Are you a digital marketing agency owner wanting to grow the business but not knowing where to start? Well, the first step to growth is to have a continuous stream of clients! However, we understand that generating leads can often become a challenge, especially since the industry is already brimming with more than 9,103 digital agencies in the US since 2022.
But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! So, how do you get clients for your digital marketing agency? First and foremost, you need to be savvy in marketing your business. With the correct blend of strategies and implementation, it will be easier for you to generate more leads.
Keep your worries aside because this guide will share the best ways to find digital marketing clients.
TL;DR Summary – How to Get Clients for Digital Marketing
Getting digital marketing clients involves a long process that requires patience, persistence, and skills. That is why we’ve ensured you can navigate the art of client acquisition using several strategies.
Here is a summary of how you can find digital marketing clients in 10 different ways:
- Understanding your Target Audience
- Build an Online Presence
- Utilize Online Advertising
- Networking and Collaborating
- Collect Referrals and Testimonials
- Offer Value-added Services or Incentives
- Build Trust and Credibility
- Provide Exceptional Customer Service
- Measure and Analyze Results
- Stay Updated with Industry Trends
Part 1: Understanding Your Target Audience
Knowing and understanding your potential customers can help steady the stream of leads and increase the chance of growing the agency.
So, before you focus on onboarding clients and starting any projects with them, you should first know and define your target audience.
Identifying potential clients
Researching your ideal client will allow you to tailor your services and marketing strategies to your client’s needs and preferences.
So, who are your potential clients? To find your target market, you can do the following:
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- Market Segmentation: Research potential clients by breaking the market into demographics, psychographics, and behavior segments.
- Identify characteristics: Distinguish persona based on age, gender, income, interests, and online behavior.
- Creating a detailed persona: With the help of market segmentation and characteristic identification, you can now create a detailed persona for your potential clients. Include more specific information, such as job roles, market goals, and preferred communication channels.
Conducting Audience Analysis
Once you have a clear vision of your target audience, understanding their needs and preferences should be your next step.
You can conduct a meticulous audience analysis to research the language, location, preferences, and interests within a group. Doing this will give you a much clearer understanding of your target audience.
As you develop results, you can align their characteristics to develop a unique selling proposition (USP) and ensure a tailored marketing approach.
Create a unique selling proposition (USP)
Communicating your agenda through a unique selling proposition (USP) in the digital marketing industry can quickly attract new clients. Think about it: how easily can you find new clients when you have a narrow and clear vision of your brand in just one sentence?
But what exactly is a USP? A unique selling proposition is a quick one-sentence description that explains why your company is unique. It should answer the question, “What makes you different from other digital marketing agencies?.”
While having a unique slogan is one way to communicate it, understanding your clients is the best way to approach your USP. This way, it could reach your target audience and convey your market position well.
Part 2: Build an Online Presence
Social media is one of the most powerful tools for reaching potential clients, so it’s essential to have a strong online presence. While the process is time-consuming, it can definitely help you increase the chance of attracting potential clients.
Showcase your services on a Professional Website
Create a professional website where you can showcase your services and business agenda. Your website is often the first point of contact between your agency and potential clients, so having one is essential to build an online presence.
To effectively showcase your services on your website, follow these practices:
- Clear Navigation: Make sure the website is user-friendly in the navigation structure so clients can easily find information about your services.
- Detailed Service Pages: Have specific pages on your website where you will provide detailed information (features, benefits, USPs) about your services; it will help reinforce your expertise in the industry.
- Showcase Portfolio or Client Testimonials: Showcasing your past work through portfolios and displaying client testimonials can highlight your credibility as an agency.
Optimize website to Improve Online Visibility
A professional website does not automatically get you clients. Instead, it’s highly suggested that you optimize it to help attract organic traffic.
Learning SEO basics can help your website have a solid online presence. You will know that your website is well-optimized if it has:
- Keyword-focused copy
- Feature SEO-friendly images with captions
- Respond and load quickly
- Visually appealing on all kinds of devices
- High-quality backlinks
Engage with Potential Clients through Social Media Platforms
Identify the social media platform where your clients will most likely be active, and you can focus on these platforms when engaging with potential clients. You can use Instagram, Facebook, or even TikTok as you deem fit.
It’s also important to remember that if you are consistent with your branding across all platforms, it will also help your audience remember you and engage with your posts.
Plus, you should actively involve yourself with your clients by responding to their queries and comments since it will foster a sense of community around your brand.
Use Content Marketing to present yourself as an Expert
As a digital marketer, you would want your potential clients to see you as an expert in the industry. You can do this by presenting yourself as an expert through content marketing.
Create high-quality marketing content and show your industry expertise. It will help build the agency’s trust and credibility, allowing potential clients to contact you for future projects.
In fact, according to a survey, about 86% of marketers consider it an essential strategy for lead generation, which means that it is a successful strategy to attract clients.
Part 3: Utilize Online Advertising
Leverage your expertise in digital marketing and use online advertising as a tool to connect with potential clients. While it usually needs a marketing budget, online advertising lets you easily get leads to visit your website and eventually let them sign a project with you.
