Ways To Generate Leads For Digital Marketing Agencies

Table Of Content

Lead generation is the process of understanding and attracting potential clients who have expressed interest in a product or service and converted them into leads.

Successful lead generation campaigns process has two significant components: driving people to your site and enticing them to share their contact information. Finding an efficient approach to attract prospects to your website is the first stage in the process. Depending on your company's goals and budget, numerous lead generation marketing strategies can draw clients to your website.

The aim is to increase consumer interest in a product or service to turn that interest into a sale, known as lead generation for digital marketing agencies. Typically, lead generation for digital marketing agencies uses a web form to collect a visitor's contact information (referred to as a "lead").

Lead generation is essential for digital marketing agencies because it allows them to target potential customers interested in their client's products or services. By generating leads, digital marketing agencies can create a pipeline of potential customers to nurture and eventually capture leads and convert leads.

Building a pipeline of high quality leads is always challenging while generating leads for digital marketing agencies. Allocating lead generation budgets is always daunting as there are trade-offs between plenty of lead generation strategies that one can select from.

In this blog, we have curated a list of the most effective methods of generating leads for digital marketing agencies.

1. Get referrals from your most happy clients

The most effective lead generation strategies is word-of-mouth referrals. Selling service makes controlling crucial elements of the client experience challenging. The intangibles weigh in more.

To keep clients happy, you need to provide them with a smooth and personalized experience right from the start of their journey, from being a potential lead to the actual delivery of the project, until payments.

No matter how nascent your agency is, building processes and a tool stack to ensure seamless service quality is essential.

Once you have a happy client, all you need to do is to ask for a referral proactively. Most agency owners are open to doing it upfront, but if you ask most of your existing clients, they will gladly refer you through.

2. Gated Content + Social Media Promotion

Valuable content is the best resource for breaking the ice with potential leads and forming relationships. You need to focus on a specific client niche and build use cases that show how your sales team can help them achieve their goals.

Gated content is a long-form knowledge resource that can visualize the desired goal in exchange for information like email or contact number.

Select a niche and create a guide. For example, suppose you are targeting the travel sector. In that case, you can create a guide that shows how Local SEO can boost brand visibility, increasing business inquiries by up to 15%.

Once these content pieces are ready, the next step is to distribute these Guides/knowledge articles to relevant decision-makers from targeted companies. The best way to do that is through Social media ads.

Linkedin can be a great platform to target key decision-makers from a specific category. These ads allow you to deliver your gated content to their feeds.

Once they share their email address, they can access and engage with the content. You can start building a relationship with them as you now have their contact.

We recommend that you do not directly jump to pitching your services. Start your conversation with these leads by asking them about the content they received, any queries they have, and the challenges they currently face.

You can then consult them on how your firm, sales team, or marketing specialist can deliver a solution that helps them overcome these pain points and grow faster.

3. Guest Posting on relevant Media Publications

With competition rising by the day, establishing thought leadership to differentiate yourselves is one of the best ways to stand out. Study the pain points of your target market and establish yourself as a thought leader. However, this is easier said than done.

Start with researching publications, communities, and social media platforms where your target audience spends time. These are the places where you can influence them.

Study and list down the topics that address their pain points. The next step is to reach out to these publications with your topics and get featured.

These topics need not be hard sells. The more value you provide in your articles, the higher the chances that your target audience would have a better recall value of your brand when they need services similar to your offerings.

Consistency is the key here. It would help if you had an editorial calendar planned where you have fixed publications to guest post on and a specific set number of Guest articles to publish.

Follow the 80/20 rule where 80 percent of the guest articles are pure value add and the rest 20 percent are soft pitches. Soft pitches can be blogs where you address a challenge the targeted industry niche is facing and then have a short section in your article on how you can or have helped similar companies face the situation.

As you start getting coverage under these publications, begin to repurpose sections of your articles and share them on your social media pages to create conversations around them. Digital agencies targeting business leads over LinkedIn is an effective way to get traction. Creating valuable content will help you build a relevant audience.

4. Cold Email Outreach

If you have conducted a link-building campaign, you might know how effective a direct email marketing outreach can be.

To execute an outreach that generates results, you need to ensure that the quality of your email list is good. To get valid email addresses of decision-makers within your targeted niche, you can visit their company's website or LinkedIn company page to find key decision-makers.

