Have you ever thought about how those interesting ad campaigns come to life? There is a marketing agency working relentlessly to make every iconic brand’s online avatar viral.
There has never been a better time to join such companies if you want to start your own marketing agency. There's even a prediction that the marketing agency market will hit $1,029.7 billion by 2032. So for everyone who wants to enter marketing, there is a niche waiting to be filled.
Your marketing business can grow to great heights if done correctly. Now, let’s see how to start a marketing agency the right way in 2024.
Can I Start A Marketing Agency On My Own?
Absolutely! Yes, it is possible, and one can start his own marketing agency.
Most agencies are started by one person who has the desire and capability to help the business become popular. Therefore, you don’t necessarily have to start a large team or rent a posh office to start. All that you require is a right attitude towards your agency, a right approach, and the determination as well as the desire to change and learn.
Also Read: Best Creative Agency Project Management Software & Tools (2024)
7 Steps To Starting a Marketing Business in 2024
Here are the steps you should follow if you want to start an agency in 2024 the right way.
Step 1: Find Out Your Expertise
Having a niche instead of advertising all the marketing services available is the way to go. This assists in making you unique and gaining mastery in a given area. To find out your niche,
- Identify Your Strengths: What makes people attracted to you? Are you good in areas such as SEO, social media, email marketing, and the like?
- Understand The Demand: Find out what services consumers demand. Use Google Trends to discover what the demand is out there.
- Target A Specific Audience: Know who to market to; it could be small businesses, new companies, online shops, or maybe doctors.
Step 2: Build a Portfolio
Your portfolio is vital because it depicts what you offer, therefore helping you attract clients. Ideally, your portfolio should contain clear samples of your work, such as social media posts, email campaigns, and SEO. To build a portfolio initially,
- Provide your services for free or at a very cheap price to certain businesses or friends and give them a chance to write a testimonial.
- Create case studies from personal projects, such as running your own blog.
- Perform contracts for hire at Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, and any other similar platform in order to get actual clients.
Step 3: Build a Solid Team
As your marketing agency expands, you'll need a team to manage clients and projects. Begin by recruiting freelancers or part-time workers. You can hire the following people in the early stages of your agency.
- Social Media Manager: Handles social media accounts and content.
- SEO Specialist: Focuses on improving website rankings.
- Content Writer: To write blogs and copy.
- Designer: Develops visuals like logos, banners, and ads.
Step 4: Use the Right Software
In a marketing business, you have to multitask; for instance, client onboarding, projects, time, and data are all on your plate all the time. Hence, it becomes crucial to use the right tools to do all those works. For instance, you can use
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software to maintain records of all leads as well as the contact list and improve consumers' experiences.
- Marketing project management software to coordinate work, schedule timeframes, and stay on course together with your team.
- Proposal and billing software to win deals, sign contracts, proposals and streamline billing.
- Analytics tools to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaigns and inform your clients of the outcome.
- Graphic Design Tools to create posts on social networks, advertisements, and visuals.
- Social media scheduling Tools to schedule the posts, analysis of your post’s activity, and support for several accounts.
Step 5: Design Service Packages And Pricing Strategy
Design packages that are easy for clients to understand. Make sure to include exactly what the client is going to get in the packages offered by you.
- Basic Package: Writing promo posts, social media scheduling/autoposter, and preliminary SEO.
- Standard Package: Adds more services like detailed SEO proposal and monthly reports.
- Premium Package: Offers all services plus extra features like content creation and personalized strategy sessions.
Similarly, set prices based on the value you provide and your target market’s budget. Consider factors like:
- Market Rates: Check what other agencies are charging for similar services.
- Your Costs: Factor in your expenses to ensure your pricing covers costs and makes a profit.
- Client Budget: Understand the budget range of your potential clients to set competitive prices.
Step 6: Do Lead Generation
To attract clients, start marketing your agency and generating leads. You can get leads by doing the following:
- Use Word-Of-Mouth: Inform friends, relatives, and professional contacts about your new business to acquire your initial clients.
- Cold Email Potential Clients: Research local businesses that might need marketing help. Send personalized emails offering your services.
- Post Ads: Start with a small budget and run ads on Facebook and Instagram to target your potential clients.
- Use Software: Check out various sales proposal software that you can use to generate leads.
Step 7: Learn How To Close Clients
Closing clients and learning client management strategies a crucial skill for growing your marketing agency. Listen carefully during your meetings or consultations to identify their pain points and goals. Then create a detailed professional proposal that outlines the services you offer, the benefits, and the costs.
- Provide Solutions: Offer alternative solutions or compromises if necessary.
- Limited Offers: Provide special discounts or added value for quick decisions.
- Follow up: If a client is hesitant or needs time to decide, follow up with a polite reminder.
Pro Tip: Closing the client is simple, but billing them and managing it might be difficult. Here are a few tips on how to bill a new client for the first time.
Cone Software: The Best Proposal and Billing Software To Set Up And Run Your Marketing Agency
Cone Software offers two distinct yet complementary solutions to streamline your marketing agency's operations: Proposal Software and Practice Management Software.
Proposal Software
Cone's Proposal Software is designed to help you create professional, impactful proposals with ease. With Cone Software, you can efficiently set up and manage your marketing agency, from crafting compelling proposals to handling invoicing and client communications.
Best Features:
- Comprehensive Proposal Editor: Make specific proposals to correspond to each client’s demands for the service.
- Professional Templates: Use any of the proposal templates to minimize the working time and enhance comparability.
- Automated Invoicing: Once a proposal is accepted, with an automated billing system, invoices are automatically created in the system, thereby reducing the overall manual work and cost.
- Integration With Payment Gateways: Integrate smoothly with the Stripe and GoCardless payment services to manage payments in a much more effective manner..
- Sync With Accounting Tools: Integrate with Xero and QuickBooks Online (QBO) to ensure your financial data is correct and up to date.
Pricing:
- Essentials Plan: $8 per user/month or £6.50/month (billed annually)
- Growth Plan: $11 per user/month or £9/month (billed annually)
Sign up today!
Set Your Agency in Motion
Knowing how to start a marketing agency the right way in 2024 can assist you in creating a successful business out of your interests and hobbies. Since more companies are incorporating digital means in their workflow, your agency can tap into a vast and expanding market.
It may be quite a long and tough journey, but if you are committed and try to find an innovative solution with the right approach, you may transform your marketing agency idea into a profitable business. Every successfully established agency was once at this stage; therefore, it is never too late to begin. Use tools like Cone and make your agency a success!
FAQs
- How Do I Start a Marketing Business for Beginners?
Start by picking a niche, building a website, showcasing your work in a portfolio, and networking. Begin small with local clients or freelancing platforms.
- What Does It Cost To Start A Marketing Agency?
Expect costs for tools, website, and legal fees. You can bootstrap by using affordable tools and starting from home to keep costs low.
- How Do I Start Marketing from Scratch?
Build your personal brand through content marketing. Use social media to share expertise and network to attract your first clients.
- What Marketing Is Most Profitable?
Profitable marketing in 202 are:
- SEO
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing and
- PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing