In this article we outline some proven techniques to generate new business for your marketing agencies. These are not "theoretical" tips....we have built and launched each of these outbound sales strategies ourselves, and have seen them work for numerous clients.
TL;DR
- Target companies with active Job Postings
- Contact Recently Hired CMOs
- Narrow down outreach to your City
- Find companies spending money on Paid Advertising
- Focus on one niche market at a time
Target companies with active Job Postings
Scanning job posting boards to see who is hiring for marketing positions is a great place to start. The idea is that these jobs could be outsourced to your agency instead.
This strategy will be most effective if you focus on your marketing agency's specialty. For example if you are an SEO agency, look for SEO and Content Marketing job postings. If you are a branding agency, look for creative or graphic design job postings. This will make your copy more appealing to the prospect.
Before starting outreach, also consider the seniority of who you will contact. Does the CMO of an enterprise size company even know that they are hiring a Social Media Manager? Or would be it be more effective to reach out to the Director of Digital Marketing who feels the pains of the labor shortage? On the flip side, if you find a job posting for a VP of Brand, the CMO or even CEO could be the perfect person to get in front of.
A few Job Postings sites that we are actively monitoring with our Job Posting Data Signals include:
- Indeed
- Angel List (mostly startups and SaaS companies)
- Dice (mostly software and technology companies)
- CareerBuilder
- GlassDoor
You can also take a look at project or freelance sites:
- UpWork
- Toptal
- Guru
Example Outbound Sales Email
Hi {{FIRST_NAME}},
I saw {{Company}}'s post on Guru about help with developing your brand. Are you in charge of that initiative?
My agency is all about branding that gets people to take action, which is why our best work is for mission-driven organizations like yours.
If you check out our site, you’ll see that our style is simple, timeless designs that create a big impact.
Can I send you some of the recent projects we’ve worked on in your sector?
Contact Recently Hired CMOs
Our data shows that if you reach out to a CMO during their first 6 months on the job, they are 2X more likely to respond to you and hear your pitch. This magical 6 month period is when new leadership is trying to move quickly, build their team, and begin to make their mark. Plus their inbox and calendar aren't as cluttered just yet.
LinkedIn is the best place to find digital resume information like this. By purchasing Sales Navigator you can filter by years of experience, or years at company.
Offering to share some research, ideas, or content that a new CMO would find valuable is a great opener, and feels more authentic than pushing for a meeting right away.
Example Outbound Sales Email
Hi {{FirstName}}, how are you?
Not sure if you are taking a fresh look at your marketing creative right now, but would you ever consider incorporating Behavioral Science (the study of human decision making) into your design process?
We put together a few ideas for you based on this framework- they could help {{Company}} better understand your customers and increase product adoption.
Can I share them with you?
Narrow down outreach to your City
As a general rule, the more personalized your campaign is, the better it will perform. One very easy thing to connect on right away is location.
Targeting prospects located in your city creates familiarity, feels genuine, and gives you lots of talk about. This is more of a networking play than a hard sell, so be prepared to get lots of responses, and work a little harder to convert them to meetings. Our clients generally see 1.5-3X reply rates on Local/Regional campaigns.
Example Outbound Sales Email
{{FirstName}}, Hope you're enjoying the slow melt to spring here in MN.
The heart of my agency is uncovering the "why" behind the companies in our local community, then drawing it out through their websites.
I'd love to learn more about {{Company}} over coffee sometime. How did you get started in marketing?
Find companies spending money on Paid Advertising
Targeting companies that are already doing some form of paid advertising can be very effective. Chances are, they don't have the visibility they need and aren't getting the results they want. And the fact that they are spending money on advertising indicates some level of marketing budget and priority.
Yelp, Ad Words, and Twitter are three networks that we've seen success with. The specific network can also help you discern certain things about the prospect's target market and growth goals, which you can reference in your copy.
Below is an example campaign we ran for a client pitching SEO services to local businesses spending money on Yelp. This works because the general sentiment towards Yelp with brick and mortar business owners is negative, and we were able to hit on a very acute pain point.
Example Outbound Sales Email
Hey {{FIRST_NAME}},
I noticed that {{COMPANY}} is spending money to advertise on Yelp, and I’m reaching out because we are on a campaign to help companies stop wasting money with the Yelp Mafia!
If we could help your business generate more leads in your city at a lower cost and with less hassle than Yelp, would that interest you?
Tangent: you can also look into what Ad Technologies a company is running. This doesn't guarantee spend, but might be an indicator of what they have tried in the past, and how sophisticated their advertising is.
Focus on one niche market at a time
Authentic cold outreach is all about putting in some preliminary research and knowing the industries you are focused on. The more you can segment your target market, the more specifically you can discuss pain points and share relevant Social Proof.
For example, if your marketing agency works with lots of recognizable brands in the Restaurant sector, it's great to mention those names in your outreach. Or if you have lots of previous experience with finance, non profits, or tech startups (anything works!) you can use the jargon of their industry as well as offer up something of value, like relevant case studies or marketing campaigns.
Most social sites (like LinkedIn and Glassdoor) and networks (like Crunchbase and Yelp) will have self-selected industries that you use to build your list of companies in each segment.
Example Sales Email
Hi {{FirstName}},
Hope you're enjoying the hot summer weather (a great excuse to drink a beer)!
I'm ___ from brewery agency ___. Not sure where your marketing focus is right now, but I put together a quick online presence assessment for you.
The takeaways could help {{Brewery Name}} prioritize where to invest (website seo, online listings, social ads) in order to get more people in the door at your brewery locations.
Can I share the report with you?
If you're interested in which industries respond at the highest rates, check out the results from our last 6 months of outreach campaigns to CMOs.
Further Reading
All effective outbound sales starts with great, clean data. Take a peak at some of our Data Signals to get an idea of what sort of campaign strategies might be possible for you agency.
