Want to reach your ideal audience, reap high conversion rates, and ultimately build a profitable business from the ground up?
Discover how to grow a digital marketing agency (the right way).
Here’s the truth: It’s challenging to run and grow a digital marketing agency, especially given the cutthroat competition you have to face.
And then there’s hiring to consider, selling, accounting, payroll, marketing—the list is endless.
Plus, you need to produce immediate results for your clients, or they might move on and leave some less-than-glowing reviews.
But with the projected $876 billion in revenue by 2026, there’s still growth potential for smart agency owners.
With the right road map, it’s easy to scale a digital marketing agency without overworking or throwing money down the drain.
In this article, you’ll learn how to grow a digital marketing agency. We’ll also share some insightful tips to help you take your business to the next level.
Tips & Tricks To Grow A Digital Agency From Scratch
Growth is essential for any digital agency, and it starts with recruiting the right team to create a seamless experience for its clients.
Create a spotless online image of your agency to reach more potential customers. That means, for every social platform your business is on, be sure it is branded well and professionally. Have other digital footprints (online business reviews) and be sure that people can find your company easily. There shouldn’t be outdated, unclean designs or imagery online associated with your company.
Ultimately, successful growth hinges on having a well-coordinated team working together like clockwork. Your company is made up of people. Sure, you likely have technology and automation running, but the team running all of these and overseeing the business operations is crucial to whether you succeed. We’ll go deeper into this below.
Here are a few tips if you are still learning how to grow a digital marketing agency:
Website Optimization (Design & Structure)
When learning how to promote your digital marketing agency, you should first focus on optimizing your website.
A website is a window into an agency’s identity and values, and many people will judge a business by its site design. A good website should have the following characteristics to boost your digital marketing agency’s growth:
- Great visuals
- Showcase all that your digital agency has to offer in the best light
- Utilize intuitive navigation
- Communicate your message clearly.
94% of users’ first impressions are based on the website’s design. This shows that presentation is critical in conveying who you are, what services you provide, and your level of professionalism.
1. Consider Visual Appeal
When creating the agency website for your digital agency, the visuals should be appealing and inviting. Creative designs can draw people in and make them want to explore more about what you do as a business.
Remember not to overwhelm your users with too many elements—clarity is key! Map out a visual design that makes sense, isn’t too cluttered, is made up of high-quality images, and has an overall pleasant user experience.
2. Make Mobile Optimization a Priority
It’s no secret that most users access websites from their mobile devices these days, so it should look good on both desktop and mobile devices.
Test different resolutions for images or video formats across various screen sizes to ensure consistency across all platforms. A lot of business owners focus so much on their desktop design and then give their mobile site only a short time to be designed.
This isn’t ideal, since there will be some people who never even see your website on desktop view. Make sure everything on mobile devices looks great and works perfectly. Don’t leave the mobile design as an afterthought.
3. Utilize Simple Navigation
In terms of user experience (UX), nothing can be a bigger turn-off than poor navigation or unclickable buttons. When figuring out how to promote your digital marketing agency, simple yet effective website navigation should be your top priority.
Visitors should be able to surf through your site using simple yet effective navigation techniques such as categorical lists or grid-based hierarchies.
This helps visitors quickly access relevant information from anywhere within the website at any given moment. To improve scannability, avoid using too much text. Instead, divide content into short paragraphs and actionable bullet points.
4. Incorporate Attractive Imagery
Visuals are important; they contribute significantly to how we perceive information in our minds.
Use relevant imagery that is clear enough to represent what your digital agency stands for without being overly complicated or abstracted.
A combination of photographs and graphics works well alongside typography, but again, avoid overloading with multiple pictures per page. Embed videos to add personality and create immersion within a few seconds.
Target Local Keywords
For startups, a website is necessary to reach out to new customers and create relationships. But it’s not enough to just have one. To really grow a digital marketing agency, consider search engine optimization (SEO) and the opportunities it presents.
One way you can do this is by targeting local keywords. This allows your business to leverage its proximity to potential customers and increases your chances of success.
Plus, local keywords are easier to rank for than broader ones since they are less competitive.
There are many tools available that can help you find keywords explicitly tailored for users in your area.
SEMrush, one of the most popular SEO tools, gives you insights into metrics like keyword difficulty, average search volume, cost-per-click (CPC), and user intent.
