If you run an agency, you are probably accustomed to generating most of your leads through referrals. According to HubSpot’s Agency Pricing and Financial Report, 90% of agencies rely on referrals as their top source of leads. This will always be a high percentage as long as you continue to do good work and know how to ask for a referral. However, it’s hard to control the volume of referrals you receive and referrals aren’t always in-market for your service either. In an ideal world, you’d be able to control the number of inquiries you get and you’d spend all your sales effort with highly qualified prospects. Directories provide that opportunity. If you are not already familiar, an agency directory is usually a site that allows prospective clients to research agencies on their own time, and allows marketing agencies to reach middle-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel (or “ready-to-buy”) prospects. In my research, I found two types of directories: Software-based directories: These directories include agencies and consultants that have consistently used one piece of software to generate ROI for clients. They are associated with an agency partner program for that particular software service. Examples include HubSpot and MailChimp. Services-based directories: These directories group agencies by service offerings, like inbound marketing, content marketing and SEO. They tend to be independent businesses that generate revenue from leads sent to agencies or advertising fees. Since many directories also include reviews, client-side marketers can see which agencies look like trustworthy partners. We put together a list of every active digital agency directory we could find. To be clear, here is what we mean by an ‘active directory’: Appears to be actively maintained as of August 2017 More than 30 listings Must include relevant information about the agency. Cannot just be a collection of links. May also include other directories. For example, ad agencies and web development firms are commonly searched alongside digital marketing agencies. Each directory description includes the following information so you can tell which ones are relevant to your services: Listings: Total number of marketing agency listings Unique focus: The things this directory does differently than the others Categories: How the directory sorts agencies, with up to 5 examples Free option: Whether you can add your agency to the directory for free Reviews: Whether it allow clients to post reviews Popularity: Any metric on popularity of the directory (optional) Every services-based directory allows some sort of paid presence. This can include promoting your listing up to the top, receiving leads and other similar paid options. Software directories require partner program membership, which ranges from free to a fairly big commitment. Types of Directories Software-based Directories Services-based Directories Software-based Directories Databox Partner Directory Listings: 100 Unique focus: The Databox Partner Directory includes data-driven agencies that go out of their way to stay on top of client data. These agencies use Databox to monitor data and automatically generate reports from over 30 services. Although most members offer inbound marketing and content marketing services, it includes SEO, PPC and social ad-focused agencies as well. Categories: Based on use of the Databox product and services offered. Partners are sorted by certification levels as well as expertise in specific tools, like: Google Analytics HubSpot Facebook Ads AdWords SEMrush Free Option: Yes. Agencies can join the Partner Program with a Databox Agency Free account. The free plan allows agencies to build up to 10 templates that can be published to the directory and can also be used to automate reporting for up to 10 clients. Each client can connect up to 3 datasources and have 3 dashboards too. Reviews: No Popularity: Over 500 leads generated for agencies via the Template Directory since launched last month. Agencies post their top dashboards for prospects to use for free and receive a lead notification when one of our other users download it. HubSpot Partner Directory Listings: 500+ Unique focus: This directory includes tiered HubSpot Partners from the total pool of 3700+ HubSpot partner agencies. Tiered partners earn their way to Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond status based on a combination of inbound marketing success and amount of MRR acquired and managed. Categories: There is a robust agency search system based on: Location Services Tier Language spoken Budget per month Certifications Free Option: No. You must be a tiered HubSpot partner. To be a tiered partner, you must buy the software for yourself and you also must resell HubSpot at a certain frequency. Reviews: Yes. Includes the name of client contact. Popularity: Not public Facebook Agency Directory Listings: 65 (in alpha) Unique focus: This directory will eventually become an exhaustive resource for Facebook Ads experts. At the moment, it only includes Asian and Australian agencies. All participants have completed Facebook Blueprint, a series of lessons on best practices for Facebook’s array of paid promotional services. Categories: Country Types of services needed Industry expertise Monthly budget Certification status Free Option: Yes. Facebook Blueprint course work is free. Reviews: No Popularity: Not public. Google Partner Directory Listings: 1000+ Unique focus: This directory highlights agencies and consultants that have achieved Google Partner certification for their expertise in text and video ads. It spans the suite of Google ad products, including AdWords, YouTube, AdSense, Google Shopping and Google Analytics. Categories: Agencies and consultants are sorted by: Industry expertise Specialization Web conversion or advertising services Certifications Free Option: Yes. No paid options. Reviews: No Popularity: Not public. MailChimp Experts Directory Listings: 800+ Unique focus: Members of the MailChimp Partner Program use this directory to offer their specific services around the MailChimp platform. Categories: API development Copywriting services E-commerce Email strategy Full Service Template Design Training Free Option: No. Must have paid account to get into Partner Program. Reviews: Yes. Validated via MailChimp account. Popularity: Not public Shopify Expert Directory Listings: 200+ Unique focus: Members of the Shopify Partner Program who have launched 5 stores may participate in the directory. The directory includes multiple services that are needed to manage a successful Shopify store. Categories: Setup Experts Designers Developers Marketers Photographers Free