Once you have names of key decision-makers to target, use email-finding tools to get their email addresses and generate a list. Use cold email marketing software like smartreach.io, mailshake, etc., to automate sending emails and follow-ups to prospects.

Personalization is key to getting a reply. Avoid jumping to the pitch directly. Sharing a relevant case study relevant to their industry can be an effective way to build rapport.

Break your email outreach into phases. Below is an example how:

________________

First Email:

Hey Dave,

I was going through your company’s website and found your blog on {{Blog_title}} interesting.

We have been helping other similar businesses in your industry who have a blog to increase their website traffic.

I have prepared a case study on how we helped {{Company_XYZ}} increase their website traffic by 15% in 10 months.

I would be happy to share it with you if you are interested to find out how.

Just reply to this email and I will share the link.

Best regards,
John

________________

Once you get a reply to this email then send the second email in the thread with the content link and a soft pitch:

________________

‍Second Email:

Hey Dave,

Here is the link to the case-study:

I would be happy to help you with any questions you have regarding it. Also, if you want a free consultation on how you can generate similar results for your firm I would be happy to be of assistance.

Here is my calendar link to get on a call:

Best regards,
John

________________

5. Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimisation increases the quality and quantity of internet traffic from search engines to websites or web pages. SEO is undoubtedly the cheapest and most dependable approach to getting leads. Still, it, like paid marketing, demands a great deal of skill.

SEO is vital for lead generation since it attracts relevant traffic to a company's website, which can be converted into leads and customers. Another essential part of SEO for lead generation is keyword research and targeting. Identifying relevant keywords and phrases that potential clients are searching for in search engines is what keyword research entails. 

By including these keywords in your website content and optimisation efforts, you may improve your chances of appearing in search engine results on pages for that exact keywords.

Compared to other marketing channels, such as paid advertising, SEO can create leads at a lower cost. After you've optimised your website and content, you may keep generating traffic and leads without paying any additional expenses.

SEO is a long-term approach that can bring continual benefits for lead creation. While it may take some time to see results, the advantages of SEO can last for months or even years, giving a continuous flow of leads. 

6. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a digital advertising method in which marketers pay a fee each time one of their adverts is clicked. Simply put, you only pay for advertising when your ad is clicked on. It simply means 'buying' visitors to your website and organically driving website views with paid ads.

The most prominent PPC platform is Google Advertisements, allowing advertisers to place advertisements in search results, partner websites, and Google's advertising network. Other PPC platforms, such as Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads, provide businesses with similar advertising alternatives.

A compelling ad campaign is essential for a successful PPC advertising strategy.

 Here are some pointers for developing great advertising campaigns:

• Recognise your target audience and their search habits. 
• Identify high-value keywords with keyword research tools to help your advertising appear in relevant search results.
• Your ad copy should be brief, clear, and intriguing.
• Set a budget for your ad campaign and select a bidding strategy that aligns with your objectives.

PPC advertising can be an effective way to generate leads and money. Businesses may accomplish fantastic results with PPC advertising by creating successful ad campaigns and measuring and optimising ad performance.

7. Website Optimization

Optimizing your website for lead generation is crucial for any business that wants to attract and convert visitors into potential customers. 

Your website should be visually appealing, simple, and load rapidly. A well-designed website helps visitors develop confidence and trust, with visitors, making it more likely for them to provide their information.

Lead capture forms and call to action (CTAs) are essential components of a successful lead generating strategy. The form should be brief and straightforward, requesting only necessary information such as name and email address. 

Optimising your website for lead generation necessitates a combination of design, user experience, effective landing pages, lead capture forms, and call-to-actions (CTAs). You can improve the effectiveness of your website by applying these recommendations and evaluating and measuring your efforts regularly.

8. CRM software

CRM software can help your agency in many different ways. CRM software lets you track all your leads in one place. This makes tracking leads through the sales funnel easier and guarantees that prospects stay within the cracks.

CRM software enables you to segment leads based on industry, location, and behaviour. This helps your advertising efforts and delivers personalised messaging to each group.

You can also track metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to help you optimise your campaigns and lead generating efforts. CRM software can be an invaluable resource for digital marketing firms aiming to create leads.

CRM software can help optimise your lead generation efforts and support the sales and marketing teams with integrated lead management, segmentation, and data-driven decision making, with other technologies.