All these factors contribute immensely to how successful your SEO efforts will be.
Be Active on Social Media Channels
As a digital marketing agency, you must stay ahead of the curve and ensure that your brand and services are visible to potential clients.
Leverage social media channels to access a large pool of prospective clients who could benefit from your services.
The following are some actionable ways to use social media to grow your digital marketing agency.
1. Utilize Organic Content
Organic content on social media channels allows you to share valuable information with potential clients about what makes your services unique and why they should consider utilizing them.
This can include articles related to trends in advertising or tips that could help your potential clients optimize their campaigns. Plus, this will demonstrate your expertise while providing valuable information.
Also, this type of content allows others to become aware of your agency without feeling like they’re being advertised to—making organic content a powerful tool to grow a digital agency.
Take our example. Ravi Abuvala has 123,000 followers on Instagram and has a pretty good organic reach.
He regularly posts tips regarding how to reach optimal business operations and develop client acquisition systems (that’s what we offer at Scaling With Systems).
He has built an organic audience that trusts him because he offers value in his content. Do the same for similar results for your digital marketing agency.
2. Expand Reach With Paid Campaigns
One of the ideas to grow your digital marketing agency is to expand your agency’s reach with paid ads. Paid campaigns on social media channels can be instrumental in significantly expanding reach. These campaigns enable you to target specific demographic information, such as an age group, interests, or location.
That way, the right people receive the right message, increasing the likelihood that they will take an interest in what you offer and potentially use your services.
With paid campaigns on social media, you can adjust targeting variables at any time. That means those who are likely interested in what you offer will receive your messages instead of those who show no interest whatsoever.
3. Monitor Relevant Conversations
To grow a digital marketing agency, monitor relevant conversations on social media channels to get valuable insights into what people think about specific topics related to advertising.
That’ll give you a deeper understanding of how different strategies work better than others, depending on specific contexts or conditions.
Also, participate in conversations related to various topics within the industry to demonstrate expertise and position yourself as a thought leader.
Hire The Right Team Members
Invest in a team of knowledgeable and reliable employees when you grow a digital agency successfully.
You’ll need experts for every service your agency provides—content creators, SEO specialists, social media managers, marketers, editors, and more.
To ensure that your team members remain loyal and hard-working, prioritize creating an environment of strong culture and team bonding. Offer competitive salaries along with benefits packages and flexible hours when available.
Also, provide workers with transparent paths for growth. It will create a secure trust between you and the employee.
Consider hiring more in-house staff or outsourcing projects as needed. With the right people in place at the right time, you have the potential to expand your capabilities further than ever before.
Offer Internships & Corporate Training Programs
Entry-level positions can be hard to fill, as many agencies don’t offer the training and additional requirements needed to do those jobs.
Remember your own internship days when you were enthusiastic and eager to learn new skills?
That’s why an internship program is such a valuable resource: interns can quickly adapt and learn according to the agency’s needs.
Corporate marketing training helps employees merge knowledge with experience, allowing them to develop their skills further.
You’ll have access to a steady stream of qualified candidates who understand the demands of the digital marketing industry if you use a mix of in-house interns and trained personnel.
Develop an Effective Client Onboarding Process
One of the ideas to grow your digital marketing agency is to develop an effective client onboarding process. Clients that are convinced you have something valuable to offer will likely reach out to you. Your job is to understand and meet their needs, not just give them a friendly welcome.
Streamline processes and provide an enjoyable onboarding experience to set the stage for a long-term working relationship.
To boost your digital marketing agency’s growth:
- Use templates to create proposals and contracts.
- Ask questions to get a clear picture of what they require.
- Make sure that deadlines and pricing are crystal clear, as these two topics can make or break any partnership.
At Scaling With Systems, we use Asana to streamline the client onboarding process.
We create, store, and share files and documents related to each client with our team and create tasks to make the client onboarding process seamless.
Check out this article to learn how to use Asana effectively.
Improve Your Response Times to Leads
Consumers today want answers and services—and they want them immediately. No matter how busy you are, prioritize responding to your leads as quickly as possible.
Businesses that responded within an hour are a whopping seven times more likely to close a deal than those who waited just one hour later.
Typically, businesses tend to respond in an average of 42 hours. But if you’re serious about winning new business, aim for quicker response times for maximum success.
