How to Get Clients for Your Digital Marketing Agency in 2023

The digital marketing industry is full of marketing agencies that deliver great results for clients but struggle to drum up a business of their own.

The quest to get clients is a constant one that agencies often put on the back burner. If you want long-term success, though, now is to time to invest in yourself.

1. Treat Yourself Like Your Own Client

How do digital marketing agencies get clients? They become their own client.

You already have a process that works for your other clients. Starting today, take the time out of your schedule to do the same for your own business.

Go through every step as you would with your other clients. Develop your brand guide, collect data, create a data-driven marketing plan, and follow through with each step.

Don’t forget to use all the advice and strategies you give to your clients, too. Use storytelling practices to build a trusting bond with your audience.

Above all, don’t sacrifice quality. If business owners see that your own marketing is done half-heartedly, they’ll assume that you would do the same for them. 

2. Get Out from Behind the Desk

Digital marketing is the first thing that comes to most people’s minds in our technological era. You can’t ignore the digital world, but sometimes you need to step out into the “real world” too.

Start building a presence at local events where you’ll find business owners and other decision-makers. That should include networking events, business expos, trade shows, you name it.

The goal is to make yourself a known part of the local business community. Get to know your fellow business owners and potential clients.

As you build your rolodex, start referring people to the businesses you know when the opportunity arises. Not only will the grateful business owners be more likely to become clients, but they’re also likely to return the favor and refer others to you.

The right conference can be a game-changer for your business. If you are keen to learn how in details, here Vanessa Van Edwards, Behavioral Investigator, explains more:

3. Take Advantage of Online Directories

Your website is far from the only place to build your web presence. One of the most overlooked strategies is to get onto as many online directories as you can. It’s the easiest way to reach companies looking for digital marketing.

There are a few routes to take. Of course, you want to be on the general, widespread directories like Google and Yelp to start.

Next, focus on industry-specific online listings like marketing agency directories. These are especially helpful because everyone in the audience is a qualified buyer, looking for the specific service you provide.

Finally, get your business onto local directories too. For people who want to patronize businesses in their area, these sites are often their go-to guides.

Of course, not all directories are created equal. Some offer a bland listing and nothing more. Instead, look for directories with more advantages to invest in, like advertising opportunities and events. 

4. Prioritize Your Portfolio

You can tell prospective clients all day about how great you are at your job, but they won’t know until they see it themselves. If you want to know how to get digital marketing clients, your portfolio is the proof they need to see. Also, prestigious digital marketing certificates from your team can be convincing.

Your online portfolio needs to have a few key qualities. First, it needs to show variety. Clients want to know if you can capture their voice, so by displaying a broad range of brands you’ve already mastered, you’ll show your ability to take on any voice necessary.

Second, you want your portfolio to reflect the work you want to pull in. If you want more clients in the healthcare industry, for example, prioritize your work for past healthcare clients in your portfolio. This shows the right companies that you have expertise in their area. It’s also important to focus on a digital marketing niche for it.

5. Blog About Marketing

You probably already tell your clients about content marketing and how important it is to establish themselves as experts in their area. The same is true for marketing agencies.

Many businesses go through a similar process. At first, they try to do their own marketing to save money. They go through a whirlwind of Googling to try to teach themselves the craft.

They may try a campaign or two. Before long, though, they see that it isn’t as easy as they thought. That’s when they call in an agency.

And who better to call than the agencies whose marketing blogs were so helpful when they were trying the DIY path?

On top of this, your blog gives you credibility to help you get SEO clients. So blogging can be one of the best answers if you are asking how to find digital marketing clients for your agency. With blogging as one of the most effective measures for SEO, clients want to see that you’re taking your own advice.

As much as a blog on your own site can help, don’t forget to write guest blogs for other websites too. Think of sites that business owners and executives frequent, like Business Insider and Forbes.

Matt Cutts, Administrator at United States Digital Service, shares more about the effective techniques for building links and eventually getting more clients:

6. Get Interactive for Finding More Digital Marketing Potential Customers

Social media is a cornerstone of so many digital marketing strategies, but most brands fall short on the “social” aspect. They spend plenty of time posting their own content, but little time sharing, commenting, and otherwise engaging online.

