Nick Leighton. Best-selling author, speaker #ChampagneMoment www.ExactlyWhereYouWanttoBe.com.
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Launching a new marketing agency is an exciting endeavor. For the agency owner, there is a lot of planning and strategizing that goes into getting your new agency off the ground. While securing your first clients is probably top of mind, it’s never too early to think about the long term. As an entrepreneur, you probably have big ambitions to grow your firm to become one of the most recognizable marketing agencies in your niche.
To successfully grow your business, you’ll need to determine the best ways to scale your agency as you get more clients and build your team. Having the proper foundation when you are in startup mode can ultimately determine how well your agency will be able to adapt to growth. By focusing on scalability early in the process, you can prevent implementing solutions and business processes that can create unnecessary growing pains or hold you back from taking on a massive new contract.
1. Conduct Market Research
The first step to building a new marketing agency is to carefully evaluate the needs and state of the market. You’ll start by examining your existing experience and selecting a specific niche and target audience. Focusing your attention too broadly is a mistake that many new agency owners make. They fear that narrowing in on a specific industry or audience will limit their sales opportunities. Unfortunately, the opposite is true since specialization is the best way to differentiate yourself from the thousands of other agencies in the market.
A lot of entrepreneurs are ready, fire, aim. Not loving the "slow" research stage. Don’t skimp here!
2. Develop A Business Plan And Select A Legal Structure
Next, take the time to create a business plan outlining your mission, vision, services, funding needs, pricing strategies and revenue goals. You’ll also need to select a suitable business structure (LLC, corporation, partnership) and register it with the appropriate authorities or government agencies. This can be confusing for new agency owners, so consulting a business attorney and an accountant can help you make the best choice. It’s also important to make note of any other required permits or licenses.
3. Create A Powerful Brand And Portfolio
Creating a powerful brand is important for any business; however, this is critical for your marketing agency. After all, branding and marketing are your specialty. By creating a memorable and relatable brand, you can immediately demonstrate your marketing prowess to your prospective clients. The goal is to develop an impactful brand that is consistent across your website, social media and print marketing. A good way to think about this is to treat yourself as your first marketing client.
In addition, potential clients want to see what your firm is capable of accomplishing for them. Take the time to compile a well-organized portfolio of your best projects.
4. Land Your First Clients
Getting your first clients is a major milestone in the beginning stages of your agency. Congrats. Your first clients will help you establish market credibility and optimize your operational processes.
Securing your first paying client is easier said than done. Start by leveraging your network of friends, family members, former colleagues and industry contacts. You can also participate in industry events, join relevant online forums and use your social media accounts. In the beginning, you might consider offering free or deeply discounted rates to start building your client base and gathering testimonials.
Incorporating Scalability Into Your Marketing Agency Startup
You should always keep your long-term strategy in mind when building your new marketing agency. While it may seem premature, you should structure your marketing agency in a way that fits where you want your business to be in five to 10 years. Why? Research shows that 92% of growing businesses fail because they can’t scale properly. Building scalability into the foundation of your business model can improve your chances of being able to grow without damaging your reputation or biting off more than you can chew.
• Set up scalable processes, tools and SOPs. When selecting the tools and processes you will use in your business, ask yourself if it will work with significantly more clients. If not, you need to revisit the scalability of your operation. For example, sending email marketing manually may be manageable when you have 10 clients, but what happens if you have 300? A better solution would be an automated email marketing tool that requires the same effort, no matter the number of recipients.
• Invest in the right technology. Saving money in the early stages of your startup is critical. For this reason, many marketing agencies focus on free or inexpensive technology platforms. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but be sure to understand how scalable these platforms are. It might be worth it to invest in a more scalable technology rather than having to transition to a new platform later. Also, be mindful of technology advancements, such as AI and automation, which are transforming how marketing agencies operate. The last thing you want is to leverage a technology that is becoming obsolete.
• Create a scalable team structure. As an agency leader, outsourcing tasks early is a great way to ensure your personal time is scalable. For example, hiring a part-time bookkeeper can free you from menial tasks and provide a resource that can handle more work as your agency grows.
• Capture and organize data early. Data is essential for making informed decisions and spotting market opportunities. Focusing on implementing systems to capture client, campaign and market data early can help you streamline your processes and aid strategic decision-making as your agency expands.
Setting up your marketing agency with scalability in mind not only prepares you for growth but also equips you for the future. A solid foundation allows you to be agile, adapt to new technologies and seize opportunities as they arise. By planning for the future today, you can ensure that your agency remains relevant, competitive and ready to meet the demands of the future marketing landscape.
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