Starting a marketing agency? Here’s how to do it right.
Dav Nash
11 min read
Are you a creative individual looking to put your talents to the best possible business use?
Are you keen to work with the most exciting businesses of a generation and play a pivotal role in helping them reach their full potential?
If you answered yes, then you might want to consider starting a marketing business.
Keep reading to learn how to start a marketing agency that actually makes a difference.
Anyone can start a marketing agency if they set their mind to it. Unfortunately, not everyone can do it well.
So what do you need to consider when you’re on the cusp of becoming the next big marketing thing? Some crucial steps for setting up and settling into the field include –
If you aim to become a Jack of all marketing trades, you’ll quickly chase your clients away with substandard offerings in all areas.
To avoid that, you need to master an all-important marketing discipline.
By specialising in a single marketing channel, you can get specific about your services, perfect your marketing offerings on a micro level, and give the best clients a reason to click on your page. All while simplifying the amount of learning you need to do to get on top.
Just a few marketing disciplines to consider when you’re getting started include –
Marketing disciplines are one thing, but you’ll want to get even more specific to stand any chance of starting a marketing agency with legs.
Instead of targeting all of the companies in the world (let’s be honest, an impossible goal for even the most adept marketer), you can narrow down your potential clients by picking a nice niche for yourself.
We know what you’re thinking – isn’t limiting client choice bad? That may be true sometimes, but it’s definitely not in this instance.
Think of a niche as the pond, while marketing in general is the sea. Sure, there are more fish in the sea, but you stand way more chances of hooking a catch in a pond that’s more concentrated, and more likely to see fish coming across your line.
By choosing a niche like e-commerce or healthcare, you increase the chances that well-suited clients will find your page and select you over more generalised competitors.
Marketing isn’t a pick ‘n’ mix, and clients will never choose your agency if they have to take time to research which of your disparate services is best for their purposes.
They aren’t the marketing experts, remember. You are, and you should focus on telling your clients precisely what they need from the moment you set up your agency.
Packaging your products is the best way to do this, and has the added bonus of making early pricing easier to manage.
You could offer generalised packages, such as basic or pro tiers, or get specific with things like ‘the social package’, ‘the content package’, and so on. The point is, you need to make your services simple from the off to ensure that clients know exactly what you offer, and what it could do for them overall.
You’re a creative soul with a desire to help other companies. But, that doesn’t mean you don’t also need a solid strategy for your own marketing agency business.
If it helps, simply think of this business strategy as your roadmap to success, which should be largely informed by the following two crucial elements:
Let’s say you’ve built your business and developed the strongest possible strategy. It’s time to start securing some clients.
This is the most exciting part of starting a new agency. Finally, you’ll be able to put your creative expertise to great use, build strong and lasting brand connections, and start seeing some all-important income!
This is also the stage where you might realise that your on-paper business doesn’t look as great for prospective clients as it should, especially considering you’ve got no recommendations behind you.
Luckily, it’s still well within your power to attract top clients in the following ways –
Clients are far more likely to select an agency that provides packages, marketing, and branding that aligns with their values. To ensure you’re achieving that goal, you need to narrow down your target audience.
If you already have a marketing discipline and niche in mind, you’re halfway towards achieving this goal. But, you’ll also want to consider key factors like demographics, audience pain points, and overall marketing goals.
This way, you can tailor your offerings and make sure you’re promoting your services on the platforms your dream clients are most likely to use. You’ll also be able to more effectively conduct competitor research into who else is targeting those clients and how.
It’s easy to get so caught up in marketing other people’s businesses that you forget to advertise your own, but this is an oversight you’ll make at your own peril.
Attracting top clients also relies on your ability to shout loudly about your brand and everything it has to offer. This is especially true considering that this will give clients a first-hand glance at what you could also end up doing for them!
Online strategies are particularly vital from a discovery standpoint and should include everything from building your social media presence to posting regular blog content and even hosting a newsletter that builds your authority.
