Advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desire and belief. Therefore, setting up a social-media advertising agency would serve the purpose of business to the business sector as well as the business-to-consumer sector. The products of the client company would serve as the Business to the consumer sector. Meanwhile, our business with the clients would be a part of the Business to the business sector.
However, various sectors should be taken into account to pursue the business. The most important question one needs to ask is, what are the resources needed to fulfil the start of the organisation? For that, a planned strategy to get essentials would be needed for the business.
The business should need to realize that there will be different departments working for the agency. One would be the design and concept department. The department would be supposed to deal with all the conceptual material that the agency needs to make. This department would be the core of the company and would serve as the agent to lure the customers towards the business. Therefore, the resources that this department would require should be given the utmost importance to the business.
Similarly, there would be a client servicing department which looks out to segregate the possible clients and approach them accordingly. Initially, rather than going for the big businesses they should initially go for middle-sized companies. Although, large businesses pay highly, approaching mid-sized companies would help the company gain recognition in the corporate world. Plus, the risk factor in these companies is lower than that in the larger companies. Moreover, the accounts department would be another department which looks into the finances of the company.
Therefore, the initial requirement for the business would be a working space which could accommodate at least 15 people to start with. A leased place or a place on rent would serve this purpose. To get things going seven computers or laptops will be required for the company. The approximate cost in the first month of the business will be at least £4000. Once, the company’s building blocks are present, we should start the recruitment process where the company would start recruitment for its three departments.
The mission for the company would be to target companies looking for social media marketing whose social media strategies are not up to the mark and how can they be improved through the company’s strategy or those who are not on social media and have the potential to generate more business through more awareness. The first-year objectives of the company should be to get three clients where they can implement their strategies and the results those strategies can provide. Once, the company has established a brand name, it can then change its target market from a mid-sized company to a larger-sized company which generates more profits for the company. The large-sized companies could include Multinational corporations as well as the banks who want to promote their offers and social media can be the best way to do it.
According to the Scott and Bruce model, there are five stages of a start-up. The stages start from the inception. This stage covers the parts from the idea generation until the start of the business setup. The idea behind social media marketing, look for the possible target market, and get suitable resources for the business, until the business is up and running will come under the inception stage of the business.
Some businesses fail in the inception stage only that is due to improper planning and not budgeting for the project. The growth of the business at this stage is minimal because being a new entrant in the market will be pushed the business will be pushed back due to the lack of trust the clients will have in the business. It will be difficult to break through, however, once the ice breaks, a gradual growth in the business starts.
This takes the business to a much more mature stage i.e. survival. In between the transition of the two stages, there is a crisis level which every business grows through. In our example, the crisis arises when the first client is on board with the company. It is usually seen that after fighting each obstacle during the inception stage when a company gets aligned with its first client a haphazard situation incurs. It arises because employees take a huge amount of load upon themselves to make things work for the company. In this process, unnecessary costs are incurred and expenses are usually increased to satisfy the client’s needs. However, through proper defining of tasks and making appropriate plans the company could deal with the arising issues.
Once, the company enters the survival stage, it has achieved its past goals and is now competing with the larger competitors with more resources are always on the hinge of taking away what you have earned in the entire period. Most entrepreneurs get deranged at this stage mainly because they grow a feeling of uncertainty about their plans and start doubting their potential. However, it is said, this stage is the ‘survival of the fittest.’ Those entrepreneurs who have the mental strength are the ones who survive at this stage and move on to the later stage of growth.
The growth stage is one of the most difficult of all the stages, mainly because the business is now expanding. The company is done with its initial approach to incept and to survive. It is now supposed to enter new markets and take on newer challenges. However, this comes at a cost. Expanding the domains of the business means adding on newer resources and employees, with the continuous pressure of the larger competitors.
The company now needs to move on and give the new opportunity to the clients. Social media content usually gets homogenous, therefore, newer strategies and ideas should always be up to the grabs of the company to make sure that the client sees innovative ideas that could be implemented for their overall marketing strategy. The company could move from content-based advertising to more interactive offerings. Moving from the initial offerings a revised strategy could have short videos testimonials where the clients of the company could relate to their personal experiences and their drive towards the company. Moreover, the business could move on to television commercials as well as billboard advertising as they could implement an integrated marketing strategy. This would help the business have more diversity and help reach their financial goals at a much more rapid rate.
Once, the company has accumulated a considerable amount of time it now needs to move to a much more diverse stage of expansion. At this instant, the company needs to manage much more diverse operations as there is a certain need to involve external forces in the business. This creates another task for the business i.e. how to manage this external without compromising the interest of the initial setup. There is continuous uncertainty at this level of the business as the involvement of the external parties invites a completely different environment to the organisation’s structure and a company would never like to disrupt its official environment. Therefore, the external forces should be checked and balanced by the business to avoid disturbance in the business goals, meanwhile, the company needs to make sure that the goals of these external forces are aligned with the mission of the business.
For the agency, in need of expansion, what it needs is to get aligned with more similar organisations and share the load of the agency. A company due to the restricted domain needs to join hands with a different company to make sure that the business of both parties does not get affected. A social media client needs to organise an event for its organisation. However, this goes beyond the domain of the business, however, the solution lies in a partnership with event management companies. Not only it will help the company to get recognition but will also help the purpose of achieving the client’s goodwill. Similarly, the event management company could return the favour by giving its event management client’s social media to the business, helping it to tap into newer markets and allowing the company to limit its expenses.
Moreover, once the business grows there are many other resources that the company would need such as technological equipment, office furniture, stationery etc. Therefore it would need to get more out of fewer expenditures. To counter it, the signing of partnership agreements would serve this purpose. These agreements would be mutually beneficial for both parties because both will need the help of one another to form a strong business relationship.
Once the company has established itself with strong roots it will then reach its maturity stage. At the maturity stage, the company has developed its brand image operating in different dynamics and has a diverse portfolio. The company now has a clientele which trusts them and relies on them even at the contingency level. However, the company has its roots meaning that even with a diverse portfolio they have established a niche in their services and are recognized as the leaders in the market. At this level, the company has the liberty to cut down its costs and operate at a high amount of profits because all the risks that could previously lead to failure have been almost nullified.
Although the agency will be tackling diverse clients and will have a different dimension in its planning, its niche would be social media marketing and that would be recognized as their area of speciality. More like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, once a company reaches its maturity stage it no longer has threats from its competitors and despite a dense market, there will still be opportunities for the business to generate more out of its niche.
Here, the role of the top managers of the company will also change as they should be willing to adopt a decentralized system of management where the lower hierarchy would be allowed to experiment with their ideas to generate more innovative plans for the business as well as have belonging towards the company. Similarly, they will now need to have a formalised structure to keep track of their financials, meanwhile, trying to cut costs to as low as possible and having a proper check and balance over the entire organisation’s operation.
Hence, every stage of the business is important to ensure its success. Not only an idea along with the resources is necessary, but one needs to make sure that the management of all the areas in the company is looked upon. Even the slightest mistake at any level of the business could lead to the immediate downfall of the business, given the tough competition in every market. Although the current market situation in the country is beneficial for businesses, there are high chance that negligence at any part of the organisation could lead to a sudden collapse of the system.