Social Media Marketing Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky
social media marketing agency business plan template
Table of Contents
Table of Contents

Social Media Marketing Business Plan Template

If you want to start a successful Social Media Marketing business or expand your current Social Media Marketing business, you need a business plan.

Fortunately, you’re in the right place. Our team has helped develop over 100,000 business plans over the past 20 years, including thousands of social media marketing business plans.

The following social media marketing business plan template and example gives you the key elements you must include in your plan. In our experience speaking with lenders and investors, the template is organized in the precise format they want

You can download our business plan template (including a full, customizable financial model) to your computer here.

 

Social Media Marketing Business Plan Example

I. Executive Summary

Business Overview

[Company Name] is a social media marketing agency located in [insert location here] that helps small businesses and organizations attain their social media marketing goals. From social media management to digital consulting, the company creates custom social media marketing solutions and strategies that perfectly fit its client’s businesses and industries. The Company’s goal is to become one of the leading social media marketing brands and compete with the leaders in the industry.

Products Served

The Company will provide the following services to its customers:

  • Social media marketing consulting and advisory services
  • Content marketing
  • Brand awareness and engagement

Customer Focus

[Company Name] will primarily offer its services to small businesses and organizations within a 30-mile radius of business location. The demographics of the customers are as given below:

  • Small businesses- 16,567
  • Non-profit, government and other organizations: 29,081

Management Team

[Company Name] is led by [Founder’s name], who has been in the social media marketing industry for [x] years. [Founder] is a certified and licensed social media and digital marketing expert. He has extensive experience working for leading social media marketing agencies prior to starting his own social media marketing agency. His in-depth knowledge and expertise will help [Company name] provide professional and result-oriented social media marketing services.

Success Factors

[Company Name] is qualified to succeed due to the following reasons:

  • There is currently a high demand for social media marketing services. In addition, the company surveyed the local population and received highly positive feedback pointing towards an explicit demand for the services, supporting the business after launch.
  • There has been significant growth in social media marketing over the past few years. Those who cater to this market have been thriving.
  • The management team has a track record of success in the social media marketing business.
  • The social media marketing business is a proven, successful business in the United States.

Financial Highlights

[Company Name] is currently seeking $200,000 to launch a social media marketing agency. Specifically, these funds will be used as follows:

  • Office build-out and startup cost: $110,000
  • Working capital: $90,000 to pay for marketing, equipment and salaries.

Top line projections over the next five years are as follows:

Financial SummaryFY 1FY 2FY 3FY 4FY 5
Revenue$560,401 $782,152 $1,069,331 $1,379,434 $1,699,644
Total Expenses$328,233 $391,429 $552,149 $696,577 $776,687
EBITDA$232,168 $390,722 $517,182 $682,858 $922,956
Depreciation$7,000 $7,000 $7,000 $7,000 $7,000
EBIT$225,168 $383,722 $510,182 $675,858 $915,956
Interest$6,016 $5,264 $4,512 $3,760 $3,008
Pre Tax Income$219,152 $378,458 $505,670 $672,098 $912,948
Income Tax Expense$76,703 $132,460 $176,985 $235,234 $319,532
Net Income$142,449 $245,998 $328,686 $436,864 $593,416
Net Profit Margin25%31%31%32%35%

 

II. Company Overview

Who is [Company Name]?

[Company Name] is a full-service social media marketing agency that helps small businesses and organizations develop a multi-faceted social media and online marketing strategy. The [Company Name] focuses on branding, lead generation, customer acquisition, customer retention and social media profile enhancement. The [Company Name] will build and create social media content such as blog posts, videos, and events. The Company’s goal is to become one of the leading social media marketing agency brands and compete with the leaders in the industry.

[Company Name]’s History

[Founder’s Name] is an entrepreneur with a passion for social media marketing who seeks to provide a comprehensive and innovative social media marketing agency. [Company Name] will become a known social media marketing agency in [Location], offering social media marketing services.

