Learn How to Grow a Digital Marketing Agency: 5 Ideas to Try in 2023

Do you want to learn how to grow a digital marketing agency from the ground up?

Are you looking to take your existing marketing agency to the next level?

If you’ve been nodding your head all along, then you’re in the right place.

With the right blueprint, scaling digital agencies can be a straightforward process.

In this guide, we’ll show you the strategies, tools, and prospecting secrets to take your marketing agency to new heights. 

Let’s get this party started.

How to grow a digital marketing agency

Here are proven tips that are helpful even if you’re still learning how to start a digital marketing agency with no experience:

1. Build the right team 

Here’s the thing: Your team IS your digital agency.

You need top-notch individuals to build a top-tier organization. Make sure your agency’s team is ready to compete with the top brands to make a dent in the industry. 

First, you must identify the core competencies that are essential for your agency. Only then will you be able to find individuals who excel in those areas.

Let’s say you’re building a digital agency that focuses on Instagram marketing. 

What you need are people who know IG tools for marketing, design, and copywriting. 

If you’re running a startup, you don’t need to shoot for in-house industry experts right away. Many agencies delegate tasks to contractors found in freelance marketplaces, namely Fiverr and Upwork. 

2. Develop your team culture 

To build a cohesive digital marketing team, create a company culture that encourages collaboration and creativity.

A positive company culture will not only make your existing employees happy, productive, and consistent. It will also attract the top talent needed to keep new clients coming.

Below are some tips on how to create a culture that other agencies will envy: 

• Use positive reinforcement through employee recognition programs
• Design an onboarding process that defines roles, policies, tools, and resources
• Feature your company culture on social media posts
• Make time for team-building activities

3. Create an authoritative digital agency website

A website is one of the most important assets in the content marketing world. Use it to educate potential clients about your services, value propositions, and work culture. 

For example, an “About” page is a must-have if you want potential clients to buy into your culture and vision.

With the right approach, your website can also be your most powerful lead generation tool. 

Start by implementing a web design that makes conversion a frictionless experience. That means highlighting your CTAs, creating non-intrusive opt-in forms, and presenting lead magnet offers. 

4. Target local keywords

If you have a website, you need to explore SEO and the opportunities it provides startups. 

Targeting local keywords, in particular, is an SEO strategy that lets you take advantage of proximity to win new clients. 

This allows you to meet prospects face-to-face—making your efforts in building relationships much more impactful. Not to mention that local keywords are easier to rank for.

There are several tools you can use to find keywords that target users in your city. SEMrush, for example, shows you the full picture with metrics like keyword difficulty, average search volume, CPC, and intent. 

5. Establish a social media presence

Building a social media presence should be on the checklist of all digital agencies. Doing so allows you to promote your marketing services to a wider audience—without investing a significant sum.

Vista Social can cover all the social media marketing needs of you and your clients. 

You can schedule posts, curate content from relevant sources, track analytics, collaborate with your team, and more.

At the same time, use Vista Social’s review management and social listening features to aggregate feedback from successful clients. This will provide you with all the social proof you need to build the credibility and authority of your brand. 

Ready to give your content workflow and posts a major upgrade? Try AI Assistant powered by ChatGPT today! 🤖💙

How to get clients for digital marketing agencies

You can’t grow your digital marketing agency without executing strategies to generate new clients—plain and simple. 

To prevent stunting your company’s growth with dry spells, here’s how you can get more clients for your agency: 

1. Offer free discovery sessions

Some of the top marketing agencies in the world offer free consultations or “discovery sessions” to engage potential customers. Others, however, offer them as a paid service—often integrating them as part of the onboarding process for clients. 

The thing is, discovery sessions are versatile. You can spend little on a quick, pre-recorded video or you can go all-out on a live, four-hour session.

A free discovery video may involve someone from your team analyzing your prospect’s website and recommending optimization strategies.

The video doesn’t have to be in-depth. As long as it provides value, it can help convince a new client that you’re worth the money. 

2. Launch an employee advocacy initiative

A surefire way to reach your target audience on social media is to leverage employee advocacy. 

In simple terms, employee advocacy pertains to online activities of employees that promote the organization they work for. They can advocate for the brand by sharing a company blog post, posting about the workplace, and engaging interested users. 

Letting employees take part in your agency’s social media strategy has numerous benefits. For one, they keep interactions natural since they know how to respond to Instagram comments or Twitter re-tweets. 

3. Start prospecting in social media groups

If you use social media to identify prospects, make it a level deeper by participating in groups. These are where like-minded enthusiasts, decision-makers, and industry stakeholders share information and form connections with potential partners. 

To get the attention of clients, focus on contributing by answering questions, sharing marketing reports, and offering insights on campaigns. 

Companies tend to be active on LinkedIn when it comes to growing their B2B connections. It’s only natural to springboard your content marketing efforts there before branching out to other networks.

4. Host Q&A sessions

Hosting a Q&A session is an effective way to raise awareness and win the trust of your target audience. It’s a low cost social media marketing strategy that utilizes the power of virtual events to get you more deals. 

Social media platforms like Facebook are equipped with a cost-effective option for launching virtual events. Other alternatives include Instagram Live and YouTube Live. 

5. Promote lead magnets

A lead magnet like a marketing report or whitepaper can make the difference between a bystander and a quality lead. 

Leverage your lead magnet to generate more subscribers to your mailing list. For the vast majority of digital marketing agencies, a newsletter is still one of the most effective lead nurturing channels. 

For more actionable information, read our guide: “How to get clients for digital marketing this 2022.”

Reliable tools to grow your digital marketing agency

Looking for tools to grow your digital marketing agency and attract more businesses? 

Below is our rundown of the best tools to help you attract more clients and pump up those revenue numbers: 

1. Vista Social: Build an automated posting schedule for social media. You can also aggregate reviews, use social media listening, monitor analytics, and manage your online content library. 
2. InShot: Create engaging short-form videos to promote your agency. InShot is among the most cost-effective Instagram and TikTok tools for agencies. 
3. Google Analytics: Get a 360-degree view of your website’s performance. Track metrics like bounce rate, scroll depth, conversion rate, traffic, and session duration.
4. Upfluence: Discover and work with influencers that fit in your industry. You can integrate the Upfluence service directly with platforms like Zapier, Outlook, and Salesforce.

Grow your digital marketing agency now

There are countless companies that need the high-quality marketing work that your agency can provide.

Go after them.

As you service your clients, make sure your in-house team is on the same page with an all-in-one, collaborative platform like Vista Social. 

Start growing your digital marketing agency by creating a free trial account today!