Written by: Kristen DeGroot, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Landing new clients for agencies is one of the many things I do for my agency clients at The Campfire Circle. So not to brag, but I feel like I have a lot of insights to share.
New clients are the fuel to an agency’s fire. And with agencies finding themselves in a very competitive landscape, landing new clients should be top-of-mind for agency owners.
In this post, I tapped into the top reasons I find that agencies aren’t landing new clients when I audit their business models. I purposefully chose strategies that you can easily implement so that you can get started landing new clients right away.
Let’s explore the top 10 reasons why your agency isn’t landing as many new clients as you want and how to fix it.
You haven’t embraced a niche
Why it’s important: Agencies are a dime a dozen so a niche is crucial. Brands looking for agency support gravitate to agencies that are highly specialized in what they’re looking for because they want the best of the best. A niche also makes your marketing efforts more targeted which leads to efficiency and a clear direction for your agency to grow.
How to fix it: Start by spending time analyzing the clients you have now and your strongest services. Can you hone in a little bit? Maybe there are industries that you excel at. Perhaps you can focus on a particular service like influencer marketing or TikTok growth. Possibilities are endless so be strategic and research your niche to see what is already out there.
You don’t have a pulse on what your potential clients want
Why it’s important: In order for your agency to appeal to potential clients, you need to understand their pain points and goals on a very deep level. When jumping on an initial call with a potential new client, you should be prepared to wow them by offering strategies that resonate with them.
How to fix it: Your best asset when it comes to getting a pulse on what potential clients want from a partnership with your agency is to tap into your current clients. Spend time looking at the services that are bringing in the strongest ROI. Survey your clients about their goals and why they chose your agency. The goal is to get really comfortable and knowledgeable with your current clients and translate those insights to entice new clients.
You are not leveraging social proof
Why it’s important: Potential customers don’t want to learn about your agency from your actual agency. They want to understand the impact you’ve had on brands like theirs. Leveraging social proof means that you lead with third-party endorsements of your agency. Since your potential clients most likely want to be self-sufficient, your job is now to make sure that when they are researching agencies, social proof is sprinkled along their journey of getting acquainted with your agency.
How to fix it: Start by identifying your happiest customers. Work with them to land assets such as testimonials, case studies, online reviews, social shoutouts, etc. Leverage these assets on paid social, in email marketing, on your website, in your marketing materials, and through influencer partnerships.
You do not put yourself out there as a thought leader
Why it’s important: The modern-day brand is willing to pay more for expertise. They also crave authenticity which is derived from a humanized approach to getting the word out about your agency. Becoming a thought leader can do wonders for an agency’s credibility.
How to fix it: Starting your journey of thought leadership is actually pretty easy. It can be a slow build but it is worth it. I created a thorough guide on how agencies can become thought leaders and you can read it here. The key takeaway when it comes to thought leadership is that you need something unique to say and own it. Obviously, your unique voice should align with your agency’s niche.
Your website doesn’t tell a story
Why it’s important: Any agency knows that its marketing and PR efforts need to tell a brand story to be successful. If your website doesn’t do a good job of telling your agency’s story, brands are going to assume you can’t insightfully tell their story.
How to fix it: Your website should match your goals and come across in an authentic way when brands are researching your agency. You want your website to tell your agency’s story so check in on how you got to where you are and how you did and find creative ways to share your agency’s story throughout your website.
You don’t have a referral strategy
Why it’s important: I’ve worked with some agencies that don’t have to market themselves because their referral programs are so strong. When you have a happy client, their recommendations of your agency to their colleagues hold a lot of weight because someone is actually staking a claim that they stand by what you do. Without a referral strategy, agencies can’t grow to their fullest potential.
How to fix it: Segment your happy clients into their own list within your marketing automation platform. Create a series of emails that lay out incentives if they recommend other brands to your agency. I recommend tiers of rewards. Something like a $50 gift card if the referral jumps on a call and $250 if the referral becomes a client.
You aren’t leveraging email marketing to the fullest potential
Why it’s important: I’ve noticed that email marketing is under-utilized at a lot of agencies. This has always surprised me because when done well, email marketing has an ROI of $36 for every $1 spent. Email marketing should be leveraged by agencies because some leads just need to be nurtured for a while with thought leadership before they convert to a client.
How to fix it: Choose an email marketing platform like HubSpot and create an email editorial calendar. Push out stuff like new blog posts, downloadable resources, and other forms of thought leadership to nurture all of your leads. It also helps to segment leads by industry or company size so that you’re taking a targeted approach to nurturing them.
Your networking strategy is lacking
Why it’s important: Facetime, albeit in-person or virtually adds a humanized vibe to your agency. Brands do want an authentic, personalized connection with the agencies they choose. Giving people a way to get to know you through networking is one of the most valuable ways to generate leads and land new clients.
How to fix it: Choose conferences to attend that your target audience will be at. Here is a comprehensive list of upcoming conferences. Simultaneously, look into virtual networking events. LinkedIn Groups are a great place to start. When you’re networking, just be friendly and yourself and your authenticity will be sure to attract new clients to your agency.
You don’t treat your agency like a client
Why it’s important: Treating your agency like a client means that you spend time promoting it just like your would your clients. Putting your agency out there entails things like joining agency directories, establishing thought leadership, paid ads, applying for awards, assembling case studies to share, etc. The goal is to implement the awesome work you do for your clients and translate it to promoting your agency for visibility.
How to fix it: There are 2 ways to fix this problem. The first is that you can hire an agency for agencies like The Campfire Circle which will invest a ton of time and expertise when it comes to growing your agency. The second way is to hire more account managers so that you can spend more time on your agency.
You don’t have a lead magnet
Why it’s important: Lead magnets are simply a landing page that houses an asset that your agency creates that is enticing enough for your target audience to provide their email address. It’s a great way to establish credibility while generating leads to nurture with your email marketing efforts. To truly understand the power of a lead magnet, check out this guide.
How to fix it: Spend time analyzing the characteristics, behavior, and pain points of your target audience. Brainstorm an eBook or report that will entice the leads you want to generate for your agency. A webinar is also a strong lead magnet if you feel comfortable presenting. Be sure to create a visually appealing landing page with a strategic lead capture form.
Final thoughts: land more clients right away
Hopefully this post shed some light on your strategy for landing new clients at your agency. Now that you know what is wrong with your efforts, you’re able to fix it accordingly.
I chose the 10 strategies that I have noticed my agency clients leveraging to land new clients that work. Like really well. These strategies are also not very difficult to execute.
If your agency is making one or more of these mistakes, you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities to land new business. As I mentioned, a lot of agency owners spend a ton of time doing awesome client work and just don’t have enough time to spend growing their agency. If this is you, you’re in luck. I created The Campfire Circle, an agency to grow agencies so that you can focus on wowing your clients while I grow your agency and you can book a free consultation with me here.
What hangups do you encounter at your agency that prevent you from landing new clients? I’d love to read all about it in the comments below!
Kristen DeGroot, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Kristen DeGroot is the CEO of The Campfire Circle, an agency for agencies. She has been helping agencies grow for over a decade. Kristen has an English writing degree so a lot of her strategies that she implements for her clients are content driven. Basically, Kristen grows agencies so that agency owners can spend more time on what matters: Doing awesome client work.
