The Complete Guide to Marketing Automation for Agencies: Scale Smarter, Not Harder

Marketing automation consists of using software to automate repetitive marketing tasks such as email campaigns, social media posts scheduling, drip campaigns, AI chatbots, reports, etc… across multiple clients.

Digital agencies manage numerous clients and campaigns, therefore automation ensures efficiency and consistency; 76% of companies using marketing automation report positive ROI within the first year, and 91% of marketers consider automation critical for campaign success. This means that agencies might be at risk falling behind if they don’t adopt the right automation platform.

Automating emails, social posts, automation workflows, and other marketing initiatives makes your team’s time freer (automation can save 6+ hours per week on routine tasks) so your agency can focus on strategy and creative work.

Nurturing your leads consistently may boost the chance of converting more. According to the Annuitas Group, companies using automated lead nurturing saw a 451% increase in qualified leads. Agencies can deliver better results for clients through timely, personalized touchpoints without manual effort.

With automation, agencies can handle more clients/campaigns with the same resources, which increases the chance of higher profitability. Enhanced efficiency means you can take on new clients and scale confidently.

Automated workflows ensure no lead is missed. Scheduling and triggers decrease human error (i.e., missing a scheduled post or email), which protects your agency’s reputation and helps maintain quality across all client campaigns.

Agencies can use client data and automation rules to send the right message to the right person at the right time, across a wide variety of client accounts, something impossible to do manually at scale. This improves client satisfaction and retention for the agency. McKinsey’s Next in Personalization Report (2021) showed that companies that are using personalization drive 40% more of their revenue from these efforts compared to slower-growing peers. For agencies, this translates into greater client satisfaction, stronger results, and longer retention.

The first thing you need to do as an agency is to identify repetitive tasks and marketing processes across your clients that consume time (email follow-ups, social posting, lead scoring, etc.). Identify what you want to accomplish using automation (i.e., quicker lead response, multi-channel campaign management, better reporting…)

Research and choose a marketing automation platform for agencies that meets your needs. Consider criteria like ease of use, breadth of features, multi-client management, simplicity of replication of built marketing assets across sub-accounts, and dedicated support. The right tool will address common pain points – note that according to a report by Oracle, 70% of marketers are not satisfied with their automation software due to mismatched features, so picking a solution built for agencies is a must.

Implement automation gradually. For instance, it would be a good idea to begin with one or two clients to build confidence. Map out workflows (i.e., lead nurturing email series or social media calendar approvals) and use templates. Document standard operating procedures for your team to ensure consistency.

Dedicate some time in training your staff on the new platform. Take advantage of the software’s training or onboarding (some platforms offer agency-specific training sessions). Making sure everyone knows how to use automation tools effectively will help increase adoption and provide better results.

Determine the KPIs that matter most to your business (open rates, conversion rates, client ROI) and regularly review your campaigns performance through analytics. Automation isn’t a set it and forget it thing – optimize workflows based on data. As you see success, roll out automation to more clients and marketing functions.

VBOUT is an AI-enabled marketing automation platform built specifically to help agencies streamline client campaigns and grow their revenue. VBOUT consolidates lead management, marketing automation, email marketing, social media management, landing pages, pipeline management, AI chatbots, lead scoring, and more into one tool – eliminating the need for multiple point solutions.

VBOUT is built to assist digital agencies in growing and managing their client relationships effectively. Beyond providing marketing automation, VBOUT delivers a full suite of features that agencies can customize to their specific needs, including a centralized master account, revenue tracking, and client training resources.

Unlike many platforms that focus on standalone automation, VBOUT provides a unified system for agencies to manage client campaigns, create automation workflows, moderate content, and set up while-labeled resources.
VBOUT also gives agencies flexibility to create their own set of features and pricing plans, so they can offer services that are compatible with their client base and get additional revenue. Along with the commission structures and full dedicated support, agencies have the tools they need to scale.

VBOUT’s agency-focused design includes:

• A master account for easy client management
• Flexible workflow and user permissions
• White-labeled solutions and custom pricing
• Competitive commissions and revenue tracking
• A partner community and in-depth training academy

VBOUT allows agencies to brand the platform as their own – custom logo, domain, and interface – so your clients see your agency’s brand, not a third-party. VBOUT lets you present a proprietary platform, enhancing your agency’s professionalism and client trust.

VBOUT’s white-label capability, all client-facing reports, dashboards, and campaign portals carry your branding. This strengthens your value proposition and helps with client retention, as clients feel they’re using your agency’s in-house system.

VBOUT’s custom plan builder lets agencies create their own marketing automation packages for different clients. You can mix-and-match features (email sends, landing page limits, etc.) and set pricing that makes sense for each client tier. This flexibility means you’re not stuck with one-size-fits-all pricing from the vendor – you control your margins and can offer competitive, tailored plans to clients.

