7 Proven Ways to Generate & Nurture Leads for Digital Agency

Finding potential leads, getting no response from your prospects, or seeing low conversion rates despite your efforts can be challenging, right? 

You’re not alone. Many lead generators, project managers, and freelancers face these challenges daily. 

But don’t worry; proven strategies can help you turn things around. 

In this blog, we’ll explore 7 powerful digital agency lead generation with Conversion rate optimization tricks.  

Let’s dive in and transform your lead generation game!

What is Lead Generation in Digital Agency Landscape 

Lead generation is the process of generating potential customer data through various channels, including websites, social media, emails, and search engines. This process differs by industry, but in the online market, it requires strategic planning.

Lead generation is a leading component for success in the digital agency business. The lead pipeline can help you capture, nurture, and convert potential clients. It streamlines the entire journey, from the initial capture to the final conversion.

Lead generation goes beyond just capturing leads. It involves setting up project management software to store lead information, segmenting leads, nurturing relationships, and converting them into clients. 

The lead pipeline feature assists you in navigating each step of this journey, ensuring that you convert prospective clients.

7 Proven Ways of Digital Agency Lead Generation

Lead generation can feel overwhelming with so many sources to consider. Instead of rushing from one method to another, take a step back and develop a strategy. Remember, it’s okay to take your time and be methodical. 

You can create your own by observing others or following these 7 proven steps (saying proven, cause I use these steps for lead generation for my agency and consistently exceed my targets.)

1. Create High-Quality Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a strategy for organically generating leads. It involves offering the audience a valuable resource for free in return for their contact information. 

According to your business needs and your potential customer’s interest, create a high-quality lead magnet to attract the audience to take action. With an Ebook on my website I got around 38% of the conversion rate! 

Here are some valuable resource examples with success rates you can use—

• Ebooks – bring a conversion rate of 30% to 50%.
• Checklists – Brings more than 20% of customers. 
• Webinar – Brings a 2% to 30% conversion rate. The number varies industry-wise.
• Free Trial – Bring 5.5% to 12.6% conversion rate. (Depending on industry)
• Quizzes and Assessments – Brings 40.1% to 65% Conversion rate. (Across all industry)
• Discounts and Coupons – It boosts sales by 25% and acquires clients by 15%. 
• Courses – brings 10% to 20% of conversion rate. 

Using any/few of them, you can bring potential traffic and generate leads for your agency’s business. Here, I have included an example that attracted me most and forced me to take action, and so did I. 

HubSpot provides this free template as a lead magnet for lead generation. They picked a highly relevant topic and displayed a compelling hook with a supportive copy to prompt action. 

You can also create a similar design and lead magnet to attract your audience. Just ensure that your hook aligns with your audience’s needs.

2. Content Marketing

Content marketing is a leading strategy for digital agency lead generation. It involves creating valuable content specifically suited to your audience’s needs, attracting potential clients, building trust, and converting them into leads.

Here, I have described briefly how you can focus on engaging content while keeping the hook actionable.

• Understanding Your Audience: Understanding your audience’s needs, interests, and pain points can help you find the right hook to create content that truly connects with them.
• Create Valuable Content: Whether blog posts, e-books, infographics, or webinars, content that creates value for your audience can bring you success.
• Use Compelling Offers: To attract prospects, provide free consultations, service discounts, or downloadable resources.
• Build Relationships: Consistently provide valuable information to establish your agency as a trusted authority.
• Optimize for SEO: Use high-intent keywords to attract visitors actively seeking solutions.
• Engage Across Channels: Share content on your website, email, PPC ads, and social media.

Check out the example below- 

Here’s an excellent content marketing example from Googly Gooeys that was used effectively for an event. Their copy on “Soft Sell Versus Hard Sell” is brilliantly engaging, illustrating how well-crafted content can drive leads.

You can try it according to your agency’s value proposition. 

3. Running Ads

Running ads is a tried and tested way of generating leads for digital agencies. As most of the digital agencies focus on B2B (business-to-business) audiences, it’s important to find out the most effective channels for running your ads. 

Well, there are plenty of options, including PPC (Pay-per-Click), LinkedIn ads, Facebook ads, YouTube ads, and other social media ads. Among these, PPC and LinkedIn ads are particularly effective for generating digital agency leads

PPC Ads

PPC is a search engine-based advertisement method that works with keywords. For PPC, Google Ads is recommended. You pay for each click your ad receives. Here is a PPC example,  

Here, you can see a digital agency running a PPC ad on Google SERP using the keyword ‘software development agency in usa‘ This helps them to attract potential clients searching for such services. 

