AFFILIATE MARKETING

7 Steps To Grow An Agency in 2023

Published

2 years ago

January 17, 2023

The demand for digital marketing services has skyrocketed in recent years. If you’re wondering how to start a marketing business, here is some advice to get you on your way.

You can use your passion for marketing to develop a business model that distinguishes you from the thousands of marketing agencies opening every year. In 2022 alone, marketing agency enterprises in The United States reached 7761, a 17.4% increase from 2021.

These promising numbers ensure that starting your own marketing company is a sound investment. However, there are many things to consider before you enter the world of professional marketing services. By using these 7 steps to start your marketing business, you’ll be well on your way to launching a successful agency.

The 7 Essential Steps To Start a Marketing Business

Follow these steps for a successful start in your marketing agency journey!

1. Research Your Target Customer and Market

The people you serve come first when you’re running a marketing business. Therefore, you need to bring your original and unique ideas to prove your business is a viable entity.

Research for any missing gaps present in the market. Who is being underserved and could benefit from your skills?

Next, ask yourself if you want to work with businesses or individuals. This usually breaks down into the following two categories:

B2B: Business to Business marketing agency serving clients with strategies to promote their business and services to other businesses.
B2C: Business to Consumer marketing agency serving the average customer directly without any middleman involved.

Since most people enlist marketing services to track and optimize their businesses, you’ll likely be working in the B2B capacity. From here, identify the size of your target market (solopreneur or cooperate) and develop a pricing strategy.

Next, research and analyze your target audience. To decide on a customer base, conduct surveys and research to understand which population you are trying to reach.

For example, are you targeting clients with seasonal or evergreen marketing needs? Do you want to provide marketing services to local businesses or expand globally? Would you work with people who are invested in certain causes or who have a certain lifestyle?

You can differentiate yourself from other marketing agencies by identifying a specific target audience and market. Additionally, this will also serve as the foundation of your marketing strategies.

2. Determine Your Services and Pricing Structure

1673992537 545 7 Steps To Grow An Agency in 2023

With market research completed, you now know which clients you’d like to work with. It’s time to develop a portfolio of services relevant to the ideal customer base you identified.

Offering multiple services can increase your client base, but there is also an increased risk of overpromising that can deter your new relationships.

It is better to initially stick to a few marketing services and gradually build your portfolio. After all, you will later hire and build a team of experts under you who can manage other tasks. The most popular digital marketing services include:

Content marketing: a marketing strategy to subtly promote brand awareness with videos, podcasts, social media posts, or articles on your blog
SEO services: search engine optimization aims to rank your page higher in search engine results to generate website traffic for your business
Social media marketing: this involves using social media channels to market products to your target audience
Email marketing: send email messages to existing and potential customers to let them know about new products, offers, or discounts
Web design: this refers to the design element of your website and focuses on providing a satisfactory user experience

Once you have chosen the relevant services for your marketing business model, you should set a pricing structure to offer to your clients. You can choose to offer:

Retainer pricing model: the client pays the fee for the determined period in advance. This helps agencies manage cash flow and dedicate adequate resources to the client’s needs
Fixed-rate: a set charge for the full service
Commission-based system: clients pay for your services after achieving the desired results
Hourly: a set per-hour fee is paid to the agency for the number of hours it dedicates resources to your business

Finally, set prices that are reflective of your promised standard. Customers are willing to pay more if they can avoid the hassles of incompetence and inconvenience. If you are new to this industry, you may want to offer a lower rate initially, but as you gain more experience, your prices should increase accordingly.

3. Develop Your Brand Identity

1673992537 737 7 Steps To Grow An Agency in 2023

It is essential to communicate your brand story with customers. Consider your services, target customers, and price points to determine your brand image. You can think of your brand as the personality of your business.

People love associating with businesses that support global issues as they can relate emotionally. Everything from your logo, business name, images, color theme, and font style should be consistent over your website to establish your unique brand identity.

