An agency's marketing strategy encompasses a strategic framework, deliberate actions, and a documented roadmap, serving as a navigational tool to steer towards marketing objectives with precision and purpose. When you implement the right growth tactics, your marketing strategy can help you build your business, find new clients, and successfully launch new service lines.

Discover 101 free tools for digital marketers. DOWNLOAD the guide and tap into tools without cutting into your budget.

We’ve gathered 10 growth tactics all types of agencies can use to drive their marketing efforts. Find one or more below to help build your agency marketing strategy. 

1. Establish industry authority

Around 90 percent of business leaders say customers have a high level of trust in their business, but only 30 percent of customers agree (PricewaterhouseCoopers). Whether you’re launching a digital agency startup or running an existing marketing company, establishing yourself as an authority in the industry can help you break down trust barriers for stronger engagement with your target audience.

When you're perceived as an expert in your field, somewhat cynical potential clients are more willing to try your services and believe that you can offer value to their organizations. Some ways you can establish this authority include:

• Creating thought-leadership content that demonstrates your expertise
• Networking to create valuable connections that support your reputation as a resource in the industry
• Encouraging your existing clients to leave reviews and testimonials that speak to your trustworthy expertise

2. Implement transparent pricing

Most consumers—96 percent—want to embrace cost-savings whenever possible, and that includes in their business decisions (Business.com). If your audience is price-conscious, they will want cost details before they make a purchase decision. Convoluted pricing structures and hidden fees create friction in the funnel, making it more difficult to convert prospects. 

You can implement transparent pricing for your marketing agency services in a few ways:

• Publish pricing details. Make pricing details public so potential clients can consider costs early in the buying journey. This works best for simple pricing structures, such as subscriptions.

• Provide pricing in the sales funnel. Create an easy-to-understand pricing sheet you can provide prospects when they contact you.

• Be upfront about all fees. Consider how you can create a pricing structure that is as simple as possible and never leaves clients with surprise fees. 

3. Adapt to early technological advances

To remain competitive, your marketing agency strategy must consider new technology and whether it provides value to your agency or clients. When you're among the first to adopt technological advances in marketing, you position yourself as an innovator and thought leader. You're also able to enjoy the benefits of that technology, which can include cost savings and improved efficiencies.

Examples of technological advances that may be important to marketing agencies currently include automations and generative AI. As of mid-2023, almost half of small marketing businesses in the United States planned to implement AI tools in their processes (Statista). That trend is only growing, so if you don’t have a plan to integrate these types of resources, your agency may fall behind. 

4. Expand your product and service offerings

When you first start a digital marketing company, you might concentrate on one area of service, such as SEO, social media, or PPC advertising. This limited focus makes you a boutique marketing agency. While there are benefits to starting small, growth often requires that you branch out by offering new products and services, moving toward becoming a full-service agency.

Expanding your offerings provides a number of benefits, including:

• • Increasing customer lifetime value. Your existing clients can take advantage of your new services, increasing revenue and value from those relationships.

• Improving your value as an agency. Potential clients may be more willing to choose your agency if they feel you can provide a comprehensive approach to marketing.
• Expanding your target audience. Offering new services provides an opportunity to reach additional audiences. For example, if you're branching out from Instagram and Facebook social media marketing to include LinkedIn and TikTok services, you can add several new segments to your target audience. 

5. Build a reputation for exceptional customer service

More than 80 percent of customers say they're more likely to make another purchase if they receive good service, but more than 60 percent would check out competitors after a single bad experience (123 Form Builder). 

The most powerful digital marketing strategy won't do you much good if you're losing clients as fast as you acquire them—especially if those clients leave poor reviews or engage in poor word-of-mouth about your agency.

Invest in excellent customer service to avoid these challenges. Some ways you can do that include:

• Underpromising and over-delivering on each product
• Using technology such as chatbots to provide always-on, helpful service for clients
• Continuously working to improve communication skills and processes 

6. Define your niche ASAP

When starting a digital marketing agency, one of your first steps should be to decide on a niche. What type of agency do you want to be, and what types of clients will you serve? Knowing the answer to these questions helps you create targeted marketing campaigns that perform well.

You might start by choosing a specific industry and niche, building your agency services within that sector before you consider branching out in the future. Some examples of potential best niches for marketing agencies include:

• Healthcare, where you can specialize even further in sectors such as small office practice or large facility marketing. You might also focus on a specific type of care, such as physical therapy, pediatrics, or urgent care.
• Legal, where you might specialize in marketing services for personal injury, criminal law, estate, business, or family law attorneys.
• Finance, where you can begin in niches such as personal finance, credit, fintech, or business accounting. 
• Local companies, where you could specialize in local SEO or specifically target certain types of businesses, such as restaurants, field service companies, or retailers. 

Image source: Vendasta

7. Continue refining your workflow and processes

When your workflows are optimized, you can work smarter (not harder) for your clients. That leads to efficiencies, reduced opportunity for errors, and better outcomes on all your deliverables. 

The same is true for lead generation strategies and your internal marketing work. Optimized processes and funnels cut down on lead time and help you close deals faster, enhancing revenues as you grow your agency. 

 

8. Invest in employee training

Your agency multi-location marketing strategy only works if you have the resources to back it up. Whether you have a staff of two, 20, or 200, investing in team member knowledge and skills is critical to success in landing new contracts and supporting positive client relationships.

Image source: Unsplash

Consider internal and external education and training options such as:

• Crosstraining. Build time in so various members of your staff can learn more about what other teams are doing. 

• Webinars. Encourage your employees to view or participate in business and marketing webinars.

• Subscriptions. Invest in subscriptions to leading newsletters and websites so your staff can keep up with trends and industry news. 

9. Attend industry events

One great tip for how to find clients is to attend marketing industry and business events. You can travel to national expos or show up at community events to network with other local businesses. Conferences and trade shows offer opportunities to learn from others while connecting with potential clients. And since more than 80 percent of the attendees at trade shows tend to have buying authority, this can be a lucrative endeavor (Conference Source).

To make the most out of attending any event, follow some best practices such as:

• Plan your schedule ahead of time. Review the event schedule and offerings so you know what panels or workshops you want to attend. Leave time for networking and engaging in spontaneous conversions, though.

• Rehearse your elevator speech. If someone asks you about your agency, you want to provide a concise, confident response. Practicing it can help you avoid awkward pauses or miscues that might cause you to miss a connection.

• Don’t go alone. Networking with someone else can be easier. You can divide and conquer to connect with more people or play off each other as you discuss your agency and services. 

10. Build strategic partnerships

Consider how partnerships with other businesses can help improve your agency marketing strategy and offerings. For example, if you offer content marketing services, you might partner with an SEO agency that focuses on data analysis and technical SEO. This helps you meet a specific client need without building an internal SEO team so you can continue to focus on creative content marketing strategies. 

When entering into these types of partnerships, consider factors such as:

• Whether your values and vision are suitably aligned—your partner doesn’t need to have the same mission your agency has, but it can’t be so far off that it creates a risk for your brand reputation
• Whether a suitable value exchange exists—in short, is the relationship profitable for you both?
• How long the partnership might last—while these agreements don’t need to last forever, they generally take enough effort that you might want to avoid a partnership that’s especially short term.