Start by identifying some of the companies you’d love to work with. Follow them on social media and engage with their posts from time to time. One or two comments per week go a long way.

This gets your name in front of that business, especially if it’s a small business where the owner or manager does their own social media. After they’re familiar with your name, you can make a cold call that suddenly isn’t so cold.

7. Build a Following with Your Email Newsletters

Local businesses are always on the hunt for ways to improve their companies and build their revenues. Why not become the knowledgeable resource they turn to for help?

While your blog can serve that need, it’s even better to land in your audience’s inbox by putting out a consistent, valuable, and trusted email newsletter.

Start creating weekly email newsletters that are full of marketing tips, new insights, and more. Invest in a campaign to get more subscribers using strategies like a social media blitz and adding a clear “subscribe” button to your website.

For those who subscribe to your newsletter, you’re that marketing genius who lands in their inboxes every week and genuinely wants them to succeed. When they want to hire a professional, you’ll be the first one that comes to mind.

As important as it is to gain subscribers, though, don’t resort to any spammy methods or sign people up without their consent. If you start getting labeled as spam by a few recipients, you’ll have a harder time getting into other subscribers’ inboxes instead of their spam folders.

8. Get Into the Continuing Education Game

Marketing is one of those fields that is always evolving. For business owners and administrators, staying on the cutting edge can make or break their businesses.

Many businesses are willing to invest in mini-courses and seminars about marketing trends and practices. Why shouldn’t you be the one to provide them?

Selling these seminars helps you in two ways. First, it gives you a whole new revenue stream.

Second, it instantly positions you as an industry expert. They recognize that if you know a subject well enough to teach it, you know it well enough to do a fantastic job with the work itself.

If you don’t want to organize your own seminars and courses, you can get into the conference circuit instead. Seek out business conferences in your area and pitch to become a speaker.

This can take time, and you may need to pitch for several conferences before you are chosen. The more you have under your belt, though, the more credibility you’ll have and the easier it will be to get future speaking engagements.

Those speaking engagements can skyrocket your business. You get exposure as well as a reputation for being a leading expert. The audience sees you as especially credible if a conference selects you as a worthy speaker.

9. Use LinkedIn Much More Effectively

LinkedIn is one of the channels where you can reach out to most of your customers. It’s an interesting place to build connections and relationships, not just with your potential clients but also with future employees or more, so it is always crucial to use LinkedIn in a more effective way. 

LinkedIn offers many opportunities for your brand to reach out to many people. You can join groups, share content, and advertise your agency’s company page to the vast LinkedIn user population. Every action you take on the platform has the potential to draw in new customers. You can publish sponsored content, send direct messages or connection invitations to your potential clients, and join related LinkedIn groups where you can come across potential clients that are looking for your services.

10. Combine Google Ads and Facebook Ads

Most of your potential clients will start searching for a digital marketing agency to partner with on Google. That is why it is crucial to work on your SERP results to rank organically higher in Google search results. However, it takes more time than you probably need. In this situation, you may want to combine the best of both worlds: Google Ads and Facebook Ads. By targeting the right keywords, Google Ads will help you attract potential clients right away. Facebook, on the other hand, is still one of the most used social media platforms, and among billions of users, we’re pretty sure you can reach out to your potential customers as well.

The greatest strategy to get your agency in front of potential clients on Facebook is to use Facebook Ads because it is difficult for businesses to gain attention organically. With a lower average cost-per-click than many other forms of digital advertising, Facebook Ads are also more affordable, allowing you to accomplish a lot even on a tight budget.

11. Harness the Magic of Video

As we navigate the digital landscape of 2023, videos stand out as a beacon of innovation, allowing you to establish an authentic and vibrant connection with your desired audience. 

With each frame and narrative, you have the ability to unveil not only the services your agency provides but also the very essence of who you are. These videos seamlessly blend your agency’s core values, highlighting your distinct culture and innovative approach. Through the enchantment of video, potential clients are invited into an immersive experience that goes beyond words and images, fostering a genuine and enduring connection.

12. Share Your Client Reviews

A dedicated webpage for reviews and testimonials serves as a canvas on which the voices of your satisfied clients come together to paint a vivid picture of the value and excellence your agency offers. Through the authentic experiences shared by your clients, potential partners can gain insight into the transformative journey you can guide them through. 