Try to create a brand that is simple, modern, and memorable. Design a cohesive visual identity that resonates with your target market and the values of your business. It’s better to start simply and build up a more complex identity as you grow. This way you can spend more time focusing on your services and finding new clients to work with.

4. Choose Your Technology Platforms

1673992537 154 7 Steps To Grow An Agency in 2023

Online presence is crucial in the marketing business world. You need to build a strong connection with your target audience by setting up the following platforms:

Website: Create an organized layout for your website that makes it easy for your target audience to surf through. Potential clients should be able to navigate to the various landing pages, including the about page, services, and contact pages
Blog: Build your authority in the field by publishing content that provides value to the reader and brings organic traffic to your website
Social media accounts: Carry out research to know which social media channels your customers spend the most time on. Your posts should reflect your brand’s message and divert them to your website.

Cohesion is an absolute must when your brand is present in multiple places. So when learning how to start a marketing business, ensure your brand’s colors, visuals, message, services, and prices are consistent across the board. This builds trust with your customers and promotes brand loyalty.

5. Set Up Your Legal and Financial Structure

1673992537 624 7 Steps To Grow An Agency in 2023

You can choose to operate as a sole entrepreneur, Limited Liability Company (LLC), or publicly traded company. With the latter two, the business owner is considered a separate entity and will not be held responsible for any debts or liabilities of the business.

Even though the startup costs associated with sole ownership are low, outside funding essential to growing a business can be tricky to obtain. The investments pooled by other members for an LLC business or through shares (in the case of a public company) will build your credit rating and help secure more funds from financial institutions.

And with Northwest Registered Agent, you can outsource the application process for as little as $39.

6. Assemble Your Agency Team (Or Start Solo)

1673992537 826 7 Steps To Grow An Agency in 2023

At the beginning of your journey, you may work independently to lower costs and establish a positive reputation with clients. This also lets you get a feel for the industry and understand how you want to run your marketing business.

Once you’re confident in your capabilities, start adding team members to your team. This will help you increase efficiency and competency by dividing tasks among them. Take some time to find creative professionals with the same vision as you regarding marketing services.

Gradually, as you take on more clients, you may need to hire people to manage certain tasks. You can start by hiring freelancers that are experts in their field, and as the level of trust increases, you can offer them a permanent job to be a part of your marketing team.

Don’t hire or contract too many people at once, as it can be hard to keep up with the workflow. Your team should have a healthy mix of tech-savvy professionals, SEO specialists, data entry personnel, copywriters, and finance whizzes.

7. Implement and Market Your Services

1673992537 754 7 Steps To Grow An Agency in 2023

Now that your structure is in place, you must let the world know about your services. To create a successful business you need to reach clients searching for the services you offer. You can increase the chances of getting reached out with:

Outbound marketing: Using tactics to generate awareness of your products through paid advertising on billboards, TV and attending networking events
Inbound marketing: create a great content strategy that pushes customers to your websites. Keyword-optimized blog posts, videos, and social media marketing are perfect examples of this technique
Word-of-mouth- marketing: Existing customers will talk about your services to their family and friends. This technique builds trust with potential customers as it comes from a reliable source.

If you have any experience in one of the three above, use it to your advantage. Identify the channels that work best for you and invest in them. Make sure you have a strategy to track your efforts to see which brings the highest returns on investment (ROI).

Bottom Line: How to Start a Marketing Business

Knowing how to start a marketing business requires understanding the industry, your target customers, and the right blend of services. Once you have a thorough plan and the necessary resources, it is important to stay on top of the changing trends in marketing and technology to ensure your business grows steadily.

With careful research, hard work, and dedication, entrepreneurs can create a successful marketing business that stands out from the competition.

Source link

AFFILIATE MARKETING

Expand Your Global Reach With Babbel, on Sale for More Than 60% Off

Published

4 hours ago

October 12, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Expand Your Global Reach With Babbel, on Sale for More Than 60% Off

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

Want to break language barriers and expand your business network? Babbel’s lifetime subscription has you covered with access to 14 languages, perfect for anyone looking to boost their business communication.

