start a digital marketing agency business plan & documents

How to Write a Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan (with PDF Template)

SEOptimer now serves over 2,000 digital agencies around the world and through the years we've had the chance to connect with many of our agency customers to understand their early days in starting their agency.

This is incredibly interesting to us because it helps us understand where and how they plan to grow so we can help build the features they need in SEOptimer.

This article is the 3rd in our series focused on starting a new digital agency. For some useful prior reading be sure to check out our previous articles:

• How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency : a comprehensive guide covering typical agency business models, services, hiring, training, new business, day to day management and more!
• Digital Agency Lean Canvas : a digital agency business model on a single page! The lean canvas is a popular documentation methodology borrowed from the tech startup world.

Don't be dismayed if it feels like there's a lot of other competing digital agencies in your city. This is perfectly normal. Digital marketing services like local SEO, for example, are dominated by small agencies.

Search Engine Land reported that over 50% of local SEO agencies have 10 or fewer clients. Forbes Council Member Jon Hall says, this keeps the industry "weird" - aka diverse as its not dominated by a small handful of big agencies.

The first step in launching a new digital marketing agency is to write a plan. In this guide, we'll cover two of the more traditional ways to define a business plan document with handy downloadable templates:

• Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Document (DOCX & PDF) Template
• Creative Agency Business Plan Deck (PPTX) Template

What is a Digital Marketing Business Plan?

A digital marketing business plan outlines your strategy to attract and retain customers using digital channels. It encompasses your goals, target audience, competitive landscape, marketing tactics, and financial projections.

A well-crafted plan serves as a blueprint for your marketing efforts, ensuring you remain focused and organized. It also helps you identify potential pitfalls and areas for improvement. 

For entrepreneurs and small business owners, having a digital marketing business plan is critical. It not only helps secure funding but also ensures that all team members are aligned with the company's vision and objectives.

It also provides a framework to measure success and make data-driven decisions.

Why Do You Need a Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan?

The days of mandatory 50+ page business plans are long gone. The choice is now yours as to whether you define your digital agency business plan in an in-depth strategic document or not.

Some agency founders find it useful to brainstorm this way and document their thought process in a long-form fashion across many pages.

Other founders prefer creating shorter slide decks, others opt for a 1-page lean canvas version or some even write their plan in a wiki or business planning tool.

There is no right or wrong way to document your plan. You need to find the documentation method that suits you best. If you're unsure what suits you best, the following factors may help you decide:

Consideration #1: Who is the Audience?

Think about who this document is for. Who will read it? In some cases it will just be you and the founding team. If you are raising money, obviously your investors will be a key audience.

You might also have business partners or board members who may be an audience too. When thnking through all these different groups, work backwards from the most optimal presentation format.

Consideration #2: Seek an Unbiased Third-party Opinion

Devin Schumacher is the Founder of SEO agency SERP and says it's easy to get swept up in your own overly optimistic projections.

"Ask an experienced agency founder you trust or admire to sanity-check your plan. Seeking an objective opinion from a third-party detached from your new business is vital."

Devin makes a great point. This type of peer review methodology is commonplace in other industries but sometimes lacking amongst agency founders.

Make sure you get at least 1 other unbiased opinion from someone who has already achieved success in your niche.

Don't fall into the trap of asking a friend or your accountant or someone you know personally to review your plan. Doing so will give you a biased opinion.

You need an unbiased opinion from someone willing to give you objective feedback.

Consideration #3: Stand your Ground

The whole point of a business plan is to take the time and effort to research the market, your competitors and potential clients. This document will distill all your insights into a strategic plan you can operationalize.

As is always the case, unexpected distractions masquerading as opportunities (rightly or wrongly) will pop up in your field of view demanding your attention.

Perhaps it's a new client opportunity with a project slightly adjacent to your niche. Perhpas a hiring opportunity for a role you didn't plan to hire yet.

Sometimes the hardest thing is to say no, when you're in the mindset of taking every opportunity for growth.

During these situations, revisit your agency business plan and remind yourself of your focus area niche and how you planned to grow within that niche.

Consideration #4: But, Be Okay With Change

There's no shame in pivoting.

In fact this balance between sticking to the plan and pivoting the plan needs to be navigated by every digital agency founder. It's not easy and often you will be second-guessing yourself.

"Every agency owner I know has had to massively adjust their target audience, pricing structure, competitor analysis, and service offerings based on the way they grow over the first 2-5 years."

Rebekah says that founders need to be prepared for change, afterall, digital marketing is in constant flux and evolution, so change is the norm and we need to write business plans with flexibility in mind.

Trust your performance metrics and continue to do the things that have the biggest quantifiable business impact.

Typical Business Plan structures

We mentioned previously that there's no right or wrong way to document your business plan. So with that said, let's look at some typical marketing agency business plan templates that you can use.

After considering all the factors above, choose the structure that works for you and your stakeholders best. We've outlined six of the more common options below:

Option #1: Written Business Document

This is the more traditional (and still valid) way to describe your business. A written business plan document in MS Word or Google Docs is still the most common way to document your digital marketing agency business plan.

This type of business plan is considered "long-form", ie: longer in length and suited to more descriptive language. Expect to write longer rationales, longer explanations with plenty of space for evidence, research, insights and strategy.

This type of plan will likely be 30+ pages and feel comprehensive. This comprehensiveness is especially needed if external investors or business partners are involved who need to be convinced of the robustness of your plan.

Option #2: Slide Deck

The PowerPoint Presentation (or Google Slides or Keynote) has become the go-to corporate communication format.

Digital agency founders spend most of their time communicating to staff, clients and stakeholders in PowerPoint so it makes sense to use this format for the purposes of communicating the agency's overall business plan.

The fundamental difference between this option and the written document, is that a slide deck is a presentable format. So typically you might be in the room with your business partners, walking through the presentation on the screen.

Whereas in option #1, a written document is not a compelling way to present an idea. It's much more suited as a sent document to be consumed in isolation.

That's not to say that a slide deck can't be utilized this way, it's just more common that you would be presenting and talking through your plan with the slides serving as a visual backup to what you say.

There's also a good argument for doing both (ie written document AND slide deck). It comes down to who all the stakeholders are (eg investors, business partners or just you) and whether you intend to present your plan or just document your plan.

Option #3: Lean Canvas

The Lean Canvas developed by leanstack.com is a business plan on a page split into 10 boxes. This planning document has become very popular in the tech/startup world and has since been adopted in many other industries, including digital agencies.

Be sure to check out our previous article explaining how to use a Lean Canvas for your agency .

The entire business plan fits on a single page which means you obviously need to sweat on every single world and ensure only the most important details are included.

We are big supporters of this format because this helps you prioritize and focus your efforts down to the fundamental aspects of your new business.

Option #4: Wiki

In the context of a business, a Wiki is usually an internal website with multiple interlinking articles. The biggest Wiki in the world is Wikipedia and if you want to get really meta, check out Wikipedia's wiki about wikis :

"A wiki (/wɪki/ WIK-ee) is a hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience directly using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project."

Wiki's are generally perceived as internal knowledge bases so if your business plan has executional detail, this might be a good format for documenting processes and methodologies for staff.

Option #5: General Planning Tool

Tools like Notion and Trello have grown massively in recent years as more people are working remotely and more work in general is being done collaboratively online.

These types of planning tools are designed to be multi-purpose and fall somewhere between a wiki and a specialized business planning tool.

How to Construct the Business Plan

Now that we've covered the typical business plan structures let's look at the specifics of how you actually go about constructing the business plan and each of the main tasks you need to perform and sections of the business plan.

Market Research Data Gathering

Customer/client research.

Rebekah Edwards, who we spoke to previously stresses the importance of market research with as many potential clients as you can. She interviewed several businesses in their target market when developing their service offerings and pricing.

Some of the questions she thought were most helpful included:

• With no other information, what do you think X would cost from an agency? (X being the service in question.)
• What is the biggest roadblock for you to accomplish X in-house? (X being basic content/SEO projects, such as article creation/editing/uploading or strategizing new keywords.)
• How would you typically search for a digital marketing agency? (Referrals, social media, Google search, etc. — this helped us understand how to best market our services)
• If you already work with a digital marketing agency of any kind, what stood out? Why did you sign on the dotted line?
• Have there been digital marketing agencies you've specifically decided not to work with for any particular reason? What were the red flags or the issues with a fit that led you to say no?
• What matters most to you when working with a digital marketing agency? (Examples: data/analytics, frequent communication, hitting deadlines every time, price, niche of expertise, etc.)

Answers to these questions are invaluable as they help you position and market your new digital agency based on customer insight.

Competitor Research

The importance of competitor research goes without saying. It's vital you have a good understanding of how your competitors are going to market, how they sell, who they target and what their rough price points are.

If you have a friend who owns a small business, ask them to mystery shop at a competitor so they can report back to you what the sales process was like.

The way you position and sell your services should be informed by a combination of both customer insights and competitor insights.

Addressing client needs whilst maintaining a unique selling proposition will set your new digital agency up for success!

Building out the Business Plan

Download our template: digital marketing agency business plan document.

To make edits to the document make sure to download our DOCX template which you can edit directly in Microsoft Word. However if you would prefer a printable PDF, we also provide this option too.

Use these templates as a starting point to help you draft your digital marketing business plan:

Below are some of the highlight areas of the plan:

Market Research Findings

We suggest conducting three types of research to inform your marketing agency business plan:

• Qualitative research like one-on-one interviews, focus groups and meetings with prospective clients
• Quantitative reserach like online surveys, mass emails and multivariate testing
• Competitor analysis to determine their strengths and weaknesses

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and Service Offering

Nailing your USP will be tough especially if you are in a competitive industry / city. Use the previous market research tasks to discover where the gaps are in the market and leverage these insights to position your new agency to be competitive AND different.

Perform a SWOT analysis based on your new USP. Then you can determine your actual service offerings and pricing strategy.

Go-To-Market (GTM) Plan and Org Structure

Define your target market - the exact client types who you want to sell to and list the marketing and advertising activities that you will perform that would be most effective in reaching these types of people.

Also list your people (this might not be many on day 1!), sources of advice and support as well as the strategies you'll use to retain your staff and build their skills and knowledge.

Goals Sales Forecasting

This marketing agency business plan template includes goal setting for the next year and goal setting for the next 3 years. This page is structured to help you set SMART goals.

SMART goals are:

• Specific : In the '[Enter a goal]' section describe your goal clearly and ensure you attach a person responsible in the 'Who's responsible' section.
• Measureable : Ensure the actions you list in the 'Actions to achieve goal' have an objective outcome
• Achievable : Ensure you sense-check your goals with your team and all agree that they are attainable
• Relevant : Ensure this is a priority goal and will help your new agency grow
• Time-bound : Enter a due date to ensure the goal doesn't get forgotten

Use the Cash flow forecast table as a simple way to visualize cash-on-hand in your first 12 months. Add rows to estimate your monthly expenses like payroll, rent, utilities, subscriptions, insurance, fees and other ongoing costs.

Tools and Tech

Finally, list out all the tools and technology your new agency will likely need to run an efficient operation. We've listed SEOptimer for you already because it's one of the best, low-cost lead generation tools for your agency.

Over 2,000 digital agencies use SEOptimer to generate white label site audits and embed an audit form on their agency website to capture new lead details.

Creative Agency Business Plan Slide Deck PPTX Template

If you prefer a slide deck template, use this creative agency business plan example in PowerPoint format:

Sources of Funding for Your Digital Marketing Agency

Starting a digital marketing agency requires initial capital. Here are some sources of funding to consider:

Bootstrapping

Bootstrapping involves using your savings or revenue generated from the business to fund your operations. It's a common approach for entrepreneurs who want to maintain control and avoid debt.

While this method requires careful financial planning, it allows you to grow organically and reinvest profits back into the business.

Small Business Loans

Small business loans from banks or credit unions can provide the necessary capital to get your agency off the ground. These loans typically have lower interest rates compared to other financing options.

However, they may require a solid business plan and collateral. Research different lenders and compare their terms to find the best fit for your needs.

Venture Capital

If you have a scalable business model with high growth potential, venture capital (VC) funding might be an option. VCs invest in startups in exchange for equity.

While this can provide substantial funding, it also means giving up some control over your business. Make sure your goals align with those of potential investors before pursuing this route.

Crowdfunding

Platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow you to raise funds from a large number of people. Crowdfunding not only provides capital but also helps validate your idea and build a community of supporters.

Create a compelling campaign that clearly communicates your value proposition and the benefits of supporting your agency.

Angel Investors

Angel investors are individuals who provide capital to startups in exchange for equity or convertible debt. They often offer mentorship and valuable industry connections.

To attract angel investors, you need a strong business plan, a clear value proposition, and evidence of your ability to execute.

Do You Need an LLC to Start a Digital Marketing Agency?

A Limited Liability Company (LLC) is a popular business structure for small businesses and startups. It provides personal liability protection, meaning your personal assets are shielded from business debts and lawsuits.

LLCs have the option to be taxed as a sole proprietorship, partnership, S corporation, or C corporation. This flexibility allows you to choose the best tax treatment for your situation

Having "LLC" in your business name can enhance your agency's credibility and professionalism. It signals to clients and partners that you are serious about your business and committed to its success.

That being said, you don't have to have an LLC when starting your digital marketing agency but it might be a good idea to establish an LLC for the reasons mentioned above.

Crafting a digital marketing agency business plan is essential for entrepreneurs and small business owners. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a comprehensive plan that sets your agency up for success.

Tim's background is in digital marketing working for both large and small digital agencies and diverse client types. He has a passion for tech, software and staying up to date on the latest search engine news.

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Start a Digital Marketing Agency [Business Plan + Documents + 20 Templates]

If you're looking to start a digital marketing agency, you’ve come to the right place.

There are over 5 million new businesses started every year , and the need for digital marketing grows with each one.

While the demand for these services is soaring, success in digital marketing still requires a thorough understanding of both internal and external operations. 

That’s why our experts at Slam Media Lab (Slam) are breaking down the steps and strategies you’ll need to build, operate, and scale your agency. 

Founded during the pandemic and based in San Francisco , Slam has scaled to a $2M agency focused on Webflow , SEO , branding , and content marketing. 

This growth wasn’t magic; it was the product of consistent and effective strategies, which we’ll share in this guide.

While this article provides a comprehensive foundation for your agency, we’ve assembled an entire course dedicated to those looking to go the full nine yards.

In our How to Start an Agency course, you’ll find everything from how we got our first clients to ways to crush your sales process, arming you with the knowledge and resources needed to build a successful digital marketing agency.

Understanding the Types of Digital Marketing Agencies

Before you can offer your digital marketing services, it’s important to determine which types of digital marketing you’ll provide. 

While it’s possible to start a full-service digital marketing agency, building knowledge and authority across all types of digital marketing services will require a significant amount of time and resources. 

By selecting a specific service, you can diminish this learning curve, obtain better results, and establish credibility for your services. 

These services might include:

• PPC Advertising
• Social Media Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Content Marketing
• Influencer Marketing
• Email Marketing

To determine which service you’ll offer, consider your skill set and interests, as well as any relevant work experience. In our How to Start an Agency course, we break down the various service types to help you make this distinction. 

Using this resource, take some time to identify a service that you find interesting and start learning everything you can about your specific field. To further expedite your growth, you should also focus on and pick a niche, which we’ll dive into later in the article.

Once you've determined your service, you can move onto the next step: the legal foundation.

Starting a Digital Marketing Agency Legally

Before you can onboard clients and send invoices, you’ll need to consider your legal structure. In the U.S., some of the most common business structures for new agencies include:

• Sole Proprietorship
• Limited Liability Company (LLC)
• S-Corporation

A sole proprietorship requires no legal registration, but also provides no legal distinction between the owner and business, often causing issues with record keeping and liability due to the lack of separation between personal and business liability.

To open a business bank account and keep accurate records, you’ll need to establish a formal business entity like an LLC or S-Corporation. For new digital marketing agencies, an LLC is often the go-to structure due to the low cost and separation of business and personal liability. 

As you scale, you might consider transitioning to an S-Corporation , which could help you save on taxes by paying yourself as an employee.

Once your formation documents have been approved, you’ll need to apply for an employer identification number (EIN) . This number is essentially your agency’s social security number, allowing you to open a business account at nearly any credit union.

Business bank accounts allow you to separate personal and business transactions, aiding in tax reporting and liability distinction. By setting up your account before providing services, you can establish a secure foundation of record keeping with your personal and business assets separated.

With your legal and financial foundation in place, you can then move on to building, operating, and scaling your digital marketing agency.

7 Steps to Start a Digital Marketing Agency

Once your agency is recognized legally, you can begin getting recognized by clients. In this section, we’ll break down how to do this in 7 steps:

Identifying Your Target Client

• Determining Your Services & Pricing

Establishing Your Operational Processes

Acquiring clients for your agency, establishing a strong online presence, getting recognized with seo.

• Expanding Your Network and Audience 

Just like when selecting a specific service, identifying a target client will make it much easier to build knowledge and authority in your niche.

Through targeting a specific type of business, you can develop an understanding of their unique challenges and goals, which would be nearly impossible when serving all industries. 

By identifying these challenges and goals, you can craft marketing material and sales strategies that resonate with your target client. 

For example, an HVAC company and an athleisure brand face completely different struggles on a day-to-day basis. By crafting each message to speak directly to your desired client, you can ensure your content resonates with their experiences.

Beyond the benefits of targeted copywriting, serving a specific client makes it much easier to get involved with groups in the industry.

Instead of joining groups like “US Business Owners,” which are crowded by competing marketing agencies, you can join specific groups, such as “Gym Owners in Arizona.” While targeted groups have far fewer members, it’s much easier to establish yourself as an expert and become the go-to agency for that group’s members.

Whether it’s through valuable posts or insightful messages, understanding and connecting with your target client allows you to expedite your growth and boost your niche authority. 

In the How to Start an Agency masterclass, we’ll share everything you need to know to identify the optimal target persona for your digital marketing agency.

Determining Your Pricing Structure

With your service and target client in mind, the next step is to determine your pricing structure. In most cases, pricing structures fall under one or more of the following:

• Project: The price is calculated using a predetermined formula. To determine the price, estimate the total project costs, including labor, and add a margin to protect profits.
• Performance: The payment is determined by your results. This method can be unpredictable, but it is often effective for high-performing agencies. 
• Time: The total price is based on an agreed-upon hourly amount. This structure ensures the project covers your labor cost, but it is often unfavorable for large-scale projects.

By using the same pricing structure for each client, you can simplify your quotation process, improve your financial analytics, and ensure a consistent profit margin. 

However, there’s a lot more to consider than just the structure when pricing your services. Knowing this, we’ve dedicated an entire module of the How to Start an Agency course to breaking down how to find the perfect price for your services. 

With your target client and service pricing in place, you can begin onboarding your first clients. To do this, you can employ a wide variety of strategies, which you’ll also find in the How to Start an Agency course. 

However, the foundation of client acquisition is quite simple. To get your first clients, you’ll need to do the following:

• Establishing a strong online presence
• Developing a valuable content strategy
• Expanding your network and audience.

When clients are searching for a digital marketing agency, first impressions are everything. Because of this, it’s important to build a website and establish social profiles, providing relevant value to attract and engage your target client.

To build your website, some of the best website design tools include:

• Webflow (Our favorite at Slam!)
• Squarespace

It’s also helpful to establish a presence on other platforms to maximize your reach, whether it’s your Google Business profile, Clutch listing, or a local directory.

Once you’ve established your agency online, you’ll need to provide relevant value to rank, engage, and convert. 

To do this, you’ll need to understand and employ SEO strategies while designing and managing your website. This includes everything from researching and implementing specific keywords to building authority within search engines.

In Slam’s How to Start and Grow an Agency course, we break down our exact processes to design an SEO content strategy for your marketing agency.

In our resources section, you’ll also find a wealth of additional tools and templates to help you with everything from organization to optimization.

Developing a Valuable Content Strategy

To develop this strong online presence, you’ll need to employ a comprehensive content strategy. 

These strategies might include sharing informative blog articles, social media guides, and eventually, testimonials from clients who’ve found success with your services. 

Through sharing this content, you’ll establish credibility at the first touch point, saving you the hassle of proving your worth during the sales process.

To define your agency’s content strategy, implement the following 5-step process:

• Establish your brand strategy and identity
• Determine which platforms you’ll focus on
• List your target audience’s questions and challenges
• Create content for each of these queries
• Schedule and share content consistently

By implementing these steps, you’ll develop a targeted audience and position yourself as the marketing expert in their industry. A comprehensive content writing strategy also helps you expand your reach. 

When Google, or your social media platform, recognizes that you consistently provide valuable content that your target audience engages with, you’ll gain authority among both your audience and your marketing platform.

This means your content will be shown to more users, providing targeted and organic leads for your digital marketing agency.

Expanding Your Network and Audience

While inbound strategies will help you develop a consistent flow of targeted leads, proactively expanding your network will often be the quickest way to find your first clients.

By providing value to your target client and connecting with them on platforms like LinkedIn, you’ll be able to rapidly expand your network and audience.  

Networking may also include attending local events, engaging in relevant groups, or connecting directly with business owners. 

A comprehensive network will continue to provide value, often serving as the lead source of referrals for agencies. In the How to Start an Agency Masterclass, we’ll uncover Slam’s cold outreach and content strategies, allowing you to turn your LinkedIn profile into a lead-generating machine.

A scalable agency is founded on clear operations. By establishing these processes early on, you'll mitigate the growing pains that often come with a rapidly expanding client base. 

As your client base grows and you begin to hire employees, these processes will serve as a benchmark to ensure your agency retains quality at scale. 

While these processes can outline any aspect of your agency’s conduct, some of the most critical include client onboarding, communication, and project management.

Client Onboarding

From your first client interaction to establishing service terms, a consistent agency onboarding process allows you to easily identify what works and what doesn’t.

In your client onboarding operations, the basic framework includes:

• Identify client needs and goals
• Tailor an effective solution
• Agree on pricing and deliverables

Each of these operational processes should contain specific information detailing how you interact with the client at this stage . As more and more clients go through your set processes, you’ll be able to effectively collect data on where sales are lost, allowing you to continuously optimize your operations.

Communication

After the sale, communication is still a key factor in retaining clients and optimizing internal operations. An effective communication process will outline the means of communication, as well as the necessary client touch points.

For example, you might mandate that your team reach out to each client on a weekly basis to discuss challenges and opportunities. By doing so, you’ll establish a stronger relationship with your client, increasing the customer lifetime value .

These communications can go through a number of channels, such as:

While email is often sufficient for new agencies, software like Slack and Discord provide a plethora of tools, designed to streamline communication both internally and externally.

Project Management

Once you’ve onboarded your clients and established clear communication guidelines, the next key consideration is how you’ll manage your projects. 

As your client base grows, you’ll need to integrate clear guidelines detailing the organization and management of each project. This ensures that your services are scalable and that your service quality is not hindered by a surplus of clients.

For project management, you’ll likely seek one of the following tools:

• Google Sheets

By managing your projects with these tools, you can track your deliverables and deadlines, ensuring each project is on-schedule. At Slam, we use Notion to organize client accounts, project timelines, meeting notes, and any important information for a project. 

To help you format your Notion account, we’ve also developed a Notion document template to help ensure your agency remains on-task and on-time.

Financial Accounting

The final key operation is accounting. To start and scale a digital marketing agency, you must have a clear understanding of your finances, including monetary key performance indicators (KPIs) and accounting processes.

By monitoring your marketing agency KPIs , such as cost per acquisition, profit margins, and average lifetime value, you can optimize your finances and ensure your agency’s pricing is profitable and scalable.

To track and optimize your finances, the following tools are often used:

Starting off, Stripe is often the go-to solution for transactions and analysis, which can be supplemented with additional data through customized spreadsheets on Google Sheets. 

As you scale, you’ll likely seek a more comprehensive solution, like QuickBooks or Xero, to effectively monitor and analyze higher volumes of transactions.

Ready to Start a Digital Marketing Agency with Slam?

With this article, you’re well equipped to begin your journey into reaching these clients. However, this is just the foundation. 

If you’re serious about building a 7-figure digital marketing agency like Slam, you’ll need to invest time and resources into understanding each aspect of your business and services.

Fortunately, you don’t have to look too far. We’ve compiled everything we’ve learned from scaling Slam Media Lab in our How to Start an Agency Masterclass.

Each module breaks down a critical step in building a successful marketing agency, sharing over 20 agency tools, templates, and 10 hours of guides throughout the course.

• Blueprint to creating your agency
• My Journey (Slam’s Origin Story)
• The role of an agency CEO
• The company setup
• Finding your niche
• How to get your first clients
• Setting up services & pricing
• Crafting a winning proposal

Through hard work, consistency, and the implementation of these strategies, you can build, operate, and scale a digital marketing agency with confidence.

Liked this? Check out our specific guides for your agency type!