Option: N0. Must be a Shopify Partner Reviews: Yes. Validated by Shopify account. Popularity: Not public Services-based Directories Agency Spotter Listings: 14,500 Unique focus: Agency Spotter uses concrete data – like verified client reviews – to help you find the best-fit marketing agency partners for your company. Their agency listings cover 40 marketing service areas, and searches can be filtered by criteria like budget range, agency size, industry expertise, and ownership diversity. Before being listed, all agencies go through an approval process. Categories: There are 5 macro categories- Strategic, Marketing, Digital, Design, Research. Examples of sub-categories (there are 40+ total): Advertising Direct Marketing Content Marketing Innovation Marketing Strategy Mobile Social Media Web Free Option: Free for both agencies and in-house marketers. Agency benefits on the paid plan include a slick lead generation system, the option to list up to five searchable service areas. Paid plans also include promoted listings across agency, project, and brand-specific searches. Reviews: Yes. Each client review is verified by Agency Spotter staff and is required to be written exclusively by the agency’s clients. Popularity: 26,000 unique users/month to site, 13,000 total listings Clutch Listings: 3000 Unique focus: Clutch covers both marketing and software development firms. They set themselves apart through comprehensive listings. Here is an example. Reviews on Clutch are exceptional because they have a team of analysts behind the scenes that will write reviews on behalf of clients, or review posted reviews for quality. Categories: Many ways of filtering, including: Type of marketing services Minimum project size Industry expertise Size Free Option: Yes. Must have 3 client references to get listed that will later undergo review. Reviews: Yes. This is their expertise. Popularity: 150,000 monthly visitors, 7000 total firms Sortlist Listings: 53,000+ Unique focus: Sortlist does not use a searchable directory. Instead, it has a directory of agencies on the back-end. It asks potential clients a series of questions about the services they would like. It then qualifies the prospects by phone, and charges up to 5 agencies for an intro to a qualified lead. Categories: Advertising UI/UX Web Development Copywriting Digital Marketing Free Option: No Reviews: No Popularity: 67 million euros worth of business sent to agencies, 15,000 projects posted in 2016 Digital Agency Network Listings: 400 Unique focus: DAN covers all types of digital agencies, from mobile development to branding to digital marketing. Even though it only has 400 agencies listed, it has managed to drive 80,000 monthly visitors. It also maintains job listings so agencies can recruit new team members. Categories: Categorization is based on major cities across the globe, like San Francisco, New York and London. Free Option: Only free 30 day trial Reviews: No Popularity: 80,000 monthly visitors UpCity Listings: 7000+ Unique focus: UpCity helps small businesses find local marketing agencies. All search on the site is location-first. There are a maximum of 15 listings per specialty in each city. As of August 2017, they have marketplace lists in over 80 different markets, as well as national lists for top companies across the United States. Categories: Individual cities, as well as: Digital Marketing Content Branding Mobile App Development Web Designers Free Option: Yes Reviews: Yes Popularity: Over 500,000 total unique visits and 30,000 unique introductions to agencies every month Credo Listings: 75 Unique focus: Credo focuses on SEO agencies and consultants looking for $2-$5k retainers. This budget level is usually appropriate for SMB and startup clients. Categories: eCommerce SEO Lawyer SEO Real Estate SEO Local SEO SEO Site Audits Free Option: No Reviews: Yes Popularity: $3,200,000 worth of leads sent to agencies and consultants since Oct 2015 TopSEOs Listings: 9000+ Unique focus: TopSEOs ranks SEO, PPC, and social media experts across all industries. Categories: Services offered Small Business v. Enterprise Free Option: No Reviews: Yes Popularity: Estimated 25,000 monthly visitors (SEMrush) Top Digital Agency Listings: 2.471 Unique focus: Covers all types of digital agencies, including web development, branding and marketing. Categories: Country Geographic Focus Type of Agency Technological Expertise of Agency Languages Size of Agency Free Option: Yes Reviews: Yes Popularity: Public Rnked Listings: 3000+ Unique focus: Rnked uses a proprietary algorithm to rank agencies by category. It operates as a brokerage service. Clients submit potential projects, and a Rnked employee will match them with an appropriate agency to begin a conversation. Categories: Content Marketing UX Mobile Development SEO Video Free Option: Yes Reviews: No Popularity: Not public FindBestSEO Listings: 880 Unique focus: Although FindBestSEO includes many digital marketing categories, it mainly focuses on SEOs. It uses a proprietary scoring mechanism to rank SEO providers. Categories: SEO Reputation Management Web Design CRO PPC Free Option: Yes Reviews: No Popularity: Not public G2Crowd Marketing Services Listings: 1500+ Unique focus: Although G2Crowd is traditionally known for its B2B software reviews, it actually has a strong directory for marketing services as well. It has limited profiles for free listings, and allows agencies to “claim their listing” for a fee to post client testimonials and accept leads. Categories: Branding Inbound Marketing Marketing Automation Consulting Marketing Strategy Free Option: Yes Reviews: Yes. Validated by Linkedin. Popularity: Not public Measure the Impact of Agency Directories If you begin advertising or accepting leads from one of these directories, you will want to track ROI. There is a wide variety of quality across all the options listed above, and it will be hard to immediately tell which ones fit for your agency. Some directories will only notify you of leads via an email, while others use tracking codes with your specific listing. Regardless, you can use our Referrals Overview dashboard to track your site visitors that come from directories. Since the dashboard tracks conversion metrics for referrals, you will be able to see if visitors from directories complete goals you have set up in Google Analytics. You will likely find that only a handful of directories will provide any traffic, never mind leads. Once you find a directory that provides a few quality leads, you can consider advertising or new certifications to boost your reputation. + Get the Referrals Overview Dashboard Thanks to Tim Dearlove from HubSpot for his help with this post.