With no recurring fees, you’ll pay $179.97 (sale ending October 20) for a resource that sticks with you for life, helping you build relationships and navigate new markets with confidence.

Babbel offers bite-size lessons that fit right into your schedule. Each session takes about 10 to 15 minutes, making it easy to squeeze in language-learning between meetings or on your commute. And with its speech-recognition technology, Babbel gives instant feedback on your pronunciation, so you’re prepared to speak like a pro when connecting with international clients.

From Spanish and French to less commonly studied languages like Turkish, Babbel’s got you covered. The short, interactive lessons focus on practical conversation, so you’re learning words and phrases that you can actually use in real business situations. Plus, Babbel’s course content is updated regularly, meaning you’ll always have access to fresh lessons and content as your skills grow.

With Babbel, you’re not just picking up phrases; you’re gaining tools to communicate effectively across cultures. Not to mention, it’s a one-time investment that pays off for years to come.

Get ready to take your business skills global with a lifetime subscription to Babbel Language Learning for $179.97 until October 20 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Source link

AFFILIATE MARKETING

The Cities and States Where Side Hustles Could Earn the Most

Published

1 day ago

October 11, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

The Cities and States Where Side Hustles Could Earn the Most

More than half (54%) of Americans say they’ve started a side hustle to supplement their primary source of income in the last 12 months, according to a survey from MarketWatch Guides.

Although there’s no shortage of potential opportunities — side hustles can span teaching online to cleaning barbecues, creating digital products and so much more — one doesn’t necessarily have the same earning power as the next.

Choosing a side hustle is one crucial piece of the puzzle — but where you decide to start it is another that might make or break your success.

So where in the U.S. do side hustlers have the greatest earning potential?

The team at SideHustles.com conducted a study to find out, analyzing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Community Survey to determine which states and cities have the highest percentage of residents earning self-employment income and their average earnings.

Households in North Dakota, New Jersey and Connecticut earn the most from self-employment income, at $60,221, $55,748 and $55,192, per the data from SideHustle.com.

Lake Charles, Louisiana, has the highest average self-employment earnings at $179,080 per household, followed by San Tan Valley, Arizona ($141,459) and Upland, California ($130,291), the analysis found.

Read on to see the top five cities and states where people earn the most, on average, from self-employment income, according to the study:

Top five cities where self-employed earn the most

Lake Charles, Louisiana: $179,080
San Tan Valley, Arizona: $141,459
Upland, California: $130,291
Newton, Massachusetts: $118,527
Bethesda, Maryland: $110,573

Top five states where self-employed earn the most

North Dakota: $60,221
New Jersey: $55,748
Connecticut: $55,192
Massachusetts: $54,712
California: $53,639

Source link

AFFILIATE MARKETING

I Lead a Company Built Through Decades of Acquisitions. Here’s a Key to Making Them Successful

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

I Lead a Company Built Through Decades of Acquisitions. Here's a Key to Making Them Successful

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Despite the fanfare that often accompanies acquisitions, the reality is that about 80% fail to achieve their desired objectives.

After all, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Inadequate due diligence. Overvaluation. Poor integration planning and execution. A failure to retain employees from the new company.

And yet, businesses spend more than $2 trillion on acquisitions annually. Why? It’s often unrealistic for a company to build all that’s needed to reach its strategic goals fast enough to remain competitive. An acquisition, however, presents an opportunity to quickly expand a business’s ecosystem, tapping into new relationships, distribution channels, products and innovations.

I lead an entertainment technology company — composed of iconic brands like TiVo and DTS — that has grown our ecosystem through 15 acquisitions in the last decade alone. What has the experience taught me?

The success of an acquisition is about more than the nuts and bolts of the deal itself; you’re not just buying a technology, product or service to tack onto your company offerings. You’re also gaining institutional knowledge and bringing thought leaders on board who could help steer your business.

