4 Things Your Agency Is Doing Wrong with Pete Caputa

Pete Caputa - the 15th employee at HubSpot who joined in 2007 and built the Agency Partner Program from scratch - joins the show to call out the four biggest mistakes he sees agencies making.

Mistake 1: Not Defining Themselves

Agencies that attempt to be all things to all people rather than targeting specific niches are setting themselves up for failure. Pete is blunt about it - that is how agencies stay small and unprofitable. The solution is to find a niche and maintain focus.

Mistake 2: Not Marketing Themselves

Agencies over-focus on client work at the expense of their own marketing. The irony is thick - marketing agencies that do not market themselves. Pete points to IMPACT and PR 20/20 as examples of agencies that invest heavily in their own content and reap the rewards of a steady stream of inbound inquiries.

Mistake 3: Not Prospecting

There is a dangerous misconception among inbound agencies that practicing inbound marketing will be enough to generate a steady flow of clients. Pete pushes back firmly. Marketing by itself does not produce clients - it produces leads. There is a critical gap between a lead and a closed deal that requires deliberate prospecting, discovery conversations, and follow-through.

Mistake 4: Not Being Creative

The fourth mistake is over-reliance on formulaic frameworks. Standard blog posts, landing pages, and monthly check-in calls are table stakes, not differentiators. Pete challenges agencies to bring customized, innovative approaches to client acquisition and delivery rather than following the same playbook everyone else uses.