• How to Start a Content Marketing Agency 
• How to Start a Creative Agency 
• How to Start a Facebook Ad Industry 
• How to Start a PR Agency 
• How to Start a Google Ads Agency
• How to Start an SEO Agency  
• How to Start a Social Media Marketing Agency
• How to start an Email Marketing Agency
• How to grow a Digital Marketing Agency

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Slam Media Lab is an award-winning digital agency hyper-focused on SEO, web design, content marketing, and brand design. We help impact organizations shaping the future win online through conversion-driven design.

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• Sample Business Plans
• IT, Staffing & Customer Service

Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan

Digital marketing is the need of the hour for every business around. Be it expanding the presence of your business or growing one from scratch, digital marketing can come in very handy.

And that’s when a digital marketing agency comes into the picture. As there are a variety of things a digital marketing agency can do, these agencies have a wide spectrum of opportunities too.

And if you are a creative individual who has good people skills and a good knowledge of social media, a digital marketing agency can become a profitable business for you.

All you need is a digital marketing agency business plan to help you get going.

Industry Overview

The global digital marketing industry stood at a whopping value of 49.43 billion US dollars in 2020, and with the rapid growth of social media and online business promotions, it wouldn’t slow down anytime soon.

The major reason for this growth is the rising use of social media and the internet to gain information about products and services as well as to buy the same.

Also, content consumption is increasing every day, which contributes immensely to the growth of digital marketing.

Apart from all the above, as digital marketing is cheaper than traditional marketing methods its popularity is increasing, especially among small businesses.

Say goodbye to boring templates

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Things to Consider Before Writing a Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan

Have a good team.

Digital marketing involves a variety of skills and specializations. Having a team of individuals who complement each other’s skills can take you a long way. Hence, it is essential to have a team that can help you through complicated projects and comes up with unique ideas to help your agency stand out. Also, if you get to combine it with brilliant execution, your agency is highly likely to get an upper hand over your competitors.

Build your online presence

Your online presence is not only important for promoting your business but also proof of how skilled you are at your job. After all, if you can build your business’s presence your clients are more likely to trust you with their businesses.

Pick your niche

As almost any business or organization can use the help of a digital marketing agency, it is essential to pick one that suits you the best before getting started. It helps you develop your expertise in that area and get better at more complex projects. Which eventually helps your business become profitable and build your brand’s identity as well.

Build a system to help you keep up with the trends

Marketing and social media today are highly influenced by trends. Memes are ruling the digital space and people like to see different perspectives from a brand on popular topics. Hence, it is important to develop a system that helps you stay updated with trending topics as well as new methodologies.

Chalking out Your Business Plan

With each passing day, the number of internet users is increasing. The world is changing much faster with the help of the internet, smartphones, smart televisions, and many other digital gadgets & technology.

Marketing is all about reaching out to your potential audience in all possible ways. Digital marketing is the best of them because people are spending most of their time on the internet.

Digital marketing includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), Affiliate Marketing, Native Advertising, Email Marketing, Online PR, Sponsored content, Backlinks Generation, and many more services.

Before you start your digital marketing agency, it is important to have a clear business plan.

Writing Your Business Plan

If you are planning to start a new digital marketing business , the first thing you will need is a business plan. Use our sample Digital Marketing Business Plan created using upmetrics business plan software to start writing your business plan in no time.

Before you start writing your business plan for your new digital marketing agency, spend as much time as you can reading through some examples of  advertising and marketing-related business plans .

Reading sample business plans will give you a good idea of what you’re aiming for, and also it will show you the different sections that different entrepreneurs include and the language they use to write about themselves and their business plans.

We have created this sample Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan for you to get a good idea about what a perfect digital marketing business plan should look like and what details you will need to include in your stunning business plan.

Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Outline

This is the standard digital marketing agency business plan outline which will cover all the important sections that you should include in your business plan.

• Introduction
• Mission Statement
• Vision Statement
• Keys to Success
• 3 Year profit forecast
• Company Ownership
• SWOT Analysis
• Market Trends
• Target Market
• Competitive Advantage
• Payment Options
• Sales Forecast
• Sales Yearly
• Detailed Sales Forecast
• Personnel Plan
• Average Salaries
• Important Assumptions
• Brake-even Analysis
• Profit Yearly
• Gross Margin Yearly
• Projected Cash Flow
• Projected Balance Sheet
• Business Ratios

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Download a sample digital marketing business plan

Need help writing your business plan from scratch? Here you go;  download our free digital marketing business plan pdf  to start.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your digital marketing business. Use the example business plan as a guide for writing your own.

After getting started with Upmetrics , you can copy this sample business plan into your business plan and modify the required information and download your digital marketing agency business plan pdf or doc file. It’s the fastest and easiest way to start writing your business plan.

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About the Author

Upmetrics Team

Upmetrics is the #1 business planning software that helps entrepreneurs and business owners create investment-ready business plans using AI. We regularly share business planning insights on our blog. Check out the Upmetrics blog for such interesting reads. Read more

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Everything you need to start, run and scale a digital marketing agency

Your complete guide to running a successful client-facing business.

Design by Alice Korenyouk

Ido Lechner

Anyone who's ever built a digital marketing agency knows there’s a lot to juggle: the time crunch of short deadlines, working with clients who ghost , trying to win back angry clients , managing a team of designers (without micro managing a team of designers).

Agency life isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s also rewarding for marketers who want more control over their work. And a blueprint, like the Wix Studio -approved one below, can help you manage the logistics of launching, running and scaling your digital marketing agency. Jump ahead to the section most relevant to you.

What is a digital marketing agency?

Is a digital marketing agency a good business to start, how to start and run a digital marketing agency in 10 steps, the tools you need to start a digital marketing agency in 2024.

If you're already looking into starting a digital agency, you probably know what it is. But here's a quick overview so you know what you're getting into.

A digital marketing agency uses online strategies and platforms to promote businesses, increase brand awareness and drive measurable growth. Today's digital marketing agencies are both creative and strategic, merging data and emotion to drive results for their clients.

Here’s a closer look at what digital marketing agencies do.

Craft digital strategies: Digital marketing agencies begin by developing a comprehensive digital strategy tailored to a client’s business goals. This means understanding the target audience, analyzing competitors and identifying the best digital channels to use (like social media, email marketing or content marketing).

Optimize websites for search: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a cornerstone of digital marketing. Agencies optimize their clients’ websites to rank higher in search results, so potential customers can find their products or services online.

Create engaging content: Content is king in the digital realm. Digital marketing agencies produce high-quality, engaging content—blogs, videos, infographics and social media posts—that resonates with the target audience and drives engagement. This content not only attracts visitors but also builds trust and authority.

Social media marketing: Social media is a powerful tool for brand building and customer engagement. Agencies handle all aspects of social media marketing, like developing a content calendar, creating posts, managing interactions and running paid social campaigns. They know how to leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter to boost visibility and engagement.

Email marketing: Agencies design and implement email marketing campaigns that nurture leads and convert them into loyal customers. They craft personalized emails that provide value, promote products and keep the brand top-of-mind.

Analyze data: Data analysis is crucial for measuring the success of digital marketing efforts. Agencies use analytics tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs), such as website traffic, conversion rates and ROI. Then—and this next part is key—they share insights and next steps.

Yes, but it's not for the faint of heart. Digital marketing agencies have serious profit potential in the growing digital economy. But you 'l l need to stay up-to-date on the latest web trends, compete with other digital marketing agencies and manage increasingly demanding clients if you're going to succeed. Still, starting a digital marketing agency is rewarding work for creatives committed to making an impact for their clients.

Take time to think through your plan, and you’ll set yourself up for success (and streamlined operations) later. Address the points below through a detail-oriented lens; the more specificity you sprinkle in, the stronger your foundation will be.

01. Write a business plan

Your business plan is basically your GPS as you move forward. Check out this free business plan template for your new agency , and make sure to:

Define your business idea

Clarify the market and competitive landscape

Outline your marketing strategy

State your value proposition

Identify/anticipate potential risks

Seek investments and strike partnerships

Set benchmarks, goals and key performance indicators (KPIs)

A cohesive business plan is the best way to start your agency. Make these points explicit in a singular document to articulate your vision and provide a framework with which to assess the impact of possible decisions. Above all, a business plan provides clarity and context, answering stakeholders’ most frequent questions.

Remember: business plans lay the groundwork for your strategy, but you need to stay flexible should any unexpected moments arise (spoiler: they will). Write one with intentions to follow through, but pivot when necessary.

02. Determine your niche, audience and services

Who do you sell to?

It’s a simple question at face value, but the answer changes a lot about your business. For starters, your ideal client might have specific needs that others don’t, which can impact what services you can offer, or how much you charge for them.

Begin by identifying what niche your agency fills in the market. In other words, how are you different?

You can do this by identifying your USP (Unique Selling Proposition), or what you offer that no one else can replicate. To find your USP, run a SWOT analysis (sometimes called a ‘situational assessment’) to gauge how you differ from other agencies. This includes articulating your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as they relate to your competitors in order to determine what you alone bring to the table.

Note: There should be a natural fit between your USP and your ideal customer. Find yours, and your agency will click with your intended audience, because it speaks to who they are (or want to be).

03. Set your sales and marketing strategy

How you reach your audience is as important as who you reach. Start by identifying where your prospects spend most of their time. Is it LinkedIn? A niche community? Maybe they listen to a daily podcast during their commute? Or, perhaps they’re an avid blog reader and would sign up for a newsletter.

Enter: why you need to create a marketing plan . This includes defining your marketing channels (social media, SEO, PPC and so on), developing buyer personas, identifying the jobs-to-be-done (JBTD), articulating inbound and outbound strategies, establishing your pricing strategies and planning out your finances and budget. Of course, you’ll also want to build out that initial client pipeline, which you can kick start by asking for leads through your network.

04. Build your team

If you have a successful solo practice, you might be wondering, “who should be my first hire?”

It’s a question every founder wrestles with, and the answer depends on who will help you maintain your business so that you can focus on growth.

That could mean hiring a salesperson to close more deals for you, or a creative to do more of the manual labor. You might also opt to hire a CMO . Fill in the gaps (your personal weak points), with a bias towards the particular space that promises the greatest immediate ROI for your agency.

From there, implement systems and establish workflows and procedures to make your hires’ lives easier. Use project management tools such as Monday or Trello to centralize task management, and host regular meetings to hold more nuanced conversations and build team chemistry.

Ultimately, laying the foundation for a strong agency culture starts with your leadership team. There are certainly ways to motivate creative teams , though you need to embody the vibe and culture you want your company to express. Reflect on how you want to train new employees, and build out collaborative structures ( such as the pod model ) early, which empower teams to stay agile in order to best service clients and close the feedback loop.

Some emerging roles to consider down the road: digital experience managers (responsible for maintaining brand cohesion across a multichannel strategy), influencer marketing managers and a director of client services.

05. Lead with vision

Leading an agency requires more than strategic planning and effective management, it demands a visionary approach that goes beyond the day-to-day operations of the business and taps into the essence of what the agency stands for. Leaders should push their crew to challenge the status quo , all the while protecting the larger vision the company aspires to achieve.

Do this by:

Setting ambitious goals and seeing them through

Creating frequent opportunities for brainstorming

Creating a promotional ladder for emerging leaders in your company

Regularly celebrating (and amplifying) employee achievements

Striking exciting partnerships that birth new capabilities at your agency

Regularly speaking with clients and prospects to learn which areas of your agency’s operations need improvement

06. Get new clients

Getting new clients calls for a formalized process for sourcing leads (see: is doing free work ever ok? ), onboarding clients and managing the relationship, starting with a full-on contract or SLA (service-level agreement). Protect yourself down the line and ensure you get paid by putting pen to paper, all while communicating a sense of professionalism.

You’ll likely also encounter several clients who, throughout the course of your relationship, begin to expect more than what was previously agreed to. It’s a real (and common) problem that persists if you don’t set boundaries, so it’s important to know how to avoid scope creep .

07. Set your growth intentions

Scaling an agency means doubling down on what works. Growing an agency means trying new things entirely. To scale, put routine work on autopilot with automation and look to secure recurring revenue for your services . Growth looks like adding entirely new service offerings, identifying new customer segments, striking new partnerships and leveraging growth hacking techniques to expand client outreach . That’ll usually come after you’ve scaled up.

The difference between scaling and growing is easy to visualize. You scale your operations, whereas you grow your capabilities. Ideally, you do a bit of both at your agency, but the only real way to track it is to set the intentions and the metrics. What are you scaling/growing? And how will you measure success? Are you trying to increase blog traffic through your newsletter? Do you want more followers across your social media channels?

Growth doesn’t happen accidentally, so you’ll need to set your targets ahead of time. Treat them as a north star, and weigh all of your decisions against them.

08. Adjust your business plan for your new reality

There comes a time when an agency outgrows their previous strategy and must evolve by adapting to a new reality. This may come during massive changes in the market, or perhaps you have more clients than you can handle, and it’s time to upsell and charge more for your services .

You might be at the stage of your growth where it’s time to explore new markets, or you might be responding to times of crisis (see: 6 ways to recession-proof your agency ). Whatever the root cause is, address the need for change head on. Formalize new standardized procedures to provide your teams with much needed clarity and a well-structured plan.

Refer back to the how to write a business plan section above and address each change point by point. Determine where the greatest changes have occurred within the plan and what changes need to be made. Do this as proactively as possible, so you can respond to internal and external pressures instead of reacting to them.

09. Manage your money effectively

The unwritten rule of growing/scaling your agency is a strong command of your finances. Cash is oxygen for a business, so make it easier to breathe by handling it well. That means managing expenses properly with a budget you determine on a quarterly basis based on your performance and available balance. Set the minimum sales volume needed to cover your costs, evaluate the profitability of your offerings and create pricing plans, identify opportunities for cost reduction and assess how feasible your business model is. As the leader, you should always have a clear view of all the costs associated with running the business (though it never hurts to hire a CFO when your agency is ready for it).

Strong financial management is long-term financial planning. Over the course of running, managing and scaling an agency you’ll come to find that the age old adage rings true: it takes money to make money.

10. Don’t lose your soul as you expand

Since culture is often regarded as ‘the glue that holds companies together,’ you’ll want to maintain the positive qualities of your work culture so they don’t get diluted as you scale. Empower teams to fail fast (and fail forward), stay informed about industry trends, set realistic goals and invest in personal development.

At the company level, implement continuous improvement strategies such as regular feedback sessions and continuous testing (like A/B testing, user testing and heat maps). A proactive and receptive approach to experimentation will help you make the necessary course corrections to go the distance.

To start a digital marketing agency, you'll need the most up-to-date tools to streamline operations and deliver effective campaigns.

SEO tools: Semrush and Ahrefs are crucial for keyword research, and the former is now integrated with Wix. Check out more in the video below.

Social media management tools: Hootsuite or Sprout Social can help you schedule posts and manage multiple social accounts.

An end-to-end web creation platform: Wix Studio allows agencies to design exceptional sites at scale. And as a marketer, you'll be able to fast-track client projects with native marketing integrations .

Project management tools: Use Asana, Trello or Monday to organize tasks and track progress.

Advertising platforms: Use Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager and LinkedIn Ads to reach target audiences.

Communication tools: Slack, Microsoft Teams or Zoom allow for real-time communication.

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How to Write A Killer Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan

Short on time, let's get started, ready to acellerate your biz.

Do you have a business plan for your digital marketing agency? If not, you’re missing out on a brilliant tool to help you structure growth and progress over time. 

Many people think of creating a business plan as being a tedious, time-consuming process. The truth is, it can take a couple of weeks or even months to perfect your plan. However, with the right knowledge in place, you can create a killer digital marketing business plan with relative ease.  

We’re here to share that knowledge with you and get you on the right track. 

In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about why business planning is so important, how to create your own digital marketing agency business plan, and how to implement it for ongoing success. 

What is a Business Plan?  

A business plan is a detailed document that creates a picture of your agency as it is today and details your growth plan over the next three or five years. Your business plan will structure and explain your key business goals and your strategies for how to reach them.  

Most plans include plenty of market research to support these strategies and provide proof that they will provide the results you want to see. 

Why Do You Need a Digital Marketing Business Plan?  

Your digital marketing business plan should include your key short-term and long-term goals and digital strategies. It should also cover an analysis of your competitor landscape, and other information like budgets, timelines, the channels you aim to target, and more. 

Your business plan will act like a roadmap that shows you exactly what you need to do to work towards your desired path. You probably already know where you want to get to, and your plan will supply you with a specific, logical route to take to get there. 

You’ll also need a complete business plan to secure funding and attract investors and stakeholders. Virtually all businesses use a business plan to obtain funding from investors. So, the clearer and more convincing your plan is, the more likely people will be to invest time and money into your venture.  

Of course, your plan should include a projected marketing budget that will show you exactly how much you need to spend to market your services effectively to the right audiences. If you can get your brand in front of your target market without breaking the bank, you’ll be in a great position to maintain profitability in the long run. 

Common Business Plan Structures  

A business plan usually contains a scope of between one and three years – and in some cases, up to five years. Most business plan structures include sections for sources of revenue, cost management strategies, new service development strategies, marketing budgets, and projected profitability figures.  

They also include existing financial performance reviews, objectives, and strategies to achieve them, and your value proposition. Along with sales and marketing tactics, operational strategies, financial forecasts, hiring and staffing strategies, and any foreseen potential challenges. 

The purpose of a good plan is to align your goal opportunities with strategic activity, resources, and effort to achieve your desired growth. Luckily, there are plenty of templates available online that break down your digital marketing business plan into simple, easy-to-understand categories. This helps to ensure that you include all the information you need without leaving anything crucial out. 

How Do I Develop My Digital Marketing Strategy?  

There are five key stages to developing your agency’s digital marketing strategy .  

Step 1: Planning  

Every solid digital marketing strategy needs a plan. We highly recommend using data to assess the efficacy of your current marketing practices and develop tactics to improve them.  

You can craft a plan using KPI dashboards, customised analytics, and SMART goals to craft a step-by-step improvement strategy for your digital marketing, lead generation, and sales approaches. 

Step 2: Reaching out to leads  

Once you have a plan in place, it’s time to enhance your marketing funnel by reaching out to as many leads as possible and building awareness of your agency. Use the latest, most effective online marketing approaches like paid advertising and SEO to drive traffic to your site. 

Step 3: Take action  

By this, we mean interacting meaningfully with your target audience through your website and social channels to generate as many quality leads as possible. Once you’ve reached your audience, take action to guide them through your marketing funnel towards making a purchase.  

Content marketing is especially effective in this regard. It helps to entertain, educate, and engage potential leads, helping to persuade them to become customers. 

Step 4: Convert your leads  

Strategies like nurturing leads, optimising your conversion rates, and retargeting past customers are all excellent ways to convince your leads to become loyal customers.  

You should consider using website personalisation and social commerce to your advantage. Data shows that 87% of eCommerce shoppers use social media to help them make purchase decisions! 

Step 5: Engage your customers  

Now that you’ve successfully transformed leads into customers, there are many ways to increase sales from them by keeping them engaged in the long term. Use tools like personalised website, email, and social media communications using customer data to create customised marketing campaigns.  

You can obtain this data using A/B testing, customer personas and content mapping, customer feedback, website surveys, and more. Predictive analytics tools are also great for finding out the best times to engage with your customers and follow up with them. 

How Do I Create My Business Plan?  

As we mentioned earlier, we’re big fans of using business plan templates to structure digital marketing efforts and strategies. Using a template is the best way to ensure that you include every piece of information you need to secure funding from investors and drive your agency forward. 

Your plan should include: 

• An executive summary 
• Company overview 
• Industry analysis 
• Customer and competitive analyses 
• Marketing and operations plans 
• Management team structures 
• Financial plans 
• Balance sheets and a cash flow statement 
• An appendix and summary 

How Do I Successfully Implement My Business Plan?  

Once you have your business plan in hand, it’s time to gather your team and inform them of the details. Additionally, you can share any metrics (like sales or conversions) that need to be prioritised. Establish timelines and milestones for reaching these goals.  

Delegate tasks and responsibilities to the right team members and create systems that will allow you to measure your results and progress. Remember to schedule regular business plan review sessions as well. This is a working document that will need to be updated frequently as your goals and the greater market shift. 

A Plan For Progress   

Every agency needs a strong digital marketing business plan to structure and guide its progress towards its greater goals. Use our tips to create a complete, comprehensive plan that will secure your success. 

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• 📈 Identify your target audience, market, and competition to understand the landscape of your industry.
• 📊 Set measurable goals and KPIs to track your progress and evaluate the success of your digital marketing plan.
• 💻 Develop a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that includes tactics such as SEO, PPC, content marketing, social media, and email marketing.
• 👨‍💼 Assign responsibilities and establish a timeline for each step of your digital marketing plan to ensure accountability and efficiency.
• 📱 Use digital tools and platforms to automate and streamline your marketing efforts, such as Google Analytics, HubSpot, and Hootsuite.
• 👍 Continuously evaluate and adjust your digital marketing plan based on data analysis and customer feedback to optimize your results.

Digital Marketing Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your digital marketing agency business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their digital marketing agencies.

Sample Business Plan for a Digital Marketing Agency

Below is a business plan example to help you create each section of your own digital marketing business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

Trending Next is a startup digital marketing agency located in Atlanta, Georgia. The company is founded by Michelle Taylor, an experienced digital marketer who has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and has worked for several years for a prominent marketing agency based in New York. Now that Michelle has gained the education and experience in managing a digital marketing agency, she is ready to start her own company, Trending Next. Michelle is confident that her digital marketing and communication skills will enable her to run a profitable digital marketing agency of her own. Michelle is recruiting a team of highly qualified professionals to help manage the day-to-day complexities of running a digital marketing firm – sales and marketing, customer support, technology management, customer relations, administration, and finance.

Trending Next will provide a full suite of digital marketing services for businesses of all sizes throughout the United States. The company will be the go-to digital marketing firm in Atlanta for innovative marketing strategies using the latest technology and tools. Trending Next will create and launch digital marketing campaigns through a variety of channels from SEO and email to content and video marketing. The company will be the ultimate choice for customer service while guaranteeing expertly developed personalized marketing solutions for each client.

Product Offering

The following are the services that Trending Next will provide:

• Social media
• Content marketing
• Email marketing
• SMS marketing
• Sponsored content
• Native advertising
• Marketing automation
• Affiliate marketing

Customer Focus

Trending Next will target businesses of all sizes and industries in the United States. No matter the customer, Trending Next will deliver the best communication, service, and effective digital marketing campaigns.

Management Team

Trending Next will be owned and operated by Michelle Taylor. Michelle is a graduate of New York University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She has over five years of experience working as a digital marketing manager for a prestigious marketing agency based in New York. Now, Michelle aims to bring her digital marketing skills to work in her new location in Atlanta, Georgia. She will be the company’s chief executive officer and will oversee the digital marketing staff and help develop and implement the company’s digital marketing service offerings.

Michelle has recruited an experienced business manager, Joshua Anderson, to be the company’s chief operating officer and help oversee the business operations. He has a master’s degree in business administration from Georgia University and over 15 years of experience managing his own company. Joshua will handle the day-to-day operations, including project management, customer relationships, and logistics.

Success Factors

Trending Next will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Skilled team of digital marketing experts who will work with each client to develop and implement personalized marketing campaigns tailored to their specific needs and goals.
• Trending Next will continuously seek out and incorporate the newest trends in digital marketing to ensure the best marketing efforts for each client.
• The company offers competitive pricing and discounts for regular customers.

Financial Highlights

Trending Next is seeking $300,000 in debt financing to launch its digital marketing business. The funding will be dedicated towards securing the office and purchasing office equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated towards three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff and marketing expenses. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Office build-out: $90,000
• Equipment, supplies, and materials: $60,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, utilities): $130,000
• Marketing costs: $10,000
• Working capital: $10,000

The following graph below outlines the pro forma financial projections for Trending Next.

Company Overview

Who is trending next.

Trending Next is a newly established digital marketing company in Atlanta, Georgia. Trending Next will provide a full suite of digital marketing services for businesses of all sizes throughout the United States. The company will be the go-to digital marketing firm in Atlanta for innovative marketing strategies using the latest digital marketing technology and tools. Trending Next will create and launch digital marketing campaigns through a variety of channels from SEO and email to content and video marketing. The company will be the ultimate choice for customer service while guaranteeing expertly developed personalized marketing solutions for each client.

Trending Next will be able to guarantee the effectiveness of its digital marketing strategies thanks to the latest and most innovative digital marketing technology and expertise of its leadership team. The company’s team of highly qualified professionals experienced in digital marketing will ensure each client’s marketing campaign is tailored to meet their specific needs and goals.

