to get clients for your agency (that you’ll love working with)

It is impossible to grow an agency without acquiring new clients. You can’t stay the same size because some clients are going to leave. It’s for this reason that acquiring new clients is always the top challenge agencies face.

The AgencyAnalytics showed what many already knew: Getting clients is a constant battle for agencies.

Finding the right client is even more difficult. You want clients that your agency can help succeed and with whom you enjoy working.

This guide includes tips that will help you not only find new clients but also filter out those who aren’t the best fit for your business (and drain your resources).

Although we’re focusing on advertising and marketing agencies, these principles can help any service provider attract more clients.

1. 
   Referrals
   
2. 
   Get Reviews
   
3. 
   Connect with complementary businesses
   
4. 
   Turn employees into ambassadors
   
5. 
   Share Your Secrets
   
6. 
   Fixes for prospects’ problems
   
7. 
   Price correctly
   
8. 
   Use social media
   
9. 
   Create a perfect customer profile
   
10. 
    Make social proof a big deal
    
11. 
    Be transparent
    

1. Referrals from current and past clients

Referrals are made by happy clients who introduce your agency’s services to new prospects. Referred leads are valuable because they already have some trust in you and your agency.

Ask for Referrals is the first step to generating more. Ask your current clients, and even former ones, if they know anyone who could benefit from what you have done.

Create a referral program.

Companies like Hello Fresh, which sell to consumers, excel at customer referral programs. Your agency can too.

To get your referral program going:

• Select the offer: Choose an incentive to reward clients who successfully refer new leads.
• Make referrals easy for clients: Create an easy form that they can use.
• Promote the program: Remind your clients of your program during regular meetings or via email.

We’re just getting started! This free guide will teach you how to expand your team and refine the services offered by your agency.

2. Get reviews

Reviews are like referrals in full blast. One detailed review about your service in a place that is highly visible, like Google, can influence hundreds of potential clients. Since 88% people believe that an online review can be as influential as a recommendation from a friend, reviews are incredibly important to attract clients.

Online reviews on popular platforms attract new clients.

The first step to getting good reviews is to deliver great service. Once you’ve done that, you can try to get as many new reviews as you can.

Here are some tactics that you can use.

• Ask directly (here is a template list for asking for reviews via phone, email and more).
• Add a link to your website with a call-to-action
• Give out physical “Leave Us a Review” cards
• Include customer reviews in satisfaction surveys

Don’t neglect to reply to reviews. Since most people who read a review will also see your reply. This is a great opportunity to highlight positive reviews and correct any less than flattering ones.

3. Join forces with complementary businesses

You need to find clients for other businesses. Referrals can be traded to help each other.

Say you are a content marketer who focuses on but a client needs assistance with PPC campaign. Ask a PPC company you trust to return the favor.

LinkedIn can be a great place to expand your professional network. Let complementary businesses know that you will look out for their interests if they follow suit.

4. Turn employees into ambassadors

Each employee has a network, and an area of influence. Their influence increases as they continue to work in the field. Help your employees to become ambassadors of your agency and tap into this network.

Employees can help your agency reach new audiences, even if they only repost content that your agency has created.

Ask your team to share important milestones with their social media followers. It could be your 100th customer, 10th anniversary or company retreat. These posts help you build your brand, without the need to push a hard sale. Many people wouldn’t want to do this on their own feeds.

Sending employees to conferences is another option. Junior team members will benefit from networking and education. Senior employees can be panelists or speakers. You’ll be able to have your employees out in the field promoting your company.

5. Share your secrets

Many people prefer to do their own marketing before hiring an agency. When it comes time to hire, your agency will be the first on the list if you teach people how to run their own marketing.

It may seem counter-intuitive but many of the largest modern businesses have grown rapidly by using this exact technique.

img alt=”Get More Clients – Screenshot from TikTok on PPC Ads.” class=”aligncenter wp-image-78273 size-full” decoding=”async” height=”600″ sizes=”(max-width: 422px) 100vw, 422px” src=”https://creativebrainsmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/how-to-get-clients-wordstream-example-tiktok.webp” srcset=”https://creativebrainsmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/how-to-get-clients-wordstream-example-tiktok.webp 422w, https://www.wordstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/how-to-get-clients-wordstream-example-tiktok-211×300.webp 211w” width=”422″/>

TikTok has become a popular tool for quickly educating clients through fun, short videos.

There are many formats and channels available to teach future clients. Here are 10 ideas that you can use without being too creative:

1. Create a blog. (bonus point because it will help your SEO).
2. Create a Newsletter
3. Attend conferences and events
4. Publish guest posts
5. Be a podcast guest
6. Create (or cohost) a Webinar
7. Share educational video via TikTok and YouTube
8. Share content on social media, especially LinkedIn!
9. Create mini-courses for your website
10. Lunch-and-learn sessions in person

You can probably think of more. It’s important to choose platforms that are comfortable for you and will be appealing to your clients.

