Lead Generation for Marketing Agencies: 7 Ideas and Templates

Can you guarantee that your lead generation funnel doesn't need any improvements?

More specifically, would you be willing to stake your job on it?

No?

Of course, you wouldn't. No self-respecting marketer would. 

Lead generation for a marketing agency is a complicated process. It comes with varying degrees of success and failure.

And no one’s to blame for it. It’s just the nature of the beast. You conceptualize, adjust, execute, recall and adjust again. There’s a lot involved.

But it doesn't have to be all that difficult. In fact, we’re here to tell you about seven ways to make it simple.

Lead generation often involves trial and error. That’s why we’ve organized our tips based on their difficulty to execute.

1. Craft Optimized Landing Pages 

A well-designed landing page can streamline lead generation for a marketing agency. 

Now, the best ones prioritize three specific elements. They are:

• What information do prospects have to exchange for the service/product?

• What will they get in return?

• How does the provided service/product help them or solve their problem?

You don't have to answer those questions in that particular order. For instance, Netflix opens with the second bit (unlimited access), transitions to the third (entertainment on the go) and positions the first at the end (information exchange). 

Some other helpful tips to optimize landing pages are:

• Limit headlines to six words and use sub-headings to break the content effectively

• Keep page navigation to a minimum to avoid confusing prospects

• Include catchy, clear-cut CTAs (personalized ones work even better)

• Embed credibility signals (industry accreditations, social proof, etc.)

• Ensure your lead capture forms are easily visible and short (omit irrelevant fields)

It’s also an excellent idea to incorporate visual elements in the copy. That’ll let you substitute monotonous content sections with snappy, appealing and easy-to-understand graphics.

2. Use Email Marketing to Expand Your Reach

Email marketing is perhaps the oldest trick in the book for lead generation. And it's because it works. Research indicates that 77% of B2B buyers want you to contact them via email. 

Even so, many will claim that email marketing can sometimes be impersonal. 

A simple fix here is to incorporate automated prospecting tools into your efforts. That’ll help you segment potential leads, target specific demographic markers and personalize your content accordingly.

Apart from that, it’s best if you:

• Use lead scoring to identify and prioritize prospects that are more likely to respond 

• Offer valuable lead magnets (e-books, market reports, whitepapers, courses, etc.)

• Only ask for relevant contact details and avoid multiple fields in the opt-in form 

• Keep the overall design clean and concise (appealing templates, plain fonts, etc.)

• Use predetermined triggers to stagger your emails while keeping them on schedule

It also doesn't hurt to conduct A/B testing in this instance. Create two slightly different email copies, spread them across multiple groups and see which offers the better ROI.

3. Attract with Business Blogs & Capture with Lead Magnets 

Blogging is a tried and tested method of lead generation for a marketing agency, or any other business, for that matter. 

Studies show businesses that blog consistently are 13x more likely to experience a positive ROI. 

Here are some of the other benefits of blogging for business:

• Drives organic traffic to your site

• Improves your on-page and off-page SEO (link building, indexing, keyword usage, etc.)

• Builds a community around your brand through actionable, well-researched content

• Establishes your business as an industry thought leader 

• Offers an entirely free channel for brand and product promotion

Still, remember that blogs only work as surface-level TOFU content. You can use them to attract initial attention. But to retain it, you've to strategically direct visitors with gated lead magnets to move them further along the funnel.

For example, here’s the gating page for a lead magnet. The page gives you a glimpse of what the lead magnet resource includes and why you should share your details.

Then, use that platform to educate, engage and convert attendees into sales-qualified leads.

4. Offer Valuable Third-Party Expertise

Everybody loves a subject-matter expert. And you can use this to your advantage.

Simply host an interview, record the interaction (preferably in video format) and publish it online. Bonus points if you do it on a social media or networking site.

As for contacting such professionals, you can always use a LinkedIn data scraper. Collect profile information from a few shortlisted candidates. Then, pick one and send them an invitation.

That said, here are a few best practices to stick to when using this method:

• Identify interview objectives and align them with common audience queries

• Avoid gating the content (falls under TOFU material & should have a wide outreach)

• Pick compelling topics of discussion (emerging industry trends, predictions, etc.)