Trending Next History

Trending Next is owned and operated by Michelle Taylor, an experienced digital marketer who has gained valuable knowledge during her five-year tenure working as a digital marketing manager at a premier digital marketing agency in New York. Now that Michelle has gained the experience and knowledge of how to manage a digital marketing agency, she is ready to start one of her own. Michelle has begun recruiting a team of highly qualified professionals to help manage the day to day complexities of running a digital marketing firm –  – sales and marketing, customer support, technology management, customer relations, administration, and finance.

Since incorporation, Trending Next has achieved the following milestones:

• Registered Trending Next, LLC to transact business in the state of Georgia
• Has signed a letter of intent to lease the office space
• Reached out to numerous contacts to include previous employees, colleagues, and experienced digital marketing professionals to begin building a team of experts for the company’s management team
• Began recruiting a staff of operational positions including accountants, administrative personnel, and sales representative to work at Trending Next

Trending Next Services

Industry analysis.

The digital marketing industry in the United States is valued at approximately $30.6B and is forecasted to grow by 3.7% this year. The digital marketing industry comprises several different marketing channels: SEO, PPC, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, mobile marketing, marketing analytics, inbound marketing, sponsored content, native advertising, marketing automation, and affiliate marketing. Digital marketing agencies can choose to specialize in some combination of these channels or all of the above.

One of the major demand drivers for digital marketing is the increase in internet traffic volume. As this volume increases due to more consumers using smartphones, tablets, and computers to make purchases, more businesses will need marketing services to expand their online presence.

The primary challenge for new digital marketing agency operators is the high level of competition present in the industry. Another challenge is the speed at which digital channels evolve. Industry operators must keep up with the latest digital marketing trends, channels, and technologies to remain competitive.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

The precise demographics for the United States are:

Customer Segmentation

Trending Next will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Small businesses (less than 100 employees)
• Mid-sized businesses (101-500 employees)
• Large businesses (over 500 employees)

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Trending Next will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Perfect SEO

Perfect SEO is one of the largest digital marketing firms in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was established as a traditional marketing agency (Perfect Marketing) in 1990 and has since grown to 30 offices throughout the country. As digital marketing has become the norm, the company has transitioned to a more digital mindset and changed its name to Perfect SEO. The company still provides traditional paid advertising activities in addition to its digital marketing offerings. As the name specifies, the company’s digital marketing expertise centers on search engine optimization (SEO) in particular. Perfect SEO aims to deliver high-quality services through its innovative digital marketing process. Perfect SEO’s team of experienced digital marketing professionals are experts in SEO and able to provide business clients with effective marketing solutions.

Grow Your Business Fast

Grow Your Business Fast is a small digital marketing agency catering to local businesses in Atlanta, Georgia and surrounding areas. Grow Your Business Fast provides a variety of online marketing services including the development and deployment of social media campaigns, website advertising, technical SEO, content marketing, video marketing, email/SMS marketing, and PPC. The company is owned and operated by experienced marketing professionals with over three decades of experience in creating and managing marketing campaigns for companies of all sizes.

Innovation Online

Innovation Online is a trusted Atlanta, Georgia-based digital marketing firm that provides superior digital marketing services to business clients throughout the United States. The company is able to provide a wide variety of services using the latest digital marketing strategies and tools. Innovation Online specializes in creating innovative social media marketing and cohesive digital marketing strategies for businesses in a range of industries, with retail being the most well-known. The company has been recognized for creating the most popular marketing campaigns for some of the largest retailers in the country.

Competitive Advantage

Trending Next will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

• Trending Next will continuously seek out and incorporate the newest trends and tools in digital marketing to ensure the best marketing tactics for each client.

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

Trending Next will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for Trending Next is as follows:

Social Media Marketing

As a digital marketing agency, Trending Next will lead by example. The company’s marketing director will create engaging accounts on social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. He will ensure Trending Next maintains an active social media presence with regular updates and fun content to provide an example of what the company is capable of creating for clients.

Professional Associations and Networking

Trending Next will become a member of professional associations such as the Digital Marketing Association, American Marketers Society, and the Georgia Marketing Association. The leadership team will focus their networking efforts on expanding the company’s client network.

Email/SMS Marketing

Trending Next will use email and SMS marketing to target potential business clients by sending them targeted emails, newsletters, and promotional updates to incentivize them to engage with the company.

Website/SEO Marketing

Trending Next will utilize the in-house marketing director that designed the social media campaign to also design the company website. The website will be well organized, informative, and list all the services that Trending Next is able to provide. The website will also provide testimonials from satisfied clients.

The marketing director will also manage the company’s website presence with SEO marketing tactics so that when someone types in a search engine “Atlanta digital marketing agency” or “digital marketing firm near me”, Trending Next will be listed at the top of the search results.

Pricing Strategy

The pricing of Trending Next will be moderate and on par with competitors so customers feel they receive value when purchasing the company’s services.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Trending Next.

Operation Functions:

• Michelle Taylor will be the chief executive officer and will oversee the digital marketing staff and be the creative driver for new marketing tools and tactics. Michelle has spent the past year recruiting the following staff:
• Joshua Anderson – Chief operating officer who will manage the day-to-day operations, budgeting, client relationships, and logistics.
• Daniel Moore – Accountant/bookkeeper who will provide all accounting, tax payments, and monthly financial reporting.
• Paul Wilson – Marketing director who will oversee all marketing strategies for the company and manage the website, social media, and outreach.

Milestones:

Trending Next will have the following milestones complete in the next six months.

12/1/2022 – Finalize lease on the office space

12/15/2022 – Finalize personnel and staff employment contracts for the Trending Next management team

1/1/2023 – Begin build-out of the office, purchase equipment, and start networking

1/15/2023 – Begin implementing the marketing campaign

2/15/2023 – Finalize contracts for digital marketing professionals to work at Trending Next

3/15/2023 – Trending Next officially opens for business

Trending Next will be owned and operated by Michelle Taylor. Michelle is a graduate of New York University with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing. She has over five years of experience working as a digital marketing manager for a prestigious marketing agency based in New York. Now, Michelle aims to bring her digital marketing skills to work in her new location in Atlanta, Georgia. She will be the company’s chief executive officer and will oversee the staff and help develop and implement the agency’s services.

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenue drivers for Trending Next are the fees charged to customers in exchange for the company’s services. The company charges fees on a per-project basis and offers monthly retainers for ongoing marketing management.

The cost drivers will be the overhead costs required in order to staff a digital marketing agency. The expenses will be the payroll cost, utilities, office equipment and supplies, and marketing materials.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Key assumptions.

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Average number of accounts per month: 10
• Average fees per month: $50,000
• Overhead costs per year: $700,000

Financial Projections

Income statement.

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Free Digital Marketing Business Plan PDF

You can download our free digital marketing agency business plan template PDF here . This is a sample digital marketing agency business plan template you can use in PDF format. You can easily complete your Digital Marketing Agency business plan using our Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template here .

Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan FAQs

What is a digital marketing agency business plan.

A digital marketing agency business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your digital marketing agency business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target audience , presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

What are the Steps To Start a Digital Marketing Agency?

Starting a digital marketing agency can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your business goals and get started faster.

1. Develop a Digital Marketing Business Plan – The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed digital marketing business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include market research to determine potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast.  

2. Choose Your Legal Structure – It’s important to select an appropriate legal entity for your digital marketing business . This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your digital marketing business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Business – Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your marketing business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws. 

4. Identify Financing Options – It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your digital marketing agency business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms. 

5. Choose a Location – Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations. 

6. Hire Employees – There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events. 

7. Acquire Necessary Digital Marketing Agency Equipment & Supplies – In order to start your marketing agency , you’ll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business – Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your digital marketing agency. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective digital marketing strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful digital marketing agency:

How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency

Creating A Business Plan For Your Digital Marketing Agency

• By Troy Dean
• on July 21, 2022

If you're thinking of starting your own digital marketing agency, it's important to create a business plan first. This document will outline your business goals, strategies and tactics, as well as how you plan on achieving them. It's also crucial to have a business plan when seeking funding from investors or lenders. In this blog post, we'll discuss the different components of a business plan and provide tips on putting one together. Join us as we guide you to launch your very own digital marketing agency!

What is a business plan and why do you need one when starting a digital agency?

A business plan is a document that contains the business goals of a company, as well as the strategies and tactics for achieving them. It's important to have a business plan when starting any business, but it's especially crucial for a new agency. This is because a business plan will help you secure funding from investors or lenders. Additionally, it will serve as a roadmap for launching and growing your business.

The components of a digital agency business plan

The components of a business plan typically include the following:

• Executive summary: This is a brief overview of your business plan, and it should include your business goals, strategies, and tactics.
• Company description: This section will provide an overview of your company, including its history, mission statement, and the products or services you offer.
• Market analysis: In this section, you'll need to identify your target market and discuss the industry trends. You'll also need to provide data on your competitors.
• Sales and marketing strategy: This section will detail your sales and marketing strategies, including how you plan on advertising and promoting your business.
• Industry analysis: In this section, you'll need to provide an overview of the digital marketing industry. This will include information on the current trends and future predictions.
• Financial plan: This is perhaps the most important section of your business plan, as it will outline your business expenses and projected revenue.

How to put together a business plan

Now that you know the different components of a business plan, you may be wondering how to put one together. Here are a few tips:

• Do your research: Before you start writing your business plan, it's important to do your research. This includes researching your industry, target market, and competitors. Doing this will help you better understand your business and what it takes to succeed.
• Keep it simple: When writing your business plan, it's important to keep it simple. This document should be clear and concise, and it should avoid using industry jargon.
• Make it realistic: It's important to be realistic when setting business goals. This means setting goals that are achievable and within a reasonable timeframe.
• Seek help: If you're having trouble putting together your business plan, there's no shame in seeking professional help. There are many business consultants who can help you with this process.

Tips for starting your own digital marketing agency

• Educate yourself: Before starting your own digital marketing agency, it's important to educate yourself on the industry. This includes understanding the different marketing channels and how they work. You can do this by reading books, taking courses, or attending conferences.
• Find a niche: When starting your own agency, it's important to find a niche. This will help you better understand the needs of your target market and how to best serve them. Additionally, it will make you more attractive to potential clients.
• Create a portfolio: When starting your business, you'll need to create a portfolio of your work. This will help you showcase your skills and attract potential clients.
• Build a team: No business can succeed without a great team. When starting your agency, it's important to build a team of talented individuals.
• Stay up to date with competitor research: In order to stay ahead of the competition, you'll need to constantly research your competitors. This will help you identify their strengths and weaknesses, and it will give you insights on how to improve your business.
• Launch an amazing website: In today's digital world, it's important to have a great website. Your website should be user-friendly and informative, and it should showcase your work in the best light possible. Advertise your business: Once you've launched your website, it's time to start promoting your business.
• Utilise proven business models: When starting your own business, it's important to utilise proven business models. This will help you avoid making common mistakes, and it will increase your chances of success.
• Focus on your clients: The most successful businesses are those that focus on their clients. This means always putting your client's needs first and providing them with the best.
• Lean on mentors and coaches : When starting your own business, it's important to have mentors and coaches. These individuals can provide you with advice, support, and guidance.
• Generate leads via marketing: One of the most important things you can do for your business is to generate leads. This can be done through various marketing channels, such as content marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimisation.
• Track your progress: It's important to track your progress in order to see what's working and what isn't. This will help you make necessary changes and adjustments to your business. Never stop learning: The business world is constantly changing, which means you need to be continually learning. This can be done by reading books, taking courses, and attending conferences.

Ready to create your digital agency business plan?

Creating a business plan is an important first step when starting your own digital marketing agency. This document will outline your business goals, strategies, and tactics. It's also crucial to have a business plan when seeking funding from investors or lenders. In this blog post, we've discussed the different components of a business plan and provided tips on putting one together. Additionally, we've provided tips on starting your own digital marketing agency.

We hope this blog post has been helpful in getting you started on your business journey! If you're interested in starting your own digital marketing agency, we can help! Agency Mavericks is a business consulting firm that specialises in helping entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. Contact us today to book a call with one of our consultants!

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How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency: A Comprehensive Guide

Sudarshan Somanathan

Head of Content

February 14, 2024

Start using ClickUp today

• Manage all your work in one place
• Collaborate with your team
• Use ClickUp for FREE—forever

Every nine-to-fiver in the digital marketing industry dreams of starting a digital marketing agency. After handling all the various aspects of digital marketing, the logical next step is to start something of your own.

But is starting a digital marketing company easy, or is it a pipe dream?

The answer may surprise you.

Learn how to start a digital marketing agency and build your business from scratch—using this guide as a starting point.

Understanding the Digital Marketing Agency Business

What is a digital marketing agency, the demand for digital marketing services in 2024, assessing the profitability of a digital marketing agency, 1. define your digital marketing agency’s niche, 2. build the right team for your digital marketing agency, clickup calendar view for a 360-degree perspective on what’s happening where, clickup gantt charts for an easy understanding of the team’s workload, clickup goals for setting objectives in real-time, clickup docs for getting all your work—in one place, clickup marketing templates for keeping your business running smoothly, start your digital marketing agency today, common faqs.

Online marketing is a tough nut to crack, especially if you’re a first-time entrepreneur in the digital marketing landscape. 

But that’s the thing about entrepreneurship—giving up is never in the cards, right?

And digital marketers are constantly suited up, fighting the good fight.

The proof of the pudding is in the latest Gartner survey, which claims that for:

• 35% of respondents, finding potential clients is the top business challenge in 2024
• 32%, training and upskilling employees in digital marketing skills is the second biggest hurdle
• 29%, achieving marketing and business objectives is difficult

Despite the complexities, digital marketing shows no signs of slowing down. The digital ad spending is expected to reach $667.58 billion by 2024—an increase of 11% from 2023:

Every brand, big or small, needs to have a digital presence.

But getting a digital marketing campaign up and running is not for everyone—lack of resources, holistic digital marketing skills, and a poorly-researched business plan are to blame.

This is where a digital agency steps in.

A digital marketing agency helps you reach your target market online using:

• Digital marketing channels
• Market research
• Email marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing services
• Pay-per-click advertising, including Google ads
• SEO services

Collectively, these services help you build a solid social media presence, generate more leads, and get more potential clients.

All you need is a well-conceived business strategy for client acquisition.

But before we get into that, let’s address the elephant in the room.

Is Starting a Digital Marketing Agency Worth It?

They say if you survive 100 days as an entrepreneur and your business survives the first 1000 days of its existence, then both have proved their mettle to each other.

But hanging in there and enjoying the hustle seems easier said than done.

The point we’re getting at: Is digital marketing worth it?

The short answer? Yes. 

Get this: People are spending 145 minutes on social media every day. Meeting where your customers are makes business and financial sense.

The first step in evaluating the demand for your digital agency is understanding the different types of digital agency business models and which one you’d like to go for.

Common digital agency models include:

• Full-service digital agency: This kind of digital agency handles all digital marketing services, including search engine optimization, social media management, content marketing, keyword research for search engines, lead generation, email marketing, and so on
• Single channel agencies: Single channel agencies have specialists on board that tackle a specific aspect of digital marketing services and focus on dominating one marketing channel
• Multi-channel digital agency: A mix of single-channel agencies and full-service agencies, a multi-channel digital agency offers complementary services such as social media management and social media ads or SEO services and keyword research

Additionally, the profitability of having your digital marketing agency also depends on the profitability analysis of the following:

• Your location (do you want to set up a remote, onsite, or hybrid agency?)
• Services offered (do you want to focus on one niche or go all out?)
• The way you generate leads (will you leverage the services of a lead gen expert or go the DIY route?)
• Costs involved (what  equipment, tools, software, and resources will you need?)
• Allocation and optimization of resources (how will you drive optimal resource management?)
• Target market, projects, and potential clients (what does your ideal target audience want?)
• Approach for building relationships (how will you drive client relationship-building?)
• Level of marketing insights used (how will you extract valuable marketing insights for your clients?)
• Performance evaluation (how will you measure the success of your agency?)

Once you have a granular understanding of all these elements, you’ll be more confident to start your digital marketing journey.

Steps to Starting a Digital Marketing Agency

The biggest advantage for self-employed digital marketing agency owners is 100% freedom to do things the way they want to—whether it’s deciding:

• Who their ideal target audience and prospective clients should be
• What kind of marketing strategy to use
• What kind of services to offer as a digital marketing consultant
• How to set up a dream digital marketing team 
• What the pricing model and business model will look like
• What type of office space to invest in

Even so, use these marketing strategies to set up a full-service digital advertising firm that other agencies will admire.

The decision to select a specific niche should stem from whether or not there is a demand for said niche.

Once you’ve identified a genuine demand, follow these tips to get ideas on a popular niche:

Assess your strengths

Start by looking at what your digital marketing business will focus on—will it be SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, keyword research, Google ads, and so on? The idea is to identify your top skills and create a marketing roadmap template for teams to look at when things get chaotic (as they will in time)

Research the market

Find out what’s in demand by looking for gaps where your skills fill a need. To get a better understanding, check out what your competition is doing and assess where you can stand out.

Know your target audience

Figure out who your ideal clients are by considering factors such as the digital marketing industry, size, and location.

Define your unique selling point (USP)

Think long and hard about what makes you different. Maybe it’s your approach, a unique skill, or a laser focus on a particular industry—your USP will be your brand personality.

Refine your services

Based on your strengths and market research, fine-tune your services to focus on what your niche audience needs most—and build your offerings around that

There’s no denying that building the right team is the bedrock of a successful agency.

Your team-building efforts must start with creating a skilled and motivated team—one that’s aligned with your agency’s goals. 

Leverage these tips to create a strong and capable team from scratch:

Identify your needs

Determine the specific roles and skills you need in your team and add them to your business plan. Consider areas such as content marketing, lead generation, web design, PPC advertising, analytics, and project management.

Define your ideal team members

Create profiles based on the skills, experience, and personality traits needed for each role. Consider how each team member will fit into your agency’s culture and work environment.

Nail your recruitment strategy

Develop a recruitment strategy outlining where and how you’ll find potential candidates, including job boards, social media accounts, your website, networking events, etc.

Spend time on your job descriptions

Write clear and detailed job descriptions that outline the responsibilities, qualifications, and expectations for each role. Highlight what makes your agency a great place to work and why candidates should be excited about joining your team.

Do thorough screening

Screen resumes and portfolios to shortlist candidates who meet your criteria by:

• Conducting thorough interviews to assess their skills, experience, and cultural fit
• Using behavioral interview questions to understand how they’ve handled situations relevant to the role
• Driving skills assessments to evaluate each candidate’s practical abilities
• Considering how each new hire will fit into your existing team dynamics

Develop an effective onboarding process

Help new team members integrate smoothly into your agency by arming them with the necessary training, online digital marketing courses, resources, and support to set them up for success.

Encourage feedback and recognition

Encourage ongoing learning and development for your team by:

• Offering opportunities for skill enhancement, industry certifications, and professional growth to keep your team ahead of the curve
• Establishing a culture of feedback and recognition where team members are encouraged to give and receive feedback openly

Focus on team-building for happier employees

Whether you have full-time or part-time employees, you must understand the legal, training, and management aspects of handling employees. You must also drive initiatives to check for your team’s mental and emotional well-being regularly.

Key Tools for Running a Successful Digital Marketing Agency

Setting up a robust digital marketing business means constantly worrying about getting new clients through the door while maintaining high work quality. 

Why not invest in content marketing software , inbound marketing tools , or marketing agency software to accelerate output without compromising your client’s expectations?

Another tool worth looking into is the ClickUp marketing project management software, which enables digital marketing agencies to work hard without breaking into a sweat.

Here’s a quick overview of all the valuable features to help marketing teams get started:

As a marketing agency, creating a business plan for more clients is one part of the puzzle; keeping your work on schedule is another part that needs balancing skills.

ClickUp Calendar View is a great option for marketing managers looking to organize projects, plan timelines, and visualize the team’s work.

Complement your tasks with ClickUp Content Calendar Templates and plan your blogs, articles, and other content for the entire year.

A profitable business gets new clients based on the ideal target market.

But a customer-first agency allows the team to keep tabs on what’s happening at every juncture of the marketing strategy. This is where ClickUp Gantt Charts shine:

Everyone is as involved as the executive team.

Another functionality that works swimmingly well for driving profitability, productivity, and workload management across your agency is ClickUp agency resources:

Get instant access to productivity guides, ClickUp templates, and workflows, on-demand webinars from agency experts, how-to articles, and best practices at your fingertips.

Your marketing agency is only as good as your marketing goals .

Mind you, there’s more to goal-setting than zeroing in on the pricing model.

Use digital marketing apps to keep track of current digital marketing trends, consolidate tasks, streamline your digital marketing campaigns, write a case study, and more.

Using the right mix of marketing tools elevates your agency’s ability to produce results at a greater ROI.

The degree to which you stick to your business plan starts with the level of documentation your team can follow. To get things kickstarted on a speedier note and get the team on the same page, use ClickUp Docs :

Add subpages, share the Docs link, format the document as needed, and connect it to your existing workflows:

ClickUp Docs helps your team put their ideas into words and remove blind spots for your marketing campaigns.

Social media managers have to track—and exceed—the expectations of their target audience, potential clients, and the business model outlined by the agency.

With so many moving parts, creating a separate document for each becomes a cumbersome affair.

Enter: ClickUp Marketing Agency Business Template

Social media marketing agencies looking for a helping hand to build a marketing strategy must consider using custom Marketing Plan Templates.

These templates offer a roadmap for your marketing campaigns, from setting goals to selecting the right cross-channel mix.

Your digital marketing agency business should not be treated as an afterthought.

Sure, getting more clients is every agency’s North Star. However, loving what you do matters more. Your passion will translate into your marketing campaigns, and the profits will follow.

Plus, there’s the bonus of immense job satisfaction as an agency owner. To make the most of your time, investment, and work, invest in ClickUp marketing project management software .

Double down on your digital marketing needs, reach high-quality potential clients, and build a profitable business—with ClickUp as your trusted digital marketing platform.

1. How much does it cost to start a digital marketing agency?

Setting up your digital marketing business can cost anywhere between $730 to $30,000 (and upwards). This includes the costs of hiring the right talent, creating your digital marketing agency website for promotion, office space, equipment, staff salaries, and so on.

2. Can you start a digital marketing agency with no experience?

Yes, starting digital agencies without experience is possible, but it will be challenging. There’s plenty to consider, such as generating leads, driving your agency’s promotion on social media platforms, researching marketing insights and digital marketing trends, creating a business plan with a pricing model, and more.

To put yourself in a more advantageous position, think about starting as a freelancer or getting a job in the digital marketing field in any capacity. There’s no substitute for hands-on experience. 

3. What types of services do digital marketing agencies offer?

The most common services digital marketing agencies offer include email marketing, content marketing, search engine optimization, paid digital advertising, web design, etc.

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How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency

Starting a digital marketing agency can be very profitable. With proper planning, execution and hard work, you can enjoy great success. Below you will learn the keys to launching a successful digital marketing agency.

Importantly, a critical step in starting a digital marketing agency is to complete your business plan. To help you out, you should download Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template here .

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here

14 Steps To Start a Digital Marketing Agency :

• Choose the Name for Your Digital Marketing Agency
• Develop Your Digital Marketing Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Digital Marketing Agency
• Secure Startup Funding for Your Digital Marketing Agency (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Digital Marketing Agency with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Digital Marketing Agency
• Buy or Lease the Right Digital Marketing Agency Equipment
• Develop Your Digital Marketing Agency Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Digital Marketing Agency
• Open for Business

1. Choose the Name for Your Digital Marketing Agency

The first step to starting a digital marketing agency business plan is to choose your business’ name.  

This is a very important choice since your company name is your brand and will last for the lifetime of your business. Ideally you choose a name that is meaningful and memorable. Here are some tips for choosing a name for your digital marketing agency:

• Make sure the name is available . Check your desired name against trademark databases and your state’s list of registered business names to see if it’s available. Also check to see if a suitable domain name is available.
• Keep it simple . The best names are usually ones that are easy to remember, pronounce and spell.
• Think about marketing . Come up with a name that reflects the desired brand and/or focus of your digita digital marketing agency.

2. Develop Your Digital Marketing Agency Plan

One of the most important steps in starting a digital marketing agency is to develop your digital marketing agency business plan . The process of creating your plan ensures that you fully understand your market and your business strategy. The plan also provides you with a roadmap to follow and if needed, to present to funding sources to raise capital for your business.

To enhance your planning process, incorporating insights from a  sample digital marketing agency business plan  can be beneficial. This can provide you with a clearer perspective on industry standards and effective strategies, helping to solidify your own business approach.