I believe one of the most critical aspects of an acquisition’s success is too often overlooked: the people. Here’s what I’ve learned about how they can be the difference-makers in the lead-up to and aftermath of a deal.

The “why” has to include the “who”

Sure, pre-deal due diligence involves evaluating the potential profits and risks of an acquisition. But it also requires searching for leaders, along with the systems and cultures they’ve developed, that are likely to contribute to your company’s growth.

In dynamic industries like tech, companies often need to pivot to remain competitive. That means it’s essential to ask this question when evaluating incoming leaders: Whose strategic thinking, leadership skills and decision-making style do you want on your side, even if you end up shifting them to new areas in the future?

We learned the importance of this consideration from an early acquisition. The technology we’d bought eventually became outdated, but that CEO has remained an instrumental member of our leadership suite for more than a decade, and an acquired team under his leadership has transitioned to form the foundation of one the most exciting arms of our business: our connected car platform.

Once you’ve found a company with the resources and people that will likely benefit your business and conditions enable sensible valuations, developing an integration plan before the deal closes is imperative.

We accomplish this by identifying change champions — committed leaders who are strong communicators, open to feedback, adaptable, resilient and collaborative — from both companies to rally our people. Then, we create detailed checklists for the first year or more, often including thousands of line items from assigning desks to implementing training events, all to move us swiftly toward our goals of a fully integrated team and business asset.

Use it as an opportunity to reimagine culture

Many people see an acquisition as an opportunity to innovate — adding and evolving products and developing strategies for new markets. One thing they often overlook, though, is the chance to innovate company culture. Specifically, to pick and choose the best of both of what the companies are doing to establish a new normal.

Often, the default assumption is that the acquiring company’s culture will remain dominant. But that can sometimes be a mistake.

Many times, bringing two companies together and fusing their resources and operations creates an entirely new company — one that may benefit from a cultural change.

For example, following a merger, we realized our previous corporate values no longer accurately reflected the new company. So we reset them. It wasn’t always easy: It took a long-term project involving employee input throughout. It also required objectivity at the leadership level to stay open to new ways of working and communicating. However, the initiative resulted in a set of values that more meaningfully illustrated our evolved mission and culture and set us on a path toward greater success.

Move as quickly and transparently as possible

A deal closing can feel like crossing the finish line for those overseeing it. But when you look over your shoulder, you see that most employees are just lining up at the start. The real marathon begins after the closing: It takes steady work to get the rest of the company across the finish line to reap the anticipated gains of the deal.

We’ve found that approaching this integration process with a focus on urgency, sensitivity and transparency is key to retaining as many employees as possible, along with the crucial institutional knowledge and skills they hold.

This means we work fast to communicate our plan openly and honestly. For instance, within 45 days of a recent acquisition, we got leaders physically in front of 80% of the team. This approach aims to mitigate uncertainty by laying out plans and providing clarity on roles and opportunities. Research shows that transparency can engender trust, so when the answer to a question is, “We don’t know yet,” leaders should prioritize being upfront about that.

We also expressed empathy. Acknowledging that it’s natural to feel anxious about uncertainty and change is important to build morale during a time of transition.

About a third of employees from an acquired company tend to leave within the first year due to uncertainty or culture clashes. But time and time again, we’ve seen that a deliberate process has helped to improve on this trend. While it’s not always possible for all employees to stay on, voluntary turnover within a year of our last two acquisitions was just 15%.

Defining success

There are many ways to define a successful acquisition: meeting financial goals, expanding relationships or staking a hold in new markets. We’ve seen this firsthand. For example, strategic acquisitions have allowed our business to significantly amplify our global footprint of streaming devices and open up new monetization opportunities.

While these elements are critically important, we view success even more broadly. It also means our team feels they’re continuously working toward a worthy goal. And viewing people as vital to the success of an acquisition has helped us to assemble a team prepared and motivated to do just that: deliver innovative, extraordinary experiences to our customers.

Source link