Notes

There are many factors to consider if you want to produce a business that's both profitable and well respected.
In this article, I’m sharing hacks and advice on how to start your social media marketing agency.
A Brief History
With 20+ years’ experience in corporate marketing, I felt it had been time to take the leap.
Back in 2017, along with my business partner Niki Nikolaou, I established Contentworks Agency , a content and social media marketing agency specializing in finance and tech.
Today, we work with midsize to large brands around the world to providing them strategy, social media marketing https://antiguawebsolutions.com/social-media-marketing-services-in-newyork/, and content.
Here’s a pic of Niki thend me at our first Bloomberg finance conference shortly after launching the agency:
Starting a Socithel Media Agency in 2020
In the early 2010s, starting a social media marketing agency would have been a dream. Adwords and Facebook ads enable you to target your clients’ prospects like nothing you've seen prior. Social press was new and exciting; competition was infinitely lower. (So were client expectations.)
Fast forward to 2020 …
We see a barrage of social media agencies , infinite tools and platforms to learn, restrictive advertising rules, and high client expectations. That doesn’t mean starting a social media marketing agency is impossible. But it does mean you will need to up your game if you want to stand out and succeed together with your social media or digital agency.
On the plus side, 2020 in all its glory has opened the online marketing space.
It’s no longer necessary to have a physical office space, providing you devote the work to facilitate online business. Zoom and Skype calls in place of physical meetings will be the norm. Invoicing electronically is welcomed, and businesses need an online business more than ever.
More businesses are understanding the benefits of outsourcing their social media so excellent agencies are usually thriving.
Social media marketing agency tip
Treat your social media agency like it’s your best client. Constantly strategize, and produce great content and eye-popping interpersonal press posts 1. What’s Your Area of Expertise?
Hundreds of thousands of social media marketing agencies exist all over the world. So, the first thing to accomplish is actually define your USPs (Unique Selling Points).
Your USPs might be any of the following.
You specialize in a sector
Do you specialize in tech, beauty, sports, pharma, or like us, financial services? If a person have a good background in the sector and can show off case studies , previous work, and client testimonials, you’re off to a good start.
You specialize in an section of social media marketing
It’s always good to specialize in somethwithing. That doesn’t mean you can’t take on other tasks, nonetheless it sets you apart being an expert.
For example, maybe you are Google Adwords certified or perhaps a Facebook ads expert. Your social media agency might have the best videographer, most creative designer, or the very best writers. That specialization can help set your social media marketing agency apart.
You can help clients in a particular way
Some social media marketing agencies claim to generate leads through advertising. Others can increase your following or improve your brand awareness https://antiguawebsolutions.com/social-media-marketing-services-in-newyork/ through organic content. It’s important to know where your skills lie.
Social media marketing agency tip
Weak branding makes you forgettable. Ensure that everyone in your organization gets your brand. That’s everyone, from the founders through to the net design team
2. What Services CAN YOU Actually Offer?
Be clear on the services you offer and then decide how you will tackle enquires for the services you cannot provide. For the latter, you could synergy with another agency, take upon a contractor, or simply say no because of the work.
Services typically offered by social media agencies are the following.
Social media management
Do you offer full social media management? Be clear about what this involves, how many channels, just how many posts, does it include graphics and videos, etc. Also, discuss whether you'll answer direct messages.
Content writing
Will you provide blog posts or are you just writing social media content? Just how much will you charge to deliver the social content by email rather than manage the accounts? (Many clients want this.)
Paid social media
Will you offer paid social media advertising? How will a person bill for that? Will you also provide the content, images, and videos?
Strategy
Will you work with clients on their strategy, branding, and positioning? This includes competitor and market research, positioning, branding, content strategy, and social media planning.
Community management
Do you want to get into community management? This involves engaging fans on forums and social media, providing fast answers, and supporting sales and customer support teams. Be aware that this is usually 24/7 and fairly labor-intensive.
Design
Social media marketing needs great designs, but will you provide them? In the event that you don’t have a designer, you still can create the graphics inhouse using Canva, Visme, or PosterMyWall. (Have more details about in the free and paid tools section https://antiguawebsolutions.com/social-media-marketing-services-in-newyork/ of the article.)
Alternatively, you could hire a contractor or synergy with a design agency.
Social media marketing agency tip
Create service agreements for new clients. Your template can include a description of every of your supports, that you can then edit or amend, as necessary. It’s vital that you set client expectations correctly right away.
3. Get That Research Done And ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY Written
You wouldn’t start a client campaign with out a strategy, would you?
When Niki and I established Contentworks Agency, our strategy, style guide, competitor analysis, and costings took months. That’s because they are the cornerstone of everything you can do later. It can be difficult to pivot when you’re already setup.
Here are some of the areas to focus on.
Competitor analysis
I recently wrote about competitor analysis Wet’s certainly essential when you start a social media marketing agency. Know your competitors, what they’re offering, and how much they charge. Work with a personal email to obtain pricing.
Create a pitch deck
Growing your social media agency and winning more clients means you’re likely to have to pitch your business in order to prospects. A lot! And often you will only have a couple of minutes to accomplish it so work on your elevator pitch. That is essentially what you do and how you help clients within a minute. (Grab this FREE interpersonal agency pitch deck if you want one.)
Define your brand
Marketers are accustomed to achieving this for clients but often fail to do it for his or her own brand. Fully understand your brand voice, style, grammar, and content.
