SoloRiff

How to sell to CTOs at Agencies companies in France

CTOs at marketing and creative agencies in France are primarily measured on project delivery timelines. They respond to outreach when it highlights a solution that can streamline tech integrations or enhance team collaboration. Understanding their need for efficient resource management and reducing tech debt can open the door to meaningful conversations.

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

  • integration issues
  • project delays
  • resource allocation struggles
  • outdated technology

The playbook

  1. 01

    Identify recent agency mergers

    Use industry news sources like Adweek or Campaign to filter for agencies that have recently merged. These companies often need to integrate their technology stacks and may be looking for solutions that facilitate this process. Create a list of these agencies to target your outreach.

  2. 02

    Pinpoint tech stack challenges

    Research the technology stack of your identified agencies using platforms like BuiltWith or SimilarTech. Look for common pain points, such as outdated systems or integration issues. Tailor your messaging to address these specific challenges and illustrate how your solution can alleviate them.

  3. 03

    Leverage project management delays

    Monitor project management platforms like Asana or Trello for agencies that are behind schedule on key projects. This delay can indicate a need for better tech solutions. Craft your outreach to highlight how your offering can help them get back on track.

  4. 04

    Address resource allocation complaints

    Check forums like Reddit or industry-specific groups for discussions around resource allocation issues in agencies. Identify common complaints and use these insights to shape your messaging, demonstrating an understanding of their operational struggles.

  5. 05

    Follow up post-event discussions

    After industry events or webinars, reach out to attendees from agencies who might have expressed interest in tech solutions. Reference specific discussions or pain points that were raised during the event to create a connection and increase the likelihood of securing a meeting.

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.

1–10 employees
16.8%
11–50
26.3%
51–200
34.2%
201–1,000
50.9%
1,000+
55.4%

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

  • Streamline your tech integrations
  • Tackle project delays effectively
  • Enhance resource management

Questions

Why do CTOs at agencies prefer in-person meetings?
CTOs at agencies often prefer in-person meetings because they allow for deeper discussions about complex tech challenges. Face-to-face interactions foster trust and enable more nuanced conversations about their specific needs and how solutions can be tailored to meet them.
What common objections do CTOs at agencies have?
CTOs at agencies often express concerns about budget constraints and the potential disruption of existing workflows. They may also question the return on investment for new technologies, making it crucial to present clear, data-backed benefits during discussions.
How do CTOs at agencies evaluate new technology?
CTOs at agencies typically evaluate new technology based on its ability to integrate with existing systems, improve team efficiency, and reduce operational costs. They often conduct thorough research and seek peer recommendations before making decisions.
Why might CTOs at agencies ignore cold outreach?
CTOs at agencies might ignore cold outreach if it lacks personalization or fails to address their specific pain points. They are inundated with generic pitches and are more likely to respond to messages that demonstrate a clear understanding of their unique challenges.

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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