Killer Outreach Strategies to Grow Your Agency, Fast

Finding that perfect outreach strategy that brings you a shedload of leads is a bit like finding that perfect hairdresser.

There’s dozens of them out there, and they all seem to be offering the same result. But you’ve got to try a few before you know that they actually ‘get’ you. No, you don’t want a ‘Rachel’ cut. Yes, you want to cover some pesky grays. Yes, you do want a coffee whilst you sit under the dryer.

Now, going through bad hairdressers is frustrating AF, but it’s not really the end of the world.

Wasting time on a bad outreach strategy, however, is a lot more impactful, and costly. It’s the difference between making money in your business quickly, and bleeding money and profits, all the way to bankruptcy court.

Good news?

It’s actually INCREDIBLY simple and quick to find a great outreach method that will work for your agency, no matter how big or small, or how long you’ve been in business.

The fundamentals of a great outreach strategy

If you’re anything like me, you just want to ‘get to it’ - call/message people, tell them all about your business, write a bunch of content to put on social media, send tons of DMs etc. ‘cos you don’t want to waste any time, right?

Well…kind of.

Being intentional and taking quick actions is great, but you need to have a structure around it.

A bit like putting together an IKEA dresser. The instructions aren’t optional. If you just dive in and start trying to fit pieces together, you’ll find they probably don’t fit, and you’ll have to do the whole thing again, hopefully without having damaged anything! (Can you tell I’m a fan of DIY?? 🙂)

So here’s the absolute basics you need to do, before you get all trigger happy with those DMs and emails

Define your goals

You need to be clear on how many clients you need per quarter or at least this month, and what the dollar amount of that is, and then work backwards to figure out:
- How many prospects you need to talk to in order to convert them…
- How many calls you need to set up with prospects in order for them to want to talk about hiring you, and
- How many people you need to speak to, period, to get 1 person on a call.
  
  You can do this on the back of an envelope, or in a fancy spreadsheet, until you have a clear picture of what you need to reach each week.
Identify your target audience

This REALLY doesn’t have to be that complicated - no matter how many different marketing experts you talk to!

All you need to do is create 2-3 simple criteria for who your best clients are - average annual revenue, no. of staff, location, and then you could focus on 1-2 industry sectors if you want to or have a specific expertise there.

I can’t stress this enough - DO NOT spend hours trying to pick a niche - I would much rather you start getting some prospect calls on the calendar and then figuring out on those calls if they’re a good fit. In my experience, this has been the easiest way to ‘pick a niche’ as they say
Develop a compelling offer

I’m going to do a deeper dive on this as you read on, but for now, and I want you to think about 1 thing that you could offer as a ‘hook’ that will attract your prospect. It can be the thing that you do for free (thing free webinars, articles etc.) as well as what you get paid for.

Could it be a way to get your website done in a day? That’s pretty attractive. Or how about ‘All your branding done in a week’? That’s even more juicy!

Remember, if you want to tease out a free version of this, then you can do a simple 30-40 min evergreen webinar that walks people through how you do this, that will then feed into the right prospects who will hire you to do it for them.

And if you’ve read any of my stuff on Lead Products™, then you’ll know that the foundation of this first step with a client is to map out that bigger project.
Pick the channel that reaches your audience the quickest

Or another way of saying this - where do your folks hang out? LinkedIn? Instagram? Industry events.

Pick 1 that you can crush the hell out of - and be there as much as you can. There’s research that will back up that you need to be seen as much as 7 times, to sometimes over 20, before a prospect considers doing business - so put your time and efforts into the one where you’re most likely to get seen.
Set up some way of measuring success

Again, no need to get fancy. But you need to know what’s working, and, more importantly, what’s not, so you can correct it quickly.

You don’t need a complex spreadsheet with lots of formulas that will give you everything down to your prospect’s inseam, but you do need some way of knowing where your best (and worst) prospects are coming from, and where your time is best spent.

My suggestion is that you record daily on a simple table who you reached out to, what type of outreach (e.g. was it a DM, a call, seeing them at an event) and what was the result.