Your business plan should include the following sections:

• Executive Summary – this section should summarize your entire business plan so readers can quickly understand the key details of your digital marketing agency business.
• Company Overview – this section tells the reader about the history of your digital marketing agency and what type of digital marketing agency you operate. For example, are you a Search engine optimization (SEO) firm, Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising agencies, or Social media marketing (SMM) agencies. Each type of agency specializes in a different area of online marketing.
• Industry Analysis – here you will document key information about the digital marketing industry. Conduct market research and document how big the industry is and what market trends are affecting it.
• Customer Analysis – in this section, you will document who your ideal or target customers are and their demographics. For example, how old are they? Where do they live? What do they find important when purchasing services like the ones you will offer?
• Competitive Analysis – here you will document the key direct and indirect competitors you will face and how you will build competitive advantage.
• Marketing Plan – your marketing plan should address the 4Ps: Product, Price, Promotions and Place.
• Product : Determine and document what products/services you will offer 
• Prices : Document the prices of your products/services
• Place : Where will your business be located and how will that location help you increase sales?
• Promotions : What promotional methods will you use to attract customers to your digital marketing agency? For example, you might decide to use pay-per-click advertising, public relations, search engine optimization and/or social media marketing.
• Operations Plan – here you will determine the key processes you will need to run your day-to-day operations. You will also determine your staffing needs. Finally, in this section of your plan, you will create a projected growth timeline showing the milestones you hope to achieve in the coming years.
• Management Team – this section details the background of your company’s management team.
• Financial Plan – finally, the financial plan answers questions including the following:
• What startup costs will you incur?
• How will your digital marketing agency make money?
• What are your projected sales and expenses for the next five years?
• Do you need to raise funding to launch your business?

3. Choose the Legal Structure for Your Digital Marketing Agency

Next you need to choose a legal structure for your digital marketing agency and register it and your business name with the Secretary of State in each state where you operate your business.

Below are the five most common legal structures:

1) Sole proprietorship

A sole proprietorship is a business entity in which the owner of the digital marketing agency and the business are the same legal person. The owner of a sole proprietorship is responsible for all debts and obligations of the business. There are no formalities required to establish a sole proprietorship, and it is easy to set up and operate. The main advantage of a sole proprietorship is that it is simple and inexpensive to establish. The main disadvantage is that the owner is liable for all debts and obligations of the business.

2) Partnerships

A partnership is a legal structure that is popular among small businesses. It is an agreement between two or more people who want to start a digital marketing agency together. The partners share in the profits and losses of the business. 

The advantages of a partnership are that it is easy to set up, and the partners share in the profits and losses of the business. The disadvantages of a partnership are that the partners are jointly liable for the debts of the business, and disagreements between partners can be difficult to resolve.

3) Limited Liability Company (LLC)

A limited liability company, or LLC, is a type of business entity that provides limited liability to its owners. This means that the owners of an LLC are not personally responsible for the debts and liabilities of the business. The advantages of an LLC for a digital marketing agency include flexibility in management, pass-through taxation (avoids double taxation as explained below), and limited personal liability. The disadvantages of an LLC include lack of availability in some states and self-employment taxes.

4) C Corporation

A C Corporation is a business entity that is separate from its owners. It has its own tax ID and can have shareholders. The main advantage of a C Corporation for a digital marketing agency is that it offers limited liability to its owners. This means that the owners are not personally responsible for the debts and liabilities of the business. The disadvantage is that C Corporations are subject to double taxation. This means that the corporation pays taxes on its profits, and the shareholders also pay taxes on their dividends.

5) S Corporation

An S Corporation is a type of corporation that provides its owners with limited liability protection and allows them to pass their business income through to their personal income tax returns, thus avoiding double taxation. There are several limitations on S Corporations including the number of shareholders they can have among others.

Once you register your digital marketing agency, your state will send you your official “Articles of Incorporation.” You will need this among other documentation when establishing your banking account (see below). We recommend that you consult an attorney in determining which legal structure is best suited for your company.

4. Secure Startup Funding for Your Digital Marketing Agency (If Needed)

In developing your digital marketing business plan , you might have determined that you need to raise funding to launch your business. 

If so, the main sources of funding for a digital marketing agency to consider are personal savings, family and friends, credit card financing, bank loans, crowdfunding and angel investors. Angel investors are individuals who provide capital to early-stage businesses. Angel investors typically will invest in a digital marketing agency that they believe has high potential for growth.

5. Secure a Location for Your Business

Having the right space can be important for your digital marketing agency, particularly if you’d like to meet clients there.

To find the right space, consider:

• Driving around to find the right areas while looking for “for lease” signs
• Contacting a commercial real estate agent
• Doing commercial real estate searches online
• Telling others about your needs and seeing if someone in your network has a connection that can help you find the right space

6. Register Your Digital Marketing Agency with the IRS

Next, you need to register your business with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which will result in the IRS issuing you an Employer Identification Number (EIN).

Most banks will require you to have an EIN in order to open up an account. In addition, in order to hire employees, you will need an EIN since that is how the IRS tracks your payroll tax payments.

Note that if you are a sole proprietor without employees, you generally do not need to get an EIN. Rather, you would use your social security number (instead of your EIN) as your taxpayer identification number.

7. Open a Business Bank Account

It is important to establish a bank account in your digital marketing agency’ name. This process is fairly simple and involves the following steps:

• Identify and contact the bank you want to use
• Gather and present the required documents (generally include your company’s Articles of Incorporation, driver’s license or passport, and proof of address)
• Complete the bank’s application form and provide all relevant information
• Meet with a banker to discuss your business needs and establish a relationship with them

8. Get a Business Credit Card

You should get a business credit card for your digital marketing agency to help you separate personal and business expenses.

You can either apply for a business credit card through your bank or apply for one through a credit card company.

When you’re applying for a business credit card, you’ll need to provide some information about your business. This includes the name of your business, the address of your business, and the type of business you’re running. You’ll also need to provide some information about yourself, including your name, Social Security number, and date of birth.

Once you’ve been approved for a business credit card, you’ll be able to use it to make purchases for your business. You can also use it to build your credit history which could be very important in securing loans and getting credit lines for your business in the future.

9. Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits

To start a digital marketing agency, you’ll need to obtain the following licenses and permits:

• Business license: A business license is required to operate any type of business. Contact your local government office for more information.
• Sales tax permit: A sales tax permit is required to collect sales tax from customers. Contact your local government office for more information.
• Worker’s compensation insurance: Worker’s compensation insurance is required to protect employees in the event of an accident or injury on the job. Contact your local insurance agent for more information.
• Professional liability insurance: Professional liability insurance protects you in the event that a client sues you for professional negligence. Contact your local insurance agent for more information.

10. Get Business Insurance for Your Digital Marketing Agency

Other business insurance policies that you should consider for your digital marketing agency include:

• General liability insurance : This covers accidents and injuries that occur on your property. It also covers damages caused by your employees or products.
• Workers’ compensation insurance : If you have employees, this type of policy works with your general liability policy to protect against workplace injuries and accidents. It also covers medical expenses and lost wages.
• Business interruption insurance : This covers lost income and expenses if your business is forced to close due to a covered event.
• Professional liability insurance : This protects your business against claims of professional negligence.

Find an insurance agent, tell them about your business and its needs, and they will recommend policies that fit those needs. 

11. Buy or Lease the Right Digital Marketing Agency Equipment

A computer and an internet connection are essential for any digital marketing business. You’ll also need some software, such as word processing and spreadsheet software, to create marketing materials and track data. Graphic design software can also be helpful for creating website graphics or designing marketing emails.

12. Develop Your Digital Marketing Agency Marketing Materials

Marketing materials will be required to attract and retain customers to your digital marketing agency.

The key marketing materials you will need are as follows:

• Logo : Spend some time developing a good logo for your digital marketing agency. Your logo will be printed on company stationery, business cards, marketing materials and so forth. The right logo can increase customer trust and awareness of your brand.
• Website : Likewise, a professional digital marketing agency business website provides potential customers with information about the products and/or services you offer, your company’s history, and contact information. Importantly, remember that the look and feel of your website will affect how customers perceive you.
• Social Media Accounts : establish social media accounts in your company’s name. Accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and/or other social media platforms will help customers and others find and interact with your digital marketing agency.

13. Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Digital Marketing Agency

You need to have a computer with internet access and some digital marketing software. The most important software is a web browser, such as Firefox or Chrome, and an email client, such as Outlook or Gmail. You will also need some digital marketing tools, such as a search engine optimization tool, a social media management tool, and a website builder.

14. Open for Business

You are now ready to open your digital marketing agency. If you followed the steps above, you should be in a great position to build a successful business. Below are answers to frequently asked questions that might further help you.

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How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency FAQs

Is it hard to start a digital marketing agency.

No, it's not hard to start a digital marketing agency. However, there are some key steps you need to take to ensure your business is successful.

First, you need to decide what services you want to offer. There are many different types of digital marketing services, so you need to find a niche that you're interested in and knowledgeable about. Next, create a website and/or blog that promotes your services. Make sure your website is professional and easy to navigate. You should also include testimonials from clients on your website.

Once your website is up and running, start actively marketing your services online. reach out to prospective clients through social media, email campaigns, or telemarketing. You can also offer free consultations or white papers on digital marketing topics on your website or blog to attract attention from potential clients.

Finally, make sure you have a clear pricing structure for your services. You don't want to undercharge or overcharge for your services, so be sure to do your research on pricing before setting your rates.

How can I start a digital marketing agency with no experience?

There are a few key things you need to do in order to start a digital marketing business with no experience. First, you need to research the industry and learn about the different types of digital marketing. Then, you need to create a business plan and determine your target market. Next, you need to set up your marketing infrastructure, including a website and social media accounts. Finally, you need to market your business and create leads.

What type of digital marketing agency is most profitable?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as the profitability of a digital marketing agency will vary depending on the services it offers and the markets it targets. However, some types of digital marketing agencies are more profitable than others.

For example, agencies that specialize in search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search advertising (PPC) tend to be more profitable than those that offer only web design and development services. This is because SEO and PPC are more complex and expensive to execute than other forms of online marketing, such as website design and development.

Another type of digital marketing agency that is typically more profitable is one that specializes in social media marketing. This is because social media is a rapidly growing channel, and businesses are increasingly turning to social media to reach new customers and grow their businesses.

How much does it cost to start a digital marketing agency?

That depends on a lot of factors, such as the size of your agency, the services you offer, and the location of your business. However, on average, you can expect to spend between $10,000 and $30,000 to get your business up and running.

There are a few things you'll need to get started:

• A website - This is where your customers will go to learn more about your business and services.
• A logo - This will help your customers remember who you are and what you do.
• Business cards - When meeting potential clients, you'll want to have something to hand out with your contact information.
• A marketing plan - This will outline your marketing strategy and how you plan to attract new customers.

What are the ongoing expenses for a digital marketing agency?

The ongoing expenses for a digital marketing agency can vary depending on the size of the company, the services offered, and the location. However, some of the most common expenses include:

• Web hosting: This is typically a monthly expense and is necessary to host a company's website.
• Domain name registration: A domain name is the web address of a company's website and needs to be registered annually.
• Marketing software: This can be a monthly or annual expense and includes software like Photoshop, InDesign, and Dreamweaver.
• Website design: A professional website design can cost several thousand dollars, but it's an important investment for any marketing agency.
• Employee salaries: Depending on the size of the agency, salaries for employees can range from a few hundred dollars per month to several thousand dollars per month.

How does a digital marketing agency make money?

Digital marketing agencies make money through a variety of services that they offer to their clients. These services can include things like website development, SEO, social media marketing, and PPC advertising. Many agencies also offer consulting services, which can help businesses with overall marketing strategy and planning. Additionally, many agencies partner with other companies to offer more comprehensive services that include both digital and traditional marketing strategies.

Is owning a digital marketing agency profitable?

There is no one definitive answer to this question. Whether or not a digital marketing agency is profitable depends on a number of factors, including the size and location of the agency, the services it provides, and the competition in the market. However, digital marketing is a growing industry, and there are opportunities for agencies that are well-managed and provide high-quality services.

Why do digital marketing agencies fail?

Digital marketing agencies can fail for a number of reasons, but the most common are a lack of experience, poor planning, and not having a niche. A lack of experience can be detrimental because it means the agency doesn't have the knowledge or skillset to carry out successful campaigns. Poor planning typically results in inefficient use of resources and can lead to missed opportunities. And finally, not having a niche can make it difficult for an agency to stand out from the competition.

Where Can I Download a Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan PDF?

You can download our digital marketing agency business plan PDF template here. This is a business plan template you can use in PDF format.

Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency

Do you have $2 in your bank account? That’s how much a failing digital marketing agency was worth when Eric Siu bought it.

Today, it makes more than $12 million per year.

He’s here to discuss how to start a digital marketing agency. We’ll share his insights about how to build a digital marketing agency, the strategies he uses, and the direction of the marketing industry. Eric explained:

People remain a non-player character in their own lives because they don’t play the game.

Find out how to start a digital marketing company by reading through the whole blog or clicking one of the links below to jump straight to that section.

What is a digital marketing company?

Case study: single grain, how much does it cost to start a digital marketing agency, how profitable are digital marketing agencies, how to grow a digital marketing agency, are you ready to start your own digital marketing agency.

Let’s start by defining what a digital marketing agency does.

A digital marketing company helps businesses reach consumers and other organizations. Digital marketing agencies provide clients with some or all of the following services:

• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Search engine marketing (SEM)
• Social media marketing (SMM)
• Email outreach
• Video content
• Display ads

Digital marketing agencies help businesses improve their visibility, reach, and revenue using online channels. They create and launch campaigns for clients through social media, pay-per-click advertising, and other methods.

Eric Siu is the co-host of the Marketing School podcast and the founder of Single Grain. He bought a failing digital marketing agency for just $2 and turned it into a business that now earns $1 million per month.

You aren’t going to build something great in three months. You have to water the grass in front of you.

Eric started with SEO because it was the most effective marketing strategy, but today he thinks there are better alternatives. He suggests taking the following steps:

• Choose a single service.
• Create a podcast, and record video of it too.
• Break the video down into 30-second clips to market it.
• Keep improving what you do.
• Don’t stop until you reach the point of diminishing returns.

Why should you listen to this strategy? Because clients like Amazon, Airbnb, and Uber know his digital marketing strategies work.

Check out the whole interview to learn how digital marketing agencies can exceed $10 million in revenue:

According to SurferSEO , starting a digital marketing agency can cost between $730 and $29,100. Eric says it doesn’t even cost that much to start providing digital marketing services:

You can start this company working in your boxers in your dorm room. I bought the company with $2 and a share of the company profits, but there was a clause that if the company doesn’t make profits I don’t have to pay them.

The average net profit margin for a digital marketing agency is 10% to 15%. Eric shared his profits:

I make 20% net margins and about 50% gross margins on $1 million revenue per month.

That’s right! A successful digital marketing agency can make nearly $2.5 million for the business owner, but how do you do it?

You must test. Our AI content performs 50% better and reduces costs by 80%. Also, guest posting works best for our own marketing.

Starting a digital marketing agency is pretty simple. The process for how to start a digital marketing agency from scratch includes the following steps:

• Choose your digital marketing services.
• Build your skill set.
• Create a business plan.
• Build a portfolio.
• Register your business.
• Establish your web presence.
• Choose the right tools.
• Build a digital marketing team.
• Highlight your expertise.

Get ready to learn how to start a digital marketing business.

Step #1. Choose Your Digital Marketing Services

First, digital marketing agency owners should decide what services they want to offer. While a digital marketing business could be full service, digital marketing is a huge field with lots of nuances.

Learning every digital marketing skill would be nice, but it will take forever to become a master of everything. Eric warned:

Everyone thinks digital marketing is tied to paid media. Ads don’t magically make a business. A good product, plus everything working together, does.

Narrow the focus of your digital agency down to what you will do well for potential clients. Let’s look at how a successful business would do this.

Service Offerings

Some of the common digital marketing services include:

• SEO services: An SEO agency focuses on helping small businesses optimize their websites to show up in search engines. They do market research on keywords, competitor gaps, backlinks, user friendliness, and written content.
• Content marketing services: Content marketing is all about attracting, engaging, and retaining an audience by sharing relevant content. This could include a mix of blogs, infographics, podcasts, and other materials. The goal is to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty.
• Link building services: This subset of SEO focuses on getting other websites to link to your content.
• Advertising services: An online advertising agency focuses on creating paid advertising campaigns to generate leads. The most common services are for Google Ads or social media. You can also narrow online ad agencies to a specific network.
• Writing services: Digital marketing agencies might offer writing services to create blogs, scripts, or other materials.
• Social media management: Social media management focuses on developing a digital marketing strategy, creating content, and interacting with customers. This also involves monitoring the performance of a company’s social media accounts.
• Keyword research: A digital marketing agency performs keyword research to understand what users are looking for, their intent, and how to best satisfy their queries. This is another subset of SEO.
• Market research: Many agencies offer services like surveys, focus groups, and more. This area of marketing is focused on helping companies make more informed decisions.
• Email marketing: Email marketing campaigns help businesses interact with their current leads and customers.
• Marketing automation tools: Digital marketing agencies can help businesses automate redundant tasks in their marketing and advertising workflows.
• Graphic design: Digital marketing is becoming more and more visually based. That means graphic design is an important aspect in websites, social media posts, and other marketing materials.
• Influencer marketing: A digital marketing agency can help connect businesses with the right influencers for their products and brand.
• Web development: There is a large amount of SEO and other marketing that requires development skills. A digital marketing agency could focus on the technical aspects and sell software or a service.

Remember to consider the overall market as you research how to start a marketing agency. Eric told us:

If I were starting something today, I would start a YouTube channel. I wouldn’t do SEO today. It’s going to change a lot because of AI.

He also explained that podcasts can be extremely powerful tools:

Every podcast should be recorded. Then chop them into a bunch of shorts to maximize your impact and content. Don’t post the same thing to each channel. You have to understand what works well on each platform.

In addition, the type of customers you hope to reach will help you narrow your niche.

Target Audience

You can narrow your target market in a variety of ways. Your exact approach will be influenced by three key factors:

• B2B or B2C: A B2B digital marketing agency focuses on working with businesses that serve other businesses. Meanwhile, B2C marketers help other businesses reach consumers.
• Industry: A digital marketing business can focus on a specific industry like restaurants, eCommerce, or service businesses.
• Business size: You might create a digital marketing agency for small businesses or become a marketing consultant that works with large employers.

Selecting a niche or brand while creating your business plan will also help you hone in on your audience. Eric explained:

I had Entrepreneurial ADD. I want to invest in this. It’s really important to water the grass in front of you. I would stay completely locked in on one thing.

But he also warned against rushing into a new business with unrealistic expectations. In the beginning, it’s likely that you’ll face rejection more often than success. Getting used to rejection is a part of growing and expanding your business to reach the right market.

Step #2. Build Your Skill Set

You’ll need to build your digital marketing knowledge to land potential clients and become a profitable business. Fortunately, there’s plenty of resources for people who want to start a digital marketing company.

Here are some of the best digital marketing resources:

• HubSpot Academy’s marketing series
• Duke University’s Digital Marketing Specialist certificate
• Content Marketing Institute
• Hootsuite Academy’s Social Media Marketing Certification
• UpFlip Academy’s Google Ads for Beginners course
• LinkedIn Learning

There are numerous platforms such as Udemy and Coursera that offer free and paid digital marketing courses.

You can also subscribe to newsletters, watch YouTube videos, and build your own website to learn many of the skills you’ll need to run a digital marketing company.

Step #3. Create a Business Plan

A business plan should outline your business goals and strategies. It can also help you understand digital marketing trends and the state of the industry. If you intend to apply for a loan or seek out investors, having a business plan is essential.

Check out our blog about writing a business plan , or watch the video below to learn the key components. Don’t forget to include a marketing plan as well.

Step #4. Build a Portfolio

A portfolio can help you represent your company in a positive light and show what you’ve already accomplished with other customers. Your portfolio might include Google reviews, case studies, or even a badge on a website that shows it was built by your internet marketing company.

Potential clients will be more likely to hire your digital marketing firm when they can see clear results and examples of your work.

Step #5. Register Your Business

Registering your agency as an official business is a must, especially once you start gaining online visibility. Aside from avoiding legal or financial trouble, it can also help you win the trust of potential clients.

You’ll probably want to follow the process listed in the sections below.

Start a Limited Liability Company

A limited liability company (LLC) is a business structure that separates your personal and business assets to minimize your direct risk. You’ll need to choose a business name and apply for an LLC through your state.

Get a Business License

Some jurisdictions may require special business licenses to operate a digital marketing agency. You might also need permits for certain activities that marketing agencies manage.

Check with your local government to get more information about how to start a digital marketing agency.

Apply for an Employer Identification Number

You’ll need an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS to complete tasks like filing employee payroll taxes. An EIN is like having a social security number for your business.

Applying for an EIN is free. You’ll need this number for business bank accounts, small business loans, and tax filings.

Open a Business Bank Account

You’ll want to keep your business earnings in a business bank account to maintain liability protection.You can go with traditional, local, or online banks.

Local banks are better for companies that need financing, while major banks are better for national brands and franchises. Meanwhile, online banks tend to have the best savings rates.

Learn more about business banking .

Get Business Insurance

Business insurance protects you from liability. A digital marketing agency will probably need:

• General liability insurance: This type of policy protects you if there’s property damage, an accident, or another unexpected event.
• Professional liability insurance: A professional liability plan covers your business if you do something that harms a client. For example, if you start a digital marketing campaign that hurts their reputation, they might try to hold you legally liable.
• Business owner plan: This form of insurance combines business property coverage, income protection, and general liability. Plus, you can get additional riders for more extensive coverage as needed.

Check out Simply Business to get quotes from top insurance companies.

Step #6. Establish Your Web Presence

When you own a digital marketing agency business, you need to use the same tactics for your own marketing efforts that you’d use for new clients. Showing up on the first page of Google or having lots of followers and engagement will help you get new clients.

Your web presence should include the following:

• A professional website: Your website should help potential clients understand what your digital agency offers and teach them more about your business model.
• Online directories: Your digital marketing agency should register on every reputable online directory that’s relevant.
• Social media: Make sure to create social media pages and link between them and your website for the best results. Then share useful content across multiple platforms.
• Online store: Providing a fully online buying option is crucial for your digital marketing agency. It shows customers that you value convenience and efficiency.
• Blog: Blogs are a crucial part of helping prospective clients find your business. They showcase your knowledge of the digital marketing industry and potential challenges.
• Online reviews: A digital agency with good reviews will be seen as more credible by potential new clients. Customers tend to read 10 reviews before trusting a new business.
• Retargeting ads: As an agency owner, you’ll want to use retargeting ads to help your ideal client keep you in mind as they continue their research.

Eric explained more about his personal approach:

People say you should spend 10% to 15% [of revenue on marketing], but if something is working, keep pushing it until it starts losing effectiveness. … Approximately 50% of your business should come from referrals and 50% from marketing.

Step #7. Choose the Right Tools

A successful agency will need software to manage clients and digital marketing campaigns. You should look into the pricing models for the following types of software:

• Customer relationship management software: These platforms will help you keep track of your lead generation, communication, and marketing campaigns.
• Social media management tools: Software makes it easy for social media managers to run marketing campaigns for each client across multiple social media platforms.
• Financial software: An online marketing business will need software to manage finances and track financial performance.

Step #8. Build a Digital Marketing Team

Starting a digital marketing agency requires many different skills. It’s hard for a single person to manage everything you’ll need to do.

The positions you’ll need to fill will normally fall into a few categories:

• Leader: Whether you are the leader or you hire a marketing manager, someone has to lead the team.
• Graphic designer: Every successful business needs graphic design for both their own website and client assets.
• Writer: You’ll need someone to create content that communicates the brand’s message in words. This may involve writing a mix of scripts, blogs, social media posts, and other content.
• Editing: Your team should have someone to review products before they’re finalized. Whether it’s a video, image, or blog, you’ll need a fresh set of eyes to check for mistakes.
• Developer: There’s a good chance you’ll need a developer to connect applications, write schemas, and handle other tasks that help with marketing automation.
• Specialized skills: You might need a data analyst for marketing insights, a financial person to write a marketing budget, or other specialized staff depending on your work.

Eric explained his approach to hiring:

I look for people with an improvement obsession.To screen them, ask people about how they get better.

He warned that this isn’t a perfect method, but there are three things that help you build a great team:

• Ask your employees what you can help with.
• Be quick about establishing feedback loops.
• Be patient. It might take several years to hire a rockstar.

Step #9. Highlight Your Expertise

The digital marketing field is so broad, you can’t possibly start as a full-service marketing agency. Focus on doing one thing well, and talk about it. Share your experience in it, how your approach differs from other agencies, and how that will help your ideal client.

Focusing on a single subject allows you to quickly develop expertise in a niche area, then provide other services as you grow. Another way to get more clients is to answer common questions on digital marketing channels. The better you answer them, and the more reputable your site is, the higher you’ll rank on places like Google.

