How a creative agency can get business through lead generation

In all businesses lead generation is a very important tool to grow your organization, especially when you are first starting out. Lead generation can be done by a few different ways:

1. Cold calls
2. Cold emails
3. Referrals from current clients
4. Social Media Networks
5. Utilizing the internet i.e. Google, Jigsaw, Salesgenie etc.

That being said, the creative and design industry takes a similar but different approach. As a creative agency, doing cold calls and emails may not be the most effective way to reach out to new business. However, that does not mean there is no way to generate leads and create new business.

For the purpose of this blog, I am going to focus on what a creative agency can do to generate leads via referrals and social media.

1. Generating Leads via Referrals

• Don’t be shy. Asking your clients for referrals is a great way to generate extra leads to grow your business. I would recommend creating a survey that clients could take once you complete the job for them. This is the best way to get proper feedback as to how your agency is doing, and at the end of the survey, you should have a spot where the client can put their referrals.
• You should offer an incentive to your clients for referring a friend or business. At Function Point we offer a $200 pre-paid visa for referring a friend to us. Offering an incentive program like this will entice your clients to offer referrals and at the same time keep your agency in mind when they come across other prospects that they can refer.

Once you get these referrals you are able to build a “warm lead” list. This means that you can contact these agencies and mention that you were referred to them by “X” company. I find that agencies tend to listen to what you have to say and are more trusting of your agency when you are able to refer to someone they know personally.

2. Social Media Networks

• As we all know the internet continues to grow at an exponential rate. The use of social media has become so widely used worldwide that it if you aren’t currently using it, now is the time to consider your agencies image on social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram etc.). It’s also becoming a standard for organizations to have a social media staff position, an employee to spend their entire day growing and expanding your online image.
• Ensuring you have a positive image on social media networks and keeping them up to date will bring inbound prospect traffic to your website or organization which in turn will increase your business, but more importantly, it will increase your brand image worldwide. The idea is that when a customer needs your services, you want to make sure your agency sticks out in their mind.
• Social media is a great way to let the world know about all the wonderful work you have done for clients in the past or broadcast any awards or achievements your agency has received over the years. This builds trust and respectability, both highly sought after commodities in gaining new business conversions.

A lead generation methodology is very important to have in order to ensure that your creative agency continues to grow each year. We all want to get out there and get the most business we can. So, rather than sitting back and hoping that business walks through your front door, get out there and make sure you take advantage of all the possible opportunities!Everything from building and developing strong relationships with current business, and getting referrals from your clients, to maintaining an attractive image on all social media networking sites should be essential tactics in your toolbelt for growing your agency.

Good luck and see you out there!

This article was contributed by former Function Point employee, Eric Ivker.