Most Effective Ways to Generate Leads for Digital Agencies

Getting leads for digital agencies isn’t always as straightforward as it sounds. With so many digital channels and tactics to choose from, it can be tough to figure out where to start. Should you run ads? Try cold email outreach? Or maybe focus on SEO to climb the search results? The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but with the right strategy, you can attract more leads, boost your client acquisition, and grow your agency steadily.

In this guide, we’re breaking down the best lead generation strategies that actually work for digital agencies. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to level up your lead generation efforts, these ideas will help you connect with valuable leads who show genuine interest in your services. From improving your presence on key channels to learning how to host events that convert, you’ll discover smart ways to bring in business and make your lead generation services more effective. Let’s dive in!

Optimize Your Agency’s Website for SEO

When a user enters a certain search query, such as “digital agency in NYC”, the search engines will analyze thousands of pages. The best ones will appear in the first positions.

To improve the reputation of your digital agency website and raise its position in the search engine results, you need to perform a fairly large number of activities. All of these activities are united by the term “search engine optimization” – SEO. You will get a lot of conditionally free traffic from search engines.

SEO is an ongoing process. Google regularly updates the algorithms that determine sites’ positions in the search engine result pages and the new requirements that need to be implemented. However, illiterate SEO can have the opposite effect: it can greatly reduce a site’s position or even achieve its exclusion from the search engine results.

Learn More: Complete SEO Checklist (Infographic Guide)

Digital agencies should implement various on-page and off-page SEO techniques. These include keyword research to detect keywords people use to find similar services, providing a smooth user experience, fixing the website’s technical errors, creating engaging content to satisfy the client’s needs, enhancing backlink profile, etc. 

Create Lead Magnets

A Lead Magnet is valuable information. It is a useful piece of your core service that provides a tangible benefit to your potential customer. You give it away for free for your potential customer’s contact information. That way, they get a potentially interested person in your services or products.

What types of Lead Magnets your digital agency can do:

• Ebooks and Whitepapers. An agency specializing in digital marketing can create an ebook titled “The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for 2025”, filled with industry insights, strategies, and case studies.

• Templates and checklists. A downloadable “SEO Audit Checklist” that helps businesses evaluate and improve their website’s SEO performance is an awesome idea.

• Exclusive industry reports. A digital agency can create an exclusive report on “Top Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2025” based on original research and data analysis.

Explore: New Web Design Trends

A Lead Magnet is good for gathering a user base for email marketing. It can also be used to gather other data, such as phone numbers. After that, you can call the customers who downloaded your Lead Magnet to sell them the main service.

Get Listed on Reputable Directories and Websites

Thematic, profile, and business directories are places where information about various companies is placed.

First of all, reputable directories are extremely convenient for users. On one website, people can find necessary information, see reviews of this or that company, and find a company’s contacts according to the parameters specified in the filter.

Reputable directories are helpful for any lead generation marketing agency, as users who are potential customers can find you through them. It should be noted that placement in most directories does not cost anything, or you will need to pay a symbolic price.

If you are an SEO digital agency, SE Ranking`s Agency Catalog is for you. It categorizes the best SEO digital agencies by location, industry, team size, language, and SEO services. Each has a profile with general information and testimonials. To get listed in this directory, you need to purchase SE Ranking’s Agency Pack. Then you can apply.

Warm-Up Cold Leads

Warming cold leads can be your key action to convert potential clients into loyal customers. There are many ways to warm up cold leads. Here are the 3 top tools we recommend:

• Personalized outreach: Craft personalized emails highlighting how your agency can solve the issues of your potential clients. Personalized communication demonstrates that you value their business and understand their unique situation. You can find out that your previous clients wanted a turnkey PPC campaign instead of just setting and managing PPC ads. Use this when writing to potential clients to attract attention to the fact that you can close all their weak points in this domain.

Check Out: Top Lead Generation Plugins for WordPress

• Retargeting campaigns: Use retargeting ads to remind cold leads of your services. These ads can showcase your latest work on projects, customer testimonials, or special offers. This way, you can nudge cold leads to reconsider your digital agency.

• Follow-up sequences: Implement an automated follow-up sequence. This can be a mix of emails, calls, and social touches. Regular, consistent follow-ups keep your agency on their radar without being intrusive.

