What Makes a Good Social Media Agency?

We hear about and see a lot of digital marketing agencies, making the market seem quite saturated. Typically, these digital marketing agencies offer a plethora of services ranging from SEO to PPC, to social media as a whole. Some companies prefer to hire the services of a social media agency that specializes in one element of digital marketing such as social media. For those digital marketers who love social media, there’s the possibility of becoming a sole social media agency that focuses on social media and how they can help other companies run their profiles and run successful campaigns. In a world that is so dependent on social media, this can be a great business venture for entrepreneurs who are social media savvy and who want to become their own boss. 

Looking to start your own social media agency but are unsure of how to do so? Read on for advice. 

Develop the Your Social Media and Digital Marketing Skills

As with any career, you need to develop your knowledge and ensure that you know as much as possible when it comes to social media but also digital marketing as a whole. Remember that social media is a product of digital marketing and, although you are going to be focusing on social media, you still need to understand the basis of digital marketing and how they all interlock with one another. Luckily, there are numerous digital marketing and analytics courses from reputable colleges such as Emerson College. Education is the best tool when it comes to starting your own business in such a competitive profession. 

Furthermore, you may want to take business classes so that you know how to run your own business effectively and efficiently. You can learn about creating a successful business plan, having correct goals in place, how to finance, and how to create a team of employees who share the same vision as you. 

Social media, and digital marketing in general, is a fast-moving industry. You may find yourself needing to take extra classes and attending seminars from time to time to ensure that you remain knowledgeable in the latest trends and can apply any algorithm changes to any client campaigns you have running. 

Understand the Big Four Social Media Platforms

Likely, you are already aware of the biggest social media platforms around Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Although there are many other social media platforms such as Pinterest, these are the main four that you should focus your efforts on. However, remain vigilant so that if another social media platform appears and seems promising, you are ready to adapt. You never know when a new social media platform could come along and knock one of the bigger ones off their pedestal. 

Twitter

One of the most popular and well-used social media platforms, Twitter is somewhat of a ‘blogging’ platform that allows its users to send ‘Tweets’ of anything that they wish (within their guidelines). This means a random quote, a thought, or a promotional Tweet that could promote a business or a service. 

Tweets are short posts capped at 180 characters and can include images, videos, and links. Because of their bite-sized posts and ability to use hashtags for added reach, Twitter is great for businesses to create a brand and engage with their target market, and lead them to their website. 

When utilized properly, Twitter can engage with users, increase sales, and boost brand recognition. It can also be a great platform for customer service. 

Facebook

Facebook started off as a place for people to connect with their friends and family and update them with their life through posts. You can upload ‘Statuses’ and create albums where you post photos and videos. You can also include information on yourself such as where you live, your job, and who you are related to, etc. Over the years, though, Facebook has adapted, and businesses can now make business pages that allow customers to leave reviews. Businesses can also post their opening hours, keep customers updated, and provide other useful information.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great platform for businesses that would like to have a professional ambiance for their business. What’s more, LinkedIn is a great way to published blog posts that you have published on your company website. When creating a company page on LinkedIn, make sure to fill in all the information. 

Instagram

Instagram can be a difficult social media platform to get a handle on, especially with its ever-changing algorithms. However, Instagram is a great way to provide additional information and content to your customers through images and story updates. Instagram is ideal for companies that have products to sell as they can post aesthetically pleasing photos of their products online and gain traction on those images. 

Gain Valuable Work Experience

If you have only recently graduated, you may wish to work within a digital marketing or social media agency before starting your own so that you can gain valuable knowledge on how an agency runs. Watching how an agency operates can help you witness what works, what does not, and how you may want to run your business a little bit differently. 

Decide on a Brand

Branding your business can be difficult. After all, it needs to represent your company, your company’s beliefs, and resonate with your target market. Your branding should be timeless and not be altered unless you desperately need to rebrand. 

When deciding on a brand, you need to ensure that your name is relevant to your field and is memorable. You also need to create a logo that is also memorable and that represents your company. Hiring a professional graphic designer to help you conceptualize your business’s logo is the best way to ensure that it is professional-looking and can be resized for all your company’s social media profiles. 

Still unsure on how to create a powerful brand identity? Here is a handy guide. 

Create a Business Plan

You may have heard of this process time and time again, but that is simply because a business plan is essential. The benefits of a business plan are plentiful. Not only does it help you gain capital for your business (it can persuade people to invest in your start-up), but it also ensures that you have goals to work towards and milestones for you to achieve. Without goals, you may work aimlessly and fail to achieve anything substantial. This may result in your business failing in its first few years. 

Other benefits of a business plan include:

• Having a strategic focus
• Seeing your cash flow and managing it
• Setting priorities and sticking to them
• Creating a hierarchy
• Making it easier to adapt the business plan if needed

Your business plan should also provide you with a greater understanding of your target market. Knowing your business inside out, and who you are marketing to, can make it easier for you to plan your own marketing campaigns. At the end of the day, if you do not know how to run a successful campaign for your business, how can you be expected to run one for another company?

Get Your Company’s Social Media On-Brand

As previously mentioned, it is important to have your own company’s brand on point and on-brand if you are to set a good example. Consistency is key so that potential clients and customers can recognize your branding. After all, a business wants its branding to be recognizable and memorable. However, doing this can be difficult, but this is what your social media agency is here to help your clients achieve. Therefore, you need to lead by example.

Make sure you have a memorable logo that can be created into a profile picture for your social media accounts. You will also want to create a banner image for LinkedIn and Twitter. Once your images are created, you will need to consider your social media account’s bios. Keeping your bios short and sweet so that they are to the point but information can be difficult but having bios that are too long can be overwhelming and prompt users to skip your bio altogether. 

Make sure that you fill in all the sections of each social media profile. This will ensure that visitors can find the information that they are looking for.

Learn how to write an effective social media bio here. 

Social media is prevalent in our society, so it is no surprise that social media agencies can be a profitable business prospect for entrepreneurs looking to start their own digital marketing agency. There are no signs of social media becoming redundant anytime soon. If anything, there are signs of social media becoming a much more powerful tool for digital marketers. Therefore, if you are looking for a business venture within the digital marketing industry, why not consider focusing on social media and starting your very own social media agency? This can be an exciting and lucrative business idea for you.