1. Publish Case Studies
As a marketing agency, you are likely well aware of just how important word-of-mouth marketing is.
At the same time, case studies hold the same power. In fact, one survey showed that nearly 63% of respondents believe that case studies serve as a powerful tool to generate new leads.
When you achieve great results for your clients, make sure to get their stories of success and satisfaction.
By showing others that you have clients who have gained positive results from your services, you are helping instill a sense of trust in prospective clients that can encourage their hiring of your brand.
Case studies are designed to target some of the more complex situations that have been addressed for clients.
2. Ask for Testimonials
Similar to case studies, testimonials can help give your agency that push forward in the industry and help attract new clients. Others want to read about the success of your previous clients.
This helps to establish social proof and get others to view you as trustworthy and credible.
Research shows that 88% of individuals trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from people they know.
Testimonials don’t need to be long. A few sentences will do the trick. Then, make sure these testimonials are published somewhere prospective clients can easily see them.
Some examples include a dedicated page on your website, blog, social media, and email marketing campaigns.
As you are having your previous clients create testimonials for your agency, make sure they aren’t over the top. These can be seen as fake and turn prospective clients away.
Further, ensure the testimonial highlights an issue that you were able to fix for them.
3. Empower Your Employees
Many agencies fail to understand the power that their employees have. People who work for you can be your best promoters.
These are people who know the ins and outs of your business, and as such, they have become experts on your subject matter.
By empowering your employees to speak up about what they love about your agency, you can expect to attract both new clients and new talent.
Your employees can share their thoughts about you and what you do through podcasts, blogs, social media, word-of-mouth, and local events.
4. Focus on In-Person Networking
In order for your digital marketing agency to be successful online, you must focus on online networking.
However, you should never forget the importance of in-person networking and how it can play a role in your agency’s future success.
As your agency grows and becomes more successful, organic lead generation tends to be a priority. While there is nothing wrong with this, it is important that you continue promoting your agency at every turn.
So, when you are attending a social engagement, cocktail party, or the like, make sure you spread the word about what it is you do.
More often than not, you’ll be asked and won’t have to bring it out of the woodwork. Just make sure that your answer is less salesy and more exciting.
Because in-person networking is so important to your agency’s success, consider scheduling an event or two per week.
It doesn’t matter whether this is reaching out to an old colleague who you haven’t touched base with in some time or attending an industry-related event in the community.
Remember, you are simply looking for opportunities to talk about your agency and how you can help one another. Even if they aren’t interested at the time, when they need services like yours in the future or hear of someone else in need, they’ll think of you.
5. Showcase Your Culture
You can showcase the work you do and land new clients, but prospective clients also like to learn more about your workplace culture.
Now, this doesn’t mean you should stop promoting your work. Instead, it just means you should shed some light on the team behind all that work.
Let others see the human side of your agency by connecting faces to the brand.
Create employee spotlights and post them on your social media pages. Share pictures of the team working together on a project.
The main benefit of showcasing your company culture is to create a more personable brand.
Both customers and prospective clients may develop more trust as well as an emotional connection with your brand, which will nurture new leads and improve revenue.
6. Be Consistent
One of the problems many agencies have as they are trying to grow is inconsistency. When it comes to promoting your agency, you must remain consistent in everything you do.
Consistency is important whether you are creating and publishing content on a daily basis to your blog or composing personable social media posts to connect with your followers.
So, if you want to post to your blog regularly, make sure you are doing so.
Create a content calendar and follow your schedule. Otherwise, followers may fall off the bandwagon because they aren’t getting what they’re expecting from you.
7. Use Instagram to Your Advantage
Social media are the powerhouse of marketing. Unfortunately, there are so many brands and agencies that don’t use it to their advantage.
Specifically, Instagram is a great place to find new clients because of the high traffic it gets.
Think about promoting on Instagram the way you would promote on a busy street in town. Tons of people will see what you are offering.
Instagram is more of a visual platform than other social media platforms, so keep that in mind as you develop your social media marketing strategy for Instagram.
Only post high-quality images that showcase your work, and make sure that you are posting with a purpose (to reach your end goal).
Don’t forget to check out your competitors on Instagram. See how often they’re posting, what kind of content they’re posting, etc. This will help you perfect your own Instagram marketing strategy.
8. Industry Awards
The whole point behind marketing your agency is to showcase your brand and attract prospective clients.
An effective way to do this while also gaining validation and recognition for your work is to enter advertising and marketing industry awards.
By being nominated as a finalist or winning the award, you will get to showcase your work and promote your brand while attracting new clients and improving your bottom line.
And because you are being recognized for excellence, it also lends to your credibility as an industry expert and shows that you provide quality work, which means your agency may become a go-to for those looking for services like yours.
In both the short and long-term, industry awards have the power to build authority, instill trust in existing and prospective clients, and boost your sales.
Awards will also boost morale in the workplace and help with employee retention.
According to research, small businesses that have won an award may see a 63% and 39% increase in income and sales, respectively. Larger organizations may see a 48% and 37% boost in income and sales.
Some of the most popular ad agency awards include:
- B2B Marketing Awards
- Clio Awards
- Drum Marketing Awards
- Digiday Awards
- Webby Awards
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