Warming up cold leads is often an undervalued tool among digital marketing agencies. However, this qualified lead generation tool can be a game changer when approached effectively.

Encourage Your Clients to Leave Reviews

Positive reviews increase trust in a brand, product, or service. This is social proof that can change your lead generation process. Сustomers may choose you because they see that other users who have used your service have written about their good experiences. Reviews come in many forms:

• Reviews on Google Business Profile.
• Facebook reviews.
• Video testimonials on a YouTube channel or website.
• Specialized forums and/or services.

Important tip: Communicate with users, even if they leave negative reviews. Such activity shows that the business and service are alive and allows you to gain additional reach on social networks.

The platform for reviews depends on the niche in which you are engaged. You should research your niche and understand where users and customers leave reviews.

You can stimulate sales managers with bonuses to get reviews. Regular “mining” of reviews must be built into a business process. In times of “instant” dissemination of information, monitoring and building your positive reputation is crucial.

Promote a Digital Marketing Agency on Social Media

Social networks are very convenient sales platforms not only for companies but also for users. SMM is a good choice for digital marketing agency lead generation.

You can get leads from social networks in different ways. The first way is by maintaining a company page or personal blog. This method is attractive because it allows you to form an active target audience around the company’s account for free. 

Further Reading: Best Site Reputation Management Tools to Monitor Social Mentions

The mechanics of social networks recommend your account to people with similar interests. Respectively, the audience builds itself. The only disadvantage of this method is that it takes a relatively long time to promote the account. Also, you need to constantly create new content.

But this is in theory. In practice, social networks may quickly become saturated with business accounts, making it much more difficult to get organic views and subscriptions. So, most businesses have to pay for targeted advertising to engage with their audience. However, social media leads continue to be very affordable.

The second way you can get leads from social media is by advertising from bloggers. This is much faster than promoting your account, but it requires financial investment and has its challenges.

Check Out: WordPress Blog Themes for Clients

The cons of this method are as follows: it is difficult to predict the effectiveness of advertising and the final cost of a lead. Many blogger accounts have an inactive audience, mostly consisting of bots and abandoned accounts. The more popular the blogger, the higher the advertising price—in some cases, it can be excessively high. Given these complexities, effective advertising from bloggers requires experience, knowledge, and building a customized strategy.

Nevertheless, advertising with bloggers is a great way to quickly inform a wide audience about your product.

A new trend for getting leads from social media is Live Streaming. Video content has gained such wide popularity that it has essentially become the “television” of the new generation. But Live Streaming has earned special love from viewers. Live Streaming allows people to get closer to your brand and communicate in real time. In addition, against the background of Instagram’s photo content, which is too flawless, Live Streaming is perceived as more alive and real.

Master Account-Based Marketing Strategy

Account-based marketing (ABM) is a B2B marketing approach in which a company focuses its resources on a defined set of target accounts within a market. ABM employs personalized campaigns to engage each account.

What a digital agency can do:

• Create personalized content and campaigns for a specific client account. This could include custom landing pages, tailored & tracked email campaigns, and personalized ads that address the account’s unique challenges.

• Create dedicated microsites for high-value accounts that showcase customized content, case studies, testimonials, and product demos tailored specifically to that account.

• Host webinars or virtual events specifically for a group of similar accounts, focusing on topics that are highly relevant to their business challenges and goals.

With ABM, you can considerably research potential clients and review their existing marketing strategies, audience, goals, etc. 

Build a Strong Customer Referral Program

Referral marketing can boost your digital agency’s success. Your satisfied clients can be turned into your brand ambassadors, becoming an effective agency lead-generation tool. Their word about your high-quality services will stimulate their friends, colleagues, or acquaintances to contact you to discuss their issues.

Here is a simple checklist to help you create the most effective customer referral program possible:

• Make the link to the referral program as visible as possible. Many companies have a referral program, but it is difficult to find it, so its effectiveness drops.

• Rewards should be received, not only by those who invite but also by those who are invited. 

• Let the referral bonus be directly related to the product; otherwise, new users, having received the reward, may leave.

• Create a convenient form for distributing referral links.

