You may not be aware that by the end of 2022, spending on the digital market is predicted to reach $375 billion. If you want to enter this exciting field, you’ll also want to learn how to do it. This article explains what digital marketing is and how to launch and manage a digital marketing agency. Keep reading to learn the six steps you must follow to run your own digital marketing agency.
1. Set your business goals
Before taking any action, you first must make a plan and determine what the actual design, purpose, and intended outcome of the company are going to be. While there are agencies that want to maximize prestige and focus on well-known clients who are willing to do intriguing work, there are also agencies that want to maximize revenues and focus on uninteresting but high-opportunity clients. Some agencies prioritize independence and freedom while concentrating on stable, low-maintenance consumers. Additionally, other agencies strive to optimize business value and put an emphasis on internal processes, cash flow, and good branding. There isn’t a single way to launch a digital marketing business that works for everyone. There are big agencies, small agencies, agencies that specialize in just one area of digital marketing (like search engine optimization), and agencies that are both.
2. Improve the necessary skills
Before mastering your digital marketing skills, you need to get job experience in the field where your clients could work. As a result, you’ll unavoidably become a more understanding and well-rounded professional. You won’t take it personally if your clients are stressed out and reflecting their worry onto you. When we’re grinding away at the workplace, we don’t often recognize how complex the actual work environment is. There are many expectations, verbal and nonverbal communication tricks, politics, and other factors in addition to the work you really do. The way your day-to-day activities and career are carried out is influenced by a variety of factors, including the structure of the organization, culture, product, and leadership. That’s why you shouldn’t hesitate to look for the best online MBA program to further develop these skills.
3. Create a business model
Over time, the services you offer and the way you charge for your job become crucial components of how effectively your company is run. You can bill your client in a variety of ways, and how you do it is entirely up to you. One option is you get paid by the hour. Even though this can be useful if you only have one or a few smaller chores, it can be more challenging as you start scaling up. A flat retainer is an easy price structure where there’s a monthly flat rate. Just be sure to have guidelines in place for when a client scales back or increases their demands. By doing this, you can be certain that your agency will be properly compensated for all of your efforts.
4. Have a social media presence
You should use social media when you first launch your digital marketing agency. It’s a great idea to take advantage of the free account creation offered by social media platforms. By interacting with clients and potential customers, generating organic leads, and expanding your company internationally, you can profit and help improve the success of your company. Always stay informed and keep an eye on all of the available digital marketing tips for small businesses.
5. Research your competition
You should consider how you’ll compare to the competition before establishing any business. Once you’ve studied your competition, you’ll be able to learn how to outperform your rivals. You should use the same keywords your company would use online when conducting a competitive analysis. Reduce the number of competitors you have to around 10 to 15. After you’ve identified your competition, research their revenue streams or how they obtain their money. You can then discover their strategies and what works for them. Determine their content marketing plan after determining how they make money. Examine their social media, SEO, and blog postings. Then, observe how your competition interacts with their clients. Afterward, decide whether you want to employ a comparable content marketing strategy or one that is different.
6. Create a portfolio
You should provide free services when you first launch a digital marketing business to get evaluations and build your brand awareness. Potential clients will become interested in you as they start to trust you. Keep in mind that a strong portfolio involves detailed case studies, titles or excerpts, customer reviews, and future objectives for that client. You want to demonstrate to your audience that you can and will continue to produce results. Make sure your portfolio is morally upstanding and truthful, not just embellished.
Now, it’s easier than ever to start a digital marketing agency. Additionally, there’s a high demand for these services. However, have in mind that success requires skill and a lot of effort on your part. Hopefully, the steps above will offer you some help on how to start your own digital marketing agency.
When I built my first SEO agency 5 years ago, I was incredibly keen, full of knowledge and desperate to be successful. I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve, but then quickly became frustrated by my lack of progress.
Despite my best intentions, I made an awful lot of errors. I am pleased to say that I learnt from these. During some reflection I decided to create a list of 7 pieces of advice that I would have offered myself when starting out.
The hope now is that this may well just benefit someone else on their journey. Whether that is in the form of finances or time, these were some of my learning’s.
My 7 pieces of advice
1 – I knew that I wanted to write a blog to help show that I knew my stuff. I wanted people to know that I was the real deal.
So I wrote…. a lot.
After my first 30,000 words of blog posts I was incredibly proud of my achievement. I had done something that would really hep my business. However there were only 3 readers of my blog; myself, a friend in the industry and a family member. I was spending my time creating content that no audience was going to read.
I had missed out the critical factor of actually building an audience. If I had to do this again, I would spend at least 80% of this time actually promoting my work, and only 20% creating it. This would have saved me an incredible amount of time and frustration; and made my content a lot more valuable to my agency.
2 – I would focus on just one niche and one service that I would offer.
I can recall now creating my first homepage. I listed all of the services my agency would offer:
- SEO
- Social Media Management
- Reputation management
- Advertising
- Website creation
- Website optimization advice
These services were available to everyone. I tried to offer everything to every industry; and as a result I got very little in terms of clients. Now I am very specific about which niche I target and what services I offer. I target one niche with one service.
It is so much easier to be viewed as an authority this way, rather than as just another agency.
3 – Know your pricing structure and stick to it.
I recall being nervous the first time I was asked for my prices, but I had no need to be. I knew I would provide value above and beyond what I was charging, and I knew they could afford it; however I had created a self-doubt. So when I told them my price they tried to haggle. It was clear they believed in me, and wanted my services. However I must have given a sign that there was room for maneuver.
I would never ask a professional if their fixed prices are negotiable. So I always charge a fair price, and stick to it. As long as you know your worth and what you will provide; I don’t believe you should sell yourself short.
4 – Make client acquisition your number one priority.
This will make or break your business. You can have a beautiful website, a strong PBN and a stunning logo. However without clients it all means nothing.
I still today make reaching out to leads a daily practice. This is how I will continue to grow and scale my business. Previously I seemed to think that if I built the site, the customers would come.
This was certainly not the case and it took me a little longer than it should to realize this.
5 – Don’t spread your social media usage too thinly.
I had previously tried to be a valuable resource on Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. It was too much to try and manage as well as the day to day running of my business.
I decided to focus on one platform only, and give it my all. As a result of this recent change I feel I have more concentration and give better interaction with a higher quality of social media content.
6 – Avoid shiny object syndrome.
I studied a lot about SEO previously. I also went through a paid course, and then another. I was feeding my knowledge and almost waiting for one gem of information to jump out at me.
I already knew exactly what I needed to do. I simply lost focus. I would highly recommend that you decide on one direction, one course of action and stick to it and become successful. Continue to drive to succeed.
Once that is achieved you can expand your horizons and grow further. However it is so easy to become distracted and lose the end goal.
Knowing what I do now, I am so much more efficient in my working day. I work smarter than I ever have done, and achieve a lot more. Hopefully these tips will help someone else on their journey.
About the author
Alan Allsopp is an internet marketer, and the founder of expropria.com, providing SEO for estate agents.