How To NOT Be Just Another Digital Marketing Agency.
2020. A year that revolved around zoom, banana bread, dalgona coffee and most importantly – the rise of digital marketing agencies in India! And while we fully support new-age boutique agencies (I personally prefer boutique over biggies), we strongly believe that there’s a lot you should consider before investing your time, effort, and money into one.
“Working at an agency for a year does not give you the expertise to start your own UNLESS you have the right resources and a fully qualified team. If hiring is out of your reach, try going the freelance route with a specific service to build an initial clientele. Digital Marketing is a lot more than just knowing how to use Instagram or create that post on Canva.”
So, if you genuinely think you’re ready to start on your own, how do you stand out? How do you beat that competition?
Team TML reached out to some experts in our industry and created a small guide from our end!
BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM
The six components are Social Media, E-mail Marketing, SEO, PPC, Web Design, and Content Marketing. Each of these components takes years of experience to learn and master. These components also have sub-components that are essential to adapt and understand. Choose what services you want to provide and ensure that you have the right team capable of correctly handling and executing each of the services. If hiring does not seem like the best bet, look for freelancers/agency tie-ups where you can outsource some of these services for your client.
ALWAYS FIND YOUR NICHE
What is your USP?
What is your specialty?
What makes you different?
These are some of the questions you should ask yourself before going out there. In these days and times where this market is saturated with more than a million agencies, you want to make sure you know what your niche is. Whether a kind of industry or a specific service, find your specialization and master it. Don’t try to be the jack of all trades and the master of none.
BE TRANSPARENT WITH YOUR CLIENTS
Always set the right expectations in the very beginning. Be it getting followers on social media or ranking in the top 10 on Google, make sure your clients know it won’t happen overnight. Don’t overpromise and under-deliver. Let them know what you are capable of to win them over, but be realistic. While starting as an agency, it will always be hard to pitch your initial clients BUT instead of focusing on attaining them, concentrate on RETAINING THEM. A happy client will always come back to you, but a client once lost is a lost deal forever.
Over 35 small businesses we spoke to stated that they change over 4 agencies every year. An average of 70% stated that most agencies always over-promise and under-deliver.
LET YOUR WORK SPEAK
While it may be tempting to make that initial buck, always be patient. Let your clients understand your worth via your work. If you do show the results, they will stick by you, and you will grow. Show real numbers and share success stories on your channels.
Let your work do all the talking!
BRANDING MAKES A DIFFERENCE
I can’t stress how much we believe in the importance of branding at That Marketing Lady. Many may disagree, but the way you represent your brand talks a lot about how you will work with someone else’s. Now, this certainly does not mean you need to have thousands of people following you on your social channels (let’s face it, that’s not realistic or required) but, the way you brand your own agency does show how much effort you put into what you are doing. It also shows you have the right eye for quality.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS EVERYTHING
Welcome to the new digital era where your clients are smarter and spoiled with so many options. We can’t stress more how customer experience is everything you ever need to grow your business. Always make room for client feedback and improvement; it will never fail you.
START SMALL
Last but certainly not least, don’t overwhelm yourself. Start small and focus on the growth of the clients you already have instead of continually looking for new ones. Success stories will always lead to more clients and eventually help your business grow.
| Experts speak-
“Before starting an agency, the only thing to consider is how you are going to add value to what you are doing, as in what are you doing differently from what other agencies are doing? If you have 5 of these points ready, then that should suffice.” KAJAL SHAH Founder www.tangerineorm.com |
