How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency with No Experience

How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency with No Experience Your Digital Marketing Startup Playbook You have the digital marketing chops...

How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency with No Experience

Your Digital Marketing Startup Playbook

You have the digital marketing chops and you’ve decided to strike out on your own — with good reason, too. Studies reveal that as much as 90% of customers haven’t made up their mind on buying a product or service from a brand before hitting that search button. This means that only 10% of consumers are set on purchasing something from a particular company. Digital marketing can go a long way to determine the portion of the market share that you can easily attain, which will make your services invaluable and lead to profits. Knowing what strategies will work will ultimately lead to success in business.

Carve Out Your Niche

While it’s tempting to agree to every project that comes your way when you get started, it’s essential to know where your strengths lie and not to spread your services too thin. Scaling before you're ready and offering more services than you’re able to manage might cause burnout before you even break-even. If you have specialized skills, this is the time to portray them and carve out your niche. For instance, digital marketing for medical professionals will look much different than marketing to legal professionals. You would also need to focus on your particular skill sets, such as search engine optimization or content management, and use this to your advantage.

Take Care Of The Business Side Of Things

One of the top reasons why startups fail is the lack of proper business management. This means crossing those T’s and dotting those I’s and making sure that the paperwork is in order. Register your business, copyright your content, and make sure to register with the relevant business authorities to ensure that the legal requirements are in place. It’s also important to safeguard your business with products such as insurance and liability coverage. When you take on staff, you will also need to safeguard them with compensations such as worker’s comp insurance, income protection, and keyman insurance if they perform a critical function for the business.

Define Your Paycheck

There is no reason to start a digital marketing agency if it doesn’t afford you the opportunity to write your own paycheck. While that may sound greedy, it’s important to have a dollar amount in mind when determining your price point. You will need to afford a salary for yourself and staff, plus cover the overheads in the business and still have a little leftover to build your business’s emergency fund. It’s important to bear this in mind when you determine whether you’re going to have an hourly or per-project rate, or offer bundled services to ensure customers gain traction. In this scenario, the time management strategy plays a vital role because once you are able to track the progress of your work and the way it impacts your clients, you may even be able to create a strong enough business model that can include retainer fees or ongoing commissions.

If you happen to have digital marketing skills in this day and age, it’s worth your while to sharpen your skills and test the waters. Once you're set on the marketing side of your business, then you can turn to the other areas that matter and refine your processes for optimal success.