Sometimes the hardest part of being a business owner and having something that you created isn’t the process of creating your “product,”, but getting others to see the value and worth as much as you do. Attracting your dream clients or even generating leads can feel exhausting, more so than the actual ideation and planning of the business you’ve worked so hard on. If you’re an entrepreneur or business owner in any industry, this is probably a feeling you know All Too Well (yes, that is a Taylor Swift reference). BUT, what if I told you that I have a few tried and true ways for how to get marketing clients that your hard work deserves?

Because getting clients and leads doesn’t need to feel like you’re trudging through mud. If anything, it should be INSPIRING. With that being said, let’s get into my 7 Proven Ways to Get Clients for Your Agency in 2022. 

You should be actively prospecting for these future marketing clients (if you aren’t already).

To put it bluntly, you can’t expect leads & marketing clients to just come to you. Sure, you might get a few leads this way, by sitting back and seeing what your marketing can do – but unless you’re a very, VERY established brand, chances are this won’t work for you in the long run. It’s not sustainable. 

Instead, you should be going out and looking for these dream clients. If you don’t know what they look like, map out a list of characteristics of exactly who they are.

What are their struggles? 

What problem(s) do they have that are ones your business is aimed towards solving? 

What industry do they occupy? 

Do they have a specific audience? 

Are they a product-based client or a service-based marketing client? 

These are only a few of the questions you could be asking, and I heavily encourage you to try and flesh out as much as possible who these dream clients are. That way, when you’re prospecting you have a better idea of where to begin your search – which, if we’re being honest here, is half the battle won already. 

Once you know where to start, you can begin to plan how you’re going to get in front of them. 

Is it by creating a relationship online first by engaging with their content regularly? 

Is it by figuring out what local events you can head over to and network? 

Maybe you need to be looking for a few Facebook groups to join to network online, if you can’t find something in person. 

However, when you’re actively prospecting, THE MOST important aspect of that is tracking your leads. I’ll say it louder for the people in the back – track your leads! Tracking your leads will keep you organized, updated, you’ll know who is hot and who is cold, and it increases your chances of both gaining new leads/clients AND keeping on current ones. 

If you’re like, “Lauren, how do I track them? What does that look like?” Fear not, because I have my very own Lucrative Lead Tracker that you can download to start tracking your leads! This is one that I created years ago when I first started my business and trying to attract marketing clients, and it LITERALLY has been my guiding light in terms of client attraction and retention. So go ahead, download it, and then watch how easy client attraction becomes for you! 

Next up, you have to be a resource for your prospects.

As I touched on before, creating a relationship with your prospects is one of the best ways to start warming them up to becoming future marketing clients. You need to identify what is the struggle your client is having, and how you can be there to help them solve it, and go on to succeed. While it is about signing on new clients, it should NEVER come across that way – you should be their resource, reliable mentor, whatever it is you want to call it. 

So how do you do that? You need to learn their language. This is extremely relevant when it comes to your marketing.  It should speak to them in a way that is appealing to the issue they are facing, the industry they’re a part of, etc. Once you’ve made the connection, identified the struggle, then what?

Make yourself a thought leader to them, i.e. an industry expert who knows their sh*t. Write blogs and then use them as resources to send to prospects if they come to you with a struggle, create content on social media (where they follow you!) that makes them aware of the problem they have and that you’re the solution and that you KNOW how to solve it. 

They should be saying to you “wow that really spoke to me” or “it’s like you’re in my head!”

Be careful here to not get too excited once you’ve made the connection and overshare your skills to the point where they may feel they don’t need to pay you because they can just ask, and they will receive. The fine line here is to give them just a slice of the cake you’re offering, but not the whole damn cake.

You can explore paid advertising.

Here, we’re going to reverse the roles. Instead of YOU actively searching for marketing clients, THEY are actually researching and looking for you. This is a fantastic solution to get in front of problem-aware prospects. They’re already on the hunt – you just need to have precise, targeted campaigns that are going to be in the right place at the right time.

This requires a bit of research, however. You need know-how for setting up campaigns, and funds to run said campaigns, but optimized correctly, this can be a gold mine for your business. I do not recommend this for first time business owners without major capital, because building your audience should be your FIRST goal before running to Facebook ads, Youtube ads, etc. 

If you’ve done any sort of “market research,” this would be a good time to utilize that when setting up your paid ad campaign. If you aren’t confident enough in doing it yourself, and you have the room in your budget to outsource, there are tons of Facebook ad campaign managers and Paid Ad campaign managers out there to help you out with this!