Let’s explore some additional ways that digital marketing businesses can grow:

• Specialize: It’s much easier to rank for restaurant marketing than as a digital marketing agency. Likewise, single channel agencies that focus on an area like YouTube marketing will have less competition than a full-service social media marketing agency.
• Optimize for search engines: While I would hope anyone researching how to start a marketing business already knows about optimizing for search, you should learn if you don’t already have this skill set.
• Maintain a powerful online presence: The internet is constantly growing. You need to continue building your agency profile throughout the life of your company.
• Provide free consultations: Consultations are a great way for an internet marketing agency to ask questions about a business owner’s goals. Plus, you can use that time to help the business owner understand what your online marketing agency does.
• Prioritize communication: Clients appreciate open and honest communication. Set realistic expectations that you’re able to meet. Don’t guarantee results like getting a business to appear on the first page of Google.
• Encourage professional development: Setting aside time each day or week to learn new skills allows your team to get better at their jobs.
• Diversify your services: It’s less costly to provide new services to existing clients than it is to find more clients.
• Increase your average order: You can either raise your prices, offer additional services, or switch to business models that hide your price increases.
• Collaborate: Other digital marketing agencies often need help getting all their work done. Networking with other agencies can lead to subcontracting opportunities and referrals.

Starting a digital marketing agency requires a strategic approach and a commitment to continuous improvement. Eric Siu’s journey from acquiring a failing agency for $2 to turning it into a multi-million-dollar enterprise shows you exactly how to start an agency—by consistently providing value.

Once you build a skilled team, you’ll have the support you need to offer specialized services and cultivate a strong online presence. Along the way, you’ll need to build a network of successful entrepreneurs to pave the way for your agency’s growth and profitability.

Anyone can start a digital marketing business without money. You just need to plan carefully, adjust to industry trends, and deliver exceptional results for your clients.

You might need to take on some free work along the way to becoming a top digital marketing agency. But in the end, you’ll become successful with hard work, an improvement obsession, and a little luck.

What type of digital marketing will you offer?

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Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template & Guidebook

Starting a digital marketing agency is an exciting endeavor requiring commitment and planning, and having a comprehensive business plan template and guidebook is essential for entrepreneurs to succeed. The #1 Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template & Guidebook is an invaluable resource designed to help turn your dreams into reality, offering detailed instructions on everything from naming your business to managing revenue. Get ready to hit the ground running with this comprehensive roadmap to success!

Get worry-free services and support to launch your business starting at $0 plus state fees.

• How to Start a Profitable Digital Marketing Agency Business [11 Steps]

How to Write a Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan in 7 Steps:

1. describe the purpose of your digital marketing agency business..

The first step to writing your business plan is to describe the purpose of your digital marketing agency business. This includes describing why you are starting this type of business, and what problems it will solve for customers. This is a quick way to get your mind thinking about the customers’ problems. It also helps you identify what makes your business different from others in its industry.

It also helps to include a vision statement so that readers can understand what type of company you want to build.

Here is an example of a purpose mission statement for a digital marketing agency business:

Our mission at [Digital Marketing Agency] is to provide professional and innovative digital marketing solutions that create significant value to our clients, promote their businesses and increase their online visibility. We strive to be the leading digital marketing agency in [geographic area], offering our clients the best possible customer service with results-driven solutions.

2. Products & Services Offered by Your Digital Marketing Agency Business.

The next step is to outline your products and services for your digital marketing agency business. 

When you think about the products and services that you offer, it's helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my business?
• What are the products and/or services that I offer?
• Why am I offering these particular products and/or services?
• How do I differentiate myself from competitors with similar offerings?
• How will I market my products and services?

You may want to do a comparison of your business plan against those of other competitors in the area, or even with online reviews. This way, you can find out what people like about them and what they don’t like, so that you can either improve upon their offerings or avoid doing so altogether.

3. Build a Creative Marketing Stratgey.

If you don't have a marketing plan for your digital marketing agency business, it's time to write one. Your marketing plan should be part of your business plan and be a roadmap to your goals. 

A good marketing plan for your digital marketing agency business includes the following elements:

Target market

• Who is your target market?
• What do these customers have in common?
• How many of them are there?
• How can you best reach them with your message or product?

Customer base 

• Who are your current customers? 
• Where did they come from (i.e., referrals)?
• How can their experience with your digital marketing agency business help make them repeat customers, consumers, visitors, subscribers, or advocates for other people in their network or industry who might also benefit from using this service, product, or brand?

Product or service description

• How does it work, what features does it have, and what are its benefits?
• Can anyone use this product or service regardless of age or gender?
• Can anyone visually see themselves using this product or service?
• How will they feel when they do so? If so, how long will the feeling last after purchasing (or trying) the product/service for the first time?

Competitive analysis

• Which companies are competing with yours today (and why)? 
• Which ones may enter into competition with yours tomorrow if they find out about it now through word-of-mouth advertising; social media networks; friends' recommendations; etc.)
• What specific advantages does each competitor offer over yours currently?

Marketing channels

• Which marketing channel do you intend to leverage to attract new customers?
• What is your estimated marketing budget needed?
• What is the projected cost to acquire a new customer?
• How many of your customers do you instead will return?

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4. Write Your Operational Plan.

Next, you'll need to build your operational plan. This section describes the type of business you'll be running, and includes the steps involved in your operations. 

In it, you should list:

• The equipment and facilities needed
• Who will be involved in the business (employees, contractors)
• Financial requirements for each step
• Milestones & KPIs
• Location of your business
• Zoning & permits required for the business

What equipment, supplies, or permits are needed to run a digital marketing agency business?

• Computer and other tech equipment
• Internet connection
• Office space and furnishing
• Digital marketing software and tools
• Accounting and bookkeeping software
• Business licenses and permits (if applicable)
• Advertising budget for paid campaigns

5. Management & Organization of Your Digital Marketing Agency Business.

The second part of your digital marketing agency business plan is to develop a management and organization section.

This section will cover all of the following:

• How many employees you need in order to run your digital marketing agency business. This should include the roles they will play (for example, one person may be responsible for managing administrative duties while another might be in charge of customer service).
• The structure of your management team. The higher-ups like yourself should be able to delegate tasks through lower-level managers who are directly responsible for their given department (inventory and sales, etc.).
• How you’re going to make sure that everyone on board is doing their job well. You’ll want check-ins with employees regularly so they have time to ask questions or voice concerns if needed; this also gives you time to offer support where necessary while staying informed on how things are going within individual departments too!

6. Digital Marketing Agency Business Startup Expenses & Captial Needed.

This section should be broken down by month and year. If you are still in the planning stage of your business, it may be helpful to estimate how much money will be needed each month until you reach profitability.

Typically, expenses for your business can be broken into a few basic categories:

Startup Costs

Startup costs are typically the first expenses you will incur when beginning an enterprise. These include legal fees, accounting expenses, and other costs associated with getting your business off the ground. The amount of money needed to start a digital marketing agency business varies based on many different variables, but below are a few different types of startup costs for a digital marketing agency business.

Running & Operating Costs

Running costs refer to ongoing expenses related directly with operating your business over time like electricity bills or salaries paid out each month. These types of expenses will vary greatly depending on multiple variables such as location, team size, utility costs, etc.

Marketing & Sales Expenses

You should include any costs associated with marketing and sales, such as advertising and promotions, website design or maintenance. Also, consider any additional expenses that may be incurred if you decide to launch a new product or service line. For example, if your digital marketing agency business has an existing website that needs an upgrade in order to sell more products or services, then this should be listed here.

7. Financial Plan & Projections

A financial plan is an important part of any business plan, as it outlines how the business will generate revenue and profit, and how it will use that profit to grow and sustain itself. To devise a financial plan for your digital marketing agency business, you will need to consider a number of factors, including your start-up costs, operating costs, projected revenue, and expenses. 

Here are some steps you can follow to devise a financial plan for your digital marketing agency business plan:

• Determine your start-up costs: This will include the cost of purchasing or leasing the space where you will operate your business, as well as the cost of buying or leasing any equipment or supplies that you need to start the business.
• Estimate your operating costs: Operating costs will include utilities, such as electricity, gas, and water, as well as labor costs for employees, if any, and the cost of purchasing any materials or supplies that you will need to run your business.
• Project your revenue: To project your revenue, you will need to consider the number of customers you expect to have and the average amount they will spend on each visit. You can use this information to estimate how much money you will make from selling your products or services.
• Estimate your expenses: In addition to your operating costs, you will need to consider other expenses, such as insurance, marketing, and maintenance. You will also need to set aside money for taxes and other fees.
• Create a budget: Once you have estimated your start-up costs, operating costs, revenue, and expenses, you can use this information to create a budget for your business. This will help you to see how much money you will need to start the business, and how much profit you can expect to make.
• Develop a plan for using your profit: Finally, you will need to decide how you will use your profit to grow and sustain your business. This might include investing in new equipment, expanding the business, or saving for a rainy day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Digital Marketing Agency Business Plans:

Why do you need a business plan for a digital marketing agency business.

A business plan is essential for the success of a digital marketing agency business. It helps owners, investors, and potential clients determine the direction, goals, and procedures of the business. It outlines the plans for how the agency will operate and grow, as well as its financial projections. A business plan also serves as a roadmap for how to structure, manage, and track different aspects of the business.

Who should you ask for help with your digital marketing agency business plan?

You should seek advice and assistance from a trusted business advisor or consultant who has experience in creating digital marketing agency business plans. Additionally, there are many resources available online that can provide guidance on how to create a successful business plan.

Can you write a digital marketing agency business plan yourself?

Writing a business plan is a complex process and while it is certainly possible to write a digital marketing agency business plan without professional help, it can be beneficial to get input from experts in the field. This can help ensure that the business plan outlines a comprehensive strategy for success. Additionally, if you are applying for funding from an investor or financial institution, it may be necessary to have a professional business plan in order to be eligible for the loan or funding.

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How To Write a Marketing Agency Business Plan + Template

Creating a business plan is essential for any business, but it can be especially helpful for marketing agency businesses that want to improve their strategy and/or raise funding.

A well-crafted business plan not only outlines the vision for your company, but also documents a step-by-step roadmap of how you are going to accomplish it. In order to create an effective business plan, you must first understand the components that are essential to its success.

This article provides an overview of the key elements that every marketing agency owner should include in their business plan.

Download the Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template

What is a Marketing Agency Business Plan?

A marketing agency business plan is a formal written document that describes your company’s business strategy and its feasibility. It documents the reasons you will be successful, your areas of competitive advantage, and it includes information about your team members. Your business plan is a key document that will convince investors and lenders (if needed) that you are positioned to become a successful venture.

Why Write a Marketing Agency Business Plan?

A marketing agency business plan is required for banks and investors. The document is a clear and concise guide of your business idea and the steps you will take to make it profitable.

Entrepreneurs can also use this as a roadmap when starting their new company or venture, especially if they are inexperienced in starting a business.

Writing an Effective Marketing Agency Business Plan

The following are the key components of a successful marketing agency business plan:

Executive Summary

The executive summary of a marketing agency business plan is a one to two page overview of your entire business plan. It should summarize the main points, which will be presented in full in the rest of your business plan.

• Start with a one-line description of your marketing agency
• Provide a short summary of the key points in each section of your business plan, which includes information about your company’s management team, industry analysis, competitive analysis, and financial forecast among others.

Company Description

This section should include a brief history of your company. Include a short description of how your company started, and provide a timeline of milestones your company has achieved.

If you are just starting your marketing agency , you may not have a long company history. Instead, you can include information about your professional experience in this industry and how and why you conceived your new venture. If you have worked for a similar company before or have been involved in an entrepreneurial venture before starting your marketing agency, mention this.

You will also include information about your chosen marketing agency business model and how, if applicable, it is different from other companies in your industry.

Industry Analysis

The industry or market analysis is an important component of a marketing agency business plan. Conduct thorough market research to determine industry trends and document the size of your market. 

Questions to answer include:

• What part of the marketing agency industry are you targeting?
• How big is the market?
• What trends are happening in the industry right now (and if applicable, how do these trends support the success of your company)?

You should also include sources for the information you provide, such as published research reports and expert opinions.

Customer Analysis

This section should include a list of your target audience(s) with demographic and psychographic profiles (e.g., age, gender, income level, profession, job titles, interests). You will need to provide a profile of each customer segment separately, including their needs and wants.

For example, the customers of a marketing agency may include small businesses, non-profit organizations, or even individuals.

You can include information about how your customers make the decision to buy from you as well as what keeps them buying from you.

Develop a strategy for targeting those customers who are most likely to buy from you, as well as those that might be influenced to buy your products or marketing agency services with the right marketing.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis helps you determine how your product or service will be different from competitors, and what your unique selling proposition (USP) might be that will set you apart in this industry.

For each competitor, list their strengths and weaknesses. Next, determine your areas of competitive differentiation and/or advantage; that is, in what ways are you different from and ideally better than your competitors.

Below are sample competitive advantages your marketing agency may have:

• Proven track record of success
• Strong client base
• Robust marketing strategy and execution
• Highly qualified and experienced team
• State-of-the-art technology and tools

Marketing Plan

This part of the business plan is where you determine and document your marketing plan. . Your plan should be clearly laid out, including the following 4 Ps.

• Product/Service : Detail your product/service offerings here. Document their features and benefits.
• Price : Document your pricing strategy here. In addition to stating the prices for your products/services, mention how your pricing compares to your competition.
• Place : Where will your customers find you? What channels of distribution (e.g., partnerships) will you use to reach them if applicable?
• Promotion : How will you reach your target customers? For example, you may use social media, write blog posts, create an email marketing campaign, use pay-per-click advertising, launch a direct mail campaign. Or, you may promote your marketing agency via public relations or word-of-mouth.

Operations Plan

This part of your marketing agency business plan should include the following information:

• How will you deliver your product/service to customers? For example, will you do it in person or over the phone only?
• What infrastructure, equipment, and resources are needed to operate successfully? How can you meet those requirements within budget constraints?

The operations plan is where you also need to include your company’s business policies. You will want to establish policies related to everything from customer service to pricing, to the overall brand image you are trying to present.

Finally, and most importantly, in your Operations Plan, you will lay out the milestones your company hopes to achieve within the next five years. Create a chart that shows the key milestone(s) you hope to achieve each quarter for the next four quarters, and then each year for the following four years. Examples of milestones for a marketing agency include reaching $X in sales. Other examples include adding X new clients or launching a new website.

Management Team

List your team members here including their names and titles, as well as their expertise and experience relevant to your specific marketing agency industry. Include brief biography sketches for each team member.

Particularly if you are seeking funding, the goal of this section is to convince investors and lenders that your team has the expertise and experience to execute on your plan. If you are missing key team members, document the roles and responsibilities you plan to hire for in the future.

Financial Plan

Here you will include a summary of your complete and detailed financial plan (your full financial projections go in the Appendix). 

This includes the following three financial statements:

Income Statement

Your income statement should include:

• Revenue : how much revenue you generate.
• Cost of Goods Sold : These are your direct costs associated with generating revenue. This includes labor costs, as well as the cost of any equipment and supplies used to deliver the product/service offering.
• Net Income (or loss) : Once expenses and revenue are totaled and deducted from each other, this is the net income or loss.

Sample Income Statement for a Startup Marketing Agency

Balance Sheet

Include a balance sheet that shows your assets, liabilities, and equity. Your balance sheet should include:

• Assets : All of the things you own (including cash).
• Liabilities : This is what you owe against your company’s assets, such as accounts payable or loans.
• Equity : The worth of your business after all liabilities and assets are totaled and deducted from each other.

Sample Balance Sheet for a Startup Marketing Agency

Cash Flow Statement

Include a cash flow statement showing how much cash comes in, how much cash goes out and a net cash flow for each year. The cash flow statement should include:

• Cash Flow From Operations
• Cash Flow From Investments
• Cash Flow From Financing

Below is a sample of a projected cash flow statement for a startup marketing agency .

Sample Cash Flow Statement for a Startup Marketing Agency

You will also want to include an appendix section which will include:

• Your complete financial projections
• A complete list of your company’s business policies and procedures related to the rest of the business plan (marketing, operations, etc.)
• Any other documentation which supports what you included in the body of your business plan.

Writing a good business plan gives you the advantage of being fully prepared to launch and/or grow your marketing agency . It not only outlines your business vision but also provides a step-by-step process of how you are going to accomplish it.

If you are seeking funding from investors or lenders, it is especially important to have a well-written business plan that demonstrates the expertise and experience of your management team, as well as your company’s potential for financial success. By taking the time to write a detailed and comprehensive business plan, you will give your marketing agency the best chance for success.  

Finish Your Marketing Agency Business Plan in 1 Day!

Wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your marketing agency business plan?

With our Ultimate Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

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How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency From Scratch

A complete step-by-step guide on how to start your own digital marketing business without having prior experience.

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Is Digital Marketing a Good Business to Start?

How to start a digital marketing agency, key learnings.

Starting a digital marketing agency from the beginning with no experience is difficult but not impossible. There is a long process from nothing to having an established digital marketing business with clients and employees.

It’s not easy, but nothing stops you from making it a reality and entering the exciting world of digital marketing as a service provider.

I started my digital marketing company in 2012 after ten years as a part-time SEO freelancer. The transition from a part-time freelancer to a full-time business owner created many challenges and opportunities.

During the process, I made many mistakes, but I’ve also learned some valuable lessons that helped me improve my processes and offerings and get to the point of having a healthy and successful online marketing business.

I wrote this guide to help you start your own digital marketing agency from scratch and possibly avoid my mistakes, minimize your risks, and maximize your chances of getting it right the first time.

Before we get into the specifics, let me briefly explain why a digital marketing agency is a good business to start.

There is a high demand for digital marketing services – The number of businesses that move their operations online is increasing daily, and so does the competition. More competition means more demand for digital marketing services.

You can operate a digital marketing agency from home using remote teams – One of the advantages of starting a digital marketing agency is that you don’t need to have a physical business presence.

All operations can be performed remotely using email and Skype. As a business owner, you can also minimize your costs by working from home and hiring remote teams to assist you.

You don’t need to have prior experience – Although having prior experience with SEO and digital marketing is definitely an advantage, you can gradually build your digital marketing skills using an online course and practice on your own websites before offering services to clients.

Be your own boss – If you want to escape the 9:00 to 17:00 and start your own business, becoming a digital marketing manager is a great choice.

It’s a scalable business – You can start your business by providing the services yourself and then as you get more clients you can hire more people and grow your business.

It’s a low-cost business to start – You don’t have to make a big investment from the beginning. All you need is an Internet connection, subscriptions to a couple of tools, and a website. Anything else (office space, employees, etc.) can come later as the business grows.

The fastest way to start a digital marketing business is to build your skills using a proven step-by-step training course. The Digital Marketing Full Course will teach you how digital marketing works and prepare you for starting your own agency.

Get Started

These are the key steps to follow when starting your own digital marketing agency.

• Build Your Digital Marketing Skills And Self-Confidence
• Decide What Kind of Services To Offer
• Decide How You Plan To Operate Your Business
• Register Your Business
• Establish Your Web Presence
• Showcase Your Experience And Expertise
• Choose The Right Tools
• Define Your Business Model
• Get Your First Client
• Start a Digital Marketing Blog
• Build Your Portfolio
• Create Your Processes
• Build Your Digital Marketing Team

1. Build Your Digital Marketing Skills And Self-Confidence

The first step is to build the skills and self-confidence necessary to run a digital marketing agency. This can be broken down into three areas:

• Digital marketing technical skills
• Business management skills
• Self-confidence skills

Digital Marketing Skills

Obviously, if you want to start a digital marketing agency, you need to build your digital marketing skills.

This means you need to know what digital marketing is , how it works, and how to run campaigns to increase your client’s traffic and sales using one or more digital marketing channels.

Digital marketing has a lot of components, and while you don’t have to know everything from day one, you need to have good knowledge of the following:

• Google Advertising
• Facebook Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Email Marketing

As your agency grows, you can build your digital marketing team and hire experts, but if you’re starting now with no experience and money, it is crucial to know how to execute these tasks yourself.

This is a critical success factor. In the early stages of your business, you need to minimize your costs and dependency on other people.

You need to have hands-on experience with the various digital marketing processes so that, eventually, you’ll figure out what works well (in terms of money and clients) and where you’ll need help.

The best way to master a skill is to learn the theory and best practices from established experts and do a lot of practice.

Digital marketing is a highly practical discipline, and it’s not enough to know the basics you need to gain the necessary experience by practicing digital marketing.

You can use the resources below to learn digital marketing and build your skills.

• Digital Marketing Ultimate Bundle – Everything you need to know about digital marketing. A complete course for beginners and advanced users.
• Digital Marketing Specialist – How to become a digital marketing specialist.
• Digital Marketing Certificate Programs – Best digital marketing certifications to pursue.

Business Management Skills

Since your goal is to start an online business and not work as a freelancer, you need to learn the basics of running a business.

You don’t necessarily need to have a degree in Business Management, but you need to build some skills related to:

• Project management
• Time management
• Invoicing and billing
• HR management

As a business owner, you’ll have to do these things from the beginning and probably for a long period until you reach a point where you can hire dedicated people or outsource to professionals.

Self-Confidence Skills

You cannot run a business if you’re not willing to take some risks. To take risks, you need to have self-confidence, and to gain self-confidence in the digital marketing industry, you need to have faith in your skills.

If you start this business without knowing exactly what steps to take to improve a website’s ranking or how to use advertising to get more customers for your clients, you’ll fail.

So, before you start serving clients (as a digital marketing freelancer or agency), you need to have working experience either in an established agency or on your own websites.

Once you get to a point where you can utilize digital marketing techniques to achieve real measurable results, you’ll know that you’re ready to become a service provider.

Don’t forget that there are thousands of digital marketing professionals and agencies in the market. Clients will probably get multiple proposals and do several interviews before making a hiring decision.

Confidence will help you stand out from the crowd, so make sure you equip yourself with the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience before making the big step.

2. Decide What Kind of Services To Offer

The next step is deciding what kind of digital marketing services to offer your potential clients. A full-service digital marketing agency typically offers the following services:

• Web design and Development
• SEO Services
• PPC Services (Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.)
• Content marketing services (content writing included)
• Social media marketing services
• Email marketing services
• Conversion optimization services

As a startup, it will be very difficult to offer all these services from the beginning, so it’s better to choose the ones that match your skills.

For example, If you’re an SEO expert , you can start by providing SEO services only, and then as you grow your client base and get more money, you can add more services to your offering.

Remember that your goal at this stage is to keep your costs low and depend on your skills. If you try to go full-service from day one, there is a big chance that you’ll get lost in the process.

From my experience, the services that can generate more revenue for you are the ones that provide real monetary value to clients: SEO and PPC services.

3. Decide How You Plan To Operate Your Business

The next decision to make is how you plan to operate your business.

You have three choices:

• As a virtual company from home and hiring remote teams
• As a ‘traditional business’ with an office and local employees
• A combination of both

All three options have pros and cons, and your decision has to consider the costs and the location of your potential clients.

For example, if you plan to serve clients in a specific city, having a physical presence in the area will help you establish your brand and get more local clients.

If you plan on serving clients anywhere worldwide, having a physical office will only increase your monthly costs.

As a matter of fact, one of the advantages of starting your own digital marketing agency is that you can operate your business from home with remote employees. Many online and SaaS companies follow this model, and it’s the future of business.

As you grow your digital marketing portfolio, you may consider hiring local employees, but they can also work from their home offices, so there is no need to pay for rent and other office expenses at this stage.

What you need to do, though, is find a place in your home and set up your home office. This can be a separate room or an area in your house that you’ll use to work. Also, since you’ll be working online, you must ensure you have the best internet connection possible.

4. Register Your Business

Before proceeding with the next steps, it’s time to make it official. And by this, I mean to:

• Decide the name of your business
• Register your domain name
• Design your logo
• Register your business legal entity with the relevant authorities
• Get a toll-free number
• Find an accountant and auditor
• Find a lawyer
• Create business cards

It’s necessary to do this now and put all the pieces together even if you don’t use all of them from the beginning.

5. Establish Your Web Presence

The first actionable step in the list is establishing your online presence, starting with creating a website for your business.

The website is your agency business’s ‘front door’, so you must ensure it accurately represents your brand.

Your website needs to look professional and give potential clients all the information they need to decide whether they should hire your company.

Besides explaining who you are and what you do, make sure that you explain the benefits clients will gain by hiring you. Don’t make your website about you but about them.

Create dedicated landing pages for all your services and make sure that it’s easy for potential clients to contact you without asking too many questions or having them complete complex signup forms.

Your goal is to get as many leads as possible, filter them, and concentrate on the ones with more chances of becoming clients.

Besides creating a website, you must secure your brand name on all major platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc) and create business pages.

Don’t omit this step because clients will check your Facebook page and research more about your company before hiring, so you need to make sure that everything looks good and professional.

Additionally, register your business with websites like Crunchbase and other organizations (local, government) that can help prove your legal existence.

• Digital Marketing For Startups – tips and advice on establishing a brand for your startup business.
• How to Make a Website – a step-by-step guide on how to create a website for your business.