Your potential clients will conduct research across various platforms, including Google and Facebook. By emphasizing your reviews and featuring them on your website, you signal your confidence in past partnerships. You can create a similar area on your website, just like Damteq does:

So for a strong eCommerce approach, don’t choose one or the other. Use both to reach out to a broader audience and a more successful digital ad strategy.

How to Find Clients for Digital Marketing Agency: The Most Effective Ways

As a marketing agency, it can be challenging to find the right balance between working on your clients’ businesses and your own. Too many agencies put themselves on the back burner, but it is critical to build and maintain a healthy, long-term relationship with each of your clients. As tracking all of your clients’ data gets harder and harder, it is better to think of implementing a customer relationship management tool for your agency. Before losing a critical client and hoping of pulling in a new one, step into AI-driven CRM software to keep track of each of your client’s data and activities. While you, as an agency owner, focus on developing new marketing strategies, CRM apps take care of collecting, tracking, and managing all your client data.

Best tools for getting more clients, such as Freshworks CRM, ProofHub, Bitrix24, Apptivo, etc. provide stand-out features including pipeline management, contact management, collaboration, reports, sales tracking, automated lead capture, integrations, and more. If you understand your agency’s core needs in the first place, you can better grow your agency’s revenue.

How to Effectively Use Social Media for Reaching Out to Your Potential Digital Marketing Customers in 2023?

Social media is no doubt one of the most used communication channels of our day. It allows businesses and brands to reach and engage with their potential customers with constantly updated algorithms and advertising options. The key point; however, is to figure out how you can stand out from your competitors and the strategies you need to reach your potential digital marketing customers. 

We believe what’s essential is a strong social media marketing strategy to engage with brands looking for digital marketing services.

Below, we have listed the initial steps you should take to use social media effectively to get new clients.

1. Create Less Formal Social Media Posts

Yes, selling is critical! However, it is just as important to determine your target audience, create suitable posts, convince clients from a different perspective, and direct them to your website. But just advertising products by flooding users with boring information is no longer enough in this creative world. With fun posts that will reflect your company and team, your potential customers can get to know you, thereby increasing their desire to work with you.

2. Give Your Customers an Inside Look

Create posts where you briefly describe your products and services so that visitors will have an idea of whether your agency is what they’re looking for. You can offer a trial demo for interested clients, or you can organize a meeting to be able to introduce your ecommerce agency in Europe in a detailed way. 

3. Create Polls and Ask Your Audience’s Opinions

It can be challenging to get your audience to interact with your social media content; occasionally, even well-written articles and captivating videos fail to interest users. Though, you have not only well-designed images and reels but a few more options to engage your audience. When it comes to learning more about your audience, polls offer a variety of advantages. They are simple, and therefore people love to participate and share their thoughts and opinions. By using polls, you can eliminate a lot of these assumptions and get a clear understanding of how your audience feels about your company or a certain product.

4. Use Hashtags (The Right Ones!)

Users might easily become overwhelmed by an excessive amount of information. Using hashtags makes it simple to filter out unnecessary digital clutter and concentrate only on the information we truly need. You can connect with your industry and your target audience by using an industry-specific hashtag. The use of many hashtags, however,  might make your message seem cluttered and unprofessional. So make sure to avoid overusing them!

5. Infuse Storytelling into Your Strategy: Captivating Narratives that Resonate

Storytelling is like a timeless art that’s got this amazing power to totally captivate, inspire, and leave a lasting impact. So, why not dive into that enchanting world of storytelling on social media? We’re talking about spinning narratives that totally resonate with what your audience dreams of and struggles with.

You can craft narratives that artfully portray the journey from adversity to triumph, and position your agency as the catalyst behind these awe-inspiring transformations. These stories aren’t just lines on a screen; they’re emotions that hit you right in the feels. They make your brand super memorable and relatable, turning potential customers into lifelong fans.

The tips above can help you get clients, no matter how small or large your agency is. The key is a varied marketing strategy that combines your staple of digital marketing with old-fashioned methods as well. Don’t forget to be transparent about your pricing too.

You can start right away by joining the Digital Agency Network and seeing everything we have to offer.