Solved: Struggling to Acquire First Paying Clients for Agency

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your LinkedIn lead generation agency and the challenges you're facing in acquiring your first 10 paying customers.

We'll need to look at B2B first...

First thing to keep in mind with a B2B business: advertising is generally more difficult and costly than B2C. Sales cycles tend to be longer, and there's rarely an immediate ROI. So don't get discouraged too quickly!

Now, let's dive into some specific areas where you can improve. Your initial strategy of targeting sales and marketing managers with basic LinkedIn ads may be too broad. B2B targeting usually works best with a narrow audience that targets your specific Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Think hard about who the *exact* companies that will benefit most from your solution are. Who are the *specific* decision makers at those companies who will make the buying decision?

Once you have this narrowed down, you have to look at the targeting options you have available and try to target them as accurately as possible. For example, if you're selling contact data enrichment, you might target:

Companies: SMEs with 50-200 employees
Decision Makers: CMO, CSO, CTO, Head of Marketing, Head of Sales, Head of IT
Industries: Business Services, Software, Marketing and Advertising, Financial Services

You can even make a list of target companies that you'd like to see your ads and then target the decision makers at those companies using a tool like Apollo.io or ZoomInfo.

I'd say you think about your sales process...

It's important to align your advertising with your overall sales process. What do you want people to do after seeing your ad? Usually, the first step is to either fill out a lead form or to schedule an intro meeting or consultation. Some agencies offer a free audit or strategy review. Whatever it is, your ads should be designed to drive that specific action.

This reminds me of one campaign we ran for a client that needed help to reduce their cost per user acquisition. We re-structured their campaigns to focus on lead generation and that allowed us to reduce their £100 CPA to £7 CPA.

You probably should A/B test your ad formats...

Depending on what your objective is, you'll want to consider what ad format will work best to achieve that and what ad formats are available for this type of campaign. Some ideas:

-> Text Ads (for conversations): These can work well to start conversations, especially if you're selling something that requires a more personalized approach. This is like cold outreach just that you pay for it.

-> Video Ads: Video can be super persuasive and help to pre-qualify leads. If you need more qualified leads that have seen the info in the video before submitting the lead form, then this might be the format for you. Also a persuasive video can work to get leads at lower costs.

-> Image Ads: This is usually the fastest way to get the message across and get anyone interested to click. It works well to drive traffic to your website or landing page.

-> Carousel Ads: Works well if you have more information to relay in the same ad, e.g. multiple products or services.

I usually run sponsored content campaigns for lead generation. Then I test out image and video ads + lead gen forms versus pointing to a landing page to see what works best. I remember one campaign where we saw over 4,622 registrations at $2.38 cost per registration for a B2B Software using Meta Ads.

You'll need to improve the messaging...

The 'abysmal' response rate you mentioned suggests there's room for improvement in your messaging. Generic copy rarely works, especially in B2B. Focus on the specific value you provide. What problem do you solve? What benefit do clients get from working with you?

Highlight the specific problems you solve, not just the general service. A/B test different copy and see what works. For example, instead of saying "We generate leads", try something like "Get 2x more qualified leads in half the time" or "Stop wasting time on cold outreach and start closing deals". I know this might sound simple but those small tweaks will make a big difference.

You should consider a lower friction offer...

In B2B, you might see better results generating leads, having an intro/sales call, and offering a custom service to address their unique needs. For high ticket offers and B2B markering, a funnel and fixed offers might not work that well. This strategy usually works better for B2C marketing and/or lower ticket offers.

Don't overlook content marketing...

Even though you're primarily focused on paid ads, don't completely ignore content marketing. Creating valuable, informative content can help attract organic traffic and establish you as an expert in your field. This can also support your paid advertising efforts by giving you something valuable to share in your ads.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

I hope these initial thoughts have been helpful! These are just some of the things we would look at to scale your client acquisition.

I understand you're just starting out, but it's important to recognise that scaling a B2B agency can be challenging. If you find yourself struggling to implement these strategies or need more in-depth guidance, you might want to consider working with an expert.

We're happy to offer a free consultation where we can review your current strategy and account together and discuss the best path forward. Please feel free to reach out if you are interested in discussing this further.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh