The first social media site was created in 1997. What started as a simple site just 25 years ago blossomed into a 72-billion-dollar industry. Social media is a virtual channel allowing companies to access their target audience anywhere on the internet.
Social media marketing agencies are companies dedicated to creating advertisements, campaigns, and other forms of promotion for the digital sphere. These agencies specialize in harnessing the power of social media to reach the widest range of customers possible for their clients.
Marketing sounds like a bad word to the common business person, and it’s the marketing agencies’ job to take the majority of the burden off the client’s shoulders. Here’s how to start a social media marketing agency today.
Find and Know Your Why
While there is a lucrative aspect to social media, diving into the deep end with a money mindset will only get you so far. To create lasting change, you have to know your why. Social media marketing agencies cultivate a collection of clients with like-minded values and beliefs. You should only take on clients serving industry sectors you’re passionate about. So find what resonates with you.
Look into your experiences and contemplate what topics you’re passionate about. If you’re concerned with the climate crisis, it might not be in your best interest to take on a project geared toward fast fashion. Maybe you love cooking and have a deep-rooted connection to a southern recipe and want everyone to know the power of gathering around a table with loved ones.
Starting a social media marketing agency is about connecting with others. Entrepreneur suggests reverse engineering your ideal business to recognize the steps you need to take. Know your why behind starting a social media marketing agency, and you’ll know your how.
Uncover Your Skills
Skills transform into sales. Experience alone won’t get you far if you can’t adapt and problem-solve through new situations. If you think you don’t have any skills, phone a friend! Ask them to describe you in one word or what they believe is your strongest skill. It’s okay if you don’t have the standard skillset most companies look for. In fact, it’s good! This will set you apart from the crowd.
The skills needed to start a social media marketing agency include:
- Communication
- Data analytics and analysis
- Writing
- Creativity
- Customer care
- Networking guru
- Social media know-how
Consider your current level of expertise in these areas and consider if any measures need to be taken to amp up your skills. There are many resources available to specialize in one or all of these areas. The more knowledge you gain in a specific skill set, the more you can use it to your advantage. And know that the more you work in the industry, the more skills and insight you will gain, but you do need a solid foundation to build upon.
Picture Your Ideal Client
To reach your clients, you have to know your clients. Define your target audience by imagining them. Seriously. Get specific. Visualize them in your mind, and ask questions like:
- Are they a young influencer with rising potential?
- Are they a budding author trying to grow their followers before their first book is released?
- Are they small business owners looking to attract more customers?
Remember your why behind starting your social media marketing agency. Remember that niche you’re excited about, and cater to those people who deserve to have their message spread.
When you and your client are excited and passionate about the message, you can obtain your social media marketing agency goals. While your clients may have a general idea of what they want their message to be, you will know how best to spread the message and monetize it for their gain.
What’s In a Name
Once you know your ideal client, it’s time to think about your branding. Create a name for your social media marketing agency. Ideally, when you choose your brand name, you can choose a name that will be memorable, descriptive, and an advertisement. And if you need help, trusty Google has plenty of resources like WordStream and WordHippo to help your creative cogs turn.
While choosing your brand name may take some time, the right name will resonate with you when you land on it. Don’t let the market fool you; there is room for you and your social media marketing agency. Just don’t forget to pop your potential brand name into Google to see if another brand already owns the name.
Open Your Doors
Whether virtual or physical spaces, open the doors to your social media marketing agency and make them your own. To start, create social media accounts on sites you intend to be the most active on. But also remember your ideal client and consider where they congregate.
In addition to your agency’s social media profile, you’ll also need a website. This allows you to connect with clients, interact with them via live chat, and meet with them on a flexible schedule. Plus, having a website means your social media marketing agency will still be up and running if Instagram goes down.
Create a logo, select a color scheme, and set of fonts you’ll use for all material produced by your business. Consistency is key. Programs like Canva offer free and premium services to make sure all of your material stays in line with your brand’s, well, brand.
Give, Don’t Get
You’ll need your own marketing strategies to reel in your first clients. Your strategies need to align with your brand and ideal clients. For example, if you cater to construction equipment rental companies, it’s probably not a good idea to market yourself on TikTok. It is, however, a good idea to gain traction on TikTok if you’re looking to contract with singers or budding young actors.
Once you have an audience, and hopefully a paying one, you need to market yourself with an abundance of knowledge to share. Create short videos detailing the dos and don’ts of posting on Instagram, or share your top two tips for growing your network. You want to remain visible and memorable. The more value you give, the more clients will give in return.
Don’t Forget Your Admin Duties
Admin work is the most important part of starting your social media marketing agency. Establishing proper bookkeeping is your safest bet to see a profit while also preparing for the future of your brand.
Ideally, like any self-employed person, you will open a separate business account from your personal one. Your business account will act as a way to allocate savings for future growth, tax savings for Big Brother, and current spending as you operate daily. If you have an excess of cash, by the grace of social media gods, you can pay yourself a wage for the month.
Don’t forget to add known banking applications on your social media marketing agency website to bill clients. Companies like PayPal and Square may have fees depending on the transactions, but you can add that cost to your client’s fees. Stay on top of your finances thought the month and year to make tax season and other financial events process with ease; while this may not be the fun part of business, it is essential.
Spread the Word
Literally. Tell everyone you know about your social media marketing agency. If you can’t be social while starting a social media marketing agency, you are reading the wrong article. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Post on your personal social media account
- Tell your friends
- Have your mom post on her Facebook; you know she has a million friends
- Chat it up with the bagger boy at the grocery store
You never know where your next or first client may come from. While it is difficult to balance asking for work without sounding desperate (but let’s face it, you are), just remember your why. Your clients will find you, but you need to get your name and services out there in the public eye.
Finding people willing to pay is half the battle, and keeping them coming back for more is the test of a true business person. If potential clients aren’t willing to pay, find out why and shift your focus to catering to what they need. Your social media marketing agency is an answer to their problems. Learn what they need and give that to them.
Final Thoughts
Social media is an entirely new world waiting to be explored. It needs to be explored, and it needs to be chartered by adventurers pillaging the high seas of Reels and Tweets. That first-hand knowledge is invaluable when the intricacies of social media are then jotted down and charted for others to follow.
Social media marketing is a huge and relatively new sector that should be utilized to its full extent by knowing your clients, where to find them, and how to engage with them. Create your brand name, logo, and website, and you’ll have started a social media marketing agency.
