So, you want to start a marketing agency. Because it sounds like an interesting career. You manage a small team, they run marketing campaigns, clients get their desired results, and you earn your fair share of money. Everything sounds great on paper, right?

Well, that’s where the sh*t gets real!

Here are some of the most common mistakes you should avoid if you are going to start a new marketing agency. These mistakes will turn your business into a loss-making entity in no time.

Communication gaps with the client

Communication gaps are one of the most dangerous silent killers of your new venture. Communication gaps do not always come from one end or the other. When both ends get busy with their core work and they miss meetings to get updates or give updates, that’s where the communication gap starts coming in.

In our personal experience, our agency almost lost a client in the second month of onboarding. We used to share updates and insights from our end in a group where the other party was not even engaging and expecting some miracle to take place for their brand.

So, when they reached us about whether they should continue or break the contract as they were not able to see any results (which were already shared in the group, though!), we gave them a detailed report on one sheet, and they continued the project with us. Being a utopian client, they were chill and did not want to take a ton of calls with us, but weekly calls fixed the issue and taught us a great lesson at the beginning itself.

Not investing in marketing for your brand

In the early days of my marketing career, I went for a job interview with a digital marketing agency. The owners were very confident, and they knew what they were selling and the questions they were asking. But, the conversation grew fascinating and heated when I asked them why you aren’t using SSL on your website when we are talking about giving SEO service to the client, or why your website is half-baked when we provide digital marketing services only.

Well, something similar can happen with your client call as well. If you end up leaving your brand unnoticeable, chances are your clients would avoid noticing you at the key time.

No defined target audience

Well, every product, brand, and service requires marketing in this hyper-connected digital world. Have you ever seen a brand that is not running ads or not investing in their various marketing channels offline or online?

That’s the reason that in the world of client pool, you might have all the companies in the world on the target to make them your client. But, what are your expertise, what niche can you work with, what kind of services can you provide, what sort of creative team can you assemble, and so on. As a company, you might serve everyone, but can you provide results to everyone?

So, do not run for every account you find on the market. Close and serve the clients you can give results to.

Expecting and promising overnight results

This is the biggest mistake new agencies and marketing freelancers make. They promised growth, or the KPIs you are going to work on should be very transparent for both ends.

When you overpromise and underdeliver, the client will run away from you and ask more people in the market not to join hands with you. Eventually, you would end up drying your new sales pipelines due to weak demand in the market. Make sure to give clear deliverables and perform your level best for them. Missing the goal is okay, but not being able to fulfil your KPIs is not appropriate.

Onboarding the wrong clients

In an earlier blog, we discussed which kind of clients you should avoid onboarding. So, do not onboard the confused client in your agency. They will drain your creativity and efficiency by giving you random tasks that you cannot perform or giving you requirements that are impossible to fulfil. Don’t go with the clients who are looking for a fixed monthly package and are ready to keep bargaining with you to get your services at dirt-cheap prices.

Go beyond thinking about money and think about long-term collaborations and relationships. Any famous agency you see in your country or on the planet did not rise in a single day. They collaborated with their best clients for years and ran so many campaigns together to build brands for their clients, as well as making sure that they remain at the top of the game.

Do reach out to us if you think there are any other suggestions to add to this list. If you are just starting up, I wish you good luck and a great road of learning ahead.