Free ICP generator / Marketing agency
Ideal customer profile for a marketing agency
Agencies tend to write their ICP around services ("we do paid search and email") when it should be written around clients. The clients who stay are the ones who have budget for a retainer, a marketing owner who can approve work without a committee, and a reason to need results this quarter. An agency ICP also has to name the clients you should turn down: the ones who want a one-off project, who have no one to own the work in-house, or who will compare you on hourly rate. Below is a worked example for Saltreed, a fictional agency that does search and lifecycle email for regional financial and education brands. Each line is tied to the page on its invented site it came from.
Saltreed saltreed.example
Search ads and lifecycle email for regional brands. Saltreed is a fictional marketing agency. Its site is invented so the generator has something to read; yours fills in here.
Credit unions with $500M to $3B in assets
Best fit: 2 case studies and an industry page- Who they areUS credit unions with $500M to $3B in assets and a marketing team of 2 to 6 people.From /industries/credit-unions
- Who decidesThe VP of Marketing. Compliance reviews every ad.From /customers/lakeshore-cu
- Their painLoan campaigns that bring clicks but not finished applications.From /customers/lakeshore-cu
- What sets them offA rate change, a new branch opening, or a merger with another credit union.From /industries/credit-unions
- Who to skipCredit unions under $200M in assets with no paid media budget.From /pricing
- Where they areState credit union league conferences and the vendor directories of core banking systems.From /about
Private K-12 schools with 300 to 1,500 students
Strong fit: 1 case study- Who they areIndependent day schools filling seats in a fixed admissions window.From /customers/ashby-day-school
- Who decidesThe director of admissions with the head of school.From /customers/ashby-day-school
- Their painInquiries come in, but families who tour never get followed up.From /customers/ashby-day-school
- What sets them offEnrolment below target in the autumn count, or a new head of school.Inferred
- Who to skipSchools with waitlists and boarding schools recruiting internationally.From /industries/schools
- Where they areIndependent school associations and admissions director forums.Inferred
Regional manufacturers with an ecommerce parts store
Test group: 1 blog post- Who they areB2B manufacturers with $10M to $50M in revenue that sell spare parts online.From /blog/parts-store-email
- Who decidesThe sales director, since marketing is often one person.From /blog/parts-store-email
- Their painRepeat parts orders go by phone instead of the store.From /blog/parts-store-email
- What sets them offLaunching a new store or losing their only marketer.Inferred
- Who to skipManufacturers selling only through distributors.Inferred
- Where they areTrade association directories.Inferred
Positioning check
The homepage leads with "growth marketing for ambitious brands", which could be anyone. Two of three case studies are credit unions, and the only industry page with pricing is for credit unions. Say "credit unions" in the headline. Schools are a solid second group.
Now do yours
Same table, built from your own website. Group 1 is free, no email.
Questions
How specific should an agency ICP be?
Specific enough that a stranger could name ten real prospects from it. "B2B companies" fails that test; "credit unions with $500M to $3B in assets" passes.
Should my agency niche down?
If your best results and longest retainers already cluster in one industry, saying so on your site usually helps more than it costs. The ICP shows you whether that cluster exists.
What's a good disqualifier for an agency?
No in-house owner for the work, a one-off project budget, or a buyer who compares agencies on hourly rate. Write them down so you can say no early.