Who is your brand and how will you engage on social media? Remember, as a social media marketing agency, you will be likely to shine on social!
Work out your agency running costs
This is a tough one, so expect to get through a ton of coffee when you grind those spreadsheets.
You need to understand your basic running costs. This is your set-up costs (what you will have to launch) and the base costs of operating an agency.
Costs include office space (if you choose to have a physical location) and the bills within it.
Set up costs of establishing a company, paying an auditor, and a lthewyer. Paying freelancers, professional licenses, gas for the car and outing expenses, expo expenses, professional photos, marketing costs (flyers, business cards, banners, website, Adwords promotional gifts).
And always leave a small reserve for unforeseen costs that will certainly occur.
When we launched Contentworks Agency, we budgeted to create gift boxes for potential clients. They contained business cards, pens, flyers, and-of course, chocolates and snacks-check it out!
Now work out your service costs
You need to work out how much you will make from your own social media and content marketing services. How much does Twitter management cost? What can you charge for a blog? What abaway animated or live videos?
Be sure to factor in all your costs and encertain you’re making the profit you want. It’s unprofessional to make up expenses as you complement, so all this should be documented.
Go one step further and create quote templates for your different services so you’re ready later.
Establish your roles
If you’re setting up a marketing agency with other people, what will your roles be? Will you be actively working on client projects or owning a team? What will your neighborhood of responsibility become?
This is important to establish in early stages to avoid conflict later.
As obvious as it may sound, don’t go into business with someone if you don’t have a good relationship. If you don’t desire to draw up a contract, at lebecauset document your roles and responsibilities.
Know how you will charge for services
Typically there are three options accessible to you as a marketing agency:
● Monthly retainer. A set monthly fee that’s on a “utilize it or lose it” basis. This creates consistent billing patterns and dependability for both client and agency.
● Project-based. Often an one-off project like a video or rebranding. Make sure you get payment in advance or at least 50% upfront. This might also be in accordance with milestones for instance 50% upfront, 25% following a strategy, and the remaining 25% on completion.
● Hourly. We don’t usually utilize this model but regardless, you ought to know your hourly rate. You can write this into your terms to cover you in case a project runs over or a client needs additional mentoring or training. Never add charges in the event that you haven’t discussed them beforehand.
Additionally, you should be clear on whether you're charging VAT or not.
Social media marketing agency tip
Knowing your profit margin is key. A good margin will vary considerably by industry, but a 10% net income margin is considered average, a 20-30% margin is good and a 5% margin is low.
4. Nail Your Launch
As a marketing agency, you need to have a successful launch. It doesn’t matter whether your business is physical or virtual, your launch needs to happen correctly.
Here are some factors to consider:
● Your website. Could it be up and running? Are your links working? Test your contact forms, telephone numbers, and emails.
● Social media. If you’re starting a social mass media agency then your social media marketing channels had better be popping. Consider running a paid advertisement for the initial few months of your launch.
● Google Maps. Make certain you’re listed on Search engines business and that you have confirmed your address. This may take a while and involves Google physically posting your verification code, so start early.
● Listings. Get your agency listed wherever it is possible to. Start with free business listings then consider paid opportunities.
● PR. Plan a series of PRs to venture out to relevant industry publications. They may be interviews with your founders, an introduction to the agency, or even a special launch offer. Remember to get professional photos done at the begin to create the right impression.
● Gifts or events. Consider kickstarting your agency launch with targeted gifts or an online event. You could give attendees virtual vouchers for the services or enter them right into a prize draw.
5. Use These Free and Paid Tools for Social
When you start a social media marketing agency, you need to be prepared to invest in the tools you require for your agency and its clients.
Failing to use the proper social media tools can slow you down, create miscommunication, cause you to look like an amateur, a goodd worst of most, cause you to lose leads and customers.
Free social media tools for interpersonal media marketing agencies
My advice is always to start with the free tools then get the paid ones you really need. We utilize hundreds of tools at Contentworks Agency, but my favorite free ones include:
● Trello . I really like Trello for managing team projects. It’s an easy task to set up and has everything you need to organize projects of any size. With Trello, you may also add clients to boards-but ensure that your group knows that before they start commenting!

● Zoom That one doesn’t need an introduction. In addition to the most common video meetings, Zoom can be used for webinars, training, and conferences. Supporting around 1,000 movie participants and 10,000 viewers, this is actually the ideal tool for remote events. Your agency also needs to have official Skype IDs create for calls with clients.
● Dropbox . You will need a server or cloud space to host essential files. That includes client files, ongoing projects, artwork, or employee details. The great thing about Dropbox is its flexibility. It is possible to set access permissions for files (for instance, senior management only). It’s an easy task to upgrade at a cost down the road when you require more space.
● TweetDeck. A lot of our work is on Twitter, so our team uses TweetDeck to closely monitor influencers, mentions, and lists. TweetDeck also enables you to schedule tweets, track hashtags, reply, send direct messages, and create multiple lists all in one easy dashboard.
● Canva. Research demonstrates visuals increase content engagement by 80%. So, what now ? if you’re a small agency and can’t afford a full-time graphic designer? Canva enables you to create social media marketing covers, JPEGs, web banners, invitations, and ad imagery. Eventually, you might hire a designer, but until then, this is a great option. You may also upgradvertwill beemente to a paid velectronicrsion of Canva to access a lot more features.

Website: https://antiguawebsolutions.com/social-media-marketing-services-in-newyork/