Host webinars or workshops!

Webinars and workshops are great for a few things. For one, it can become a FANTASTIC lead generator for you by requiring an email to receive the content. It can also be something you monetize entirely, so you can profit off it. But the main point here is it gives you the chance to show what it’s like to work with you! (AGAIN, that human connection that you’re probably like “Lauren, I GET it”).

If you’re focused on local clients, host local workshops (co-work spaces are great for this!) Nothing bad has ever happened by putting a group of like-minded individuals in a room together meant for brainstorming and co-working. Places like WeWork or Spaces, or your local boutique co-working space, are great for workshops.

If you’re focused on nationwide/worldwide, host a webinar. What’s great about webinars is you can co-host them with people who aren’t local, drawing in an even bigger audience and more potential leads, increasing your connections and spreading awareness of who you are and what your business is about, which leads me to… 

Leverage partnerships with other local businesses.

Remember that thing I just said about co-hosting a webinar, and how that would increase your audience range? The same idea here when it comes to referral business. Just as you would track prospects, having a roster of referral sources can be just as (if not more) lucrative. Nurture relationships with businesses who have clients who could also utilize your services! 

Work out a referral fee between you and the other business, and it becomes a win-win for both. Nothing says biz bestie like “Hey, I have someone who I can’t really do anything for but I know you can so I’m going to send them your way!” 

Additionally, collaborations are similar in fashion. Collaborating on client work can also bring you new business. If you can fill a void of where another agency is missing, this is where you can shine and acquire more work! If you can do graphic design on a campaign where it’s needed, and you blow them out of the water, suddenly they may be asking you to come back and continuously work on other projects for them – and then boom, retainer client. 

Digitally network your heart out.

I talk about networking so often that if you’ve been following the podcast or following me for a while, you might be sick of it – but it TRULY makes a difference if you know how to do it and where to do it. In-person and online networking are both valuable tools that you should be using alongside the others mentioned to find new clients.

The best way to get started is by joining Facebook, Linkedin, or Slack groups of entrepreneurs within similar industries as you. A search as simple as “entrepreneurs Fort Lauderdale” or “small business Fort Lauderdale,” for example, can help you get started on finding groups that are the best for you. 

Online memberships and programs are also a great way to find networking opportunities! Do not underestimate the power of paying for a group program, and making more than a few connections from it. You’ll also definitely learn a new thing or two that will probably help your business. The best part is that you can join these groups and meet people you might not otherwise have met if you were just sticking to local networking opportunities. 

Meet *all the people* in-person.

Probably the oldest trick in the book within any business industry – either your classic, 5-7 happy hour at a bar downtown where people get together to exchange ideas and business cards, or something more formal like a conference that you need to buy tickets to. Any way you look at it, in-person networking is a great way to make connections and get the feel for prospective new clients or leads. 

Now, before you get all dressed up for your professional outing, you’re going to need a game plan because this isn’t just a happy hour, you are WERKING. Here are some quick tips to always remember when going networking:

• • Bring your business cards. You’re going to want people to remember you and have your contact information handy, so it’s best to have a few on you. 

• Have your elevator pitch NAILED down. The chit chat and small talk should feel natural, but your pitch should be quick, rehearsed, and easy to understand. You can fluff up other things later, but make sure you can accurately get your message across, whatever it is. 

• Follow up at least 24-48 hours. Don’t be shy and think that if the business is meant to be, they will contact you – that’s absolutely not how it works. If you remember someone being a good fit and you have their information, 100% definitely follow up with them after to stay top of mind. 

If you want more tips like these, make sure to listen this She’s Busy AF episode on my Top 4 Tips for networking! 

Don’t neglect PR.

Public Relations is more so your business speaking FOR you. I have a whole podcast episode on creating a PR strategy and the best ways to go about doing it, so head over here to give it a listen! Easy ways to do this are by seeking out media features – apply to be a guest on a podcast, collaborate with another brand or business on social for a giveaway, co-write a blog. Having content that has your name on it out there can land on the right person’s desk, and it could be a dream client! 

Those are my top 7 strategies for getting new clients in the new year. These are all tried and experienced, and I’m excited for you all to try them out and start signing on those dream clients.

If you’re looking to build out a kick-ass client attraction and acquisition strategy, a business & marketing strategy intensive might be a good fit for you. Learn more here.