Proven Lead Generation Strategies for Digital PR Agencies

James Dooley: How to generate leads for a digital PR agency. Today I’m joined with Chris Pantelli, the founder of Linkifi, and I want to pick his brains on how he goes about getting new customers for his digital PR company. Chris Pantelli: Thanks, James. There are lots of ways. Referrals are obviously one. If you do good work, it’s one of the nicest ways to generate leads because someone comes to you warm. They’ve been recommended by someone they trust. It’s your sale to lose at that point. One way a lot of companies miss out on referrals is not having a proactive system to encourage them. It can feel awkward asking a client for referrals, but there are ways to do it properly. You can even use AI to help you write an email or message if you feel uncomfortable. If you double down on that, referrals can be a great source. James Dooley: I agree. Word of mouth is massive. If you can get that, it’s the best type of lead. What other ways are you using to generate leads for a digital PR agency? Chris Pantelli: Social media is big for us. SEO and AI SEO as well. We’ve actually had more calls booked from ChatGPT as a source in the last month than from Google. This was the first month where ChatGPT referrals led to more booked sales calls than any other channel, which is really interesting. I think podcasting and personal brand are feeding into that. The transcripts are being read by LLMs and that visibility has definitely increased. We also do some paid ads and funnels. That’s probably the most consistent source, but it takes a lot of testing. What works for a year can stop working, so you need to change the funnel, the offer, and the creatives. Another thing that worked really well early on was affiliates and partners. We’d do free work for influential people in our space. We’d say we’ll build a few links for free and if the quality is good, then let’s talk. That worked well, especially in industry specific niches like real estate and healthcare. It works best if your product isn’t commoditised. James Dooley: You’ve mentioned social media. Is there a priority order? Which platforms work best for you and is it organic or paid? Chris Pantelli: For organic social, LinkedIn is number one, then Twitter, then Facebook. YouTube exists for us but we haven’t cracked it yet. Right now it mainly hosts our podcasts. YouTube is on the list for 2026. James Dooley: Let’s focus on LinkedIn. Are you just posting content or are you doing manual outreach? Chris Pantelli: LinkedIn is our most targeted strategy. I send targeted connection requests every day. I look for people who are clearly already using digital PR. You can spot it easily when someone has been quoted in an article. That tells me they have budget and interest. I’ll connect with three to five people a day, then post content straight after. Usually a case study or proof of results. Later in the day I’ll post a video, maybe a podcast clip, and sometimes something more personal. Once they’re connected, I engage with their content. When the timing feels right, I’ll DM them. It’s a very ordered process. James Dooley: Do you do any paid social? Chris Pantelli: Yes, Facebook only. James Dooley: What’s the offer? Chris Pantelli: Low ticket offers. Usually under twenty dollars. Either an audit or a heavily discounted course showing how to do digital PR themselves. The idea is they realise it’s complicated and want to hire the expert. James Dooley: Are you doing any PPC like Google Ads or Bing Ads? Chris Pantelli: Not yet. That’s on the list for 2026. Other agencies bidding on our brand name is pushing us towards it. James Dooley: What about email marketing or cold outreach? Chris Pantelli: We don’t do much cold outreach for sales, but we do cold email outreach to invite ideal prospects onto our podcast. It’s a multi touch strategy. LinkedIn connection first, then an email invite, then the podcast itself becomes the relationship builder. James Dooley: Why do you think podcasting is so important going into 2026? Chris Pantelli: It’s a powerful way to grow your personal brand and connect with people you want relationships with. You own the platform. It instantly builds credibility. You don’t need huge download numbers. You only need one ideal prospect to listen to one episode and convert. It also feeds the knowledge graph and builds trust signals around your brand. James Dooley: Brilliant. For anyone watching, make sure you check out the Fat Rank Podcast and the Market Movers Podcast. Chris, it’s been a pleasure, and hopefully this helps people understand how to generate leads for a digital PR agency.