The Biggest Challenge Facing Digital Agencies and How to Overcome it

The reason most agencies are not finding new clients is that they’ve unknowingly shifted focus from running their own marketing campaigns to working under pressure to deliver results for clients.

Studies have shown that finding new clients is the most challenging part of running an agency, with 60% of digital agencies saying it is their biggest pain point.

Although some agencies have mastered the art of finding new clients, some have also built automated systems of client attraction.

In the 2018 Marketing Agency Growth Report published by Hubspot and its partners, over 1,000 agency owners and top execs were asked to share their agency’s growth challenges.

And here is what tops the list…” finding new clients.”

Having worked in an agency as a copywriter and digital marketer, I know that this is true, but before I look into why most agencies find it hard to get new clients and what can be done, let’s also look at what they said when asked ‘what is preventing their agency from growing as quickly as they like?’

1. 55% said they need more sales and marketing.
2. 31% said they need more cash flow and…
3. 28% said they cannot hire the necessary talent.

So, what Makes Finding Need Clients Difficult?

Businesses want results.

Whether small, medium, or large, every company wants to maximize its marketing spend, which is most often coordinated by an agency.

An agency wants to deliver results too because retainer deals are good for profitability and growth.

Despite these clients’ needs and the agencies’ desire to deliver, there seems to be a gap for agencies.

They need more new clients (sales) so that there can be enough cash flow to scale their business growth.

But there’s stiff competition out there with freelancers and other agencies.

Another reason most agencies are not finding new clients is that they’ve unknowingly shifted focus from running their own marketing campaigns to working under pressure to deliver results for clients.

It’s like a rolling stone, which gathers no moss.

How to Find New Clients

Having said that…

Now the question is what’s the best way to find new clients?

Many people will advise getting referrals, but referrals don’t grow business, they only bring on new clients that are more often than not like the client who referred them.

I mean a $6,000 per year client will most likely not introduce you to a $100,000 per year client.

So instead of relying solely on referrals, it’d do you and the team a lot better to focus on attracting your preferred target market.

The most reliable way to get new clients is to generate more leads.

It’s that simple.

Here’s what Blend Marketing’s Director Sean Sweet has to say about generating leads.

“Currently, the vast majority of our leads are from inbound marketing.

We get around 6,500 visitors to our website a month. Over 300 visitors are filling out forms and downloading content.

So we have over 300 leads to follow up with each month. A good proportion of those leads are our ideal customers.”

Do you see the point I’m trying to make there?

It’s a numbers game.

Build an automated Lead Generation campaign for your agency too, that’s how to beat the biggest growth challenge of most digital agencies.

Cheers…