searches and land the businesses Googling ‘how do I advertise on social media?’ as clients, you need to put in the effort to appear as high up on search engine results pages as you can. Achieve this using search engine optimisation and target keywords in your on-site copy.
Simply put, the higher you rank, the more people will see your name and website, and the more they’ll click on your landing pages. Bear in mind that this approach can take some time. However, while you implement your SEO strategies and wait for them to work, you can use Google Ads to target the right keywords and channel potential clients straight to your website in no time.
YouTube
Video content is arguably the most important aspect of any modern digital marketing campaign. Social videos generate 1200% more shares than images and text combined, and video marketers report almost 50% quicker revenue growth in 2021 than their peers. The nature of marketing is becoming ever-more digital, and YouTube is a crucial platform for sharing branded videos that will help you to attract new clients.
It might be time consuming, but creating short, entertaining, and informative videos that show off your expertise and skills can prove to be a vital tool in your client-attracting arsenal. You can also use video content to keep existing clients engaged by offering them added value at no extra cost. YouTube offers YouTube Ads, which uses data from past Google searches to target viewers who are looking for specific products and services.
LinkedIn is another iconic online platform for connecting with businesses and potential clients in a digital setting. The good news is that you can use LinkedIn to track down new clients for your agency even if you’ve only just started to use it, or if you don’t have very many connections just yet.
The key here is to establish yourself as an authority in your industry. You can do this by sharing thought leadership blogs and informative content as well as connecting with people through LinkedIn and starting to chat to prospective clients. The site also offers a paid ad feature to help get your agency’s name in front of your target audience. Filter users by industry, location, job title and more, and advertise directly to business leaders in your niche of choice.
Facebook Ads
Facebook might be a more casual platform than LinkedIn, but it makes up for this with billions of users and its reputation as the largest social media platform on the planet. You can be sure that some of these users are potential clients who you can reach out to and connect with.
It can be challenging to gain attention and engagement organically on Facebook as a business, but there is a solution: Facebook Ads. This is an extremely affordable and scalable digital advertising method making it perfect for agencies with limited budgets. Facebook ads effectively gets your agency’s name in front of decision makers who are looking for the exact services you can provide.
Quora
Got a pressing question that you desperately want answered? Quora is the platform for you. This is the website where people from all over the world flock to ask questions and have them answered, both by seasoned professionals and users just like them. If you can build a reputation for your agency as a digital marketing authority on Quora, you may be able to attract new clients who appreciate that you’re sharing knowledge on the internet for free.
This isn’t a paid opportunity. You’ll need to put some time into answering questions and building your presence on Quora. However, if you can do this, you can create an audience that looks forward to your responses, and craft a reputation for your agency as being trustworthy, experienced, and willing to go the extra mile to help people out.
Inbound Marketing
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if your ideal clients would come straight to you instead of you having to reach out to them? Well, this isn’t entirely realistic. But creating a strong inbound marketing strategy for your agency can make it much easier to attract clients straight to your agency’s inbox.
The key here, as with most marketing methods, is to create and share value-packed and educational content in line with what your target audience wants to see. Achieve this and you’ll lead clients straight to your website, blog, mailing list, and hopefully your client list too. Maximise your chances of success by sharing SEO-friendly content that targets the right keywords to ensure that prospective clients will find you through organic searches.
Guest Blogging
We mentioned guest posts earlier in this article but feel like they deserve a section of their own. High-profile clients choose to work with digital agencies that they trust to enhance their online presence. For you, this means that you need to show them exactly how skilled, knowledgeable, and capable you are at what you do.
Having your name listed on internationally visited industry publications and blogs is a fantastic way to establish yourself and your agency as leaders in your niche. Penning guest blogs for recognisable sites (without being too self-promotional) will boost brand awareness and attract plenty of new leads and clients in the long term.
The first step to successful guest blogging is to single out the type of companies you’d like to sign on as clients. Then approaching blogs and publications that they read to ask if they would be willing to allow you to guest post. This gives you a great shot at getting noticed by exactly the kinds of clients you’re looking for.
Cold Pitching
Cold pitching – cold calling and cold emailing, that is – has gained a reputation for being overused and less than efficient in recent years. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The trick here is to perfect your cold pitching strategy in a way that makes your digital agency truly stand out from the crowd.
You can refine your cold pitching techniques and engage your potential clients rather than irritating them with personalisation. Naturally, this takes more time than spamming people with generic mails and calls. However, if you personalise your correspondence, you’re far more likely to attract positive attention.
Send all cold emails addressed to a real person and try to use their personal email address where possible. Show them that you understand their company and what it’s aiming to achieve, and confidently relay how you can help them in achieving these goals using portfolio pieces and real client testimonials.
Conferences
Although digital marketing pertains more to the digital world than the physical one, you can still find clients for your agency by establishing a meaningful real-world presence. Speaking at conferences and networking events can help you to achieve exactly this.
When looking for conferences to attend, narrow your focus to events that pertain specifically to your industry and niche. Join their mailing lists so that you know when the next events are scheduled for and contact their organising committees to secure your spot. Choose events that your target clients are most likely to attend and speak about topics and pain points you know will intrigue them.
Networking (Online and In Person)
Relationships are at the core of every business in every industry, without exception. If you don’t have strong working relationships at the core of what you do, you may struggle to attract and retain clients – or team members, for that matter!
Thus, networking is an incredible way to meet new people in your target groups and forge new relationships with potential clients and other industry leaders. Traditional in-person networking will require you to visit some industry-specific events, networking lunches, and other professional gatherings. Online networking can be done on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Slack, and even Reddit.
When networking with people online or in person, it’s crucial to remember to stay authentic and refrain from coming on too strong. Most potential clients won’t appreciate obvious marketing tactics and would rather build genuine relationships that may lead to business deals later down the line. Be veritable, approachable, friendly, and eager to help to create positive impressions and ensure that your new connections will think of you first when they need the help of a digital agency.
Find Clients That Count
These are the best, proven ways to consistently attract new clients to your digital marketing agency. Remember to be authentic and personal in all your interactions with prospective clients – being the best version of you will get you the best results.