6. Showcase Your Experience And Expertise

As we’ll see below (step 9), finding new clients is one of the most difficult aspects of running a digital marketing agency. But, an equally important aspect is to be in a position to convince prospective clients to work with you.

The best way to do this is by demonstrating your experience and expertise.

Practically this means:

• An ‘about us’ page that tells your story and achievements
• Success stories
• Case studies
• Academic credentials
• Known companies you’ve worked for
• Previous working experience
• Customer testimonials
• Partnership agreements
• Certifications
• Mentions from other websites

If you’re starting out now with no experience, it’s normal that some of the above items may not apply to you, but do keep them on your to-do list and try to achieve them gradually.

For example, do some work on a friend’s business website and ask them to send you a review or get a couple of digital marketing certifications from reputable companies.

Use the results achieved by working on your own websites and showcase them as case studies on your business website.

Do some guest posting on reputable websites and mention that on your homepage.

Be honest about your working experience and only publish real reviews and case studies. Starting a business relationship with a client based on fake reviews is not the way to establish a successful business.

7. Choose The Right Tools

To run your digital agency efficiently, you’ll eventually need a lot of tools. In fact, paying for tools licenses will be your second largest expense after paying for salaries.

You’ll need tools to help you optimize your digital marketing campaigns, create reports for the clients, invoicing, accounting, and many more.

There are many digital marketing tools in the market to choose from, but what you need to have in mind is to select tools that offer features you’ll actually use and not features that are nice to have.

It’s very common for businesses to pay for software features they will never use, so choose wisely.

Don’t forget that you should sign up for tools you can use not only on your website but also on your client’s websites, so take that into account when comparing the licensing cost of each tool.

The first tool you’ll need is a digital marketing platform like Semrush, Ahrefs, Hubspot, or Moz.

These platforms have tools that can help you with SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and PPC campaign management.

I’m using Semrush because it’s a superb all-in-one platform with great features and reasonable pricing, but the other tools mentioned above are good for the job.

Other paid tools you’ll need are:

Lead generation software – I’m using OptinMonster to grow my email list and improve conversion rates. It’s very easy to use with a lot of features.

Email marketing solution – I’m using MailChimp for my website and many client websites, but there are other good solutions like Drip, Constant Contact, Klayvio, and many more.

Grammarly – A must-have tool for all online businesses. It helps you avoid spelling and grammar mistakes in anything you write online (including emails, proposals, etc.).

Canva – Sooner or later, you’ll need a tool to create nice-looking graphics and presentations, and Canva is a great choice.

Social media management platform – I’m using SocialPilot , but other good tools include Sprout Social, Buffer, and Hootsuite.

Online Chat Software – I’m using LiveChat , but other good options include Tidio and Jivo Chat.

Other free tools you’ll need are:

• Google Analytics
• Google Tag Manager
• Google Search Console
• Google Looker Studio
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Docs
• Google Slides
• Google Forms

My recommendation is to decide which tools you’ll use and spend some time learning how to use them and what features they offer. Once you start working with clients, your time will be limited, so it’s better to familiarize yourself with these tools in advance.

8. Define Your Business Model

The next step in the process is to define your business model, i.e., to decide how you’ll charge for your services.

The most popular business models for digital marketing agencies are:

• Per project
• Monthly fee

Per hour – You charge an hourly fee for your services. The rate varies from $30 to $120 per hour, depending on your experience, the client’s location, the type of business, the type of services you provide, and the complexity of the work.

Per project – You agree with the client on a fixed amount to complete the project. If your estimations are correct, you make a profit, but if you make wrong estimations, you may make a loss.

Monthly fee – The client pays a monthly retainer for the agreed services. This usually applies to monthly SEO services, PPC management, and social media management.

The most profitable model is the ‘monthly fee’, and the least profitable is the ‘per hour’.

For new agencies, I recommend starting with the ‘per hour’ or ‘per project’ model. It’s not the most profitable model, but your goal at this stage is to get new clients and build your portfolio fast, and the ‘per hour’ model allows you to adjust your hourly rate to attract new clients.

9. Get Your First Client

So far, we have discussed how to prepare the ground for your startup agency, but you need clients to become a real business. A business with no clients is just an idea and not a business.

So, how do you get your first digital marketing client? Here are some ideas that worked for me in the beginning.

Friends and family – It’s very likely that your friends and family members have a business or work for a business that can use digital marketing services.

Reach out to them and offer to help them with their digital marketing efforts. Take a look at their website and their marketing tactics and come up with a plan on how you can help them get more clients, improve their search presence, and, in general, make more sales.

Since this is your first ‘official proposal,’ try to make it as detailed as possible with specific goals.

Explain to them why they need to invest some money in improving their website, why they need to have active social media pages, how they can benefit from Google ads, the missing opportunities from not using email marketing, and anything else needed to convince them to hire you as their digital marketing consultant.

Make sure that your pricing at this stage is attractive to them. Your goal is not to start making a profit but to build your portfolio.

The lessons learned from working with your first client will be invaluable, and they will help you tremendously when working with your first real client.

Online job boards – another way to get your first client is to use job search websites like Upwork and PeoplePerHour . These websites have hundreds of job postings related to digital marketing and can be a good starting point.

Here are a few pointers to help you out:

• When replying to a job request, ensure you answer ALL questions raised in the posting. Read the job description carefully and explain your plan of action.
• Reply fast. A job posting on those websites gets a lot of responses in a matter of hours, and usually, the work is assigned to those who reply first.
• Be honest and make realistic promises.
• Keep your prices low.

10. Start a Digital Marketing Blog

While working on your first client, you should find some time to start your own blog. A good blog with helpful content is by far the BEST lead generation tool for a digital marketing agency.

It’s the most efficient way to get new leads and, at the same time, convince your potential clients that you know what you’re doing,

When clients find you on Google search, you don’t have to ‘sell yourself’; they already know that you’re capable of ranking websites high in Google, which helps a lot with the signup process.

When creating content for your blog, try to target keywords related to the type of services you are currently offering and that potential clients may search for.

To give you an idea of how powerful this technique is, blogging has been my agency’s main source of leads for the last 15 years. We managed to work with hundreds of clients worldwide without paying a dollar for advertising.

As a matter of fact, growing your blog should be your top priority because as your blog grows, so does your agency. Not relying on advertising will also help you quickly turn your company into a profitable business.

11. Build Your Portfolio And Customer Testimonials

Once you reach this point, your goal should be to continue building your portfolio and customer testimonials.

To build your portfolio fast, you will still have to provide services at a low cost, but getting testimonials and positive reviews from customers will help you sign up more and bigger customers in the future.

The reason I’m insisting on this point is that while it’s easy to get new clients with low marketing budgets to secure clients with big budgets that can generate good profit, you need to have a decent portfolio and reviews from past customers.

I know from experience that this will take time, so don’t get disappointed, but take it step-by-step, one client at a time.

12. Create Your Processes

As you grow your digital marketing agency and get more clients, you’ll get to a point where you’ll not be able to handle all projects by yourself.

That’s the time to consider hiring people to help you, but before you do, you’ll need to set up your processes.

By processes, we mean to have a set of SOPs (standard operating procedures) to document all the steps you take to perform a specific task. This includes the client onboarding process and all the services you’re offering.

It’s important to do this now before you get new people on board otherwise, you’ll lose a lot of valuable time explaining to your team how you want them to handle client work.

Use your current experience working with clients and spend some time creating email templates, proposal templates, custom reports, and checklists that anyone can follow to perform a specific task.

Keep things simple, and don’t overcomplicate things. You can create your processes using Google Docs and Gmail and organize them in folders.

13. Build Your Digital Marketing Team

When you get to the point of hiring new people, it means that you already have some clients, are already making a profit, and your processes are in place.

If you’re not at this stage yet, I recommend not hiring people now unless you have the funds to take the risk.

Building a digital marketing team to replace yourself is tricky and something that many digital marketing agency owners (including me) had difficulties executing initially.

Some tips to help you with this process:

Start by hiring people for tasks that are easy to execute – Explain to your employees what you expect them to do and document all steps. Refine your processes (created in the previous step) to be up-to-date and relevant.

Start by hiring freelancers instead of full-time employees – This will help you keep your costs low and give you more flexibility. You can use the extra help when needed and on a per-project basis.

Give them a pilot project to work on – It’s not always easy to understand what skills a freelancer has, so the best way to find out if they are a good fit for your team is to hire them for a pilot project before proceeding to a full-time hire. This will save you a lot of money and frustration from hiring the wrong people.

A digital marketing agency is a great business to start. You can provide services from the comfort of your own home, you can be your own boss, and it’s a business that can scale without much capital.

While this sounds fantastic, there are a few things to consider before becoming a digital marketing service provider.

The first thing is that you need to know what you’re doing. If you’re new to digital marketing, then before rushing into creating a business, you first need to build your skills and gain working experience.

Start by doing digital marketing on your own sites and try different techniques until you have clear in your mind what is working and what is not.

Once you reach a point where you have some real results, you’ll also have the confidence to offer your services to other people.

Start slow, don’t try to offer all services from day one, and don’t expand too fast. Build your portfolio step-by-step, one client at a time.

When it’s time to hire new people, make sure that your processes are already in place and build your team gradually. Hiring remote employees is not easy, and you may have to try a number of candidates until you find people who can work with you as a team.

Building and growing a blog should always be your top priority. Blogging will help you get new clients without paying for advertising, generating huge advantages for your business.

Lastly, don’t forget the motto ‘the customer is always right’. Give your clients the attention they deserve and turn them into repeat clients. This way, you’ll minimize the cost of acquiring new customers, increase your profit, and scale your business faster.

Alex Chris is a digital marketing consultant, author, and instructor. He has more than 18 years of practical experience with SEO and digital marketing. Alex holds an MSc Degree in eCommerce and has consulted with Fortune 500 companies in different industries. He blogs regularly about SEO and Digital marketing, and his work has been referenced by leading marketing websites. Connect with Alex on Twitter and LinkedIn .

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39 Comments

April 24, 2020 at 2:09 am

Hi Alex, many thanks for the insight into the world of Digital Marketing.

At the moment I’m doing a free fundamentals course with Google to put the feelers out with the Business and find out what it’s all about.

A lot of the terms and techniques I’ve come across in the past so it’s not quite alien to me, but.

I am really impressed with the content of your full course so once I’ve completed the Google one, I’ll be purchasing your course then.

Best of luck,

Stephen Hughes.

August 5, 2020 at 10:06 am

Thanks a lot for your comment. Yes, having a good understanding of how digital marketing works is a crucial first step for starting your own agency.

All the best Alex

June 20, 2020 at 11:26 pm

Nice Alex. For a young agency like mine this is great and thorough info that helps me organize the thoughts in my head! Also helps me build confidence.

Making the decision on what exactly I’m going to do was huge. So many options and so many needs to fill. But, I want to keep my services geographically close and work one-on-one with local businesses. That left me needing to narrow it down and focus. It ended up being quite the process.

I appreciate what you put together here. Thanks for your time.

August 5, 2020 at 10:10 am

Thanks for your comment.

For new agencies it is true that there is a lot to do in the beginning. Narrowing down your niche and working one-on-one with local businesses, it’s a good decission. This will give you the chance to gain experiences and optimize your processes to eventually grow globally and get more clients.

All the best with your digital marketing efforts. Alex

August 7, 2020 at 9:15 am

This is one of the most comprehensive guides that I’ve come across. I can use this as my new agency playbook even. I’ve bookmarked this article and have taken notes. I’ll come back to it to refer to it as a guide.

Also, you can tell that you’ve written this article out of your experience. Thank you so much for this guide. You’re the man!

November 6, 2020 at 6:42 pm

Thanks a lot, glad I could help you with my article.

September 24, 2020 at 1:44 am

This was a very detailed article. I love that you talk about getting a blog and how important that is in helping you become an expert. It really solidified it for me since that is something I’ve been putting off. I’ve heard great things about up work, I just have yet to hunt for jobs on there. Thanks for all the great tips!

November 6, 2020 at 6:41 pm

Hi Heiner Thanks for your comment. Yes, having a blog about digital marketing should be your first priority. It can make a huge difference when it comes to acquiring clients and establishing your online authority.

November 6, 2020 at 2:58 pm

Hi Alex, This article is perfectly written. I started my career by providing social media marketing services & then extended to Content marketing & SEO. I got my first client from Instagram. It’s true that one has to be consistent & build an online presence to land clients. Cheers!

November 6, 2020 at 6:40 pm

Thanks for your valuable feedback. Good luck with your digital marketing agency business.

February 22, 2021 at 7:57 am

Wow. Very detailed and full information. As a digital marketing agency owner, I find it very helpful.

March 15, 2021 at 10:54 pm

Very comprehensive content.

May 20, 2021 at 11:00 am

For people who are confused about their field or still deciding between what to choose, This blog will help them get a good clarity on what to expect from The Digital Marketing Field per se. A very helpful blog Alex, thanks for sharing!

May 24, 2021 at 7:47 pm

I just recently started with digital marketing and this blog will really help me get a proper insight into the field! Thank you so much for sharing this Alex.

August 12, 2021 at 11:01 pm

Thank you very much Alex for this awesome guide. I am looking into getting into the Digital Marketing space, but I just want to do proper research. I really like the way you explained everything, it was really great. Please Sir, is there anyway at all we can connect and talk one on one? There are so many things I really want to know

October 8, 2021 at 10:30 am

Hi Alex, It article is very informative. Thanks for sharing. I am in the digital marketing field for the last 8 months. Will it be ok for me to start my own Digital Marketing Agency?

October 8, 2021 at 11:57 am

Thanks for your comment. If you feel confident in your digital marketing skills then go for it. If you’re not sure yet how to handle client campaigns, practice on your own website first, get some good results and then start working with clients.

I hope this helps Alex

February 8, 2022 at 7:24 pm

Hi Alex Great, it is really a masterpiece of detailed information on digital marketing, SEO, Blogs & Designing the Website, and Bussiness with much more in one Article. Hope you keep providing us with more information on digital marketing & Social Media Marketing

October 27, 2022 at 3:16 pm

April 28, 2022 at 11:11 pm

Hello, This is a great informative article I read about digital marketing agencies. Currently, I am also starting my agency so this blog helps me develop my agency from scratch and it is valuable content. Thanks

Thanks a lot!

May 2, 2022 at 9:30 am

Thanks for sharing this amazing piece of the blog it’s really helpful for people who are unsure about their area of interest or expecting something different from the Digital Marketing field in general. Keep posting!

Thanks a lot for your nice comment.

August 20, 2022 at 9:16 am

Thanks for your meaningful post 🙂

It’s helpful to me in growing my newly opened Digital Marketing company. There are many points that I’ll use to grow my agency.

October 27, 2022 at 3:15 pm

That’s great, thanks for letting us know.

October 7, 2022 at 7:04 pm

Thanks for very useful information and guide for starting digital marketing agency. Thanks for step by step information. Very useful for me.

Hi Jatinder

Thanks for your nice comment! Glad I could help you figure out how to start your own digital marketing business.

January 19, 2023 at 1:13 pm

Alex, thank you so much for putting this together. I’ll be subscribing to your course once I finish my google certification. I intend to start small by working closely with small business owners and local brands. Cheers!

October 16, 2023 at 8:01 pm

Starting small with local clients is a good approach. As you gain more clients and start making money, you can expand your services and grow your agency.

April 16, 2023 at 7:34 pm

First of all, English is my second language and being new in the digital marketing world, the two don’t go together! I have been searching on Google for the last 6 months and have read many articles, content, and blogs. I haven’t found half of the understanding I have discovered from your blog. Excuse my bad English and Grammar. Thank you for your outstanding and clear explanation about digital marketing; connecting and understanding your blog was super easy.

I will purchase your digital marketing course as a beginner.

October 16, 2023 at 8:02 pm

Thanks a lot for your comment; I’m glad I was able to help you.

May 11, 2023 at 2:54 am

Great read regarding aspects of putting up a digital marketing agency and its benefits for continued business success. Thanks for this.

October 16, 2023 at 8:03 pm

September 26, 2023 at 7:45 pm

Starting a digital marketing agency is exciting, but it requires expertise. Begin small, expand services gradually, and build a satisfied client base. Hire carefully, establish strong processes, use blogging for client acquisition, and prioritize client satisfaction to boost your agency’s growth.

Very well said! I agree with your approach 100%.

November 9, 2023 at 7:36 am

The reminder that “the customer is always right” is a classic but crucial piece of advice. Customer satisfaction and repeat business are at the core of any successful agency. Your insights on turning clients into loyal customers are right on the money. Thanks for sharing this wisdom!

November 9, 2023 at 8:41 am

Thanks for your comment. Keeping customers happy is the key ingredient for building a successful digital marketing agency.

December 28, 2023 at 6:38 am

The first crucial step is knowing the ropes. If you’re new to digital marketing, resist the urge to jump straight into business mode. Take the time to build your skills and gather hands-on experience.

December 28, 2023 at 10:09 am

That’s correct. Building the right skills and experience is crucial for the success of your business.

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Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template

Trusted by 700+ Downloaders

What You Get

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• The ability to paste advanced charts and tables within a click
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Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template Description

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Our ready-made Digital Marketing Agency business plan template is in Word format and includes 23 pages. The document is divided into multiple sections. Each section contains the essential points that are necessary to effectively present your Digital Marketing Agency project. Each section and sub-section offers you a sample text that you can easily customize to make your business plan unique. Below is a small excerpt of the ready made digital marketing business plan document in Word.

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Your Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Content

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The Problem Opportunity:  Next, your ready-made Digital Marketing Agency business plan will list a number of problems experienced by your prospects in your target market and will show how this presents a unique opportunity for your Digital Marketing Agency. These can include issues such as lack of a particular type of Digital Marketing service in a certain location, low or average quality of service offered by existing players, undifferentiated offering by current actors in the market…etc.

The Solution:  This section explains how your Digital Marketing Agency will take advantage of the current problems in the market and will detail your innovative solutions.

Mission & Vision:  Your mission will explain in a couple of sentences your Digital Marketing Agency business ethos. In other words, it will summarize your unique value proposition and will explain how you are different than the competition. Your vision will explain the long-term plans for your Digital Marketing Agency. Are you planning to start with one branch today and expand to a multi-branch business model? Are you looking to penetrate new geographies in the future?…etc.

Business Model:  This section details your Digital Marketing Agency concept using the business model canvas method. In a visually appealing table, we will detail your Digital Marketing Agency’s key partners, activities, resources, value proposition, customer segments, customer relationship plan, marketing channels, cost structure and revenue streams.

Products & Services:  Next, we will talk in detail about your various Digital Marketing services. We will describe your various types of online marketing services including PPC, SEO…etc. We will also provide information about your pricing by type of service.

Market Analysis:  This important section describes the various market statistics and consumer trends in the Digital Marketing Agency industry and explains how they support your own project. The purpose of this section is to show that the market conditions are favorable for launching your new Digital Marketing Agency.

Global Market Trends:  In this sub-section of the market analysis, we will discuss the latest global market trends in the Digital Marketing Agency industry. We will look at the global industry size, growth rate, growth diving factors and customer trends.

Local Market Trends:  This sub-section explains the local market trends that are relevant to your specific Digital Marketing Agency in its area of operation.

Target Clients:  In this section, we will describe your various customer profiles by providing information about their demographics, behavior and purchasing habits.

Competitive Analysis:  We will analyze key competitors active in your target market and provide insights about their strengths and weaknesses.

Competitive Advantages:  After looking at the competitive landscape, we will then show how your Digital Marketing Agency is differentiating itself from the competition through a number of key advantages.

SWOT Analysis:  This section features a 4-quadrant table with explanations about how your Digital Marketing Agency intends to leverage its key strengths, mitigate weaknesses, capture opportunities and thwart any future threats.

Marketing Plan : This chapter provides detailed information about your go-to-market strategy.

Branding & Awareness:  We will describe in this sub-section your choice of key marketing channels to build branding and awareness.

Customer Acquisition:  We will describe in this sub-section your choice of key marketing channels to acquire customers and increase sales.

Operating Plan:  This chapter provides information about your Digital Marketing Agency’s opening hours, internal processes and describes the interactions between various key departments and teams.

Management Team:  It is very important to present the key people behind your Digital Marketing Agency and thus we have dedicated a section for this very purpose. It is also important to talk here about the founder’s vision, his past education and professional experience.

Hiring Plan:  No business can succeed without having on board the right team. This section lists all the key positions you plan to hire with information about their salaries and expected start dates.

Key Milestones:  To be able to launch and execute your Digital Marketing Agency project, you need to follow a set of actionable tasks with target deadlines. This section serves this purpose.

Financial Plan:  Without a robust financial plan, your Digital Marketing Agency business plan would be an incomplete document. This important section provides crucial information about your pro-forma financial projections and shows that you have really done your homework. The data mentioned in this and the following sections will be provided by the dynamic Excel financial model accompanying your Digital Marketing Agency business plan.

Projected Revenue:  This module shows your Digital Marketing Agency’s revenue projections over the next three years.

Projected Profit and Loss:  This module shows your Digital Marketing Agency’s income statement (also called profit and loss statement) over the next three years. Your income statement includes detailed projections about your sales and expenses and shows how your Digital Marketing Agency’s revenue is converted into a net profit.

Projected Cash Flows:  This module shows your Digital Marketing Agency’s cash flow projections over the next three years. The first year of operation is even detailed on a monthly basis. Your cash flow statement will detail the various cash inflows your Digital Marketing Agency will generate from its day to day operations and from funding sources, as well as the various cash outflows required to pay for operating expenses and business investments.

Projected Balance Sheet : This module shows your Digital Marketing Agency’s balance sheet projections over the next three years. The balance sheet will provide a summary of your Digital Marketing Agency’s short term and long term assets in addition to your short term and long term liabilities and capital.

Profitability Analysis:  In this section, we will provide information about your gross margin, net margin and discuss the profitability of your Digital Marketing Agency.

Funding Requirement:  This module states the amount of funding your need to be able to comfortably launch your Digital Marketing Agency. It also describes the planned allocation of the funds between Opex and Capex.

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Digital Marketing Agency

Back to All Business Ideas

How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency (with Free Checklist)

Written by: Carolyn Young

Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.

Edited by: David Lepeska

David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.

Published on February 10, 2022 Updated on August 30, 2024

Investment range

$1,850 - $16,200

Revenue potential

$125,000 - $625,000 p.a.

Time to build

0 – 3 months

Profit potential

$110,000 - $190,000 p.a.

Industry trend

Here are the most important considerations when starting a digital marketing agency:

• Focus on one niche — Determine what specific digital marketing services you will offer. This might include SEO, PPC, social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, or web design.
• Online presence — Develop a professional website, showcase your services, and maintain active, strategic social media profiles.
• Hire professionals — Depending on the scale at which you start, you might need to hire other specialists, such as SEO experts, content writers, PPC analysts, or graphic designers.
• Register your business — A limited liability company (LLC) is the best legal structure for new businesses because it is fast and simple. Form your business immediately using ZenBusiness LLC formation service or hire one of the best LLC services on the market.
• Legal business aspects — Register for taxes, open a business bank account, and get an EIN .
• Tools and technology — Invest in the necessary tools and software to provide your services effectively. This might include subscription-based tools for SEO analysis, social media management, email marketing, and more.
• Learn from real entrepreneurs who run a digital marketing business:

Navigating the Digital Landscape: A Conversation with Ronald Osborne

Emily Amos: Mastering the Art of B2B Content in the Tech World

Richard Michie’s Insights on Digital Marketing Evolution

Flamingo Marketing Strategies: Where Creativity Meets Business Growth

Interactive Checklist at your fingertips—begin your digital marketing agency today!

You May Also Wonder:

How profitable is digital marketing?

Digital marketing is an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars, so it can be a very profitable business. Rates between $80 and $150 per hour can put a lot of cash in your pocket!

How do I land my first client?

You’ll need to use your marketing skills to create awareness of your agency. You can also network on LinkedIn or call potential clients directly. 

Can I start a digital marketing business from home?

Yes, you can perform all your marketing activities from a home office. It’s a digital age, so you can work with clients anywhere in the world.

What kind of partnerships or collaborations can I establish for my digital marketing business?

You can partner with other companies that serve businesses to get referrals. Examples include social media management companies or financial services companies.

How do I measure the success of my digital marketing business?

There’s never a guarantee of success, but you can do things to give yourself a better chance of success. The real key is to do great work for your clients. Then you may get referrals from them to other clients.

Step 1: Decide if the Business Is Right for You

Pros and cons.

Starting a digital marketing agency has pros and cons to consider before deciding if it’s right for you.