Upon surveying the local customer base and finding the potential agency location, [Founder’s Name] incorporated [Company Name] as an S-Corporation on [date of incorporation].

[Founder’s Name] has selected an initial location and is currently undergoing due diligence on each property and the local market to assess the most desirable location for the social media marketing agency.

Since incorporation, the company has achieved the following milestones:

  • Found office space and signed Letter of Intent to lease it
  • Developed the company’s name, logo, and website
  • Determined the list of services to be offered
  • Determined equipment requirements
  • Began recruiting key employees with experience in the social media marketing industry

[Company Name]’s Products/Services

The Company provides the following social media marketing services to its customers:

  • Social media marketing consulting and advisory services
  • Content marketing
  • Brand awareness and engagement

 

III. Industry Analysis

[Company Name] competes against small, individually owned social media marketing agencies and major regional and national chains. The social media marketing industry reached $11 billion last year and is expected to grow 25.4% over the next five years. There are about 5,607 registered and licensed social media marketing companies in the US, and they are responsible for employing about 66,623 people. Last year, 90% of US marketers in companies with more than 100 employees used social media for marketing purposes.

The growing number of social media users day by day, coupled with the surge in advertising campaigns on social media platforms, are propelling the demand for the social media management market.

The growing trend which makes it easier for people to spend more time on the internet, especially on social networking sites, is a major boost in the revenue generated by social networking marketing companies.

 

IV. Customer Analysis

Demographic Profile of Target Market

[Company Name] will serve small businesses and organizations in the U.S.

The precise breakdown of businesses by sector is as follows:

Total Businesses38,124
Forestry, Fishing, Hunting, and Agriculture Support0.29%
Mining0.35%
Utilities0.23%
Construction9.64%
Manufacturing4.16%
Wholesale Trade5.62%
Retail Trade14.54%
Transportation and Warehousing2.83%
Information1.81%
Finance and Insurance6.56%
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing4.75%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services11.36%
Management of Companies and Enterprises0.69%
Admin, Support, Waste Mgt, Remediation Services5.15%
Educational Services1.20%
Health Care and Social Assistance10.80%
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation1.66%
Accommodation and Food Services8.59%
Other Services (Except Public Administration)9.78%

Customer Segmentation

The Company will primarily target the following customer segments:

  • Organizations: The Company will provide result-oriented social media marketing strategies to increase brand awareness and generate new business leads for nonprofit organizations, government agencies and other types of organizations.
  • Small Businesses: Small businesses that need to increase their reach in the local, regional and national markets, engage with current customers, and build their brand awareness will make an important market segment for the company.

 

V. Competitive Analysis

Direct & Indirect Competitors

Social Branding Inc
Social Branding Inc is one of the social media marketing agencies in town and has been in business for xx years. Besides offering social media marketing services, Social Branding Inc also specializes in advertising, lead generation, launch campaigns, and other effective social media marketing strategies to grow business.

Social Elite
Social Elite is a full social media management company. It offers social media, search engine, and website design services. The company also creates and manages top-performing social media campaigns for clients on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Since [year], Social Elite’s social media marketing services have helped clients’ businesses grow brand awareness (followers), relationships (engagement), and website exposure (traffic).

Social Giants
Social Giants helps brands with different aspects of their social media marketing strategy by deploying result-driven services around content production, community management, paid social advertising, influencer marketing, and more. Social Giants is an in-house content builder that films, captures, makes, paints, records, bakes, builds, hatches, composes, invents, writes, draws all of its client’s social media content in-house.

Competitive Advantage

[Company Name] enjoys several advantages over its competitors. These advantages include:

  • Management: The Company’s management team has xx years of social media marketing experience that allows them to market and serve customers in an improved and sophisticated manner than the competitors.
  • Relationships: Having lived in the community for xx years, [Founder’s Name] knows all of the local leaders, media, and other influencers. Furthermore, he will be able to draw from his existing personal and professional relationships to develop an initial client base.
  • Location: [Company Name]’s location is near the center of town, giving the company access to corporate organizations, entrepreneurs, individuals and small businesses.

