How To Get Digital Marketing Clients In 2022 [19 Expert Tips]
Digital marketing is using the internet and other digital tools to promote your brand, find new leads, and connect with customers.
With so many people now able to access the internet, businesses everywhere sense an opportunity to find more leads. But not all businesses have the skill and time to do their own digital marketing.
As a digital marketing agency, those businesses are your target market. They are your prospects. Here’s how you find and turn them into your clients”
1 Build profiles for each prospect
It’s important to build profiles for each of your prospects to see what their needs and pains are. By doing this you will be able to tailor your message for them – which helps boost your lead conversion rates!
For instance, if a prospect is interested in social media marketing, you should mention how they can reach their audience with your help.
Do this for every single one of your prospects, and you will be able to better understand who they are, which can lead to more conversions in the long run!
Make sure that all of these profiles include keywords related to what they are interested in. This will allow you to stay on top of your prospect’s search results and keep them coming back to your website.
(Image Source: LinkedIn)
2 Create a blog or newsletter that is relevant to the niche
Many companies are noticing the value of starting blogs. They realize its importance for building trust with customers and reinforcing the brand, which helps with lead conversion. A blog is just as important for a digital marketing agency.
Create a blog about your niche and make sure to include topics that your prospects care about. This will help you stay on top of trends in the field and establish you as an authority in digital marketing services for your target market, which can make it easier to attract clients and nurture leads.
This is also an effective way for prospects to feel like they are part of something greater than themselves.
3 Follow your prospects on social media channels
As a business owner, you need to be where the people are! Social media is an easy way for you to reach out and connect with your potential customers – which will lead them back to your site.
If you follow your prospects, they’ll be able to feel like you’re trying to reach out specifically for them. That warms them up and makes your job easier.
If someone follows your company, show them that you value them. Be careful not to turn your social media into a monologue, where you are constantly posting and not actually engaging them.
Answering questions your followers ask and responding to their comments shows that you are not just chasing leads but you genuinely care about solving their problems. That is how you use social media to get digital marketing clients.
You can also promote your page or profile by using hashtags when posting content that is relevant to your industry.
This will help potential digital marketing clients find you because they are searching for similar content. Those hashtags helps them discover your content.
4 Create a portfolio
A portfolio is a great way for potential clients to get an idea of what kind of work you’re capable of. It showcases your full repertoire of skills on actual projects you have worked on. If they like your work, it’s more likely that they will hire you.
For instance, you may have a portfolio of your work in web design. If a prospect likes your general aesthetic, they may well decide to start a conversation about their own website project.
Group your portfolio items by their different categories so prospects can easily find what they are looking for. This also shows you as organized and competent, which is something potential clients will look for. They can’t hire you to build their website if your own website is a jumbled mess.
Assuming your portfolio is hosted on your website, make sure to include links back to your social media profiles so that people can find and follow you easily.
5 Publish case studies
When you publish case studies, you want to include before and after pictures, specific details about the project, what went wrong during the process, and how you fixed it. It’s also a good idea to include customer testimonials and reviews, or just ask clients if they’d like you to add them!
(Image Source: Lynda.com)
6 Know who to prospect
When you are selling business services, it’s crucial to know which people make the important purchase decisions. There is usually one or a few people who decide on whether or not they need digital marketing services and which agency to hire.
But often knowing the office or department head who makes the decision is not enough without a name and their contact information.
Finding contact information can be as easy as looking at their social media profiles, but if you’re not sure where to look for it, try the company’s product page or contact us information.
If a phone number is available on the website or through your research, use that! If not, and an email address is provided, send them an initial message explaining who you are and what you’re offering to do for them.
If they don’t respond, try another email address or phone number if it’s available, and send your message again!
To keep the conversation going, follow up with them in a few weeks to ask if they need any help with anything else that might come up.
What if you can’t find their contact information in the places we have mentioned above?
LeadFuze is the easiest way to find contact information. It has the most comprehensive database of contacts, and it’s always adding new ones. It doesn’t matter if you need a phone number, email address, or social media profile – this tool can help!
You don’t have time to spend hours on Google trying to find that one person’s email address. Let it do all the work for you with its simple search engine. All it takes is a few seconds and your problem will be solved!
What’s even better is LeadFuze offers an unlimited plan for agencies. Awesome, right?
7 Tailor your lead generation efforts to specific targets
This is called account-based marketing (ABM). it allows you to map purchases for a specific profile of prospects and personalize their content and communications. It helps you stand out from the competition. And it’s extremely important to stand out these days.
You can do this by showering your prospects with your attention and showing a desire to really understand their needs. Rather than sending them to a generic “contact us” page, you can set up an online form so that each potential lead gets his own individualized message.
If it’s more convenient for them to reach out on social media, no problem! You’ll be able to see all of these messages in one place and respond accordingly.
8 Send personalized cold outreach emails
A lot of people don’t send cold outreach emails because they’re afraid it might come across as spammy. That’s understandable, but you shouldn’t allow that to hold you back.
One great way to get your foot in the door is by sending a personalized email–one from someone who actually cares about their potential customer and wants to help them.
That’s the difference between a generic email with an “unsubscribe now” link at the bottom and one that is specifically tailored to your potential client’s needs.
(Image Source: Mailigen)
9 Harness social media for content distribution
It can be tempting to share articles, blog posts, or videos on Twitter without including a call-to-action or a link to your site.
But by not including links in any of the social media posts you share, you’re missing out on opportunities for additional traffic and followers.
Plus, it’s just good etiquette when someone takes the time to read something that you shared with them to point them to a resource where they can learn more.
If your post is about something that people can take action on (sign up for a webinar, download an ebook, etc), always include the link in the tweet, so they know what to do next.
