SoloRiff

How to sell to Heads of Marketing at Agencies companies in France

Heads of Marketing at agencies in France are primarily measured on client retention rates. They respond positively to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of the unique challenges in managing client expectations and delivering on creative briefs. Highlighting insights into campaign performance and how to optimize client relationships will 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

  • client churn
  • creative resource allocation
  • campaign effectiveness
  • client expectation management

The playbook

  1. 01

    Identify recent client wins

    Search for agency press releases or social media posts about recent client acquisitions or successful campaigns. Use tools like LinkedIn or industry news sites to find agencies that have just announced new partnerships, as they may be looking to enhance their marketing efforts.

  2. 02

    Pinpoint budget discussions

    Look for news articles or reports indicating budget increases for marketing in the agency sector. This can include financial reports or industry analyses that highlight agencies planning to expand their services, which may create an opportunity for your outreach.

  3. 03

    Connect on campaign challenges

    Review case studies or testimonials from agencies that mention specific challenges in executing campaigns. Craft your outreach to address these pain points directly, showing that you understand their struggles and can offer tailored solutions.

  4. 04

    Leverage industry events

    Identify upcoming marketing or advertising events in France where agency leaders will be present. Use these events as a reason to reach out, suggesting a brief meeting to discuss insights from the event and how your expertise aligns with their goals.

  5. 05

    Follow up on engagement metrics

    After your initial outreach, track engagement metrics such as email opens or click-through rates. If a prospect shows interest but doesn’t respond, follow up with a tailored message that references their specific interests or challenges to encourage a response.

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

  • Enhancing client retention strategies
  • Insights on campaign optimization
  • Navigating creative challenges

Questions

Why do Heads of Marketing at agencies ignore cold outreach?
Heads of Marketing often receive numerous cold outreach attempts daily, making them selective about responses. If the outreach lacks a specific understanding of their agency's unique challenges or doesn't demonstrate immediate value, it is likely to be overlooked.
How can I capture the attention of a CMO at an agency?
To capture the attention of a CMO, focus on their specific pain points, such as client retention or campaign performance. Tailor your message to show you understand the agency landscape and can provide actionable insights or solutions relevant to their current challenges.
What type of content do marketing heads at agencies engage with?
Marketing heads at agencies typically engage with content that offers insights into industry trends, case studies showcasing successful campaigns, and practical tips for overcoming common challenges. They appreciate information that can directly enhance their strategic decision-making.
What are common objections from agencies regarding new marketing tools?
Common objections include concerns over integration with existing systems, the learning curve for their teams, and the potential return on investment. Addressing these objections requires demonstrating clear value and ease of implementation in your outreach.

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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