What you do with a new client in the first few days of the relationship can predict whether you’ll have a long-term and profitable relationship with them, or the engagement will go up in flames.
You can set yourself up for success by having a digital marketing onboarding process that is clear, organized, and gives your client faith that your agency actually knows what it’s doing. Get this right, and you can keep clients on your roster for years and scale your agency to new heights.
As an agency coach, we recommend the following 5 steps to perfect this process.
1. Welcome New Clients With a “Bang”
It’s not unusual for business owners to experience buyer’s remorse once they agree to sign up with an agency. They might have been “burned” in the past, with lofty promises and underwhelming results.
Now that they’ve signed up with you, they could be feeling the same thing. This is especially true if you disappear on them to do research and planning behind the scenes, and they have no idea what you’re doing.
There’s a simple way to give your clients confidence in your abilities and communication right out of the gate.
Here’s how to handle it:
- Send a welcome message immediately via email or text
- Schedule a kickoff meeting or onboarding call ASAP
- Send them a gift basket to show your appreciation (we live in a digital world, so this is a game-changer)
2. Get All the Necessary Details To Get Started
Your client is going to have to do some homework, and it’s your job to make that task as seamless as possible.
A big part of the digital marketing onboarding process is getting client information, including:
- Usernames and passwords
- Access details to various accounts
- Project tools access
- Unique selling propositions
- Photos
- Logos
- Brand guidelines
This can be challenging for them to gather (especially if they’re not super technical), so you can’t just send a form, sit back, and wait. Often, this requires the support of an account manager to get this process going, so be sure you have someone on your team to hold their hand. Don’t use a delay on their end as an excuse for you delaying your tasks.
3. Map Out the Client Experience
It is absolutely essential that you have an internal plan on what an engagement looks like with a client. For example, what does the first week, month, quarter look like?
You should have detailed onboarding documentation that maps out touchpoints and milestones that will occur during both the digital marketing onboarding process and the engagement as it continues.
By having a specific plan that includes what your team will do during the initial phases, your clients will have clear expectations.
4. Deliver a Quick Win
Clients sometimes have unrealistic expectations, but you still have an opportunity to knock their socks off. By delivering a quick win, you can differentiate yourself from other agencies they’ve worked with.
This is actually easier than you think. Ways you can generate results quickly for a client include:
- Launch a basic paid search campaign
- Design a landing page
- Implement a database reactivation sequence
- Set up live chat
- Generate positive reviews
All of these tactics can be implemented relatively fast to drive traffic and bring in an influx of sales quickly. This gets them excited and makes it more likely that you’ll get stellar client feedback.
5. Communicate Frequently
When it comes to client communication, more is better. As a rule of thumb, you should be communicating with your clients at every step of the process.
This is where you can leverage automation tools to keep your clients in the loop. Use your CRM to schedule automatic updates and use the plan that you created to drive the content of your messages. For example, let clients know when you’ve completed a task like finishing a piece of content, designing a graphic, setting up Google profiles and citations, and finalizing review automation.
When your clients get frequent updates, they know you’re holding up your end of the bargain, and that will make them feel more comfortable working with you.
Scale Your Digital Marketing Agency to Seven Figures (And Beyond)
The key to having a successful agency goes beyond just being good at what you do. You have to be an excellent communicator to not only win, but also retain clients. This starts with the digital marketing onboarding process and continues with proactive communication.
Check out how to boost client communication, and you’ll be another step ahead of the competition.
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