How to sell to CTOs at Agencies companies
CTOs at agencies are primarily measured on project delivery timelines. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of how delays in technology can impact client satisfaction and project profitability. Highlighting specific examples of how your solution has streamlined processes for similar agencies can capture their attention.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 558 agencies company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- project delays
- integration issues
- legacy system limitations
- client dissatisfaction
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent client project delays
Research agency clients that have recently announced project delays or missed deadlines, using industry news sites or social media. Create a list of these agencies, noting the specific projects affected to tailor your outreach to their immediate concerns.
- 02
Highlight your experience with agency tech stacks
Craft your outreach to emphasize your familiarity with the tech stacks commonly used in creative agencies. Mention specific tools or platforms that are prevalent in their operations to build credibility and show you understand their environment.
- 03
Address common tech pain points directly
In your messaging, reference specific pain points like integration issues or the struggle with legacy systems. Use insights from industry reports or forums to demonstrate that you understand the unique challenges faced by agencies in adopting new technologies.
- 04
Leverage referrals from similar agencies
If possible, mention mutual connections or referrals from other agencies you have worked with. Personal recommendations can significantly increase the likelihood of a response, particularly when they come from trusted peers in the industry.
- 05
Set a clear call to action based on urgency
Conclude your outreach with a specific call to action that emphasizes the urgency of addressing their project delivery issues. Suggest a brief call to discuss how your solution can help them meet upcoming project deadlines more effectively.
Can agencies companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 558 agencies companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 16.8% of 1–10-person companies against 55.4% of the largest — 39 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Addressing project delays
- Tech solutions for agencies
- Streamline your project delivery
Questions
- Why do CTOs at agencies ignore outreach about tech solutions?
- CTOs at agencies often receive numerous outreach attempts that lack relevance to their specific challenges. If the outreach does not demonstrate a clear understanding of their unique project pressures or technology needs, it is likely to be overlooked.
- What are common objections from agency CTOs?
- CTOs may express concerns about the disruption that new technology can cause to existing workflows. They might also question the ROI of implementing new tools, especially if they are currently managing tight budgets and resource constraints.
- How can I demonstrate value to agency CTOs effectively?
- To effectively demonstrate value, focus on case studies or examples where your solution has directly improved project delivery times or reduced costs for similar agencies. Quantifiable results resonate well with CTOs who are results-driven.
- What timing is best for reaching out to agency CTOs?
- Reaching out at the beginning of a new project cycle or right after a major project completion can be effective. CTOs are often more receptive during these times as they evaluate their technology needs and look for improvements.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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