Social media marketing agencies seem to be in high demand with the rise of social media as a business model in today’s world. They can be immensely profitable and fun to run if they are run correctly. The key to doing so is starting right out of the gates knowing the dos and the don’ts of running a social media marketing agency. To find out what those are, keep reading!
Opening Your Own Agency
If you are thinking about starting an agency, you must first consider all that is involved. On its surface, running social media accounts sounds fun and creative–and it is! However, there are many complex pieces that require someone with a very organized, multi-tasking brain to be successful at creating a social media marketing agency.
1. What Are You Offering That’s Different?
The first step is making sure your agency is offering something that no one else is. Because social media is fairly straightforward, consumers are not always desperate to hire an agency to do the work; they figure it is something simple enough that they could do on their own. That’s why you need to have something niche to offer; something they cannot find anywhere else. This niche thing could be simply the category to which you serve, such as specializing in strictly TikTok social media or Instagram. Or, it could be the industry you focus on and serve as an “expert” in, such as health and wellness or beauty and cosmetics. Essentially, the more specialized and unique you are, the more likely you will appeal to that specific audience.
Having something specific to put your energy into is also essential to startups. Because if you are just starting out, your team is likely very small, if not only consisting of you. If the category or industry your social media agency works with is too broad, you’ll be stretched far too thin. You will be unable to deliver the results both you and your customers want.
2. Who Do You Want On Your Team?
Whether your team is only you or a few other people or something larger, delegating tasks immediately is vital to your success. Social media is multi-faceted; it involves public relations tasks, copywriting, photography, graphic design, account management, and more. These tasks can be done with a small team. But figuring out exactly who is doing what from the start is crucial to having success.
However, it also goes both ways. While it is important to delegate and separate specific duties to specific people, social media is all about cohesion. Posts and branding on social media must match across all pages and platforms. This means people on your team, no matter what their specialty may be, need to be in constant conversation with one another. Establishing a good plan for going over posts, writing, content, and more with the entire team before anything releases online helps make a brand’s social media recognizable–the ultimate goal of social media marketing.
3. Acquiring Clients
Once you feel that you have a team or the resources to be successful on your own, you can start figuring out your plan to acquire clients. If you are just starting out, you likely will not have any previous work for clients that you can show to your future prospects. What might one do in this situation?
The answer is simple. Go online and find a well-known brand or company that is successful but has mediocre or bad branding. Launch a full redesign of this brand–new logos, new Instagram and Facebook accounts, new websites, etc. Of course, all of this will be fake; you can even make the mockups on template design sites such as Canva.
Then, once finished with these examples, you show the mockups to prospective clients, almost as if a real portfolio. This gives clients a glimpse of your talent. Plus, what you can do while also being honest about your experience levels.
If you do have some experience, however, start refining your portfolio. Make it as polished and clean as it can be in order to show your talent. Additionally, gather some research and data analytics if possible. Showing real numbers and engagement levels on your previous work can be very persuasive to clients since you are showing them the cold hard facts.
Final Thoughts
Of course, these are just some of the basics for starting a social media marketing agency, not a complete guide. But the truth is, if your passion and dedication are there, you’ll likely find success. Just keep pushing boundaries and following your marketing gut.
