We’ve Generated 1M+ Leads For Our Marketing Agency Clients – Explore Our Best Lead Generation Strategies For Agencies

Have you ever wondered why only 20% of marketing agencies (based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics database) make it past 5 years? We believe that one of the key underlying factors for the phenomenon above is lead generation, especially as in the last 7 years, we’ve taken over the lead generation of 250+ businesses. Our marketing agency clients, in particular, have been facing bigger and bigger challenges due to the increasing number of competitors in the agency space.

Undoubtedly, lead generation is the lifeblood of any marketing agency. Above all, it drives new business opportunities and enhances revenue streams. The agency space is one of the most competitive industries in the world; in 2024, the competition for leads is greater than ever before, thus increasing the difficulty for agencies to get enough leads. A robust lead generation strategy differentiates successful agencies from those that fail.

In this article, we summarized our best practices based on our tried and tested lead generation methodologies, which have helped us and our clients, such as Attrecto, Hexagon, and Euchner (among many others) to fill up their pipelines with the exact number of leads they need whenever they want.

Generate High-Quality Content to Showcase Your Expertise

0. Research, Research, Research…

Here, we wanted to incorporate a Step 0: research. The importance of a thorough target audience research cannot be understated, yet so many agencies fail to do it adequately. Understanding your target audience is essential. You need to research their interests, painpoints, and challenges. Use questionnaires, social listening, and keyword analysis to gather insights. This information will guide your content strategy and ensure you address the specific needs of your audience.

1. Long-Form Written Content

Producing long-form content such as blogs, case studies, eBooks, and whitepapers is a great way to establish authority in your niche. These pieces offer in-depth insights that will attract and engage potential clients. For instance, a detailed case study showcasing a successful ad campaign can demonstrate your agency’s capabilities and results-oriented approach.

2. Short-Form Written Content

Short-form content, primarily LinkedIn posts, will engage your audience. You should share quick tips, industry news, and insights, ensuring your agency remains on the top-of-mind of your target audience. We recommend putting out polls as well, not only about marketing and advertising topics but also about leadership and business issues.

3. Videos

Video content, such as shorts and podcast videos, significantly boosts engagement. Videos are a dynamic way to showcase your agency’s personality, highlight client success stories, and offer valuable advice. Creating a series of short videos addressing the most common industry pain points of your target audience (e.g. why the lack of trust among the purchasers from pharmaceutical manufacturing companies is usually caused by a weak personal brand) is an easy and powerful way to get started.

Optimize Your Services Page

Your services page should clearly communicate what you offer and highlight your unique selling points (USPs). Use compelling copy, client testimonials, and case studies to build trust and demonstrate the value of your services. A well-optimized services page can significantly improve conversion rates. 

Not to mention that countless agencies do not spend enough time and energy on optimizing their services page, even though this should be standard. Therefore, the agencies that make sure their services pages are neatly organized gain a headstart right at the beginning. This includes technical aspects too, such as loading time, design, and device/browser compatibility.

Create Lead Magnets

Capitalizing on the law of reciprocity, offering valuable (we mean actually valuable, and not randomly assembled) resources such as free eBooks, trainings, cheatsheets, webinars, or templates to capture leads is another way how agencies can eloquently communicate their value proposition to their target audience. These lead magnets should address the specific pain points of your target audience and provide actionable solutions. Promote these resources through your website and social media channels to maximize visibility. Here at Blackhole, lead magnets are one of the core ways in how we attract leads consistently.

Conduct Outreach Through Email and LinkedIn

Outreach campaigns are the most stable and predictive method to generate leads, as long as you have a proven outreach sequence. Here are 3 things you must always include in your outreach campaigns:

• Personalized Messages: Use AI tools to personalize your outreach, addressing leads by name and referencing their specific pain points. Most AI tools can tailor cold messages very well, bolstering the chance that the messages will be well received by your leads.
• Follow-Ups: Implement a sequence of follow-up messages to keep the conversation going. Each message should offer additional value, such as a free consultation or an insightful article. Remember, most clients are closed from follow-ups and not from the initial outreaches.
• USPs: Clearly communicate what sets your agency apart and how you can address your prospect’s needs.

Most of the success of outreach campaigns comes down to decent filtering and lasersharp targeting. Leverage LinkedIn’s filtering options to target your ideal audience precisely. Segment your leads to tailor your messaging, ensuring each piece of communication is relevant and personalized.

Publish Case Studies

Case studies provide proof of your agency’s capabilities and reduce perceived risk. Publish detailed case studies that showcase successful projects and the results you’ve achieved for clients. This builds credibility and trust with potential leads.

For instance, here at Blackhole, we’ve built an entire vault of case studies based on our client success stories with Vogelsang, Hexagon, Generali, Attrecto, Guess, Euchner, Koch, etc. Showing your expertise by highlighting your track record of working with established companies and well-known brands from any industry will signal to your prospects that you are an agency worth talking to – and that is enough to get your foot in the door and bring them on a sales appointment with you.

Build Brand Awareness Through LinkedIn

In 2024, LinkedIn is the most potent lead generation platform for marketing agencies, and it is likely to stay at the forefront for at least a few more years. Hence, building a prominent LinkedIn presence is a must if you want your agency to thrive, no matter if you target local or global companies. 

There is a key thing you should establish on LinkedIn, something that is done quite easily with the right strategy: your personal brand. 

Encourage your team to build personal brands and establish themselves as thought leaders. They can do it both for the company and for themselves individually, i.e. not only the LinkedIn page of your agency but also the LinkedIn pages of the main stakeholders on your team should be active. Share insightful content, participate in discussions, and engage with your network regularly. This not only increases visibility but also positions your agency as an industry leader. Consistently publish valuable content on LinkedIn to maintain engagement and visibility. Share industry news, tips, and success stories to keep your audience informed and interested.

Lead Nurturing

Engage with your leads through email or LinkedIn not only in the short run but also in the long run. Conversion rates are higher for nurtured leads compared to new prospects. Offer valuable resources such as free eBooks, courses, or consultations. Instead of hard selling, focus on providing value and building relationships. Lead generation is not a sprint but a marathon and it compounds. For instance, our having done lead generation for 7 years consistently puts Blackhole at a much easier when we launch a new lead generation campaign targeting, for example, industrial manufacturing companies, than a new agency would be at a similar position.

In the end, effective lead generation comes down to utilizing the right strategies and doing it consistently as an agency. Both of the two things above are much easier when you know what and how to do specifically.

This is where we can come into the picture with our 7 years of expertise and proven track record of supplying marketing agencies from 7 countries with more leads they could handle.

If you’re interested in how specifically we could take your lead generation systems by the hand and put them down at the place where you have an unlimited amount of high-quality, ready-to-buy leads, reach out to us via the following link and we’ll fly over how we could take your lead generation to the next level:

To all agencies who reach out to us in July, we give not only a free lead generation audit, but also our cheatsheet that elaborates on the lead generation strategies that have worked best for our marketing agency clients.