Collect & Analyze Data
Learn how to collect, analyze, and interpret data to identify trends, find areas of opportunity, and better understand your market. That way, you can make more informed decisions to grow a digital marketing agency.
Here are a few tips on how to collect and analyze data to help your digital marketing agency grow:
Set Up Tracking Systems
Set up a tracking system using tools like Google Analytics to track website visits and interactions or other tools such as heat mapping software like Crazy Egg. Also, leverage social media analytics that tracks user engagement with content across various platforms.
Access to this information will give you an overview of user behavior and help you decide which strategies should be implemented.
Use A/B Testing
A/B testing is a helpful way to measure the effectiveness of different campaigns and determine which ones work best for your target audience.
Test different versions of a particular form or content piece by sending them out to two separate groups and tracking the results over time.
Compare which elements successfully reach your desired goals and take action accordingly.
Survey Customers
Survey customers to gain valuable insights about their experience with your services, which can be helpful.
Ask open-ended questions about what they liked or disliked from past campaigns. Also, what would they like to see more of in the future, or what kind of services do they need from a digital marketing agency?
Questions like these can all reveal valuable information you can use when creating or modifying campaigns.
Analyze performance
Once you have collected the data, analyze it for it to be more meaningful.
Charts, graphs, heat maps, key performance indicators (KPIs), and customer feedback scores – all these tools demonstrate how well each campaign has been performing.
Take note of areas where there are opportunities for improvement to make strategic decisions that will maximize ROI and digital marketing agency growth.
Automate Data Collection & Analysis
Automate data collection and analysis processes to easily monitor trends in real-time without investing too much time into manual analysis tasks, which can become tedious.
Automation tools make it easier for businesses to focus on optimizing their campaigns while still providing insightful reporting on their performance metric’s progress over time.
Here are some great automation tools you can leverage to grow your digital marketing agency:
Develop an Upselling Strategy
Upselling involves:
- Recognizing customer needs
- Offering additional services and products
- Increasing the value of each purchase.
Here are a few tips for how you can use upselling to help your business grow:
1. Understand Your Customers
Understand your customers and their needs. Take time to get to know them and find out what services they need or could benefit from.
This insight will make it easier for you to identify upselling opportunities that benefit both parties.
2. Offer Additional Services
Start offering additional services or products that address the identified needs to grow a digital marketing agency.
Suppose a customer is seeking help with search engine optimization (SEO). In that case, you could offer additional services like website design or keyword research as part of an SEO package.
Offer these packages to increase customer satisfaction while allowing you to capitalize on potential opportunities.
3. Incorporate Upselling Into Your Sales Process
Incorporate upselling into your sales process to encourage customers to buy more than one service at a time, resulting in increased revenue per sale.
Introduce customers to related products and services while they’re considering a purchase.
This way, they’ll become aware of other items they may need without feeling overwhelmed or pressured into making multiple purchases.
4. Create Special Bundles
Create special bundles with discounted prices to encourage customers to make larger purchases at once.
Say a customer is interested in website design services but also needs help with SEO and content writing.
In that case, you could create a special package that offers all three services at a discounted price compared to purchasing each service separately.
Customers will appreciate the savings while you’ll make more money from bigger orders.
Grow & Scale Your Digital Agency Through Marketing
Any digital agency looking to grow must consider its clients’ needs and wants. An increasing customer base is a key to success in the digital space, as it is the foundation upon which growth rests.
Focus on your consumer base to achieve sustained growth and prosperity.
The following tips will help you in learning how to grow a digital marketing agency by acquiring more clients:
Develop Better Self-Promotion Techniques
Self-promotion is one of the most effective ways to attract new customers and, ultimately, to grow a digital marketing agency. Here are some tips on how to use self-promotion techniques to find more clients for your digital marketing business:
1. Use Social Media & Online Platforms
Social media and online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram are powerful tools for reaching potential customers.
Post content regularly about your services and special offers, interact with users, and create an engaging page that showcases your work.
Also, use these platforms to target prospects by leveraging strategic advertising campaigns.
2. Leverage Referrals & Word of Mouth
Get proactive in asking satisfied clients to refer you to their friends or family members who might be interested in what you offer.
Promote client referrals by offering rewards or discounts to customers who successfully refer others.
