Stuck in the same routine? These game-changing tips will shake things up.
Dav Nash
9 min read
It’s a simple question, but it’s not quite the one you should be asking.
There’s a difference between starting a digital marketing agency and crafting one that excels. You want to fall into the latter group (well, who wouldn’t?!), which is why you want to completely revolutionise your company and soar to new levels.
Sound good? Then let’s get on with it!
Digital marketing has long been considered the future of marketing, and a digital marketing agency (or business) is a company that handles every aspect of a digital marketing campaign. This includes using all the popular and common marketing techniques like:
The list goes on for an almost never-ending time, but you get the gist. It’s your job, as a digital marketing business, to provide these services and help clients develop and execute stunning digital marketing campaigns.
Starting a digital marketing agency involves all the typical boring stuff that every entrepreneur has to deal with, such as:
And so on!
It’s the standard stuff you probably already know about.
However, I’ve identified three key things to consider on top of the standard stuff when building an online marketing business:
What services will your digital marketing business provide?
I listed some options earlier – but there’s a teeny tiny caveat to bring into this. Starting your own digital marketing agency gives you the freedom to pick and choose what you do. Some agencies will focus on one specific part of digital marketing.
E.g. They provide social media marketing services.
Other digital marketing companies will branch out and provide a longer list of services.
E.g. They offer SEO, content creation, link building, social media marketing and general web design services.
Your job is to figure out which one of these approaches makes the most sense. Do you go all in or do you zero in on one particular area of digital marketing? It mainly depends on your goals and objectives, as well as your expertise and finances.
For instance, your digital marketing startup might begin to focus on one particular area because it’s what you know – and what you can afford. As you grow, you can branch out and offer more services.
Isn’t this the same as the previous point?
No!
While they might look similar, I’m talking more about the specific industry niches you may want to dip into. Run a quick Google search (or Bing, if you’re feeling funky), and you’ll find digital marketing for business owners across the following niches:
Many companies decide to only provide their services to a specific market.
Well, Sprout Social believes that niche marketing could help you foster better brand loyalty while elevating your digital marketing business to “expert” status. Companies are more likely to pick you when you focus on their industry because they see you as more competent than a “Jack of all trades” digital agency.
On the other hand, branching out and catering to other industries helps you target more customers. It’s a classic case of do you cast the net far and wide or use a simple fishing rod.
How do you convince businesses or self-employed freelancers to choose your digital marketing business?
You must prove your worthiness – and testimonials will help, but they come with time.
In the beginning, you need to show off your work with a digital marketing portfolio. There’s a great article by Wix that explains how you can do this in detail, check it out if you have a spare moment (just open it in another tab, you can’t ditch this guide yet, we’re just getting started!).
This might be silly of me, but I’m assuming you want to know how to start an online marketing business because you’re a marketing professional. Maybe you’ve spent years in the industry working for multiple Fat Cat corporations, and now you want to start something fresh.
So, it stands to reason that you’ve worked on lots of projects.
Show them off!
Build a portfolio full of your best work – and highlighting your most impressive clients – to show people what you’re capable of. It helps you get a leg up when you just start out, which leads to your first few clients who will then provide some glorious testimonials.
Okay, we’re at the meat and potatoes of this guide.
You know how to start your own digital marketing agency, but now’s the time to revolutionise it.
That’s just a fancy way of saying you want to make your digital marketing startup better than the rest. How can you push your agency ahead of your main competitor’s and attract more clients?
The human race are a simple bunch. We love technology and nothing impresses us more than someone who knows how to utilise the latest tech.
Keep this in mind when starting a business in digital marketing.
Lean into the technology idea and promote your use of things like:
You’ll impress prospective clients by demonstrating your tech-saviness – and it also helps to differentiate your digital marketing business from others.
I spoke about this when discussing how you should define your services. Do you zero in on one specific part of digital marketing or branch out and offer multiple services?
If you want to know how to run a digital marketing agency successfully, then you need to opt for the latter.
Offering multiple marketing services means you can take an omnichannel approach. Your clients receive a fleet of marketing services that help them grow and provide a more consistent brand presence.
It’s more attractive than specifying in one marketing domain because you give your clients everything in one place. Instead of needing to go to you for social media marketing, and then another agency for SEO, and another for video marketing, they get the convenience of paying one agency to do it.
To be honest, single-serve marketing agencies are a thing of the past anyway.
You rarely find a company that only offers one service. Even those that originally started as SEO agencies or social media marketing companies now provide things like content marketing, PPC and so on.
Start your own digital marketing agency and take it to new heights by keeping up with all the latest digital trends.
Of all the strategies, this one could be the most important.
Think about digital marketing as a vast landscape. Over the years, that landscape changes and can look entirely different from it once was.
Dubai! Digital marketing is like Dubai. Sorry, it just came to me in a moment of clarity. Think of that image of Dubai from like 20 years ago when there was nothing there, and then now when it’s full of skyscrapers and loads of cool stuff.
That’s kind of what you get with digital marketing: things come along and completely reshape the landscape.
Certain techniques and methods for marketing businesses are now non-existent. The old heads around will remember when you could just spam loads of links or keywords and rank well in Google. Changes to the Google algorithm mean you’re constantly needing new approaches to SEO – and it’s the same for all other forms of digital marketing.
Social media marketing is another amazing recent example. New social media platforms come about all the time and completely change your approach to marketing.
Look at this chart from Statista showing the TikTok share in digital advertising revenue from 2020 to 2024. In 2020, TikTok only had a 0.3% share, but that grew to 2.7% in 2024.
My point is that you need to stay ahead of the curve and learn what’s trending in the digital marketing world. Know how to adapt to changes so you can always give your clients the best possible service.
P.s. Knowing all the trends makes you look way better than your rivals as they seem super outdated!
I know what you’re thinking: how can you do all of the above, all by yourself?
Simple answer, you can’t.
The most successful digital marketing agencies are built around teams. Build yours by hiring some of the best brains and talents in specific marketing roles. Think about the areas you struggle with, and hire people to fill the gaps.
You’ve spent your adult life working in SEO, so it’s your speciality.
However, you don’t have a clue about affiliate or influencer marketing. So, hire people that do!
Whether you choose to hire a full-time team or pick up some freelancers is completely up to you. I’ve actually got a rather cracking article going through the different hiring options for digital agencies, which you can read here.
A successful team helps you create and run a successful digital marketing business. They pick up the slack and allow you to provide multiple services. Also, digital marketers all have histories, which means your team could unlock potentially rewarding contacts.
What if someone used to work with a high-profile brand? They could try to get your agency to take over their marketing!
Finally, you’ve got to give yourself a unique selling proposition.
Most of you know what this is, but for those of you who don’t, a unique selling proposition (USP) is the big thing that sets you apart from the rest.
It’s why clients will choose you over anyone else.
There are many USPs you could create to break the mould and encourage people to enquire about your digital agency.
Ideas include:
Think about what you’d want when hiring a digital marketing company, and it’s a lot easier to figure out a USP for your business.
And just like that, you’ve come to the end of this guide.
Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you’ve learned how to create a marketing agency – and more importantly – how to make it thrive.
Revolutionise your digital marketing business by setting it apart from everything else that already exists. Give people and business a reason to choose you. It’ll require a lot of work and planning, but I’ve got faith that you’ll smash it!
