How to Start a Content Marketing Agency

Start a content marketing agency by following these 10 steps:

1. Plan your Content Marketing Agency
2. Form your Content Marketing Agency into a Legal Entity
3. Register your Content Marketing Agency for Taxes
4. Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
5. Set up Accounting for your Content Marketing Agency
6. Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Content Marketing Agency
7. Get Content Marketing Agency Insurance
8. Define your Content Marketing Agency Brand
9. Create your Content Marketing Agency Website
10. Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your content marketing agency. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas.

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

• What will you name your business?
• What are the startup and ongoing costs?
• Who is your target market?
• How much can you charge customers?

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What will you name your business?

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Content Marketing Agency Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:

• Your state's business records
• Federal and state trademark records
• Social media platforms
• Web domain availability.

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

What are the costs involved in opening a content marketing agency?

The costs of opening a content marketing agency can be relatively small if you are willing and able to wear the many different hats of your business. For instance, if you are able to write content, shoot video, and share and manage social media accounts, then you can be the one-stop-shop for clients and can ultimately work from home. If you choose to lease an office space, then you may be paying between $1000 a month to $6000 a month depending on office size and location. It may take between $10,000 and $20,000 to purchase furniture and decorate office space to your tastes and to buy any equipment (such as computers, phones, modern projection equipment, and at least one professional video camera). It may be worth investing $1000 to $2000 in traditional advertisement for your business (newspaper and radio advertisements, for instance), but you should take the time to set up a web page with samples of content and create a social media presence. Ultimately, the latter two will bring in more clients than traditional advertising.

What are the ongoing expenses for a content marketing agency?

Your ongoing expenses will vary depending on whether you are working from home or from within a separate office space. If you are working from home, then things like your utilities and office space are built into the bills you already pay. If this is the case, then your ongoing expenses should be less than $500 a month for things like web hosting, software acquisition, and traditional advertising. If you are leasing an office space, then you will be paying between $1000-$6000 per month (depending on office space and location) and less than $1000 a month for utilities, phone, and internet. You will also be paying the salaries of your team members.

Who is the target market?

Part of owning a content marketing agency is that you will work with a wide variety of clients, from individuals with small projects to major corporations. The primary characteristic of your best clients is simply that they keep open, frequent, and honest communication with you. As a content provider, you must deliver what the client wants, so clients that are upfront about their needs and open to feedback and critique will make things easier for you.

How does a content marketing agency make money?

On the most basic level, a content marketing agency makes money for helping facilitate and deliver content for a client. This amount is usually some kind of set fee for different projects, though the nature of the payment will fluctuate with the nature of the work. For instance, you may simply be paid by the project, especially for larger projects. You may be paid a fixed amount each month in which you are contractually obligated to produce a certain amount of content. You may also be paid as a consultant for things like company blogs, the company website, or their social media presence.

How much can you charge customers?

The great variety of potential services that you might offer clients means that how much you can charge them may vary greatly. For instance, you might charge $100 an hour or more to do something like manage a client's social media accounts. Similarly, you might charge between $75 to $200 to help a client optimize content they already have. However, your bread and butter will be individual content projects at the client's request, and it's up to you to determine what is fair. For instance, projects like that typically run between $500-$3,000, but it may be much easier (and, therefore, less expensive to the client) for you to write a quick article or create a small infographic than it is to create detailed interactive content, research and write our case studies, and so on.

How much profit can a content marketing agency make?

The goal of your agency, once you have established it, is to get a twenty percent or higher profit margin. With this in mind, there is not necessarily an upward limit of profit you can make, so long as you are willing to expand your business with more customers as needed. Profit also depends on the number of clients and the nature of your contract. The majority of content marketing agencies get compensated a monthly retainer fee by clients, and these fees average between $1000 and $5000 per client. Depending on how many clients you can reasonably take on, it is possible for this to be a six figure job.

How can you make your business more profitable?

One way to make your business more profitable is competitive pricing. You want to find the sweet spot between not driving clients to your competition and also not undervaluing your talent and labor. You can also focus on what clients want more of: for instance, fresh articles remain the main item requested by clients, so by providing more of those (and hiring more writers as needed), you can make more profit. Some platforms, such as Hubspot, offer affiliate or partner programs for young agencies. This allows the partner or affiliate to earn additional retainer income by offering more services. Finally, use client priorities to shape your priorities. Clients primarily want you to improve the numbers of leads generated; focusing on doing this better than anyone else ensures repeat business and continuous profit.

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation.

Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your content marketing agency is sued.

You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

• Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
• Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

• Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
• Build your company's credit history, which can be useful to raise money later on.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a content marketing agency. Learn more about licensing requirements in your state by visiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.

In particular, most states require retail businesses to obtain a seller’s permit. A seller’s permit enables states to record and collect taxes from goods (and sometimes service) sales.

Services Contract

Content marketing agencies should require clients to sign a services agreement before starting a new project. This agreement should clarify client expectations and minimize risk of legal disputes by setting out payment terms and conditions, service level expectations, and intellectual property ownership. The website Content Fresh offers as an example of one such services agreement.

Recommended: Rocket Lawyer makes it easy to create a professional service agreement for your content marketing business when you sign up for their premium membership. For $39.95 per month, members receive access to hundreds of legal agreements and on call attorneys to get complimentary legal advice.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

Is this Business Right For You?

Content marketing is, put simply, an intersection of creativity, sales, and media management. Thus, this job is ideal for someone who is already experienced in one or more of those areas. For instance, someone with a background in writing will have an easier time creating certain kinds of content, whereas those with a background in advertising will approach content from a different angle. Sales veterans will understand how all of this impacts a company's bottom line, whereas savvy social media users will understand the need to use non-traditional channels to build, maintain, and propel a company's brand.

What happens during a typical day at a content marketing agency?

Some of your daily activities at your content marketing agency include creating the specific content clients want, such as writing articles or shooting videos. You will then be sharing that content via the company's chosen channels, which may be very diverse if they are big believers in multi-channel marketing. Some of your time will be spent analyzing analytics to determine the effectiveness of your content—basically, you are determining if their demographics are responding well to chosen content or if you should change your approach. You will also be communicating with prospective clients, collaborating with existing clients, and researching things like SEO optimization to improve your future content.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful content marketing agency?

Experience and training in things like Search Engine Optimization and Google Analytics (or other analytical tools) can be a big help in starting your agency. Experience in content management for others is obviously a major help, as is any experience you have with any Customer Management Systems used by previous employers. Finally, experience in writing and/or multimedia will be invaluable in helping you actually create the content, whereas.

What is the growth potential for a content marketing agency?

The growth potential for a content marketing agency is significant based on recent trends. For instance, the amount of content marketing jobs listed on the job-finding Indeed website increased by 350 percent between 2011 and 2015. Basically, content marketing is tethered to content delivery methods, and the sheer explosion of apps and other non-traditional channels means there is more need for content than ever before

Not sure if a content marketing agency is right for you? Try our free Business Idea Generator and find your perfect idea.