Good products, great branding, and consistent execution are the trifecta for a successful business. Still, many companies with solid products find themselves stuck on a growth plateau.

Most of the time, this is due to weak branding and a poor understanding of their audience. If you’re an SMMA (social media marketing agency), your challenge is finding these businesses. They’re out there, and they need your help.

So, if you want to know how to get SMMA clients, read on to learn which strategies prove most successful today and how sales engagement software like Instantly scales your efforts.

Best Strategies For Getting More SMMA Clients

As an SMMA agency, you’re used to generating inbound leads for your clients, and maybe pulling in a decent number yourself.

But if you want to scale, one strategy won’t cut it. Here are a few tested and proven methods you can start using to bring in more clients:

Cold Email Marketing

Cold emailing is arguably the best strategy for scaling outbound strategies today. With the right approach and tools, cold emails stay classy, relevant, and valuable to your leads.

No matter the cold email platform you decide to use, the fundamentals remain the same. Here’s how to do cold email with Instantly:

Step 1: Buy alternate domains and create 3 sending accounts per domain. Set up DMARC, DKIM, and SPF to ensure deliverability, then warm up your accounts before sending.

Instantly’s DFY Service handles this for you, or you can use pre-warmed accounts to start immediately.

Step 2: Find high-quality, verified leads that match your ICP. Use tools like LinkedIn or Instantly SuperSearch to collect leads, then verify your list to avoid catch-all addresses, inactive emails, and spam traps. You can enrich your leads to improve targeting and personalization.

Step 3: Instantly can automate personalization with {{dynamic variables}}. Upload enriched lead lists to Instantly and use custom columns to insert {{first name}}, {{company name}}, {{pain point}}, and other variables directly into your emails for stronger relevance and higher replies.

Step 4: Launch cold email sequences with automated follow-ups and A/B testing. Instantly handles full reply automation, sequences, and follow-ups. You can also add spintax for unique email variants and use Instantly Copilot to build campaigns or troubleshoot setup in real time.

Pay-Per-Lead Pilot

Most business owners are skeptical of monthly retainers, especially if you lock them into a plan. Maybe they’ve been burned before. That’s why the pay-per-lead model works. It’s low-risk for them, and you can prove value without spending weeks closing a full-service deal.

• Step 1: Position your offer as a 2-week pay-per-lead test drive. Tell prospects they only pay for qualified leads during the pilot, with no upfront management fees. 
• Step 2: Define exactly what counts as a qualified lead. Set clear criteria based on your industry to avoid confusion between sales and marketing teams. 
• Step 3: Price your leads based on market value. Lead prices vary depending on the industry, but they should cover ad spend and include profit. 
• Step 4: Launch and show results fast. Build a simple funnel, launch ads on Meta or Google, and deliver leads within a few days. 

Reverse Case Study Outreach

Instead of showcasing your wins, you break down the ad campaigns of well-known brands in your industry.

You highlight what they’re doing well, where they might improve, and how you’d approach it differently. It’s a high-value content play that builds authority fast.

• Step 1: Break down live ad campaigns from brands in your industry. Explain what’s working, what’s not, and how it could perform better. Add visuals, clear examples, and keep it helpful.
• Step 2: Post the breakdown on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Threads to get traffic. Use a hook like “Ad Breakdown: How {{brand}} grew 5x within 5 months.” Then walk people through your thinking.
• Step 3: Let your content do the outreach for you. You’ll start to see people engage, comment, and share. Some will tag others. Some will DM you. These warm, inbound leads already see your value before you’ve even spoken.
• Step 4: Turn comments and DMs into honest conversations. When someone shows interest, follow up naturally. Ask about their current goals, their struggles, or what they liked about your post. The pitch comes later. The focus is on building trust and opening the door.

Community-Led Lead Generation (Facebook Groups & Reddit)

Sometimes the best leads aren’t found through outreach or ads. They’re already hanging out in Facebook Groups, Reddit threads, and online communities, asking questions, sharing wins, and looking for help.

If you consistently show up and provide real value, people notice. 

• Step 1: Join active groups and threads relevant to your industry. Look for niche-specific Facebook Groups or Reddit communities where your ideal clients ask questions or share marketing struggles. Join as yourself or your agency profile and start by listening.
• Step 2: Answer questions and give actionable advice. When someone asks about ad performance, targeting, creatives, or funnel strategy, jump in with clear, helpful answers. Bonus points if you drop examples or quick fixes that work.
• Step 3: Drop insights consistently and avoid pitching. The goal is to build familiarity and trust, not to sell hard. People will check your profile or reach out directly as you become a go-to name in the group or subreddit.
• Step 4: Optimize your profile to convert lurkers into leads. Ensure your bio or pinned post explains what you do, who you help, and how to get in touch. A clear call-to-action (CTA) in your profile turns passive readers into potential clients.

Start Local, Build Momentum, Then Scale

If you're starting an SMMA, you don’t need flashy funnels or complicated ad systems. You need proof that you can get results, manage clients, and run operations smoothly. The easiest way to do that? Start local.

A lot of successful agencies begin by helping people they already know. Think friends who run small businesses, family members with shops, or friends of friends who are just getting started.

• Step 1: Start with local businesses at a friendly, accessible rate. Offer a “local-tier” pricing model to make it easy for small businesses around you to say yes. Your first few clients don’t have to be huge. They just need to give you a chance to prove your value.
• Step 2: Leverage your network. Contact friends, family, and local business owners in your circle. Referrals from people who trust you will always convert better than any cold message.
• Step 3: Polish your process before chasing scale. Use your first few clients to refine your onboarding, reporting, communication, and delivery. These early wins shape your backend so it doesn’t break when you grow later.
• Step 4: Build your portfolio and social proof. You can reach outside your local area once you have 2 to 3 strong case studies and a trusted process. At this point, cold email, paid ads, or outbound sales automation becomes much easier because you now have results to show.

Key Takeaways

As long as businesses exist, social media marketers will have leads they can reach out to. But as you noticed, most of the strategies in this list use some form of cold and warm outreach.

If you want to scale fast, you’ll need a tool that can help you segment leads, write relevant email copy, and automate the outreach process. That’s why we built Instantly. Start your free Instantly trial.