• Cash Cow – High income, low expenses
• High Demand – Large pool of potential customers
• Flexibility – Work from home on your time
• Competitive Market – Market is saturated with digital marketing agencies
• Skills Needed – Digital marketing education and experience are necessary

Digital marketing industry trends

The US is the largest digital advertising market in the world as it accounts for almost half of the $560 billion in digital ad spending worldwide in 2022.(( https://www.statista.com/forecasts/459632/digital-advertising-revenue-countries-digital-market-outlook ))

Industry size and growth

• Industry size and past growth – Digital advertising agencies in the US are estimated to earn more than $20 billion in 2022, almost four times their total revenue 10 years ago.(( https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/market-size/digital-advertising-agencies-united-states/ ))
• Growth forecast – Digital ad spending in the US is predicted to grow an average of 10% yearly and exceed $340 billion by 2026.(( https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/digital-advertising/united-states#ad-spending ))
• Number of businesses – There are more than 6,000 digital advertising agencies in the US.(( https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/digital-advertising-agencies-united-states/ )) 
• Number of people employed – US digital advertising agencies employ almost 80,000 people.(( https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/employment/digital-advertising-agencies-united-states/ ))

Trends and challenges

Trends in digital marketing include:

• Personalized marketing and content using data collection to create user profiles is in huge demand.
• Segmented content targeting different customer segments based on demographics and preferences is increasing.

Challenges in digital marketing:

• Privacy restrictions on data collection are making personalized marketing more challenging.
• Since digital marketing trends and technology are evolving rapidly, keeping up with those trends presents a challenge for digital marketing agencies.

Popular digital marketing platforms

The biggest digital ad publishers in the US(( https://www.statista.com/statistics/242549/digital-ad-market-share-of-major-ad-selling-companies-in-the-us-by-revenue/ )) are:

What kind of people work in digital marketing?

• Gender – 56% of digital marketing strategists in the US are male, while 44% are female.(( https://www.zippia.com/digital-marketing-strategist-jobs/demographics/#gender-statistics ))
• Average level of education – 78% of digital marketing strategists hold a bachelor’s degree and 15% have a master’s degree.(( https://www.zippia.com/digital-marketing-strategist-jobs/education/ ))
• Average age – The average age of a digital marketing strategist is 39 years old.(( https://www.zippia.com/digital-marketing-strategist-jobs/demographics/#age-statistics ))

How much does it cost to start a digital marketing business?

Startup costs for a digital marketing agency range from $1,800 to $16,000. The low end assumes you’ll start your agency from home and that you’re already trained as a digital marketer and have a computer. You’ll just need a website and digital marketing software.

The high end includes the cost of a computer, rental of office space, and digital marketing training and certification. You can get your certification from the Digital Marketing Institute in about 6 weeks for around $1,600.

How much can you earn from a digital marketing business?

Digital marketing agency rates range from $80 to $150 per hour. When you start, you should fall at the low end of the range until you build a reputation. Your ongoing expenses will be low, so your profit margin should be about 90%.

In your first year or two, you could work from home and work 30 hours a week at $80 per hour, bringing in about $125,000 in annual revenue. This would mean a tidy profit of more than $110,000, assuming that 90% margin. As your brand gains recognition and you begin to get referrals, you could reach 100 weekly hours and charge a higher rate of $120 per hour. At this stage, you’d rent a commercial office space and hire staff including other digital marketers, reducing your margin to around 30%. With annual revenue of nearly $625,000, you’d make an impressive $190,000.

What barriers to entry are there?

There are a few barriers to entry for a digital marketing agency. Your biggest challenges will be:

• Competing in a saturated market
• Funding the cost of your training if necessary

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Step 2: hone your idea.

Now that you know what’s involved in starting a digital marketing agency, it’s a good idea to hone your concept in preparation to enter a competitive market. 

Market research will give you the upper hand, even if you’re already positive that you have a perfect product or service. Conducting market research is important, because it can help you understand your customers better, who your competitors are, and your business landscape.

Why? Identify an opportunity

Research digital marketing agencies in your field of expertise to examine their services, price points, and customer reviews. You’re looking for a market gap to fill. For instance, maybe the market is missing a digital marketing agency focused on personalized marketing.

You might consider targeting a niche market by specializing in a certain aspect of your industry, such as digital marketing for retail companies.

This could jumpstart your word-of-mouth marketing and attract clients right away. 

What? Determine your digital marketing services

You should offer a full range of digital marketing services unless you want to specialize in one. Your services can include:

• SEO and PPC strategies
• Content creation
• Email marketing
• Social media marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• Influencer marketing

How much should you charge for digital marketing services?

Digital marketing goes for $80 to $150 per hour. Until your business gains traction, you should stay at the lower end. Your ongoing expenses will be mainly for marketing yourself, so you should aim for a profit margin of about 90%.

Once you know your costs, you can use this Step By Step profit margin calculator to determine your mark-up and final price point. Remember, the prices you use at launch should be subject to change if warranted by the market.

Who? Identify your target market

Your target market will be business owners, mainly small business owners. You can find them on LinkedIn or other business-related sites, but you should also call on them directly. 

Where? Choose your business premises

In the early stages, you may want to run your business from home to keep costs low. But as your business grows, you’ll likely need to hire workers for various roles and may need to rent out an office. Find commercial space to rent in your area on sites such as Craigslist , Crexi , and Instant Offices .

When choosing a commercial space, you may want to follow these rules of thumb:

• Central location accessible via public transport
• Ventilated and spacious, with good natural light
• Flexible lease that can be extended as your business grows
• Ready-to-use space with no major renovations or repairs needed

Step 3: Brainstorm a Digital Marketing Agency Name

Here are some ideas for brainstorming your business name:

• Short, unique, and catchy names tend to stand out
• Names that are easy to say and spell tend to do better 
• Name should be relevant to your product or service offerings
• Ask around — family, friends, colleagues, social media — for suggestions
• Including keywords, such as “marketing” or “digital marketing”, boosts SEO
• Name should allow for expansion, for ex: “The Marketing Prodigies” over “Social Media Marketing Agency”
• A location-based name can help establish a strong connection with your local community and help with the SEO but might hinder future expansion

Discover over 270 unique digital marketing agency name ideas here. If you want your business name to include specific keywords, you can also use our digital marketing agency name generator. Just type in a few keywords and hit “generate” and you’ll have dozens of suggestions at your fingertips.

Once you’ve got a list of potential names, visit the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure they are available for registration and check the availability of related domain names using our Domain Name Search tool. Using “.com” or “.org” sharply increases credibility, so it’s best to focus on these. 

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Finally, make your choice among the names that pass this screening and go ahead with domain registration and social media account creation. Your business name is one of the key differentiators that set your business apart. Once you pick your company name, and start with the branding, it is hard to change the business name. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider your choice before you start a business entity.

Step 4: Create a Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan

Here are the key components of a business plan:

• Executive Summary: A concise summary outlining the business’s mission, goals, and key elements of the business plan.
• Business Overview: A brief description of the digital marketing agency, including its mission, vision, and the problem it aims to solve in the market.
• Product and Services: Clear details on the specific digital marketing services offered, such as SEO, social media management, content creation, and advertising.
• Market Analysis: A comprehensive analysis of the target market, including demographics, trends, and potential for growth in the digital marketing industry.
• Competitive Analysis: Examination of key competitors in the digital marketing space, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Sales and Marketing: Strategies for acquiring and retaining clients, including the use of online platforms, networking, and other promotional efforts.
• Management Team: Introduction of key personnel, highlighting their relevant experience and roles in the digital marketing agency.
• Operations Plan: Details on the day-to-day operations, workflow, and key processes involved in delivering digital marketing services.
• Financial Plan: Projections for the financial performance of the digital marketing agency, including startup costs, revenue forecasts, and break-even analysis.
• Appendix: Additional supporting documents and information, such as resumes of key team members, sample marketing materials, and any other relevant supplementary data.

If you’ve never created a business plan, it can be an intimidating task. You might consider hiring a business plan specialist to create a top-notch business plan for you.

Step 5: Register Your Business

Registering your business is an absolutely crucial step — it’s the prerequisite to paying taxes, raising capital, opening a bank account, and other guideposts on the road to getting a business up and running.

Plus, registration is exciting because it makes the entire process official. Once it’s complete, you’ll have your own business! 

Choose where to register your company

Your business location is important because it can affect taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. Most people will register their business in the state where they live, but if you are planning to expand, you might consider looking elsewhere, as some states could offer real advantages when it comes to digital marketing agencies. 

If you’re willing to move, you could really maximize your business! Keep in mind, it’s relatively easy to transfer your business to another state. 

Choose your business structure

Business entities come in several varieties, each with its pros and cons. The legal structure you choose for your digital marketing agency will shape your taxes, personal liability, and business registration requirements, so choose wisely. 

Here are the main options:

• Sole Proprietorship – The most common structure for small businesses makes no legal distinction between company and owner. All income goes to the owner, who’s also liable for any debts, losses, or liabilities incurred by the business. The owner pays taxes on business income on his or her personal tax return.
• General Partnership – Similar to a sole proprietorship, but for two or more people. Again, owners keep the profits and are liable for losses. The partners pay taxes on their share of business income on their personal tax returns.
• Limited Liability Company (LLC) – Combines the characteristics of corporations with those of sole proprietorships or partnerships. Again, the owners are not personally liable for debts.
• C Corp – Under this structure, the business is a distinct legal entity and the owner or owners are not personally liable for its debts. Owners take profits through shareholder dividends, rather than directly. The corporation pays taxes, and owners pay taxes on their dividends, which is sometimes referred to as double taxation.
• S Corp – An S-Corporation refers to the tax classification of the business but is not a business entity. An S-Corp can be either a corporation or an LLC , which just need to elect to be an S-Corp for tax status. In an S-Corp, income is passed through directly to shareholders, who pay taxes on their share of business income on their personal tax returns.

We recommend that new business owners choose LLC as it offers liability protection and pass-through taxation while being simpler to form than a corporation. You can form an LLC in as little as five minutes using an online LLC formation service. They will check that your business name is available before filing, submit your articles of organization , and answer any questions you might have.

Form Your LLC

Choose Your State

We recommend ZenBusiness as the Best LLC Service for 2024

Step 6: Register for Taxes

The final step before you’re able to pay taxes is getting an Employer Identification Number , or EIN. You can file for your EIN online or by mail or fax: visit the IRS website to learn more. Keep in mind, if you’ve chosen to be a sole proprietorship you can simply use your social security number as your EIN. 

Once you have your EIN, you’ll need to choose your tax year. Financially speaking, your business will operate in a calendar year (January–December) or a fiscal year, a 12-month period that can start in any month. This will determine your tax cycle, while your business structure will determine which taxes you’ll pay.

The IRS website also offers a tax-payers checklist , and taxes can be filed online.

It is important to consult an accountant or other professional to help you with your taxes to ensure you are completing them correctly.

Step 7: Fund your Business

Securing financing is your next step and there are plenty of ways to raise capital:

• Bank loans: This is the most common method but getting approved requires a rock-solid business plan and strong credit history.
• SBA-guaranteed loans: The Small Business Administration can act as guarantor, helping gain that elusive bank approval via an SBA-guaranteed loan .
• Government grants: A handful of financial assistance programs help fund entrepreneurs. Visit Grants.gov to learn which might work for you.
• Venture capital: Venture capital investors take an ownership stake in exchange for funds, so keep in mind that you’d be sacrificing some control over your business. This is generally only available for businesses with high growth potential.
• Angel investors: Reach out to your entire network in search of people interested in investing in early-stage startups in exchange for a stake. Established angel investors are always looking for good opportunities. 
• Friends and Family: Reach out to friends and family to provide a business loan or investment in your concept. It’s a good idea to have legal advice when doing so because SEC regulations apply.
• Crowdfunding: Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer an increasingly popular low-risk option, in which donors fund your vision. Entrepreneurial crowdfunding sites like Fundable and WeFunder enable multiple investors to fund your business.
• Personal: Self-fund your business via your savings or the sale of property or other assets.

Bank and SBA loans are probably the best options, other than friends and family, for funding a digital marketing business. You might also try crowdfunding if you have an innovative concept. If at some point, your business has the potential to grow rapidly, you might be able to attract venture capital or angel investors.

Step 8: Apply for Licenses and Permits

Starting a digital marketing business requires obtaining a number of licenses and permits from local, state, and federal governments.

Federal regulations, licenses, and permits associated with starting your business include doing business as (DBA), health licenses and permits from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA ), trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual properties, as well as industry-specific licenses and permits. 

You may also need state-level and local county or city-based licenses and permits. The license requirements and how to obtain them vary, so check the websites of your state, city, and county governments or contact the appropriate person to learn more. 

You could also check this SBA guide for your state’s requirements, but we recommend using MyCorporation’s Business License Compliance Package . They will research the exact forms you need for your business and state and provide them to ensure you’re fully compliant.

This is not a step to be taken lightly, as failing to comply with legal requirements can result in hefty penalties.

If you feel overwhelmed by this step or don’t know how to begin, it might be a good idea to hire a professional to help you check all the legal boxes.

Step 9: Open a Business Bank Account

Before you start making money, you’ll need a place to keep it, and that requires opening a bank account .

Keeping your business finances separate from your personal account makes it easy to file taxes and track your company’s income, so it’s worth doing even if you’re running your digital marketing business as a sole proprietorship. Opening a business bank account is quite simple, and similar to opening a personal one. Most major banks offer accounts tailored for businesses — just inquire at your preferred bank to learn about their rates and features.

Banks vary in terms of offerings, so it’s a good idea to examine your options and select the best plan for you. Once you choose your bank, bring in your EIN (or Social Security Number if you decide on a sole proprietorship), articles of incorporation, and other legal documents and open your new account. 

Step 10: Get Business Insurance

Business insurance is an area that often gets overlooked yet it can be vital to your success as an entrepreneur. Insurance protects you from unexpected events that can have a devastating impact on your business.

Here are some types of insurance to consider:

• General liability: The most comprehensive type of insurance, acting as a catch-all for many business elements that require coverage. If you get just one kind of insurance, this is it. It even protects against bodily injury and property damage.
• Business Property: Provides coverage for your equipment and supplies.
• Equipment Breakdown Insurance: Covers the cost of replacing or repairing equipment that has broken due to mechanical issues.
• Worker’s compensation: Provides compensation to employees injured on the job.
• Property: Covers your physical space, whether it is a cart, storefront, or office.
• Commercial auto: Protection for your company-owned vehicle.
• Professional liability: Protects against claims from a client who says they suffered a loss due to an error or omission in your work.
• Business owner’s policy (BOP): This is an insurance plan that acts as an all-in-one insurance policy, a combination of the above insurance types.

Step 11: Prepare to Launch

As opening day nears, prepare for launch by reviewing and improving some key elements of your business. 

Essential software and tools

Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many hats, from marketing to sales to accounting, which can be overwhelming. Fortunately, many websites and digital tools are available to help simplify many business tasks. 

You may want to use industry-specific software, such as mosaic , SEMRUSH , or productive , to manage your leads, data, projects, budgeting, estimates, and invoices.

• Popular web-based accounting programs for smaller businesses include Quickbooks , Freshbooks , and Xero . 
• If you’re unfamiliar with basic accounting, you may want to hire a professional, especially as you begin. The consequences for filing incorrect tax documents can be harsh, so accuracy is crucial. 

Develop your website

Website development is crucial because your site is your online presence and needs to convince prospective clients of your expertise and professionalism.

You can create your own website using website builders . This route is very affordable, but figuring out how to build a website can be time-consuming. If you lack tech-savvy, you can hire a web designer or developer to create a custom website for your business.

They are unlikely to find your website, however, unless you follow Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) practices. These are steps that help pages rank higher in the results of top search engines like Google. 

Here are some powerful marketing strategies for your future business:

• Professional Branding — Ensure your branding reflects modernity, creativity, and digital savviness across all platforms, including your logo, website, and social media presence.
• Website & SEO — Develop a state-of-the-art website that highlights your services, case studies, and client testimonials. Optimize for keywords related to digital marketing services and SEO strategies.
• Social Media Engagement — Use LinkedIn for B2B networking, Instagram to promote agency culture and successes, and Twitter for sharing industry news and insights.
• Content Marketing — Run a marketing insights blog to share digital marketing trends, success stories, and tips. Produce engaging video content that demonstrates your expertise and thought leadership.
• Webinars and Workshops — Host educational online events on social media strategies, SEO best practices, and effective online advertising techniques.
• Networking Events — Regularly participate in or host events to foster relationships with potential clients and industry partners.
• Strategic Partnerships — Partner with businesses in complementary sectors to extend your reach and cross-refer clients.
• Client Referral Program — Implement a program that rewards existing clients for bringing new clients to your agency.
• Retention Strategies — Develop special packages or added-value services to retain long-term clients and foster ongoing partnerships.
• Targeted Online Advertising and Email Marketing — Utilize platforms like Google Ads and LinkedIn for targeted advertising, and maintain communication with clients through informative and engaging email newsletters.

Focus on USPs

Unique selling propositions, or USPs, are the characteristics of a product or service that sets it apart from the competition. Customers today are inundated with buying options, so you’ll have a real advantage if they are able to quickly grasp how your digital marketing meets their needs or wishes. It’s wise to do all you can to ensure your USPs stand out on your website and in your marketing and promotional materials, stimulating buyer desire. 

Global pizza chain Domino’s is renowned for its USP: “Hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.” Signature USPs for your digital marketing business could be:

• Complete digital marketing with analytics to track your ROI
• Digital marketing solutions for retailers
• Effective digital marketing with guaranteed results

You may not like to network or use personal connections for business gain. But your personal and professional networks likely offer considerable untapped business potential. Maybe that Facebook friend you met in college is now running a digital marketing business, or a LinkedIn contact of yours is connected to dozens of potential clients. Maybe your cousin or neighbor has been in digital marketing for years and can offer invaluable insight and industry connections. 

The possibilities are endless, so it’s a good idea to review your personal and professional networks and reach out to those with possible links to or interest in digital marketing. You’ll probably generate new customers or find companies with which you could establish a partnership. Online businesses might also consider affiliate marketing as a way to build relationships with potential partners and boost business. 

Step 12: Build Your Team

If you’re starting out small from a home office, you may not need any employees. But as your business grows, you will likely need workers to fill various roles. Potential positions for a digital marketing business include:

• Digital Marketers – provide marketing services
• Office Assistant – set appointments, customer service
• General Manager – staff management, accounting

At some point, you may need to hire all of these positions or simply a few, depending on the size and needs of your business. You might also hire multiple workers for a single role or a single worker for multiple roles, again depending on need. 

Free-of-charge methods to recruit employees include posting ads on popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Jobs.com. You might also consider a premium recruitment option, such as advertising on Indeed , Glassdoor , or ZipRecruiter . Further, if you have the resources, you could consider hiring a recruitment agency to help you find talent. 

Step 13: Run a Digital Marketing Agency – Start Making Money!

Digital marketers can provide a lot of value to businesses, which is why digital marketing is a booming industry and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. You can make a lot of money with a digital marketing agency, and you can start from home with a very small investment. With a lot of creativity and excellent networking skills, you can grow your digital marketing firm and make your mark in the industry. 

You’ve got business knowledge in your corner now, so get your plan together and be on your way to launching your new digital marketing agency!

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• Decide if the Business Is Right for You
• Hone Your Idea
• Brainstorm a Digital Marketing Agency Name
• Create a Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan
• Register Your Business
• Register for Taxes
• Fund your Business
• Apply for Licenses and Permits
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get Business Insurance
• Prepare to Launch
• Build Your Team
• Run a Digital Marketing Agency - Start Making Money!

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How to Start a Digital Marketing Agency

Aaron Agius

9 min. read

Updated February 8, 2024

Free Download:  Sample Marketing Agency Business Plan Template

It’s easier to start a digital marketing agency without funding than people might think.

In this post, I will cover starting your business on your own—with aspirations of becoming an agency. I will look at how to get your first clients and how to balance your time when finding them—when you start on your own, that is one of the toughest balancing acts.

The beauty of setting up a digital marketing agency is that you can start from virtually nothing. I know this from personal experience because my business partner and I did just that with our company, Louder.Online . If you have the expertise, then all you need to get started is a computer and a home office (or at least a space to work). There are not many businesses where that’s all you need.

You don’t need to put it all on a credit card, you don’t need to get a bank loan , you don’t need startup capital—you can just build a website , and you can be on your way. That’s what we did, and we now have a successful digital marketing agency with clients around the world.

• Taking on your first employees

Many businesses will hire recruiting and onboarding agencies to find employees for their burgeoning digital marketing agency, but if you’re going to build an agency without funding then you need to be doing this yourself.

Beyond the fact that you won’t need the extra cash from the start to make hires, it will mean that you have control over the kind of employees that you take on. When you’re ready, you can hire the right people for the culture that you create around your business.

• Training your team

Training your employees can be a costly business if you are not wise. When building a digital marketing agency without outside funding, you need to make sure you have a plan in place to be able to train people as and when they join you without incurring additional cost to the business.

Something we found invaluable when building our agency was to train the first few staff ourselves and educate them on everything we could. Sure, it meant that we put in some long hours at the start, but it paid off in the long run.

Training our first employees in every area we could think of prepared them to be able to train the next wave of staff. In turn, those staff members were able to teach the team members that joined after them.

As people moved up the ladder in our business, the staff that joined early on were able to train up the juniors that came in after them. Higher paid employees were able to use their time to liaise with clients and strategize rather than spending their time on training—making the business more successful and profitable, while not losing any of the vision that we had for the company or how our digital marketing client work was undertaken.

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• Documenting your processes and making life easier

If you want to start an agency without having outside funding, you need to find ways to do things in a non-traditional manner.

If your business takes off straight away, then it is likely that you are going to be taking on staff fairly quickly to cope with demand. When you have new staff starting regularly, you need two things in place—process documentation and basic HR functions—preferably avoiding having to hire an HR person too early.

At Louder.Online we made sure that we concentrated on these very early on. We documented our processes from day one in some software called Process Street . The software lets you create checklists and workflows that any of your staff can run at any time.

We use Process Street to document things like:

• How to answer the phone
• What to do when you are sick
• How to put in an expenses report
• How to book a holiday
• What is needed before a new employee starts
• What is required when an employee leaves

Having these processes documented means that everyone knows what they need to do and can follow a standard protocol. They don’t have to ask their manager or other staff.

This saves time and means that the employees that you have at your agency can actually spend more time on billable work for the clients. That, in turn, makes you more profitable . You are saving money that might otherwise have had to have come from outside funding.

We also didn’t want to have to hire an HR person until we really needed to and we certainly didn’t want to outsource that to a third party. They both cost a lot of money, and we didn’t want to have to use outside funding to do that.

After some searching around in the early days, we found some software called AppogeeHR .

The software boasts:

• Centralized employee information
• Leave and sickness management
• Performance and learning tracking
• OKR management

It is simple to use, and it means that my business partner and I were able to act as HR without having to spend a lot of time on it. As earlier employees moved up, they were able to take on some of the work as well—and of course, this was all documented in a subsection of Process Street for when they needed it.

There is a saying that “necessity is the mother of invention,” and when we knew we didn’t want to use outside funding we looked for ways that we could make sure we didn’t have to.

• Bootstrapping

If you don’t have that cash injection at the start of your businesses life, then you need to be bootstrapping .

A dictionary definition will tell you that it’s to get oneself into or out of a situation using existing resources. When you read other articles, they will talk about relying on personal income or savings, and they talk about sweat equity.

We think the definition can be a little broader than that—essentially optimizing your current situation. We did this through an intelligent choice of clients and being smart with our cash. We found these to be essential to avoid that outside funding.

Getting good clients

Bad clients bring you down. Bad clients cost you money. Bad clients suck up your time.

If you don’t want to be spending money on additional staff to cover those losses, then you need to know how to spot a good client. Taking on every client that comes your way was never an option for us.

So how do you spot a good client? Here are my tips:

• Choose clients that will let you do your best work—stay away from the clients that overly worry about cost, because they will cost you in the long run.
• Choose clients whose business you believe in—the synergy between your agency and their business will lead to a healthy and respectful relationship.
• Work with clients who understand what you do—if they have some knowledge of the digital marketing landscape then they will be interested in what you do and don’t expect the world.

Being smart with your cash

This one sounds kind of obvious, right? But how many stories in the last few years have you read about businesses going under because of the inordinate amount of cash they spent on offices and perks to try and attract staff?

The employees that join your company are likely to know about these perks and want to see some of them. This is where you have to try and resist. Sure they are fun, but if you don’t want that outside funding, then you need to be sensible.

Company culture is not about the arcade machines and novelty slides from one floor to another. Company culture is about the bonds you create, the work that you do and how comfortable people feel at work.

People want to enjoy their work. When people enjoy their day to day life they produce better work, and they stay with a company longer. Combine these two together, and it cuts down the money you need to spend on recruitment and training—another way to avoid using outside funding.

• Financial goal and milestone setting

Being smarter with your cash and spending less is one thing; financial goal and milestone setting is another. We knew we would have to create something scalable from the start and also be able to predict with some degree of accuracy what our potential revenue might be.