3. Participate in Industry Events & Networking Sessions
Attend industry events and networking sessions to connect with potential customers while increasing your brand’s visibility among peers and other professionals in the field.
Engage in conversations, hand out business cards highlighting your services, and tell people why they should choose you over other businesses. Also, attend seminars on relevant topics related to digital marketing if available.
4. Publish Regular Blog Posts & Advertise Your Services Online
To grow a digital marketing agency, create blog posts about topics related to your specialization to boost credibility.
Do that to offer value that potential customers may find helpful in making informed decisions when hiring a digital marketing expert or agency.
Also, consider advertising on Google Ads or platform-specific ads such as Instagram Ads or Facebook Ads if it makes sense for your budget and target audience’s interests.
Revamp PR Strategies
In the digital world, networking is essential for success. You need to find the right people and be in the right places at the right times to make meaningful connections.
Here are some tips for building a community around your agency and enhancing your PR game:
1. Sponsor Events
Sponsor industry or local events to widen your contacts and increase your business awareness.
Take advantage of every opportunity to interact with potential customers and build relationships with them.
2. Offer Educational Courses
Offer educational courses on topics related to digital marketing to position your business as an authority in this field. You’ll also attract new customers interested in taking such courses.
Emphasize the value of these online and offline courses to capture more attention from potential clients.
3. Get Backlinks from Other Sites in Your Niche
To grow a digital marketing agency, reach out to other companies and bloggers who specialize in topics related to digital marketing and offer a mutual backlinking agreement through guest posts.
Remember that exchanging links with the same websites is discouraged as it negatively impacts your SEO.
Build Partnerships
Work with other digital agencies to provide customers with the needed services, especially in the learning phase of how to grow your digital marketing agency.
Partner up to ensure that no one walks away without getting what they are looking for, which results in a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Create & Promote Lead Magnets
Lead magnets help draw potential customers interested in your agency’s services. Here are some tips on how to create and use lead magnets for generating leads and, ultimately, to grow a digital marketing agency:
- Establish which lead magnet/s will best serve your audience: Consider what incentives can attract your audience to sign up for your digital marketing services.
It could be a subscription offer for a newsletter or exclusive access to discounts or promotions.
- Use social media platforms: Social media platforms are one of the best places to promote lead magnets.
Target people interested in your content and have plenty of opportunities to reach even more potential customers with creative campaigns.
- Utilize email marketing: Send out emails that give value-filled information related to the industry and promotional offers that entice readers.
That’ll encourage them to click through, purchase from you, or sign up for additional services down the funnel.
- Offer product demos & free trials: Offer potential customers free demos or trials that allow them to test out what you offer before fully committing themselves financially.
Familiarize leads with your offerings and let them discover if there’s any benefit for signing up with you versus other competing agencies in the market.
How to Grow a Digital Marketing Agency: FAQs
What makes a successful digital marketing agency?
For a digital marketing agency to succeed, staff must work harmoniously as a team. Each member needs to be clear on their individual roles and on how they can depend on each other. To guarantee a comprehensive service offering to clients, the team should have a variety of talents and skill sets among its members.
What are the KPIs of a digital marketing agency?
Digital marketing KPIs are goals that a marketing team uses to measure the success of its objectives. These values focus on targets or objectives, such as driving more revenue or website referral visits, and they help outline activities and strategies to get there.
How many clients should a digital marketing agency have?
Digital marketing agencies should aim for a client count of 10-20 to achieve maximum profits and reduced headaches. Fewer than ten active clients can be detrimental, as you can become over-concentrated with large customers that you may not want to turn away.
Wrapping Up: How to Grow a Digital Marketing Agency
With a solid plan and the courage to adapt and evolve, you will find yourself at the forefront of the industry, leading the charge for innovation and digital marketing agency growth.
Push the boundaries of technology and leverage the latest trends to inspire and captivate audiences, building a reputable brand and expanding your client base.
As the industry evolves, you must be flexible and embrace automation while learning how to grow your digital marketing agency.
Accelerate your success and digital agency growth with the support of Scaling With Systems.
Our team has a proven track record of success, having helped thousands of business owners take their businesses to new heights.
We specialize in developing client acquisition systems that effortlessly attract new clients and drive growth. Book a free consultation call today to learn more.
