How to start a SMMA?

Yes, I know, everyone is starting a Social Media Marketing Agency!

Well, let me tell you, that there is place for everyone, agencies can only take so many customers, so as long as you offer a good service and promote well and consistently your agency and yourself, there is no reason for you not to be successful.

Yes, I know, so many crash and burn!

Well, like in all businesses it takes work and consistency to be successful, and not everyone has what it takes to be an entrepreneur. So just do it and you will get there!

What does it take to be an entrepreneur?

So, this takes us to my first point. To start an agency, as well as any other business, you have to have what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

As an entrepreneur, there are skills that you have to have or you have to acquire quickly because they are important to your success and the success of your business.

From my experience, an entrepreneur to be successful has to be able to:

·         Communicate

·         Manage

·         Sell

·         Problem Solve

·         Listen

·         Take risks

These are some of the skills that I believe are really important, and not necessarily in that order.

Also what is extremely important is that you have the drive and determination to be successful! Without that, you will quit on the first bumps.

What do you need to start your own SMMA?

Now that we’ve established that you have these qualities and if not you can get them, let’s move on to the next step of how to start a Social Media Marketing Agency.

One of the best things about starting a SMMA instead of other businesses is that it will not take long to start and you don’t need much:

You need to establish your company, give it a name and register it, have a computer and internet access, have social media accounts on the platforms where your audience is more often, you also will need an email address and a phone number. And that’s all, you are ready to go!

You can work on it full-time or part-time, depending on how much time you have. And yes, it’s true you can make a lot of money!

Which services will you offer?

The next step will be to decide which services you will offer and how much you will charge.

The services that you will offer will depend on your skills: are you good at paid advertising, social media management, content creation, web development, SEO, graphic design, lead generation…?

My advice is to start with the service that you are more comfortable with.

How much should you charge your customers?

Well, it’s true that it’s a very lucrative business, but there are two things you need to have into consideration when deciding your prices: your target customer and your competition.

On one hand, you cannot charge too much otherwise you will not be able to get customers, but on the other hand, you can also not charge too low because they might think that there is no quality in your services. Find the price that you will be able to stand by, to defend no matter what.

Who is your customer?

Now you need to find your customers.

You need to decide who your customer is, who your target audience is and where they are.

Some examples of target audiences could: health, fitness, e-commerce, cosmetics, high-end restaurants, hotels, but there are so many others, the choice is yours, and who do you feel more comfortable working with.

A few things to have in consideration:

For you to be able to get them the results they want, your customer needs to have a good reputation and good products or services. And, of course, they need to be able to afford you.

How to prospect? How to find your potential customers?

One good place to start is with your local business, you will be able to easily talk with them and show them what you have to offer.

Whenever you approach a potential customer, make sure you are speaking to the Decision Maker. You don’t want to lose your time talking to people who cannot make a decision. In small companies, you need to speak with the business owner, in bigger companies with the CMO or even the CEO, depending on the company.

It’s important that you get the decision maker’s contact details: name, phone number, and email.

You can also contact them through Linkedin, if they have an account there, nowadays almost everyone that you need has one.

You may also contact them through Instagram or Facebook.

Another way is looking into your existing network or even your family and friends network, they might be able to help put you in contact with the right person and get your first customers.

For local businesses, you can even pass by and see if you get any luck.

Always make a friend of the “gatekeeper”. The gatekeeper can be a secretary, an assistant, a receptionist, someone who will be keeping the gates of the decision-maker. It’s important that they like you so that they will put you through or tell you how to get there.

The best ways to contact your potential customer

After you made a list of companies that you would like to reach out to, what are the best ways to contact them?

As I said before, if you are targeting local businesses, you can even go door to door, what is stopping you? But it’s not the most efficient way, because it will cost you a lot of time.

There are so many platforms at your disposal, so depending on the type of customer, you might contact them via Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram, or any other platform that suits them.

Emails are always a good old-fashion strategy, everyone has an email, just make sure that your email calls the attention of your recipient because they get many emails a day, and please do not spam them or you will be blocked.

My advice is that you don’t use just one way to reach your potential customer, hit them from all angles, contact them in different ways until you get through and get your first meeting, where you will be able to present your services and get the customer.

How to plan your meetings?

Now you’ve got the meeting, so now what?

When you get the meeting, first make sure you are speaking to the decision-maker, the person who will be able to say yes or no at the end of your presentation.

And now, well, first things first, plan it!

I’m sure you did your research on the company before you contacted them in the first place, so now you just have to plan what to say to convince them during the meeting and close the deal.

In the first part of the meeting, get to know their business better:

·         Which products or services do they sell better?

·         Who is their target audience?

·         How are they marketing themselves? Have they worked with an agency before? What were the results?

·         And very important: What is their problem at the moment and how can you help them solve it?

The second part of the meeting will be for you to present your company and services and how you can help them solve their problems.

Go through a competitor’s analysis with them, check their biggest competitors, and show them how they are already getting the results that your potential customers want.

Show them some screenshots of what is possible.

If you already have some results from previous customers, show them some numbers and some case studies.

Make them want to work with you, make them see how valuable it will be and how much they need it.

Close the Deal

Finally, you want to close it:

Now it’s time for them to say yes, for them to tell you they want to work with you.

So, now be direct, ask them if they believe you can help them?

If they say yes, you have now permission to move on, tell them what services they should acquire from you, how much it will cost, and ask them if you have a deal and if you can start working together.

Do not justify your price, say your price and wait for their reaction, act confident.

After they say yes, make sure they immediately make some sort of payment, so they will not be able to change their minds later.

Deliver a good service

Now that you got the customer you have to deliver a good service and get your customer the results promised.

Your services might be:

·         Paid advertising

·         Social media management

·         Content creation

·         Web Development

·         Lead Generation

·         SEO

·         Graphic Design

·         Email Marketing

Whatever your service might be, be aware of the type of customer, the type of business, who is their target audience, and which platforms you should be using to get them the results. Be aware of the trends, the changes in each platform, and of the regulations.

Don’t forget there is also a lot of software out there that will help you deliver a good service.

So, Now You Know!