• Segment the interview (descriptive timestamps, separate sub-headings, etc.)

• Keep it focused and short (30 mins for videos/1000-1200 words for written material)

This method will also streamline your marketing calendar. Put simply, these experts will provide actionable, high-value content on their own. You won't have to come up with it.

5. Rely on Videos to Grab Attention

Research suggests that 87% of businesses report generating more leads with video content.

As such, this is one of the most effective methods of lead generation for a marketing agency. But how exactly do you go about it?

To start with, you can produce:

• Brand videos: Introduce your company and vision with a short &  memorable segment

• FAQs: Answer queries related to your product or address audience pain points 

• Tutorials: Showcase your expertise & offer demos with clear, engaging instructions

• Testimonials: Highlight success stories to demonstrate your value proposition

You could even follow Hienz’s lead and do something fun like ‘What ketchup looks like to AI’.

Now, there are plenty of ways to use videos to acquire leads. For example, you could:

• Embed lead capture forms in the video itself (works best with FAQs & tutorials)

• Gate high-quality, mid-funnel visual content (sign-ups, email submissions, etc.)

• Use end screens to direct viewers to another playlist/website/subscription options

• Run paid social ads (best paired with brand videos & testimonials)

• Share and stream content on popular social media sites

Whatever you decide on, it's crucial to personalize your material based on audience preferences and demographics. That'll keep your efforts laser-focused.

6. Draw Leads with Tool-Based Marketing 

What do Semrush, Hubspot and Moz have in common? 

All three offer free marketing tools to capture lead attention.

You can do something similar. Plenty of vendors now offer free templates to design internal resource bases, including quizzes, interactive forms, etc. Here's one such example of a churn rate calculator:

It's a customizable template. Grab it here.

But how does this apply to you? 

Let's assume you offer HR consultancy services. You can use the template above to build the calculator, host it on your website and make it publicly available. That provides value to site visitors without requiring any effort from them. 

And the more relevant it is to them, the more they engage with your brand. When that happens consistently, your chances of acquiring new leads and converting them go up significantly.

Regardless, we don’t have any tips to help you here. Because most of these templates are incredibly contextual. Case in point, your business proposal template for app development will differ from a competitor's. You might even omit specific elements entirely.

If anything, we’d suggest being as creative as possible. And if you plan on incorporating multiple lead gen forms into your site, lock the most high-value ones behind a premium wall.

You can also use involve.me's AI tool to create lead gen forms, surveys, and quizzes:

7. Cross-promote to Break into New Market Segments

When it comes to lead generation for a marketing agency, cross-promotional campaigns are a godsend. They help build strategic business alliances that often result in a sales boost. 

What's more, brands can leverage their product strengths to offer an enticing package deal. The best bit? Since both parties share the marketing costs, you save a sizable chunk of your advertising budget.

Here's one such campaign by Burger King and McDonalds. The theme? Charity.

Regardless, if you need a few ideas to get started with your cross-promotional efforts, here are a few tips:

• Host co-branded contests with attractive rewards to incentivize participation

• Create time-limited, bundled deals across different product categories

• Offer redeemable/referral points for one brand when purchasing from the other

• Organize charitable events and giveaways to maximize audience engagement

• Coordinate public events to promote aligned products (esports tournament→PC peripherals + energy drinks)

All that aside, choose a brand partner close to your vertical. That'll keep things cohesive and reduce campaign friction.

Parting Thoughts

There’s no ‘right’ method when we talk about lead generation for a marketing agency. Your success with different tactics will depend entirely on audience markers, including demographics, current preferences, channels of engagement, etc. 

For example, memes and gifs are all the rage in content marketing now. But they might not be the correct approach for your company.

So, try all the methods listed above. Double down on the ones that work. For the ones that aren't as successful, put them on the back burner and come back when you’ve figured out the necessary adjustments.

Author bio

Eduard Klein is an International Digital Growth Marketer, Blogger, and Entrepreneur with a global mindset. He is the founder of RocketGrowth and guides through the process of starting and growing a digital business, and riding the wave of digital technology and marketing without getting swept away.