According to the Business News Daily, most people trust acquaintances’ recommendations more than other types of advertising. A friend’s advice is more important to them and more valuable than any marketing campaign.

Host Webinars and Live Events

Hosting webinars and live events is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies to generate high-quality leads and establish your agency as a trusted authority. These events give you a platform to educate potential leads on key marketing challenges, showcase your solutions, and demonstrate your unique value proposition in real time.

Whether it’s a 30-minute session on Google Ads optimization or a full-length workshop on building a sales funnel that converts, webinars help nurture leads by offering value upfront. Users searching for solutions to their digital challenges are more likely to engage with live content that addresses their pain points. Live Q&A sessions during webinars also allow you to interact directly with attendees, identify where they are in the buyer’s journey, and gather valuable contact details for follow-up.

Webinars also serve as powerful lead magnets. Registrants provide their email and job title, giving your sales team the insights needed to send personalized messages and qualify leads. Repurpose recordings as evergreen content or gated downloads to generate quality leads long after the event ends. When promoted correctly across social media platforms and email marketing campaigns, webinars can drastically improve lead generation and support consistent growth.

Publish Case Studies and Success Stories

Publishing real-world case studies and client success stories can help convert leads who are further down the sales funnel. When potential leads see proven results, especially for clients in similar industries or with shared challenges, they are more likely to trust your process and see the value of your services.

A well-written case study showcases how your agency used data-driven strategies to solve specific problems, optimize performance, and drive meaningful results. Whether it’s increasing organic search traffic, lowering ad spend, or enhancing email marketing conversions, including key metrics provides credibility. These stories help you attract more qualified leads by demonstrating what your agency can realistically deliver.

You can use case studies throughout your website, especially on service pages, blog posts, and landing pages. Sharing them through your marketing channels, like newsletters and social media posts, also boosts visibility. Don’t forget to include testimonials and direct quotes to add authenticity. In today’s competitive nature of digital marketing, real results speak louder than service descriptions and are essential to improve lead generation.

Invest in PPC and Retargeting Ads

Running PPC campaigns and retargeting ads is a tried-and-true strategy to generate quality leads quickly and at scale. Platforms like Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) allow you to target users based on search intent, behavior, job title, and other demographics, helping you reach valuable prospects who are actively looking for your services.

To start, define your unique value proposition and build landing pages optimized for conversion. Then run ad campaigns targeting high-intent keywords or lookalike audiences. Retargeting campaigns, in particular, allow you to re-engage users who previously visited your site but didn’t convert. You can showcase testimonials, offer free consultations, or highlight new content, nudging them back into your sales process.

This method is ideal for agencies looking to find leads outside of organic search and social media. While PPC is a more direct approach to getting new leads, it also allows you to test messaging, refine audience segments, and optimize performance in real-time. Just remember that not all leads are equal, so focus your ad spend on campaigns that bring in quality leads rather than just volume.

Join Agency Communities and Forums

Joining active communities and industry forums is a great way to build relationships, exchange knowledge, and connect with genuine prospects in a non-salesy environment. Platforms like Indie Hackers, Traffic Think Tank, and various Slack or Facebook groups offer opportunities to engage with marketing professionals, business owners, and freelancers, all potential collaborators or clients.

By offering helpful advice, answering questions, and sharing valuable content, you create meaningful connections that may eventually convert into leads. These communities are also a goldmine for insights into client needs, challenges, and current digital marketing trends, helping you create content or services that resonate with your audience.

Additionally, networking in these forums allows you to nurture leads more organically. Instead of sending a generic message, you can reference previous interactions and offer tailored solutions. While this can be a time-consuming process, the lead quality is often higher because the relationship is built on trust and relevance, not cold outreach.

Final Thoughts

Generating leads for digital agencies is a multifaceted process that requires a strategic blend of various approaches. There are several ways digital marketing agencies can generate leads.

The key to successful lead generation lies in understanding your target audience, consistently providing value, and being able to adapt to market trends. The tools described in this article will allow you to generate leads and find new growth points for your digital agency. By combining them, you can build a solid pipeline of potential clients, boosting sustainable growth and long-term success.

FAQ: Ways to Generate Leads for Digital Agencies