Buying Signals for Marketing Agencies: How to Find New Clients Before They Run a Pitch

Agencies are some of the worst at winning their own clients. They spend all day generating demand for others, then rely on referrals and pitches for themselves.

Cold outreach is hard for agencies because every business gets agency emails constantly. "We help brands grow with SEO, paid social and content" sounds the same as the last forty.

The agencies that win more often get in touch at the right moment: just before a business decides it needs outside help, or just after something changes that makes its current agency look like the wrong fit. Those moments are buying signals.

This guide covers the signals that matter most for marketing, creative, PR and digital agencies, and how to act on them. For the basics, see our guide to buying signals.

Why signals work for agencies

Businesses usually hire or change agency because of a change:

• a new marketing leader arrives and reviews suppliers
• the business launches something new and needs help
• growth targets go up after funding
• the in-house team can't keep up
• results with the current agency have stalled

If you reach them at that moment, you're often part of the conversation before a formal pitch, or before they've asked anyone else. That's a much better position than being one of eight agencies on a shortlist.

The strongest buying signals for agencies

1. A new head of marketing or CMO

New marketing leaders almost always review agencies in their first six months. They want quick wins and often bring in suppliers they trust.

Angle: offer one specific quick win in their area, not your full service list.

2. Hiring an in-house marketer

A business advertising for a marketing executive or manager needs marketing done. Some would get more from an agency. Others will need specialist support around the new hire.

Angle: compare the hire with an agency, or offer to support the person they're hiring.

3. Raising investment

Funding brings growth targets, and marketing is usually where a chunk of the money goes.

Angle: talk about turning the growth plan into results, not "congratulations on the raise".

4. A rebrand or new website

A company that's just rebranded wants people to notice. A company with a new website needs traffic to it. Both often need help they didn't plan for.

Angle: help them get the new brand or site in front of the right people.

5. A product or service launch

Launches need campaigns, content, PR and paid media, often on a tight deadline.

Angle: focus on the launch date and what needs to happen before it.

6. Expansion into a new market

New markets need new campaigns, local knowledge and often a whole new audience.

Angle: show you understand the new market and how to reach it.

7. Public tenders for marketing services

Public sector bodies and some large organisations publish tenders for marketing, creative and PR work, with dates and budgets.

Angle: this is about bidding well, not outreach. Spot them early so you have time to prepare a strong response.

8. Signs their marketing has stalled

A dormant blog, an inactive social account or ads that haven't changed in months can all point to a business without the capacity to keep going.

Angle: be careful. Point to one practical improvement rather than listing everything that looks neglected.

9. A competitor's big campaign or coverage

When a rival launches a strong campaign or gets major coverage, businesses notice, and often feel they need to respond.

Angle: don't name the competitor. Talk about how companies their size get noticed in their market.

10. Awards and events

Businesses shortlisted for awards or exhibiting at trade shows are investing in visibility and often want more from it.

Angle: help them make the most of the moment, during and after.

Reading the signal properly

Before you get in touch, check:

• Fit. Does the business match the clients you do your best work for?
• Timing. New leaders and launches are time-sensitive. Act in the first few months, or before the launch.
• Combined signals. A new CMO plus funding plus a rebrand is about as clear as it gets.
• The right person. Usually the head of marketing, or the founder in smaller businesses.

What to say

Say you're a digital agency and you spot a business with a new head of marketing who's also advertising for a marketing executive.

Hi Priya, saw you've joined as head of marketing and you're hiring a marketing exec. Most people in a new role get asked for quick wins before they've had time to fix the bigger things. We usually help with one: getting paid search to a cost per lead that can be defended to the board, while the new hire gets up to speed. Is that on your list, or is something else more pressing?

It works because it's about their first quarter, not your agency. Our guide to signal-led cold emails has more examples.

Authority: practise what you preach

Prospects judge agencies by their own marketing. An agency nobody has heard of, asking to run someone else's growth, has to work much harder to be believed.

Being quoted in marketing and business press changes that. Journalists covering marketing, media and business regularly need comment on:

• marketing trends and what's working now
• AI in marketing and advertising
• big campaigns, rebrands and what others can learn from them
• changes to advertising platforms and rules
• consumer behaviour in specific sectors

For a PR or marketing agency, your own coverage is also proof you can do it for clients. Our guide to getting press coverage in the UK shows how.

Finding these signals every day

You can track many of these by hand with LinkedIn, job alerts, news alerts and tender notices, but agencies are busy delivering for clients, and new business tracking is usually the first thing to slip.

Go7 Radar brings the buying signals that fit your ideal client into one place every morning, with a suggested message for each, alongside press opportunities for your own agency.

If you'd rather we ran it for you, our Managed Acquisition plan runs signal-led outreach with a target of 20 qualified sales meetings in 90 days, plus PR signals and article press.

Want to see which signals matter most for your agency? Get a free Growth Report.

FAQs

What are buying signals for marketing agencies? Signs that a business is likely to hire or change agency soon, such as a new marketing leader, an in-house marketing hire, funding, a rebrand, a launch, expansion and public tenders.

What's the best signal for agencies? A new head of marketing or CMO. New marketing leaders usually review agencies in their first six months.

How do agencies find new clients without pitching constantly? By getting in touch at moments of change, before a formal pitch is set up, with a specific and useful message rather than a service list.

Should agencies mention a prospect's weak marketing in cold emails? Carefully. Pointing to one practical improvement can work. Listing everything that's wrong usually comes across as criticism.

Does PR help marketing agencies win clients? Yes. Prospects judge agencies by their own visibility. Being quoted in marketing and business press makes an agency more credible, and for PR agencies it's direct proof of what they can do.