Building a great brand story is important for any business, but it’s especially vital for an agency that effectively functions by building stories for its clients.
Whether across your blog or social media, perfecting everything from your brand tone of voice to your content niche can result in a brand story that builds authenticity, loyalty, and emotional connections.
Emotion, in particular, is vital for forging strong connections that secure all-important ongoing client accounts across your services.
Who said you had to wait for the best clients to come to you?
There’s nothing wrong with contacting a client you’ve got your eye on, especially if you can prove how much value your services might offer them.
This is a great way to cut through competitive noise when you’re first looking into how to start a marketing business. It also ensures a tailored client list that you’re certain to feel happy with.
Bear in mind that you probably won’t receive a reply from a generic ‘Hello, choose us’ email. However, building a strong social presence, and getting creative with your outreach methods, could well pay off.
Cold calling is also very much coming back into style and makes it way more likely that a client will listen to your pitch for long enough to sign up.
So far, we’ve covered the basics of getting started, but what actually makes a great marketing agency?
These tips are the fuel that will keep your agency going strong long after the initial flush of getting started and should include marketing agency essentials such as –
Your marketing agency is a seed that needs nurturing if you’re to grow a profitable and lasting business out of it.
Unfortunately, you’ll need more than a bit of water to grow this project.
Luckily, some of the things we’ve already discussed, including selecting a niche and growing your presence online, will provide you with the best springboard for growth.
Other key growth strategies you’ll want to implement include –
There’s no better way to build your early success than including case studies on your website and social media accounts.
In-depth case studies that provide an outline of the problem and solution of each client project can be effective for building authority, as they provide proof of the benefits you offer. It’s especially effective to use statistics like percentage sales increases to grow your client intake.
Equally, you can pair client case studies with shining reviews, which will help to both improve your search ranking and convince interested clients to call your team.
As mentioned, wide-scale offerings aren’t always best for building a successful marketing agency. However, diversification with your niche in mind can be effective for growing your market reach.
A great way to do this would be to simply partner with other agencies. That way, you can keep your skills more focused, while also ensuring the full breadth of offerings your clients require. Not to mention that pairing with a well-respected agency is guaranteed to buy you industry kudos!
Equally, analysis could help you to identify pain points that require your clients to also work with other agencies. By introducing new services in light of this, you’ll make both retention and acquisition more likely.
Great results drive growth, and a focus on internal development is a key way to ensure high quality across your service offerings.
Regular training sessions and a drive towards professional certifications will ensure that your team is always at the cutting edge of what marketing has to offer.
Encouraging attendance of industry events and conferences achieves the same goal, with the added bonus of ensuring niche-specific networking that can also grow your client portfolio.
Growth isn’t all about attracting new clients. It can also come from simply increasing the average order you receive across your existing accounts.
Cross-selling and up-selling are particularly effective strategies for revenue growth. You may also find that they’re easier routes to follow than acquisition in the first place, especially considering that existing clients will already trust your understanding of their pain points.
Simply use your knowledge of each client portfolio to also be aware of, and let your client know about, complimentary services that might include, say, a dedicated social media manager to run alongside your website package.
We can’t talk about how to start a marketing agency without considering cash flow.
Your ability to manage your finances throughout your journey will have a huge impact on everything from your ability to offer competitive pricing, to your opportunity to hire the best possible team.
During your growth process, you’ll particularly want to ensure consistent, positive cash flow to guarantee your long-term success, via techniques that might include –
Making a splash when you first launch your marketing agency doesn’t stop your efforts from falling flat a few years down the line.
Stagnant marketing offerings and outdated qualifications could particularly see your best clients jumping to a new, exciting agency.
To stay at the top of your game, you’ll want to secure your agency’s future by –
Is there a bright future for your marketing agency? It’s hard to say, but you’ll certainly stand a much better chance at providing shining services with these tips to hand.
