7 Steps To Build Your Digital Marketing Agency

Written by Tammy Durden

I’ve talked to many who want to build an online agency. There are several types of online agencies. I’ve created 7 steps to help you build your digital marketing agency.

As an overview, I think it is important to note that simply doing these seven steps will not guarantee that you can be a digital marketing agency. I highly recommend hiring a business consultant who knows about digital marketing agencies to guide you through the steps. You should also realize that there are many systems behind the scenes to help run your business.

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Therefore, you should know that this is a broad overview of the 7 steps to create a digital marketing agency.

1. Determine Your Skills
2. Type of Agency
3. Set up Business
4. LinkedIn Profile and Business Page
5. Begin Reaching Out to Others (Complete a Storyboard)
6. Create & Launch Your Website
7. Market Your Agency

1. Determine Your Skills

The first step to building your agency is to determine your skills and which ones apply to providing digital marketing services to clients. You should possess the skills needed, or take courses or training that will equip you with the needed skills.

The other option is to set up with the agency model from the start and hire subcontractors with the skills you know you will need. I do recommend, however, that you also obtain these skills because ultimately, it all falls back to you.

The reason for this is that subcontractors may become ill, decide they no longer want to work with you, or may not show up on a given day. When this happens, you have to be ready to work in their place if a client needs daily attention.

2. Decide on the Type Of Agency

One of the things you must decide early on is the type of agency you want to create. Yes, it is a digital marketing agency; however, there are many different types. Digital marketing agencies can include:

• Ad Agency
• Branding
• Content Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Social Media
• SEO Specialist

And many other forms of digital marketing agencies, but this list covers the majority.

3. Set Up Your Business

If you have never started a business before, the next step is setting up your company. I created mine as an LLC, but you can choose a different type of business. I usually suggest this type for my clients as well.

Two things must happen almost at the same time. You should look up the name you choose in your state registry (or province/country if outside of the U.S.). If it is available, you should also then check whether the domain name is available. If both are, then quickly click to reserve these. Many must choose a different name because they neglected to do this process. It can save much heartache and time by doing it nearly at the same time.

Once you register with your state, you will receive a number from them. You can then file for an EIN. This registers you with the government, not just your state. This number is necessary if you want to open a business bank account in the U.S.

There are many steps to creating a business, and these are only a few, so be sure you know how to do this or have someone who can walk you through it.

4. Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile and Business Page

Another important part of business is your social media presence. For online service providers at this time, LinkedIn is one of those that are most useful. So, I recommend setting up your LinkedIn Profile and a LinkedIn Business Page. You will do most of your posting and responding from your profile, but having the business page may give more credibility and trust for some.

I get asked about which social media platform is best, and which one you need to post to. My suggestion is to use a scheduler to post to a few social media platforms, but make sure you are present daily on at least one. It is up to you how long you use it, but enough to respond to engagement and messages. So, the question really is, where do you want to spend your time?

Even with social media marketing, it comes back to building relationships. Invest your time in that, and you will do great.

5. Begin Reaching Out

After you have set up your preferred social platform, begin reaching out to others in your preferred audience. Engage with their social media, message them, and ask them to hop on a call. See how you can best serve them. By serving others, if possible, you will build up a reputation, and word of mouth will spread. Note: I’m not saying give away your services for free, but rather asking how you may help them in some way.

Connecting with others will help you build a community of others who will start to know, like, and trust you. Trust is not easily won these days, so take the time to invest in others, and you will be repaid handsomely.

6. Create and Launch Your Website

The next step is to create and launch your website. If you do not know how to build one, there are platforms, like Wix, that have easy drag-and-drop options. If uncertain, it is well worth investing in a web designer to help you.

First, before hiring someone, look up other agency websites and find three to five websites you really like. Then, when you hire a web designer, you can share those with the designer. This will help considerably and allow them to see your vision.

7. Market Your Digital Marketing Agency

The final piece for our seven steps to building a digital marketing agency is marketing your agency. This is not a one-time process, but more like a wheel that needs to continually turn. Producing content that you put out so that others understand your business and want to follow you.

I always suggest that the first step to your marketing is producing blogs. Blog articles are a great way get organic traffic to your website. Then share your blogs on your social platforms. You can even split up the points on your blog article into social media posts throughout the week. Sharing how-tos and valuable information builds more trust. You can never give away too much free information.

It is important that you mix all of this in with other marketing techniques, one of which is, of course, ads. Ads on social media, Google, and other search engines. I suggest hiring a specialist if you are not one. It is important to acknowledge where your expertise lies and does not.

Lastly

I would also suggest that you do both marketing and competitive research to help you.

You will also need to prepare package pricing for the services you provide. Usually, 2 to 3 pricing packages per type of service are good.

“Offering tiered service packages (e.g., Basic, Pro, and Premium) is a great way to appeal to different clients. These packages range from simple social media management to full-service digital marketing solutions, including website optimization, content creation, and analytics reporting.” -Akaunting

Keep in mind, these 7 steps to build your digital marketing agency only provide a very broad overview of what it takes to set up your own agency.

Tammy loves empowering others to create and grow their agencies. Reach out if you have questions, or set a Free 30-Minute Session with Tammy.

*I also suggest anyone setting up a business consult with a lawyer and their accountant.

[Originally published on Fearless Business Boss blog]