Note that VBOUT’s agency partnership model enables agencies to resell the platform to clients at custom prices. Agencies get competitive commissions (i.e., ~10% per new signup plus volume discounts) or can bill clients directly at a markup. This creates an additional revenue stream beyond standard services. Unlike competitors like HubSpot, where agencies primarily generate referrals for a small fee, VBOUT empowers agencies to fully manage client relationships and determine their own pricing.

VBOUT provides a centralized admin panel to manage all your client accounts in one place. You can easily switch between client projects without logging in/out. This is specifically built for agencies juggling many accounts. Many tools do not offer a unified agency view or require separate logins per client – a challenge frequently cited by agencies. VBOUT’s approach solves this by offering a master dashboard to switch between sub-accounts.

The ability to group and clone campaigns or automation workflows across client accounts. For example, an agency can build a great email sequence or landing page once, then duplicate it into multiple client sub-accounts with one click, tweaking as needed. This saves a huge time when you have similar campaigns across clients (i.e., onboarding sequences, holiday promotions). Some platforms don’t offer this cross-account cloning – it’s a big efficiency gain unique to VBOUT’s agency toolkit.

VBOUT also includes team collaboration features like task management and post/content approval flows designed for agencies (i.e., an agency manager can review and approve a junior marketer’s scheduled posts before they go live). This keeps quality control in check across all client work from a single hub.

VBOUT provides dedicated support to help agencies succeed. Note that upon becoming a partner, agencies get a one-on-one session with a success manager to tailor the platform to their needs. The VBOUT team will help train your staff, onboard your clients, and even assist with technical implementation – acting like an extension of your team. This level of support ensures you can fully leverage the software (many competitors charge extra for training or offer generic support only).

VBOUT’s support isn’t just generic tech support. They offer priority support for partners and consulting on best practices. VBOUT also has an Agency Partner Community and Agency Growth Academy (educational resources) to help agencies stay ahead. This focus on agency success sets VBOUT apart – you’re not just buying software, you’re gaining a partner vested in your growth.

VBOUT integrates AI throughout the platform to help agencies work smarter such as AI-powered email subject line suggestions, AI content generation for email, SMS, and social copy, predictive send-time optimization, and chatbot integration. These features enable agencies to deliver better results without heavy lifting; i.e., higher email open rates through predictive sending, or faster content creation with AI assistance.

VBOUT’s support isn’t just generic tech support. They offer priority support for partners and consulting on best practices. VBOUT also has an Agency Partner Community and Agency Growth Academy (educational resources) to help agencies stay ahead. This focus on agency success sets VBOUT apart – you’re not just buying software, you’re gaining a partner vested in your growth.

The ability to group and clone campaigns or automation workflows across client accounts. For example, an agency can build a great email sequence or landing page once, then duplicate it into multiple client sub-accounts with one click, tweaking as needed. This saves a huge time when you have similar campaigns across clients (i.e., onboarding sequences, holiday promotions). Some platforms don’t offer this cross-account cloning – it’s a big efficiency gain unique to VBOUT’s agency toolkit.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of how popular marketing automation platforms support agencies. It covers important aspects like control over billing, white-label capabilities, and commission structures, to help you decide which platform might be the right fit for your agency’s needs.

This table gives you a quick snapshot of how these tools stack up for agencies. It’s a starting point for exploring which one can best align with your agency’s goals and client relationships. We did our best to check each platform for accuracy, but we always recommend verifying the latest details directly with each vendor by contacting them.

Digital agencies using VBOUT have reported measurable improvements in client campaign performance, operational efficiency, and revenue growth. Below are real examples of how VBOUT helps agencies streamline their operations, offer more value to clients, and scale their business:

“I would say (and our clients would too) that we no longer have to go into multiple places. It’s simple – we are going through one platform that does everything that we need and it just saves so much time. Time is money.”

Cameron Needham – Founder and CEO of Needham Solutions, LLC

“VBOUT is a world-class, adaptive marketing automation platform. It’s the best I’ve ever worked with. This software is a real gem. The agency’s white-label features and granularity of user permissions are enterprise-class. With the ability to scale and provide unlimited landing pages, custom domains, push notifications, and social media accounts, this platform is off the charts!”

Bernard Piette – Founder at Konobo

“Using VBOUT, we managed to consolidate our marketing in one place. It’s just amazing that it’s automated and organized so we don’t have to use multiple applications. The ROI has been up 10 to 20x!”

Doug Dvorak – CEO at the Sales Coaching Institute

“VBOUT has enabled us to quickly scale our operations by automating tasks, generating leads, nurturing potential customers, and making data-driven decisions to further improve our marketing efforts, even when we’re not available.”

Shayan Goodarzi – Founder and CEO at Shadow Creative Studios