To run your own PPC ad, sign up for Google Ads and Start Now.

N:B: On average from a PPC ad you can achieve 2.85% of conversion.

LinkedIn Ads

Another excellent option is LinkedIn ads. LinkedIn’s precision targeting lets you focus on your potential audiences, ensuring your ads reach the right B2B prospects. This raises the opportunities of getting clicks and leads. 

Here is an example of a LinkedIn ad:

This is a typical LinkedIn advert. You can see they included a compelling caption, a visual with information, and a CTA (Call to Action) in it to get the actionable result. 

To set up a LinkedIn ad, go to LinkedIn for Business, choose “Advertise” from the Marketing category, and register. 

N:B: According to the U.S. continent, on average 6.1% of conversion can be achieved by LikedIn ads.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a powerful strategy for digital agencies to generate leads, nurture relationships, and convert prospects into clients. This approach has 2 primary methods: email newsletters and cold email marketing. 

If done correctly, both strategies can significantly boost lead generation.

Email Newsletters

An email Newsletter is a form of marketing email sent weekly or monthly. Monthly newsletters are standard as they respect recipients’ preferences and avoid crushing them with too many emails. 

Through a newsletter, you can engage your already existing audience and encourage them to take action, such as filling out a form, using a lead magnet, or becoming a client.

For example, this newsletter is from MailBluster, sent directly to my inbox. They are offering me a 50% off coupon and provoking me to go premium. With this email newsletter strategy, they can undoubtedly achieve many leads and clients. 

Cold Email Marketing

Cold email marketing is an email marketing strategy that targets an audience that has never heard about your agency before but is interested in related fields or is using other similar agencies. In such a situation, you can present your agency as a better option by reaching out to them. 

Through this strategy, you can filter leads by their interests, making them more likely to convert. 

For example, your digital agency could target e-commerce businesses. It could send a cold email to the marketing director of an online retailer. Your email could highlight their specific pain point, such as low conversion rates, and offer a case study showing how your agency helped another e-commerce client improve their conversions.

5. SEO 

SEO is a powerful tool for digital agency lead generation, offering an impressive ROI: businesses typically see a return of $7.48 for every dollar invested, making it effective locally and globally.

Local SEO

If you are running a small agency business and targeting a local audience, local SEO is a goldmine you must explore.   

To get into local SEO, 

• Get listed on Google Business Profile
• Add Your Business to Other Directories
• Optimize Your Website for Local SEO
• Optimize social media for local SEO
• YouTube SEO

Global SEO

On the other hand, if you want to expand beyond the local market, target SEO globally. For this strategy, you have to consider what Google values and what your target audience is searching for. 

Remember, Google prioritizes helpful content. Organize your website with valuable, well-organized information and relevant keywords. So that Google will rank your site higher, making it easier for your target audience to find you.

6. Social Media Marketing 

Social media marketing is not just a way to connect with your audience but a powerful tool for lead generation. According to a report from SIDM, 5.07 billion people use social media. So, skipping social media for your digital agency’s lead generation would be a significant missed opportunity. 

Again, DataReportal states that half a billion active users are spread across 14 major social media platforms. 

But the question is, Do you need to be on all of them?

The answer is NO. You don’t. Find out where your audience is most active and attack there. Shoot!

Here, I have listed the 8 most actionable social media platforms for digital agencies: 

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• TikTok, and 
• Snapchat.

Now, leverage each platform according to your audience’s reach and business type. 

Remember, each social media platform has its own algorithm. So, when using these, follow the strategies specific to each platform to maximize your reach and take action to generate leads. 

7. Linkedin Outreach

LinkedIn outreach is a strategic method of connecting with potential clients, partners, or influencers. It’s a crucial tool for digital agencies to generate leads and build professional relationships.

Generating leads through LinkedIn outreach involves a strategic and systematic approach. Here’s the checklist of how you can effectively use LinkedIn outreach to generate leads:

• Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
• Identify Your Target Audience
• Send Personalized Connection Requests
• Engage with Your Connections
• Send Direct Messages
• Follow Up
• Leverage LinkedIn Groups
• Use LinkedIn InMail
• Track and Analyze Your Efforts

By following these steps, you can effectively generate leads through LinkedIn outreach.