 

VI. Marketing Plan

You can download our Business Plan Template (including a full, customizable financial model) to your computer here.

The [Company Name] Brand

[Company name] seeks to position itself as a respectable, upper-middle-market competitor in the social media marketing industry. Customers can expect a good-quality social media marketing experience for their products/services.

The [Company Name] brand will focus on the company’s unique value proposition:

  • Offering a wide variety of high-quality social media marketing services to corporate organizations, entrepreneurs, individuals and small businesses.
  • Convenient location.
  • Providing excellent customer service and customer experience with result-oriented social media marketing services.

Promotions Strategy

[Company Name] expects its target market to be small businesses and organizations. The Company’s promotions strategy to reach the audience includes:

Pre-Opening Events
Before opening, [Company Name] will organize pre-opening events designed for prospective customers, and press contacts. These events will create buzz, and awareness for [Company Name] in the area.

Website
The Company will create a professional website for business prospects, which will provide easy access to essential information about the company offerings, contact details, and other information. The website will be updated and optimized to enhance the company’s online presence.

Advertisement
Advertisements in print publications like newspapers, magazines, etc., are an excellent way for businesses to connect with their audience. The Company will advertise its offerings in popular magazines and news dailies. Obtaining relevant placements in industry magazines and journals will also help in increasing brand visibility.

Public Relations
[Company Name] will hire an experienced PR agency/professional(s) to formulate a compelling PR campaign to boost its brand visibility among the target audience. It will look to garner stories about the company and its offerings in various media outlets like newspapers, podcasts, television stations, radio shows, etc.

Word of Mouth Marketing
[Company name] will encourage word-of-mouth marketing from loyal and satisfied clients. The Company will use recommendations and word-of-mouth marketing to grow the customer base through the network of its existing customers.

Pricing Strategy

[Company Name]’s pricing will be moderate, so customers feel they receive great value when availing of the social media marketing services. The customer can expect to receive high-quality social media marketing for a more affordable price than what they pay at an ultra-premium social media marketing agency.

 

VII. Operations Plan

Functional Roles

To execute on [Company Name]’s business model, the company needs to perform several functions, including the following:

Service & Administrative Functions

  • Business Development
  • Creative executive
  • Administrative assistant
  • General & administrative functions including legal, marketing, bookkeeping, etc.
  • Hiring and training staff

Milestones

[Company Name] expects to achieve the following milestones in the following [] months:

DateMilestone
[Date 1]Finalize lease agreement
[Date 2]Design and build out [Company Name]
[Date 3]Hire and train initial staff
[Date 4]Kickoff of promotional campaign
[Date 5]Launch [Company Name]
[Date 6]Reach break-even

 

VIII. Management Team

Management Team Members

[Company Name] is led by [Founder’s Name], who has been in the social media marketing industry for xx years. [Founder] is a certified and licensed social media marketing expert. While [Founder] has never run a social media marketing business himself, he has been active in the industry as he has worked for leading social media marketing companies as a social media marketing expert and managed it for xx years.

[Founder] graduated from the University of ABC, where he majored in communications & marketing.

Hiring Plan

[Founder] will serve as the CEO. In order to launch the social media marketing agency, the company will need to hire the following personnel:

  • Creative Director
  • Social Media Marketing Specialist
  • Human Resources Manager
  • Web/Graphic Designer
  • Content Creator
  • Sales and Marketing Executive
  • Accountant
  • Client Service Executive

 

IX. Financial Plan

Revenue and Cost Drivers

[Company Name]’s revenues will come from social media marketing services rendered to its customers.

The major costs for the company will be staff salaries. In the initial years, the company’s marketing spend will be high, as it establishes itself in the market.

Capital Requirements and Use of Funds

[Company Name] is currently seeking $200,000 to launch the social media marketing agency. The capital will be used for funding capital expenditures and location build-out, hiring initial employees, marketing expenses, and working capital.