6. Fixes for Prospect’s Problems

It is a tactic that is underrated for attracting new clients. Google companies that are in your niche to see their current ad campaign. List what you would do differently and then send the company your ideas.

This strategy is great for any marketing agency, as advertising by its nature is public. You can use tools such as Ahrefs and Moz to find out what is working with your prospects’ marketing efforts.

Some will run with your ideas. Many will ask for your help in order to improve their next campaign.

7. Price your goods properly

Agency Pricing doesn’t just mean making a profit. It’s a part of your brand. Let’s take a look at this.

Offer you a true premium service with white glove treatment? Your pricing should be slightly higher than the average. You should raise your prices to not only cover the cost of the extra service but also to show clients that you are different.

If, on the other hand, your niche is to help fledgling companies get their footing online and you automate it, your pricing could be lower. It’s not all about cost plus profit. This is another way of expressing your brand.

Do you want to know what other agencies charge for their services? (Plus, their biggest challenges?) Find out more by downloading the free State of the Digital Marketing Agency Report.

8. Social media is a great way to stay connected.

The value of your time on social networks cannot be overstated. You can’t build a community anywhere else, or prove your expertise and connect directly with potential clients.

You can’t be a passive lurker. To reap the rewards of social media, you must be active.

img alt=”Get More Clients – Screenshot of an Interaction on Social Media.” class=”aligncenter wp-image-78274 size-full” decoding=”async” height=”600″ sizes=”(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 775px, 100vw” src=”https://creativebrainsmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/how-to-get-clients-wordstream-example-impact.webp” srcset=”https://creativebrainsmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/how-to-get-clients-wordstream-example-impact.webp 775w, https://www.wordstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/how-to-get-clients-wordstream-example-impact-480×372.webp 480w” width=”775″/>

Don’t just post social media posts; respond to comments and leave comments on others’ posts.

Here are some actions you can take to get more clients from social media quickly:

• Join the conversation by searching for hashtags that are relevant to your business.
• Reply to posts
• You can create new posts by expanding on your previous replies.
• Comment on everyone’s post
• Complete your profile (add links, images and professional descriptions)

9. Create a perfect customer profile

The ideal customer profile is similar to a buyer’s persona but focuses on the organization of your client rather than just their point of contact. It’s a good idea for agencies that sell to other companies, because people may change jobs, but the business remains the same.

It only takes a few moments to create an ICP, but it is worth the effort. The ICP helps you identify clients who will make you more successful and filter out those who drain the resources of your agency.

Here are some steps to help you create an ICP for your organization:

• List the client characteristics you’d like to include on your ICP.
• Look back at past clients. Which categories do successful and unsuccessful clients fall into?
• Create an award system: Assign a number of points for each characteristic (e.g., if you have dental clients who are successful all the time and construction clients don’t then construction prospects will get 0 points).

Put all this information on a spreadsheet. Continue to fine-tune your ICP in response to the success of each new client. Over time, you will have developed a foolproof method of finding clients for your agency.

10. Social proof is a powerful tool

Positive reviews and referrals are important for building a successful agency. Social Proof is similar, but it’s broader and more flexible.

Display your award, review, and result on your website.

Social proof can be any signal of trust which shows how amazing your agency is. This can include quotes from clients, total revenue earned by your agency, logos or awards won.

Social proof is also available in a long-form, such as customer stories or case study .

You can use social proof to prove that your agency is great. Social proof should be used on landing pages, emails and proposals.

Be transparent

It’s easy for you to become swept up in the excitement when signing a new customer. It’s important to explain the reality of working with your agency from the beginning. You’ll avoid a lot of hassle later on if the truth about what you do scares clients away.

You should be clear about a few things when you are trying to win new clients.

• What can and cannot be done: Let the client know if you are a PPC specialist but haven’t concentrated on SEO.
• Establish a communication plan: Tell your client that they will receive a monthly review and Fridays are off limits.
• Set realistic expectations. Let the customer know that it will take time to see results if you’re on a crowded market with a limited budget.
• Do not be afraid to tell a client no. Tell them if they ask for something that won’t work.
• Document everything: Document every call in an email you can refer back to later if questions arise.

Some clients may be turned away because they have unrealistic expectations. You may lose a few clients who have unrealistic expectations, but they will return after their agency fails to deliver.

How to attract clients faster

You may find it hard to attract new clients if you do not have a dedicated team of business development professionals.

No problem! You can still get clients without salespeople if you follow these tips.

The post How To Get Clients For Your Agency (That you’ll Love Working with) first appeared on WordStream.