By Marketing agencies come in all shapes and sizes, with different specialties and areas of expertise that are sure to match up with whatever your business needs are.
Finding the right one can be tough, though, especially if you’re just starting out or don’t have the funds to hire someone who already has an established reputation in the marketing world.
This guide on how to start a digital marketing agency in Vancouver will help you learn how to make the leap from a marketing department employee to the owner of your own successful agency. Here’s how!
Step 1: Assess where you want to be
The first step to becoming an established digital marketing agency is simply knowing where you want to go. You don’t have to know exactly what kind of services you’ll provide, but it’s important that you know where you are now and how you want things to be different.
The more specific your vision is, the easier it will be for you and your team later on down the line.
Step 2: Establish a business plan
All businesses need a plan. Establishing one is essential if you’re serious about being taken seriously by clients. Clients tend to trust companies who have put in some work upfront, and they’ll be more likely to stick around if you’ve already invested time, money, and effort into your business.
The aim of your business plan should be clarity—to both yourself and potential investors or partners—about what you want out of your business and where it’s going.
So don’t think of it as some boring document that no one will read; instead, think of it as an opportunity for self-exploration and discovery that could help land investment down the road.
Step 3: Structure your team
When you start an agency, it can be tempting to take on every project that comes your way. This is great at first, but you’ll need to scale soon enough—and how you structure your team is how you’ll get there.
Figure out whether each employee will report through one central manager or if everyone reports directly to a principal of their department.
Both structures have merits, so don’t feel pressured into doing one or another just because it seems like everyone else is already doing it; choose what makes sense for your company and what allows you and your employees to work most productively.
Step 4: Set your first 3 goals
Your goals need to be more than just sales related. They also should cover some of your other marketing goals. For example, if you want to develop content that helps build trust with your audience, then one of your goals should be focused on developing one new piece of content each month.
If you’re not sure what types of goals will help drive your business forward, then reach out and ask for help from an expert who has seen many businesses start their way up—your local Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start!
Asking for advice from an expert can help set you on track in terms of coming up with goals that will best position your business for success.
Step 5: Prepare for success
Once your agency is up and running, you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared for success.
For starters, make sure you’ve got an emergency fund. Running your own business is risky enough as it is—you don’t want any surprises when it comes time to pay your employees or cover expenses.
When you run your own digital marketing Vancouver, that’s essentially what they are: expenses. So having an emergency fund will ensure you don’t lose control of your business if there’s ever a revenue shortfall.
