Businesses use social media tools to post updates, respond to customer inquiries, share relevant content, and advertise products or services. Social media platforms help companies stay top-of-mind with their audience and build a community around their brand.
Yet, many business owners lack the time or expertise to effectively manage their social media presence. That’s where a golden opportunity emerges for you.
If you want to start a social media management business, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to know what steps to follow and what mistakes to avoid to ensure you build a thriving business.
1. Understand the Market
First, you need to do your homework. Identify possible entities that could benefit from increased social media presence. Small local businesses, e-commerce sites, and digital startups often require powerful social campaigns to interact with their target audiences. Then choose your final target market. Bear in mind that your target market will impact your social media marketing strategies, service offerings, and pricing structure.
After zeroing in on your target audience, understand them. Look at their pain points, audience demographics, preferences, among others. Understanding your target market will help you personalize your services more efficiently, boosting your value proposition and client happiness.
You’ll also need to research your competitors in your selected niche. What social media services do they provide? What are their strengths and weaknesses? This analysis will help you identify market gaps and chances to stand out.
Don’t forget to also look at the latest social media trends so you can tailor your service offerings to meet existing demand. Say you find out that 74% of Gen Z social media users who visit TikTok weekly seek more details about products after seeing a Dynamic Showcase Ad. Naturally, businesses will want to look for companies that can craft TikTok Dynamic Showcase ads. So, to capture that market, you can offer just those visual content creation services.
By thoroughly understanding the market, you can differentiate yourself from the competition and attract ideal customers.
2. Plan your Social Media Business
Now it’s time to develop a plan. Your business plan should include what you’ve found out about the market, your business goals, and key performance indicators to measure success. You should also specify your strategies to meet these objectives.
For instance, what will your marketing strategy be? So, to boost your business credibility and visibility on platforms like Instagram, you might specify in your business plan several social media strategies that help increase follower count and likes. You might say you’ll leverage services that offer free Instagram followers to kickstart your presence or seek help from a micro-influencer to boost likes. We’ll talk more about marketing strategies later.
In your plan, specify, too, how you’ll get funding and include a section on financial forecasts. Determine how you’ll hire your first employees as well. What will their roles be? You might need a social media manager and hires for customer service, for example.
Don’t forget to specify your business model in the plan, too. Will you work on a project basis or provide customized services?
The more detailed your business plan is, the better. It doesn’t just help ensure you have a set direction to follow. It also instills confidence in potential partners and investors.
3. Register your Business and Brand Name
Ensuring your business is legally recognized is crucial. Decide on the right legal structure for your business (perhaps it’s a sole proprietorship or LLC). You’ll need to determine your brand name as well.
Once you have all those clear, it’s just a matter of completing the registration process, which typically depends on your location.
If you’re registering in the US, you’ll need to do the following:
- Apply for an EIN or an employer identification number
- Apply for business licenses: Although most states won’t require a special business permit to start your social media management business, you’ll need a general business license. Check out the other permits you may need here.
Check out the websites of relevant government agencies, like the US Small Business Administration, to get more detailed information about other requirements you may need to comply with for registration.
4. Set a Pricing Structure
Pricing decisions can have a big impact on your company’s market entry and profitability. Investigate existing pricing models in the social media management sector. What are your competitors’ prices, and what services are included in their social media packages?
When pricing your services, consider their value and originality. Are you offering anything that no one else is? Is your strategy more effective or innovative? Your prices should reflect the value and uniqueness of your services.
Think about how pricing might highlight the potential return on investment (ROI) for your clients. Higher prices can be justified if your services significantly contribute to client success.
All that said, here are some pricing models you might want to consider:
- One-time payments: This model is best for project-based services or targeted promotions. It’ll appeal to clients with specialized, short-term demands or those who want to try out your services before committing to a longer-term agreement.
- Subscriptions: Offering subscription-based pricing generates constant revenue and fosters long-term client connections. This strategy is suitable for clients who want continuous social media management and can afford to pay for your services regularly.
- Payment plans: These can render your services more accessible to small business owners or startups with limited resources. Payment plans can also encourage clients to choose more complete service packages than they would if they had to make a lump-sum payment.
Be flexible with your pricing models at first. This will ensure you appear as accessible as possible to a wider range of clients.
5. Set up the Core Team
Remember your business plan? Check the section where you specified your core team members. Then just create comprehensive job descriptions to attract qualified people who can run your business operations seamlessly. By qualified, I mean these should be candidates who don’t only have the skills you’re looking for. They should also be a good fit for your corporate culture.
Once you have your descriptions, publish them on job boards and sites. You can implement other successful recruitment techniques at the same time. For instance, why not leverage social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn to target candidates with specific expertise in social media marketing?
You’ll need to implement a robust selection process once you have your applicants. Interview at least three candidates for each position. You may also opt to test their skills, depending on the job vacancy they’re looking to fill.
Assume you’ve made your final picks. Great! Now you just need to give full onboarding and training. This will help facilitate new employee integration into your digital agency.
6. Focus on Marketing Your Brand
Digital marketing is essential for attracting an ideal audience and growing your client base. By now, you should have outlined a comprehensive marketing strategy in your business plan. All you need to do is follow the plan.
Your marketing efforts should focus on your unique selling points and demonstrate the value and results you can provide to clients. Also, the more platforms you leverage, the better brand visibility for your business. That’s why a robust marketing strategy combines SEO, social media, content marketing, and email campaigns, among others.
So, master search engine optimization (SEO) to boost your online presence and attract more organic visitors to your website. Don’t forget to claim your Google Business Profile.
Also, create social media accounts for your business. To satisfy social media algorithms, ensure regular and engaging content posting. Social algorithms favor consistency and engagement, so a constant stream of high-quality content can increase your visibility and reach on these platforms.
Creating effective landing pages is crucial for converting your audience into leads or customers. Leadpages is a well-known tool for this purpose. You may also consider Leadpages alternatives if you’re looking for more budget-friendly options tailored to your business’s specific needs.
Make sure you also leverage email marketing. Offer a lead magnet to get subscribers, and send them tailored emails to nurture relationships. These emails can complement your SEO and social media efforts.
As a final tip, make sure to showcase your brand identity across all platforms and in all communications right from the start. If you regularly place the same face and style in front of your potential customers, they will begin to associate them with your brand. This recognition can lead to trust, and ultimately, when they need the services you offer, they are more likely to turn to you.
To maintain this consistency, create a brand book that specifies your important visual elements like your company name, logo, color scheme, among others.
7. Track Your Progress and Improvise
Use analytics tools to monitor the metrics of success you specified in your business plan. These may include:
- Client acquisition rates
- Engagement rates
- Social media mentions
- Revenue
- Client satisfaction/loyalty
You can use social listening tools and platforms like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, or Sprout Social for comprehensive insights. Regularly review your performance data to discover opportunities for improvement.
Use these insights to improve your approach. Are there more effective social strategies? Better days for publishing your social media content? More effective ways to acquire clients and ensure customer loyalty?
Also, ask your current and loyal customers for feedback about your digital marketing agency to derive actionable insights. You can even use their testimonials as social proof on your website and social media channels. These will help enhance your credibility and attract even more potential clients.
Conclusion
If you want to start a social media management business, remember that extensive planning, strategic thought, and ongoing adaptation are required.
You learned the steps to follow before you start offering social media management services. Identify your niche, craft a business plan, ensure legal registration, set a pricing structure, and set up your core team. Also, focus on marketing your business and track your progress.
Now it’s time to take action.