Consider where your target audience spends most of their time online – Google, Facebook, or LinkedIn. You can structure your advertising campaign if you understand your potential clients.
To help you further, below are a few strategies you can use when working on online advertising.
Setting up Google Ads Campaign
Google Ads is the most prominent digital ad publisher in the United States, making it a famous platform for many businesses to run their ads.
When setting up your campaign, you first set up video ads, banner ads, or other display options. Afterward, place a bid, let Google run it, and wait for clients to close a deal with you. That’s it!
Of course, craft compelling ad copies and optimize relevant keywords. Doing this will help secure a prime position and capture the attention of clients seeking your expertise.
Exploring Facebook Advertising Options
Facebook has an extensive user base offering a dynamic online advertising platform. So, if you’re looking for an edge in online advertising, the best place to start is on Facebook. However, before undertaking a Facebook ad campaign, you should also know the options available on the platform.
Among the options for Facebook ads are:
- Image Ads
- Video Ads
- Poll Ads
- Carousel Ads
- Slideshow Ads
- Lead Ads
- Messenger Ads
- Stories Ads
When creating the mentioned ad copies, use your marketing expertise to pinpoint the ideal clients’ demographics, interests, and behaviors to ensure they reach the right audience.
B2B digital marketing on LinkedIn
LinkedIn Ads are usually used for job recruitment, service sales, and lead generation. So, if you’re learning how to start a B2B digital marketing strategy, LinkedIn is your best choice.
When running ads on LinkedIn, you can use precision targeting based on the industry, job, roles, and company size, which will help reach your target market.
The platform is also a great place to create a professional presence for your agency, where you can showcase your expertise and achievements.
Use Remarketing Strategies to Re-engage with Clients
Remarketing is a digital tactic that shows ads to people who have already visited your website. More likely than not, if you’re running a campaign ad, there are already leads that visited your website or social media profile.
To convince them to sign up with you, you should use remarketing strategies and re-engage with them. Implementing remarketing strategies is one cost-effective way for interested clients to sign up with you.
To implement remarketing campaigns, your potential clients should have already:
- Clicked your ad campaign
- Visited your website or social media profile
- Searched for you on Google
- Follows you on any Social Media
Part 4: Networking and Collaborating
If you are serious about business growth, immerse yourself in the digital marketing community and expand your network.
Fostering connections, forming strategic alliances, and having a well-established network help pave the way for acquiring new clients. Doing this will also unlock new opportunities, especially when you tap into valuable resources.
Below are a few things you can do to expand your agency’s network:
- Attend and hold industry events, conferences, training programs, and seminars: Events, conferences, and seminars allow you to work with like-minded people and provide a platform that showcases information about the industry. Meanwhile, joining training programs of Prospecting on Demand offers insightful opportunities that can also be useful when building relationships.
- Join digital marketing online groups and forums: There are a lot of existing business communities across different social media platforms, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Clients and fellow agency owners usually use these groups to reach out and learn new ideas, making it a great channel to engage and communicate with other people in the business.
- Collaborate with other Professionals: You can collaborate with professionals like complementary businesses or influencers since they can help expand your reach through promotion, referrals, and testimonials.
Part 5: Collect Referrals and Testimonials
Referral marketing is one of the best ways to get new clients for your agency. It is a form of advertising where you will encourage your customers to recommend your services and share their experiences with others.
While word-of-mouth is also a powerful tool, referral marketing is more of a deliberate strategy where clients receive an incentive or reward for their successful referrals.
Usually, businesses create an affiliate program to incentivize people, especially when selling products. For example, your agency will be offering a special promotion to clients who successfully refer your service to someone else.
Meanwhile, the best way to approach referrals in the digital marketing industry is through testimonials.
Below are a few ways to leverage referral marketing and get more clients:
- Create a referral program for your clients.
- Encourage clients to provide reviews through different online platforms (i.e., Google My Business)
- Ask for direct referrals through email or in-person events.
- Showcase client testimonials on your website.
- Use social media to post promotional content or testimonials from your clients.
Part 6: Offer Value-added Services or Incentives
Provide value-added services or incentives to your clients to show how much you value them and your work. It is also a great way to attract more clients, especially when you promote them through your website or advertisements.
These value-added services or incentives can come in different forms, including the following:
Provide Free consultations or audits
Offering free consultations or audits helps potential clients see what your agency can offer. During the consultation, you can introduce to them the benefits of working with an expert and how you can help them with the needs of their business.
With the time and effort you put into the consultation, it already gives an impression that you’re willing to invest time for them. You can take Prospecting On Demand’s free demo as an example!
It will not cost your agency a lot since it can be offered virtually, over the phone, through email, or over a pre-recorded video – whatever works best!
Offer exclusive discounts or promotions as incentives
Offering discounts and promos creates a higher chance of attracting potential clients, adding a layer of financial appeal and creating a sense of urgency.
“Get a 20% discount when you book a digital marketing course this November. For a limited time only!” Just imagine seeing this as a business owner looking for a digital marketing agency to work with.
Whether it’s a discounted package, a service promo, or a bundled set service, you should also create discounts that will address the pain points of your target market.
More than that, you can offer these discounts or promotions for new clients and incentives to current clients who can successfully refer your agency.