As we were starting a digital agency, we knew we were going to be selling hours from the very start. We knew that tracking employee time and client budgets were the way we wanted to head in. Using a project management tool like Liquid Planner or a Harvest / Basecamp combination can really help with this.

We set prices for staff, created client folders and subprojects early on. Every member of staff had tasks assigned that they accurately track time against. This allowed us to make sure we didn’t go over or under for clients and the tools turn the hours into dollars in detailed reports.

We started in a very granular way and had activities set for the different types of work that we were doing. This allowed us to accurately predict how long specific tasks would take and we could pitch accordingly—there was no finger in the air guesswork.

After we had started to collect this data we could predict how much revenue we might bring in per client. From there we created financial milestones based on the close rate of proposals and how much similar projects had cost—and whether they had come under or gone over. We found this to be an accurate way of getting solid estimates on where the business would be in six months, a year, five years and beyond. It’s strategic planning or Lean Business Planning .

• Start small but plan for growth

That’s how we did it at Louder Online, we took a no outside funding stance from the start and made sure we looked for alternative solutions to cut costs. We started small and made sure that there was a culture in place from day one.

We made sure that we documented everything so that new employees would know what they had to do and when.

We enabled the staff to train each other as the agency grew, creating last bonds and teamwork.  

It isn’t for everyone and it was definitely hard for us at the start, but it has made us the profitable digital marketing agency that we are today and we wouldn’t change that for the world.

To launch your own digital marketing agency, start by putting together a business plan. Check out our digital marketing agency business plan example and free template for additional guidance.

Aaron Agius, CEO of worldwide digital agency Louder Online is, according to Forbes, among the world's leading digital marketers. Working with clients such as Salesforce, Coca-Cola, IBM, Intel, and scores of stellar brands, Aaron is a growth marketer—a fusion between search, content, social, and PR.

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Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan [Sample Template]

By: Author Tony Martins Ajaero

Home » Business ideas » Internet Based Industry » Digital Marketing Agency

Are you about starting a digital marketing agency ? If YES, here’s a complete sample digital marketing agency business plan template & feasibility report you can use for FREE to raise money .

Digital marketing is one of the fruits of the internet cum advancement in technology and for sure it has enabled loads of entrepreneur to launch multi-million dollars international businesses; businesses with clientele base that cut across geographical boundaries.

As a matter of fact, social media marketing is perhaps the only form of marketing that can profile consumers at each and every stage of the consumer decision journey. Marketing through social media is just the way to go if indeed you want to push out your product and services to the entire globe.

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A Sample Digital Marketing Agency Business Plan Template

1. industry overview.

Digital marketing in its simplest term is the process leveraging on modern digital technology to market goods or services or the process of pulling website traffic or attention through social media sites; they achieve this by creating content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it across their social network platforms.

One of the major purposes of leveraging on Social Media in marketing is that it covers a wide range of target market compared to other marketing tolls. Digital marketing is general term used for the marketing of products or services using digital technology platforms, mainly on the internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium.

Digital marketing activities are:

• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Search engine marketing (SEM)
• Content marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Content automation
• Campaign marketing
• e-commerce marketing
• Social media marketing
• Social media optimization
• e-mail direct marketing
• Display advertising
• e–books, optical disks and games, and all other form of digital media.

It also extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as mobile phones (SMS and MMS), callback and on-hold mobile ring tones et al.

Agencies in the digital marketing agencies industry create advertising campaigns and place the advertisements across digital media outlets. Through in-house capabilities or subcontracting, the agencies provide advice, creative services, account management, production of advertising material, and media planning and buying.

The Digital Marketing Agencies Industry is indeed a very large industry and pretty much thriving in all parts of the world especially in developed countries such as United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and Italy et al.

Statistics has it that in the united states of America alone, there are about 2,508 licensed and registered digital marketing agencies responsible for employing about 59,271 employees and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $14billion annually with an annual growth rate projected at 0.6 percent.

It is important to state that the establishments with a lion share of the available market in this industry are The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. and WPP. When compared to traditional media that are often too expensive for start – ups and even SMEs, a digital marketing approach does not require expensive and out of – reach budgeting.

This is why companies make use of modern technology and also platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram, et al in order to reach a much wider target market as against making use of main stream marketing tools which are expensive.

Over and above, digital marketing has become an important tool for promoting ones businesses as it relates to products and services all over the world, not only to sell to customers, but also to engage them. It is now easier for organization to expand their market from local level to national and even international markets with minimum capital investment.

2. Executive Summary

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC is a U.S based and world class digital marketing agency. We have been able to secure a standard and well – positioned office facility in a central business district in Cape May – New Jersey.

We are a social media marketing company that is set to compete in the highly competitive social media marketing industry not only in the United States market, but also in the global market because our clientele base will not be restricted to just businesses and organizations in the United States. Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC will offer robust digital marketing services to both corporate organization and individuals.

We will offer services such as search engine optimization (SEO), banner advertising, video advertising, rich media advertising, sponsorship advertising, classifieds/directories, lead generation, mobile messaging/email, digital display advertising, mobile advertising, social media management and other related consulting and advisory services.

Our business goal is to become one of the leading digital marketing agencies in the United States of America with high profile corporate and individual clients scattered all around the world. Our workers are going to be selected from a pool of talented and highly creative digital marketing experts in and around New Jersey and also from any part of the world as the business grows.

We will make sure that we take all the members of our workforce through the required trainings that will position them to meet the expectation of the company and to compete with leading digital marketing agencies in the United States and throughout the globe.

At Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC, our client’s best interest will always come first, and everything we do will be guided by our values and professional ethics. We will ensure that we hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards by meeting our client’s needs precisely and completely.

We will cultivate a working environment that provides a human, sustainable approach to earning a living, and living in our world, for our partners, employees and for our clients.

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC is founded by Rooney Wilberforce and his friend and business partner for many years Festus Holloway. They both graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology with BSc in Business Administration and they have a combine experience that revolves around market researching, sales, web designing, graphic designing, corporate branding and advertising and business management et al.

3. Our Products and Services

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC was established with the aim of maximizing profits in the Digital Marketing Agencies industry. We want to compete favorably with the leading digital marketing agencies in the United States of America and the world which is why we have but in place a competent team that will ensure that we meet and even surpass our customers’ expectations.

We will work hard to ensure that Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC do not just work for clients in the United States of America, but also for clients in other parts of the world. Our products and services are listed below;

• Banner advertising
• Video advertising
• Rich media advertising
• Sponsorship advertising
• Classifieds/directories
• Lead generation
• Mobile messaging/email
• Digital display advertising
• Mobile advertising
• Social media management
• Other related digital marketing advisory and consulting services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

• Our vision is to establish a standard and world class digital marketing agencies whose services and brand will not only be accepted in the United States of America, but also in other parts of the world.
• Our mission is to provide professional and highly creative result oriented digital marketing services and other related advisory and consulting services that will assist businesses, individuals and non-profit organizations in promoting their brands and reaching out to a wide range of potential customers all over the globe.
• We want to build a digital marketing agency that can favorably compete with other leading brands in the digital marketing agencies industry.

Our Business Structure

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC, is a digital marketing agency that intend starting small in Cape May, but hope to grow big in order to compete favorably with leading digital marketing agencies in the industry both in the United States and on a global stage.

We are aware of the importance of building a solid business structure that can support the picture of the kind of world class business we want to own. This is why we are committed to only hire the best hands within our area of operations.

At Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC, we will ensure that we hire people that are qualified, hardworking, creative, result driven, customer centric and are ready to work to help us build a prosperous business that will benefit all the stake holders (the owners, workforce, and customers).

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our senior management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of five years or more as agreed by the board of trustees of the company. In view of the above, we have decided to hire qualified and competent hands to occupy the following positions;

• Chief Executive Officer
• Creative Director

Digital Marketing Specialist

Human Resources and Admin Manager

• Sales and Marketing Executive
• Web Designer cum Graphic Artist
• Content Creator/Online Traffic Generator

Client Service Executive

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Executive Officer – CEO:

• Increases management’s effectiveness by recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, coaching, counseling, and disciplining managers; communicating values, strategies, and objectives; assigning accountabilities; planning, monitoring, and appraising job results; developing incentives; developing a climate for offering information and opinions; providing educational opportunities.
• Responsible for providing direction for the business
• Creates, communicates, and implements the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
• Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
• Evaluates the success of the organization

Creative Director:

• Serves as project manager of the organization; works directly with employees
• Responsible for designing concepts and winning business proposals for the organization
• In charge of copy writing and laying out chronological advertisement plans
• Develops strategic plan by studying technological and financial opportunities; presenting assumptions; recommending objectives.
• Accomplishes subsidiary objectives by establishing plans, budgets, and results measurements; allocating resources; reviewing progress; making mid-course corrections.
• Coordinates efforts by establishing procurement, production, marketing, field, and technical services policies and practices; coordinating actions with corporate staff.
• Builds company image by collaborating with customers, government, community organizations, and employees; enforcing ethical business practices.
• Maintains quality service by establishing and enforcing organization standards.
• Maintains professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing professional publications; establishing personal networks; benchmarking state-of-the-art practices; participating in professional societies.
• Makes certain that operations and marketing department perform efficiently, coordinate employee efforts, and facilitate communications between management and employees
• Ensures that the organization work in line with international best practices.
• Responsible for handling core digital services such as banner advertising, video advertising, rich media advertising, sponsorship advertising, classifieds/directories, lead generation, mobile messaging/email, digital display advertising, mobile advertising, social media management
• Handle other related digital marketing advisory and consulting services
• Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
• Updates job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities; reading professional publications; maintaining personal networks; participating in professional organizations.
• Enhances department and organization reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to job accomplishments.
• Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
• Carries out staff induction for new team members
• Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
• Oversees the smooth running of the daily office.

Sales and Marketing Manager

• Manages external research and coordinate all the internal sources of information to retain the organizations’ best customers and attract new ones
• Models demographic information and analyze the volumes of transactional data generated by customer
• Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
• Writes winning proposal documents, negotiate fees and rates in line with organizations’ policy
• Responsible for handling business research, market surveys and feasibility studies for clients
• Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
• Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding increase sales
• Creates new markets cum businesses for the organization
• Empowers and motivates the sales team to meet and surpass agreed targets

Accountant/Cashier:

• Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
• Provides managements with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
• Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
• Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
• Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
• Responsible for administering payrolls
• Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
• Handles all financial transactions for Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC
• Serves as internal auditor for Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC.

Web Designer cum Graphic Designers

• Liaises with clients to determine their requirement and budget
• Responsible for Optimizing Website Functionality for owners of existing websites
• Responsible for Search Engine Optimization Services and Code Writing Services
• Responsible for developing concepts, graphics and layouts for product illustrations, company logos, and websites
• Responsible for managing client proposals from typesetting through to design, print and production
• Responsible for preparing drafts or material based on an agreement brief.
• Researches and advices the organization on style, genre and other trendy info as it relates to social media marketing.

Content Creator/Traffic Generator

• Responsible for creating content/buzz words that will help attract traffics
• Responsible for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Responsible for engaging internet users to get help statistics and leads
• Liaises and works effectively With other staff members to generate sales for our clients
• Welcomes clients and potential clients by greeting them in person, online or on the telephone; answering or directing inquiries.
• Ensures that all contacts with clients (e-mail, walk-In center, SMS or phone) provides the client with a personalized customer service experience of the highest level
• Through interaction with clients on the phone, uses every opportunity to build client’s interest in the company’s products and services
• Manages administrative duties assigned by the creative director in an effective and timely manner
• Consistently stays abreast of any new information on the organizations’ products, promotional campaigns, etc; to ensure accurate and helpful information is supplied to clients when they make enquiries.

6. SWOT Analysis

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC engaged the services of a core professional in the area of business consulting and structuring to assist our organization in building a well – structured digital marketing business that can favorably compete in the highly competitive digital marketing agencies industry in the United States and the world at large.

Part of what the team of business consultant did was to work with the management of our organization in conducting a SWOT analysis for Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC;

Our core strength lies in the power of our team; our workforce. We have a team of creative, result driven and highly proficient digital marketing expert, a team with excellent qualifications and experience various niche areas in the digital marketing agencies industry and other related industry.

Aside from the synergy that exists in our carefully selected digital marketing experts, our services will be measurable, result driven and guided by best practices in the industry.

As a new digital marketing agency in Cape May – New Jersey, it might take some time for our organization to break into the market and gain acceptance especially from top profile clients in the already saturated and highly competitive digital marketing agencies industry; that is perhaps our major weakness.

Another weakness is that we may not have the required cash to pump into promoting our business especially via main stream media (TV, Radio and Newspapers et al) the way we would want to.

• Opportunities:

No doubt, the opportunities available in the digital marketing agencies industry is massive considering the number of individuals and corporate organizations with active presence on the internet and of course the pretty large numbers of people who visit the internet / social media platforms on a daily basis and own mobile phones / smart phones and other related gadgets.

As a standard and world class digital marketing agency, we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that is available in the industry.

Just like any other business, one of the major threats that we are likely going to face is economic downturn. It is a fact that economic downturn affects purchasing/spending power. Another threat that may likely confront us is the arrival of a digital marketing agency or even a social media marketing company in same location where our target market exist and who may want to adopt same Business model like us.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

• Market Trends

No doubt, the Digital Marketing Agencies industry has benefited from the rapid switch from traditional print advertising to digital advertisements. As more consumers generate website traffic through the use of smartphones and tablets, businesses have purchased digital advertising services to build brand awareness across multiple screens and platforms.

In the next five years, the industry will continue to grow, as more effective advertising tools / software apps and technology platforms that measure consumer demographics are developed. The growing trend which makes it easier for people to spend more time on the internet especially on social media networking sites is a major boost in the revenue generated by digital marketing agencies.

It is not common to find players in this industry generating an increasing amount of advertising revenue per user by developing targeted advertising platforms and tools to measure the effectiveness of advertising and marketing.

This has indeed changed the ways that organizations approach to interact with customers, as a substantial percentage of consumer interactions and profiling are now being carried out over online and social media platforms with much higher visibility.

In as much as digital marketing is dependent on technology which is ever-evolving and fast-changing, the same features should be expected from digital marketing developments and strategies. This portion is an attempt to qualify or segregate the notable highlights existing and being used as of press time.

Another important factor worthy of mentioning in this industry is that the target market keep expanding, people and organizations are now seeing the need for them to have an official website and also to engage the services of digital marketing experts either in branding or packaging their products and services or in helping them directly sell their products and services to their targeted market.

Another common trend in the digital marketing agencies industry is that, most digital marketing firms no longer settle for clients within the location where their physical office is located but also from any part of the world. The truth is that with the advent of the internet, it is now easier for a digital marketing agency to work for clients in any part of the world.

A digital marketing agency can be located in the United States of America and have their biggest client in United Arab Emirates or in China. Many thanks to the power of the internet which has brought the world closer to us. Lastly, the digital marketing agencies industry will continue to evolve due to the advancement of computer technology and software applications designs et al.

8. Our Target Market

Before starting our digital marketing agency, we are certain that there is a wide range of both corporate and individual clients who cannot successfully run their businesses without the services and support of a standard digital marketing agencies; a company that can help them reach out to their target market.

In view of that, we have created strategies that will enable us reach out to various corporate organizations, non – profits, government agencies and individual who we know can’t afford to do without our services. We have conducted our market research and survey and we will ensure that we meet and surpass the expectations of our clients

Below is a list of the people and organizations that we have specifically market our services to;

• Banks, Insurance Companies and other related Financial Institutions
• Blue Chips Companies
• Corporate Organizations
• Manufacturers and Distributors
• Real Estate Owners, Developers, and Contractors
• Research and Development Companies
• The Government (Public Sector)
• Schools (High Schools, Colleges and Universities)
• Celebrities, Politicians, Public Figures and Public Speakers
• Sport Organizations
• Religious Organizations
• Political Parties
• Television Stations
• Printing Press (Publishing Houses) and Authors
• Branding and Advertising agencies
• Aspiring celebrities
• Entrepreneurs and Start – Ups

Our Competitive Advantage

Surviving in the business world as a digital marketing agency requires more than, your expertise, knowing how to conduct your business but also how to network with key people that matters; decision makers that can decide who will get a contract or a business deal.

We are quite aware that to be highly competitive in the digital marketing agencies industry means that you are not only expected to be able to deliver consistent and excellent services, but you must be result driven and able to meet set targets. No one would want to continue to hire your services if don’t always meet up with the target sales the organization intends to generate when they hired you.

Our competitive advantage lies in the power of our team; our workforce. We have a team of creative, result driven and highly proficient digital marketing experts, a team with excellent qualifications and experience various niche areas in the digital marketing agencies industry and other related industry.

Lastly, all our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package will be among the best within our category ( startups digital marketing agencies in the United States ) in the industry. It will enable them to be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our business aims and objectives.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

• Sources of Income

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC is established with the aim of maximizing profits in the digital marketing agencies industry and we are going to go all the way to ensure that we do all it takes to meet and surpass the expectations of all our clients.

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC will generate income by offering the following digital marketing services and other related services;

10. Sales Forecast

One thing is certain, there would always be corporate organizations, government agencies, non – profits and individuals who would need the services of digital marketing agencies to help them increase sales or promote their brands.

We are well positioned to take on the available market in digital marketing agencies industry and we are quite optimistic that we will meet our set target of generating enough income / profits from the first six month of operations and grow our digital marketing agencies to enviable heights.

We have been able to critically examine the digital marketing space and we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projection are based on information gathered on the field and some assumptions that are peculiar to similar startups in Cape May – New Jersey.

Below is the sales projection for Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC, it is based on the location of our business and of course the wide range of our services and target market;

• First Fiscal Year-: $200,000
• Second Fiscal Year-: $500,000
• Third Fiscal Year-: $750,000

N.B : This projection is done based on what is obtainable in the industry and with the assumption that there won’t be any major economic meltdown and there won’t be any major competitor offering same digital marketing services as we do within same location. Please note that the above projection might be lower and at the same time it might be higher.

• Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

We are mindful of the fact that there is stiffer competition in the social media marketing industry; hence we have been able to hire some of the best marketing experts to handle our sales and marketing.

Our sales and marketing team will be recruited based on their vast experience in the digital marketing agencies industry and they will be trained on a regular basis so as to be well equipped to meet their targets and the overall business goal of Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC.

Our corporate goal is to grow Grapevine Marketing Consulting™, LLC to become one of the leading social media marketing brands in the United States of America which is why we have mapped out strategy that will help us take advantage of the available market and grow to become a major force to reckon with not only in the United States of America but also in other parts of the world.

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC is set to make use of the following marketing and sales strategies to attract clients;

• Introduce our digital marketing agency by sending introductory letters alongside our brochure to individuals, corporate organizations, government agencies, non – profits, religious organizations and key stake holders.
• Promptness in bidding for digital marketing contracts from the government and other cooperate organizations
• Advertise our business in relevant business magazines, newspapers, TV stations, and radio station.
• List our business on yellow pages ads (local directories)
• Attend relevant international and local expos, seminars, and business fairs et al
• Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets and still deliver excellent design and services
• Leverage on the internet to promote our business
• Engage direct marketing approach
• Encourage word of mouth marketing from loyal and satisfied clients

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

We have been able to work with our in house brand and publicity consultants to help us map out publicity and advertising strategies that will help us walk our way into the heart of our target market. We are set to become the number one choice for both corporate clients and individual clients in the whole of the United States and beyond which is why we have made provisions for effective publicity and advertisement of our digital marketing agency.

Below are the platforms we intend to leverage on to promote and advertise Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC;

• Place adverts on both print (newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
• Sponsor relevant community based events / programs
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook , twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote our services
• Install our Bill Boards on strategic locations all around Cape May – New Jersey.
• Engage in road show from time to time in targeted neighborhoods
• Distribute our fliers and handbills in target areas
• Contact corporate organizations, non – profits and government agencies by calling them up and informing them of Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC and the services we offer
• List our digital marketing agency in local directories / yellow pages
• Advertise our digital marketing agency in our official website and employ strategies that will help us pull traffic to the site.
• Ensure that all our staff members wear our branded shirts and all our vehicles are well branded with our company logo et al.

In setting up any business, the amount or cost will depend on the approach and scale you want to undertake. If you intend to go big by renting a place, then you would need a good amount of capital as you would need to ensure that your employees are well taken care of, and that your facility is conducive enough for workers to be creative and productive.

This means that the start-up can either be low or high depending on your goals, vision and aspirations for your business. The materials and equipment that will be used are nearly the same cost everywhere, and any difference in prices would be minimal and can be overlooked.

12. Our Pricing Strategy

At Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC we will keep the prices of our services below the average market rate for all of our customers by keeping our overhead low and by collecting payment in advance from corporate organizations who would hire our services.

In addition, we will also offer special discounted rates to all our customers at regular intervals. We are aware that there are some one – off jobs or government contracts which are always lucrative, we will ensure that we abide by the pricing model that is expected from contractors or organizations that bid for such contracts.

• Payment Options

At Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC, our payment policy will be all inclusive because we are quite aware that different people prefer different payment options as it suits them. Here are the payment options that we will make available to our clients;

• Payment by via bank transfer
• Payment via online bank transfer
• Payment via check
• Payment via bank draft
• Payment via mobile money
• Payment with cash

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will help us achieve our plans with little or no itches.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

As for the detailed cost analysis for starting a digital marketing agency; it might differ in other countries due to the value of their money. However, this is what it would cost us to setup Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC in the United of America;

• Business incorporating fees in the United States of America will cost – $750.
• The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license will cost – $3,500
• Acquiring an office space or warehouse that will accommodate the number of employees for at least 6 months (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive) will cost – $150,000.
• Equipping the office (computers, printers, projectors, markers, servers / internet facility, furniture, telephones, filing cabinets, and electronics) will cost – $30,000
• Amount required to purchase the needed software applications – $3,500
• Launching an official Website will cost – $500
• Amount need to pay bills and staff members for at least 2 to 3 months – $70,000
• Additional Expenditure such as Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions will cost – $5,000
• Miscellaneous – $5000

Going by the report from the market research and feasibility studies conducted, we will need about two hundred and fifty thousand ( 250,000 ) U.S. dollars to successfully set – up a medium scale but standard digital marketing agency in the United States of America.

Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC is a business that will be owned, financed and managed by Rooney Wilberforce and his friend and business partner for many years Festus Holloway. They are the sole financial of the business which is why they decided to restrict the sourcing of the start – up capital for the business to just three major sources.

These are the areas we intend generating our start – up capital;

• Generate part of the start – up capital from personal savings and sale of his stocks
• Generate part of the start – up capital from friends and other extended family members
• Generate a larger chunk of the startup capital from the bank (loan facility).

N.B: We have been able to generate about $100,000 (Personal savings $85,000 and soft loan from family members $15,000) and we are at the final stages of obtaining a loan facility of $150,000 from our bank. All the papers and document has been duly signed and submitted, the loan has been approved and any moment from now our account will be credited.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

The future of a business lies in the numbers of loyal customers that they have the capacity and competence of the employees, their investment strategy and the business structure. If all of these factors are missing from a business (company), then it won’t be too long before the business close shop.

One of our major goals of starting Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC is to build a business that will survive off its own cash flow without the need for injecting finance from external sources once the business is officially running.

We know that one of the ways of gaining approval and winning customers over is to offer our digital marketing services and other related advisory and consulting services a little bit cheaper than what is obtainable in the market and we are well prepared to survive on lower profit margin for a while.

Zebra Plus Digital Marketing Consulting™, LLC will make sure that the right foundation, structures and processes are put in place to ensure that our staff welfare are well taken of. Our company’s corporate culture is designed to drive our business to greater heights and training and re – training of our workforce is at the top burner of our business strategy.

As a matter of fact, profit-sharing arrangement will be made available to all our management staff and it will be based on their performance for a period of three years or more as determined by the board of the organization. We know that if that is put in place, we will be able to successfully hire and retain the best hands we can get in the industry; they will be more committed to help us build the business of our dreams.

Check List/Milestone

• Business Name Availability Check:>Completed
• Business Incorporation: Completed
• Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
• Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
• Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
• Securing a standard office facility in a good location: Completed
• Application for business license and permit: Completed
• Purchase of All form of Insurance for the Business: Completed
• Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
• Generating part of the start – up capital from the founders: Completed
• Writing of Business Plan: Completed
• Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
• Drafting of Contract Documents: In Progress
• Design of Logo for the business: Completed
• Secure trademark for our products: In Progress
• Graphic Designs and Printing of Packaging Marketing / Promotional Materials: Completed
• Recruitment of employees: In Progress
• Purchase of the Needed furniture, office equipment, software applications, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In Progress
• Creating Official Website for the business: In Progress
• Creating Awareness for the business: In Progress
• Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
• Establishing business relationship with vendors and key players in various industries: In Progress