Review this information every few days, or at least once a week, so you can see where you should be focusing your time and efforts.

The One Killer Outreach Strategy

You’re all set with getting your basics down, so here’s where the rubber meets the road.

Your One Killer Outreach Strategy is a combination of working out a compelling, valuable offer that your audience can get excited about, and pulls them to wanting to talk to you about doing business together.

There’s 2 distinct parts to this:

Creating 1-1 connections, that are specific and tailored, with a special curated list of people from your warm network
Creating a valuable offer or event that brings in a wide group of your ideal prospect, and then gives them (and you) a way of continuing the conversation and building the relationship

I’m going to break down each part here, so all you need to do is implement.

1-1 Connections - Your Secret Weapon to Outreach Success

What’s that saying?

“People do business with people they know, like and trust.”

And the shortcut to the ‘KLT’ factor (as I like to call it) is spending time with people 1-1.

OK, Pia, that’s all great. But who am I going to speak to that way? And what do I even say?

Hold on, my friend.

You know I’m all about No BS, and keeping it simple.

Here’s how:

Step 1 - Build a list of 100 ideal prospects. These can be from previous clients, networking contacts, former colleagues, your high school track team… and even people you don’t know, but would love to do business with.

Don’t stop until you get to 100. I mean it.

Step 2 - Reach out to each of these 100 people, during the time that you’ve scheduled for this in your working day.

If you’ve got the whole day, because you don’t have a lot of client work, right now, that’s fine! If you only have 1h/day because you’re slammed, that’s fine!

The key is to be consistent - the momentum builds as you keep plugging away.

Step 3 - Make your initial outreach simple. Be interested, interesting, and intentional.

Don’t overthink this. You’re initial message or (call, if you prefer that) can go something like:

“Hey [Contact]! I just saw ___ and it reminded me of you/I just read___ and it reminded me of you.

I’d love to hear what you’re up to and see how we might be able to help each other in business.

Do you have time for a 15-minute catch up in the next week or so? I have availability ______ if that works for you, if not send me some dates/times and we’ll make it work.”

Seriously, if you’re really struggling, borrow this until you come up with your own flair.

The beauty of this type of message is that it accomplishes a few things. Firstly, it’s warm and friendly in tone, so immediately, someone getting it is highly likely to say yes.

Second, you lead with a personal phrase about something that reminds you of that person. And before you go there - no, it’s not a ‘bait and switch’ fake tactic. If you’re really out to give value, then there will be things that you come across that will remind you of the person you want to connect with. And if nothing comes to mind - find something!

Third, you’re being upfront about why you want their time, and you’re making it even easier for them by suggesting a block of time, and some possible dates/times.

Ask yourself - if someone in your business networks, or even your wider social circles, sent you something like this, would you be willing to respond?

Chances are, probably! But if not, just tweak it till it sounds good to you.

BUT - don’t get obsessed with crafting the perfect outreach message. Just get it out there, and tweak on the fly.

Creating A Valuable Offer Or Event

“No one likes being sold to, but everyone likes to buy.”

Another quote for ya (what is it with me and quotes today, huh?)

But it’s true.

(Just check your credit card statement if you don’t believe me - yikes!)

So how do you bridge that gap from people who think you’ve got an interesting business, to ‘wow - I really need someone to help me with that - how do I find out more?’

You do it by coming up with something valuable, and then offering that value as a way to demonstrate the benefits of what you do, showing your authority, and making you stand out as the only solution.

Sounds like a tall order right?

Actually, no. The truth is, you already have the good stuff that is valuable, as you’re an expert branding agency owner. You just need to repackage it in a way that appeals to your audience.