Part 7: Build Trust and Credibility
Building customer trust and loyalty for any business cannot be done overnight, but it’s worth reaching. There are a lot of actionable steps to help you get this goal, which we’ll discuss below.
Showcase Success Stories of Previous Clients
According to a survey, 72% of clients say positive reviews and testimonials help build their trust in a brand — who would want to work with someone with zero reviews? Exactly.
It’s already a given that reputation should be everything for a company. So, if your main focus is learning how to get clients as a digital marketer, showcasing all successful projects while working with previous clients is highly suggested.
Highlight Industry Awards, Certifications, or Affiliations
Agencies with multiple industry awards and certifications will likely be part of the top Digital Marketing industry. These are external validations that your agency is an expert in the field, attesting to your team members’ skills.
Furthermore, affiliations with reputable companies and organizations mark your reputation in the industry, making it easier to attract new clients.
Part 8: Provide Exceptional Customer Service
The level of customer service you provide to clients significantly impacts customer loyalty and attracts new leads. So, you must have dedicated support staff to attend to queries and have them trained with standards to assure quality of service.
Ensure clear communication with potential clients
New clients usually ask questions through email, direct messages, or calls (when possible), which is why your agency must have a set of guidelines for such inquiries to ensure that they receive clear answers.
Giving clear and precise answers to client queries lessens the chance of them being frustrated. In any case, your support agents should also be trained to handle misunderstandings when talking with clients.
Exceed client expectations and provide a positive experience
As mentioned above, you must assign employees to answer your client’s questions and concerns. While anyone in the team can always answer these, you must give feedback to any query in a prompt manner to provide a positive experience.
The goal is to offer efficient, quality, and consistent customer service. But, if you demonstrate exceptional customer service and exceed expectations, it shows your agency cares enough about clients’ needs.
Part 9: Measure and Analyze Results
Implementing strategies when generating leads does not measure your agency’s success. Instead, it’s about analyzing the results and measuring their effectiveness when attracting potential clients.
Here’s a quick guide on how you can efficiently track and analyze the performance of your digital marketing efforts:
- Track Key Metrics: Some standard metrics you should track if you want to measure results include the following.
- Website Traffic: Monitor the volume and website traffic sources on each platform. You can analyze through these which channels drive most of the organic traffic, which will help you know what to improve and retain.
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- Conversions: There are various actions on your website, such as form submissions, downloads, or purchases. Measure the conversion rates to help understand what is crucial for optimizing your strategies.
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- Return on Investment (ROI): Calculating the ROI for each of your marketing campaigns helps assess the overall effectiveness of your efforts. Just determine the acquisition cost and then compare it to your generated value.
- Analyze data to identify successful marketing strategies: Look for specific patterns and correlations between your marketing strategies and the positive outcomes of these efforts. For example, analyze your content’s performance and identify what resonates with your target audience.
- Optimize marketing efforts: You can now easily optimize your marketing campaign by tracking and analyzing key metrics and data. You can re-allocate the budget, refine target parameters, or tweak content for better engagement.
Part 10: Stay Updated with Industry Trends
Digital marketing is constantly changing and adapting. If you don’t stay engaged with the latest industry trends, your marketing campaigns may suffer, and clients may lose interest in working with your agency.
There are a lot of ways to keep updated with such industry changes and trends; here’s how:
- Follow the latest digital marketing technologies: Your agency should regularly engage with industry publications, blogs, and reputable sources to glean insights about changes in the business. Be proactive with learning about evolving strategies, algorithm changes, and new tools to ensure you are at par with the latest updates.
- Experiment with new strategies: Continuous learning also involves active experimentation of marketing strategies. This will allow your agency staff to innovate approaches and adapt to changing consumer behaviors.
- Stay ahead of the competition: Competitive analysis often involves the regular assessment of the digital marketing landscape. It’s essential to identify gaps and opportunities and use these to keep your agency ahead within the industry.
Committing to continuous learning and being updated with current trends can help your agency navigate the evolving digital landscape. Not only will it benefit the success and growth of your business, but it will also enhance the value you bring to your clients.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Let’s look at the common FAQs regarding how to get clients as a digital marketing agency.
What is a sales funnel in digital marketing?
The Digital Marketing sales funnel is an illustration to represent how the process of converting leads into new clients works. The visual representation consists of several stages (which can vary) a prospect goes through, from awareness to conversion.
How to approach potential clients
The best way to approach a potential client in a digital market is a combination of preparation, personalization, and implementation to address their specific needs. You should tailor your approach to your target audience since this could help build your relationship with them and eventually be their long-term digital marketing agency.
Conclusion – How Do Digital Marketing Agencies Find Clients?
This article discusses almost every strategy your agency can implement to attract potential clients. However, the key here is to efficiently combine your expertise and the needs of your target audience.
Be persistent and adaptable, no matter how small or large your business is. Remember, client acquisition is an ongoing process that needs consistent dedication.
Furthermore, learning how to find digital marketing clients is easier with the help of the right people. That is what Prospecting on Demand is here for — offering programs that can help start-up agencies become a 6 or 7-figure MRR asset.