10 Give prospects lots of options when it comes to payment methods
When courting prospects, it’s important to show them how easy it is to work with your company. If you have flexible payment terms, make sure they know that as soon as they start researching your company. Display it where they can easily see it on your homepage.
If you only accept credit cards, they won’t be able to purchase your products or services if one day all of those cards stopped working for whatever reason (remember Target?).
It can also make your customers feel like you’re not welcoming when they are given one option to pay. Sometimes it is the small things that turn the head of prospects.
11 Advertise on social media
Social media is a great way to find digital marketing clients. But, with Facebook in particular, you can’t control what content people see on their feeds. So to make sure target prospects see your messages, you have to will have to ‘boost’ your posts, which is essentially paying for exposure.
Besides boosting your posts, you can also buy ads on Facebook. This allows you to reach a specific profile of Facebook user at the time you want. Twitter and other leading social media sites offer similar advertising solutions.
12 Be active on Facebook groups
Joining Facebook groups is a great way of making connections with people who may have a need for digital marketing services. It is a great way to showcase your expertise and skills to people who may actually be looking for them.
Another great way to find clients for digital marketing services that has been used successfully by people in SEO especially is starting your own Facebook group.
Now your purpose for starting this group should not spam members with sales pitches. It should be to showcase your knowledge and skills by teaching them how to do their own digital marketing. Your potential clients here are people who may be keen on digital marketing to find clients but who realize they don’t have the time to learn and get proficient at it.
You will be surprised at the number of Facebook groups that exist in your industry! There is a group for almost anything these days – from cooking recipes to graphic design.
Not only does this give you access to an audience that could be interested in your services, but it also lets you network with other people in the industry. It’s a great way to get advice and tips from a group of professionals who are just like you!
13 Ask for referrals from current clients or customers of your company
If a customer is satisfied with your work, they might be willing to refer you to their friends. You can ask for a referral at the end of a job that you know a customer was particularly pleased with.
At first, it might be difficult to get referrals but as you build a good reputation, people will start coming. Constantly deliver high-quality work and people will be less apprehensive about referring their friends to you.
Invest in your relationship with the customers by being generous and considerate. Offer them discounts or easier payment terms if you find they are really interested but may not be financially stable right now.
Besides that, give out freebies like stickers, pens, and other promotional goods, which will not cost you a lot but can do wonders for your brand. It will give them the incentive to tell their friends about your business and make it easier for you to get more clients for your digital marketing agency.
14 Use LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a great tool for marketers to connect with influencers in different niches and get more clients. If you want to know how to get social media clients, LinkedIn is a great place to start.
You can use the LinkedIn People Search feature and look for influencers in your niche. The platform offers many other tools you can use to find digital marketing clients, like InMail, Groups, and Jobs/Jobs Plus.
15 Partner with other businesses
Do you have a product or service that is complementary to another business? You can partner with this company on an affiliate marketing agreement, and together you will be able to market both your products. It is a win-win.
For example, you could partner with news websites in the digital marketing niche, like Search Engine Today and Search Engine Land. you could both use your websites and social media assets to promote each other’s content.
16 Update your website design and publish fresh content
One of the most important things you can do to get clients is to make sure that your website is helping your efforts to get new digital marketing in the door. It needs to have a modern design and up-to-date content.
When you look at it, does it look like a website that can convince prospects to trust you with their digital marketing?
If your website has outdated information or an unprofessional layout, it may turn off prospects. Regularly update your website with fresh features and with new quality content.
Good content also endears you to Google. The search engine is designed in such a way that only good, helpful content rises to the top. So if you rank high for keywords that relate to your business, it will be easier for target prospects to reach you organically.
17 Attend conferences
An event that is popular for many industries, conferences are a great place to network and learn from others in your field.
Attending these events can help you stay up-to-date on the latest trends, find niche markets, or even make valuable connections with people who may have a need for digital marketing services.
Take time to mingle and chat up the new contacts you make. Be sure to share your business card get theirs. Write down notes on what they said so you have something to break the ice with when you follow up with them later.
When you contact people you met at events you attended, don’t make it obvious that you are looking for leads. Be creative and show that you are genuinely interested in building a relationship, not just getting a client for your digital marketing agency.
(Image Source: ELM Learning)
18 Take advantage of online directories
Online directories can provide you with a list of people who want to learn more about your niche. For example, directories can help you find event attendees, people who blog about your field of work and are in a similar position to you, as well as experts in the industry.
Contact these individuals with an introduction email or LinkedIn request and see where it takes you! Even if they can’t provide any leads, for now, their input may be helpful when considering future marketing campaigns.
19 Add YouTube to your content marketing toolset
YouTube has some of the highest engagement rates in social media. By creating helpful videos that help business owners solve their digital marketing challenges you position yourself as an authority in digital marketing.
Some of the people who land on your videos may be in the market for a digital marketing services provider. You will naturally position yourself in front of the queue on their list of options.
You can take it a step further by partnering with other video creators who have similar interests. They can host you on some of your videos and give you an opportunity to showcase your digital marketing knowledge.
You will then do the same for them. This widens your pool of prospects as some of the people who see the videos you appear on may also be looking for someone to do their digital marketing. They may then look you up and start a conversation.
Final Word – How To Get Digital Marketing Clients Sustainably
There are many places where you can find digital marketing clients, but it’s important to go there with a targeted approach. Even more important is knowing how to explain digital marketing to clients because there will be many that will not know they have the need.
Digital marketing in general is a highly competitive industry. Everyone in the industry is learning is keen to learn how to get digital marketing clients.
Before long some of the strategies we have shared will not work as well as they do now. So to truly grow your agency, you must study your market and get a deep understanding of where prospects struggle with their digital marketing. That’s how you retain the customers you pick up along the way, set yourself apart, and position yourself for long-term growth.