9. Video Marketing

For digital marketing organisations trying to create leads, video marketing can be incredibly helpful.

Video content is very entertaining and can attract the attention of your target audience instantly. This improves the chance your target audience will watch and interact with your video content.

Optimising your video content for keywords and integrating it on your website and social media marketing platforms will improve your search engine ranks, drive traffic, and attract more people.

Video material is easily shared on various social media channels, which helps amplify your message and expand its reach. When your video material is shared, it can bring new leads to your website and help your business produce more leads.

Video and content marketing can also generate appealing calls-to-action (CTAs), encouraging your viewers to act and become a lead.

Video marketing might be beneficial for digital marketing businesses trying to create leads. However, you should not post videos just to post them. Ensure your videos elicit emotion and speak directly to your target clients' marketing issues.

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10. Webinars

Hosting your webinar is a beautiful method to demonstrate your authority and credibility as a thought leader. 

Webinars allow digital content marketing agencies to demonstrate their experience and understanding in a certain field. You can develop credibility and trust with your audience by offering valuable and relevant material.

Webinars enable you to reach a highly focused audience interested in the topic you are presenting. Webinars give you information that you can utilise to segment your leads and help you develop personalised marketing strategies.

Participants of a webinar might be motivated to take action, such as registering for a free trial or scheduling a consultation. 

Webinars can be recorded and repurposed as blog posts, social media posts, and videos, among other forms of content. It helps you to reach more individuals and generate more leads for your agency. Webinars also provide marketing agencies an excellent opportunity to build relationships with influential persons in your field by inviting them on as guests.

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Lead qualification is an essential phase in the lead generation process. Here are some things you can do to qualify your leads:

1. Establish your ideal customer profile: Define your customer's qualities based on demographics, behaviours, interests, and other pertinent elements.
2. Organize leads by characteristics: Leads should be assigned a score based on factors such as job title, company size, and engagement with your material.
3. Identify the problem: Ask questions to evaluate whether your product or service can address the lead's pain areas.
4. Lead segmentation: qualified leads should be based on their level of interest, budget, or any other relevant criteria.
5. Marketing automation solutions: automate lead nurturing and scoring based on your interaction and behavior.
6. Organize your leads based on importance: Prioritise the leads most likely to convert into paying clients.

You can better understand your leads by customising your marketing efforts to increase your chances of converting them into paying customers. It is done by qualifying them.

Inbound vs. Outbound Lead Generation

In this blog, we have discussed inbound and outbound marketing. They are both essential lead generation strategies.

Inbound lead generation entails developing content and marketing efforts that attract prospective clients to your company. It can include writing blog posts, developing social media content, sending email newsletters, or providing free resources such as eBooks or seminars. The goal is to create excellent content that attracts potential customers and encourages them to interact with your brand. Inbound lead generation is frequently regarded as a more organic and customer-centric technique because it makes customers approach you when they are ready to interact with your brand.

On the other hand, outbound lead generation is reaching out to potential clients directly through cold calling, email outreach, or direct mail. Outbound lead generation is more concentrated and efficient than an inbound lead generation since it targets specific demographics or sectors. On the other hand, outbound lead generation can be perceived as more invasive and less customer-centric. It entails reaching out to potential customers without interest in your business.

Depending on the sector, target demographic, and business goals, both inbound leads and outbound lead creation can be productive. Finally, your specific business requirements and resources will determine the optimal solution.

Wrapping Up

It is important to remember that, ideally, it requires 4-5 follow-up emails to get attention. So persistence is the key here to get the conversation going. Lead generation is essential for obtaining new clients, developing relationships, and growing income. It is a low-cost, focused marketing method that offers organisations valuable data and insights, allowing them to improve their overall performance and stay ahead of the competition.

Testing and measuring your lead generation efforts are critical for success in today's competitive industry. Experimenting and attempting new approaches might assist you in staying ahead of the lead gen competition and continuously improving your lead generation strategies for improved results.

There are also other methods you can use to generate leads for your agency, like blogging, speaking at events, attending networking events, and conducting webinars but serving more than 1000+ agencies through our solution, we have found these four to have the best return on time and money invested.

Still, if you believe we missed an important one that worked well for your firm while generating leads for a digital marketing agency, share it in the comments. We will add it to this list with a thank you mention.