Here’s a few ways you can do it, and few methods you can deliver it/your audience can consume it:

Put your 10 best strategies of creating a stand out website into a PDF, and give it to people in exchange for their email address.
Take 3 ways that you would make someone’s brand stand out, talk about that in a video, and have that on the homepage of your website, on your LinkedIn profile, as a pinned IG post etc.
Do a 10min ‘website audit’ for prospective clients and send it to them. You can pick out 3-5 things you would improve, record a loom and email it to them.
Give a talk at a local networking event where you know that your ideal prospects are likely to be. If you can make this a regular fixture, all the better - you’ll get known as a branding expert in no time and out of the people who attend, a good few are likely to hire you.
Partner up with someone in your network who serves the same market as you, but provides a non-competitive service. Maybe an accounting firm that likes to bring in experts for general business/branding/marketing advice and has them write blogs or appear on their podcast/email list.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

I suggest just picking one of these, and doing it consistently for at least the next 3 months. Consistency is key.

Boost your outreach with a great long-term plan

There’s one final piece to the killer outreach puzzle, and that is to make sure that your consistent outreach in DMs/emails/calls is backed up by a long-term marketing strategy.

I’ve talked about short- and long-term marketing strategies before, and here’s how to dial it up to ensure your outreach is hitting it out of the park.

Choose any long-term strategy that you know you can commit to consistently.

Like I said, consistency is key, and you want to stack the odds in your favor.

Do you love to write? Then schedule weekly blog posts, emails, or social media captions where your audience will see them

Maybe speaking is your thing. Guest podcasting can be great, as well as giving talks or hosting workshops regularly where you know your audience will hang out.

Or perhaps you’re more of an on-screen star. You could set up a YouTube channel in minutes, or post Reels or Shorts on the social media platform of your choice.

Whichever medium you choose, get that in your diary as a weekly, non-negotiable appointment. The rewards for this won’t be immediate, but it will all boost how your audience builds trust in what you do and say, and adds to the mix when they are considering hiring you.

And please, please, please don’t overthink it! Just go with the method that is quick, easy and fun!

Common pitfalls of outreach, and how to avoid them

By now, you’ve got all you need to be a rockstar with your outreach.

You know what to say, who to say it to, when, how and it should all be smooth sailing, as long as you stay consistent, right?

Well, as with anything we try for the first time, or even for the 50th time, there’s some pitfalls that we need to be aware of, and I’m going to spell out a few, so you can be on the lookout for them, in case they happen to you.

First - don’t get distracted with getting it all perfect.

I know, saying this to a fellow creative is probably like a red rag to a bull - what, you don’t want me to go over this 4 times??

Look - this isn’t a piece of art you’re submitting to the Guggenheim. This is reaching out to people to build your business - pure and simple. Done is better than perfect.

Get out there and fail. Yes, that’s right. Fail.

It’s not a bad thing. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you or your agency. You will learn what works and what doesn’t when it comes to outreach, and course correct.

Second - be consistent.

It’s SO easy to take your foot off the gas when you land that big client or two. I get it. You get all consumed with the delivery, that keeping up the outreach becomes an afterthought. And then, when those client engagements end, you’re right back to scrambling for leads.

I don’t want that for you - and I know you don’t want that for yourself. So put that daily outreach in your calendar now as a non-negotiable appointment, rain or shine.

Finally - have fun!

I know that this part of running an agency can be really boring or mechanical, but who says it has to go that way?

When you send your DMs, add a fun emoji or gif! Make short videos as if you were the next TikTok star!

And why not get together with some of your fellow branding agency owners on a weekly Zoom, put on some music and do focused outreach for 1h.

Let your creative juices flow!

Here’s what you need to get…

The best type of outreach strategy is one that gives immense value first, instead of blatantly selling.

Outreach can be simple, without any fancy ads, software, social media captions. Sometimes, simply having a conversation is all you need

Once you’ve picked and worked your killer outreach strategy, you need to back it up with a long-term marketing strategy, so you stay top-of-mind for your audience.

And remember - don’t overthink it!

P.S. You can always jump on a call with my team if you want to fast-track your way to using the right killer outreach strategies and all my other tools and strategies to scale up your agency - just go here to get started!

Marketing StrategiesPia SilvaJuly 28, 2023Growth Strategies, Marketing