When done correctly, LinkedIn outreach can be a powerful tool for digital agencies to generate leads, build professional relationships, and ultimately grow their business.

What’s Next? 

You’ve got your potential leads. 

Now what? Jumping straight to selling your service? 

Not quite. Instead, guide them through the lead pipeline to convert them effectively. This approach can significantly improve your agency’s retention rates.

So, Converting Leads into Clients, Right? 

Generating high-quality leads is the initial step in acquiring new clients, and it involves several steps. Don’t worry; I’ve explained each step clearly so you can nurture your leads through the funnel and achieve your goal of gaining new clients. 

1. Capture your Leads 

First, to convert leads into customers, you need a well-organized process. The first step to be organized is to capture lead information accurately and efficiently. 

This process shouldn’t take a lot of time and attention, but it needs to be accurate. Then how would you do it? AUTOMATE! 

Since the invention of automation, it has been the trusted ally of every marketer. So, adopt the automation tools. 

I recommend using OneSuite Lead Grabber to capture leads from Gmail. It’s a free Chrome extension that syncs with your OneSuite account, making it easy to collect lead information without any extra cost.

Again, if you use Web forms for lead generation, How would you capture them? 

OneSuite offers seamless integration through API (Application Programming Interface) to capture leads from web forms. This allows you to connect your web form directly to the OneSuite Lead Pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple software tools.

2. Organize and Segment Your Leads

Collecting and capturing leads is just the first step. To make the most of them, you need to organize and segment them into categories for a personalized approach. 

For example, OneSuite’s lead pipeline helps you segment leads into categories like ‘Qualified Lead,’ ‘Meeting Scheduled,’ ‘Proposal Sent,’ ‘Follow Up Needed,’ ‘Won,’ and ‘Lost.’ 

This segmentation makes it easier to connect with each lead personally, improving your lead management. You also can customize the categories according to your business perspective. 

3. Nurture Them Into the Lead Pipeline

Lead nurturing is crucial for digital agencies because it helps develop brand awareness and improves conversion rates. It involves engaging with leads that have not yet converted to keep them interested in your services.

Lead nurturing best practices include addressing leads’ pain points using multichannel outreach, Lead scoring, and a Personalized approach. 

OneSuite’s integrated task management features aid in effective lead nurturing. You can assign tasks, set reminders, and prioritize your workload, ensuring every lead is nurtured efficiently and effectively.

4. Convert and On-Board

Once you start nurturing your leads, conversions begin to roll in. But this is not it. Continuous nurturing is essential to keeping them loyal.

Onboard your new clients using project management software and introduce them to the client portal. This ensures all tasks and processes are transparent, boosting their trust in your agency.

With OneSuite, onboarding your clients is a breeze. The user-friendly interface and simple navigation make maintaining client profiles, adding notes, and attaching documents easy, allowing you to track interactions effortlessly. 

OneSuite also helps you to —

• Empower Clients to Collaborate with Your Team 
• Easily Manage Important Client Documents
• Maintain Transparency in Billing and Invoices
• And more. 

5. Close Deals

When you’ve completed a task for your client, don’t leave without closing the deal properly. Professionally call off the project, ask for a review, and finalize all documents.

Remember, leaving a deal incomplete is not just unprofessional; it can also lead clients to confusion and reluctance to assign further tasks. Always ensure that deals are closed properly to maintain a good relationship. 

From capturing leads to closing deals, OneSuite provides all the tools you need to capture leads, nurture them effectively, and close more deals efficiently.

6. Follow-up

Don’t stop at closing the deal—continue nurturing your client relationships with consistent follow-ups. Keeping in touch can turn one-time clients into long-term partners.

OneSuite offers extensive features for following up with clients, even after closing deals. You can set reminders, schedule follow-up tasks, and track all interactions to ensure no client is overlooked. 

This continuous engagement helps build stronger relationships and increases the likelihood of repeat business.

One of my client name Jacob, when I approach him for following up after closing deal, his response was, 

I actually have a few more tasks I’d like to assign to you because the experience (overall managing and tasks) was so positive. Keep up the great work!

Seize your Project With Right Tool

With proven strategies, you can generate and nurture leads effectively, converting them into loyal clients. Having the right tools is essential for capturing leads, closing deals, and maintaining ongoing relationships. 

OneSuite provides a comprehensive solution to streamline your processes and boost your digital agency’s success.

Ready to take your lead generation to the next level?