Specifically, these funds will be used as follows:

  • Store design/build: $110,000
  • Working capital: $90,000 to pay for marketing, equipment and salaries.

Key Assumptions

The following table reflects the key revenue and cost assumptions made in the financial model:

Average Number of Clients
FY 142
FY 263
FY 396
FY 4162
FY 5243
Annual Rent$36,000.00

 
5 Year Annual Income Statement

Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5
Revenues
Product/Service A$151,200 $333,396 $367,569 $405,245 $446,783
Product/Service B$100,800 $222,264 $245,046 $270,163 $297,855
Total Revenues$252,000 $555,660 $612,615 $675,408 $744,638
Expenses & Costs
Cost of goods sold$57,960 $122,245 $122,523 $128,328 $134,035
Lease$60,000 $61,500 $63,038 $64,613 $66,229
Marketing$20,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000 $25,000
Salaries$133,890 $204,030 $224,943 $236,190 $248,000
Other Expenses$3,500 $4,000 $4,500 $5,000 $5,500
Total Expenses & Costs$271,850 $412,775 $435,504 $454,131 $473,263
EBITDA($19,850)$142,885 $177,112 $221,277 $271,374
Depreciation$36,960 $36,960 $36,960 $36,960 $36,960
EBIT($56,810)$105,925 $140,152 $184,317 $234,414
Interest$23,621 $20,668 $17,716 $14,763 $11,810
PRE-TAX INCOME($80,431)$85,257 $122,436 $169,554 $222,604
Net Operating Loss($80,431)($80,431)$0$0$0
Income Tax Expense$0$1,689 $42,853 $59,344 $77,911
NET INCOME($80,431)$83,568 $79,583 $110,210 $144,693
Net Profit Margin (%)-15.00%13.00%16.30%19.40%

 
5 Year Annual Balance Sheet

Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5
ASSETS
Cash$16,710 $90,188 $158,957 $258,570 $392,389
Accounts receivable$0$0$0$0$0
Inventory$21,000 $23,153 $25,526 $28,142 $31,027
Total Current Assets$37,710 $113,340 $184,482 $286,712 $423,416
Fixed assets$246,450 $246,450 $246,450 $246,450 $246,450
Depreciation$36,960 $73,920 $110,880 $147,840 $184,800
Net fixed assets$209,490 $172,530 $135,570 $98,610 $61,650
TOTAL ASSETS$247,200 $285,870 $320,052 $385,322 $485,066
LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Debt$317,971 $272,546 $227,122 $181,698 $136,273
Accounts payable$9,660 $10,187 $10,210 $10,694 $11,170
Total Liabilities$327,631 $282,733 $237,332 $192,391 $147,443
Share Capital$0$0$0$0$0
Retained earnings($80,431)$3,137 $82,720 $192,930 $337,623
Total Equity($80,431)$3,137 $82,720 $192,930 $337,623
TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY$247,200 $285,870 $320,052 $385,322 $485,066

 
5 Year Annual Cash Flow Statement

Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5
CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS
Net Income (Loss)($80,431)$83,568 $79,583 $110,210 $144,693
Change in working capital($11,340)($1,625)($2,350)($2,133)($2,409)
Depreciation$36,960 $36,960 $36,960 $36,960 $36,960
Net Cash Flow from Operations($54,811)$118,902 $114,193 $145,037 $179,244
CASH FLOW FROM INVESTMENTS
Investment($246,450)$0$0$0$0
Net Cash Flow from Investments($246,450)$0$0$0$0
CASH FLOW FROM FINANCING
Cash from equity$0$0$0$0$0
Cash from debt$317,971 ($45,424)($45,424)($45,424)($45,424)
Net Cash Flow from Financing$317,971 ($45,424)($45,424)($45,424)($45,424)
SUMMARY
Net Cash Flow$16,710 $73,478 $68,769 $99,613 $133,819
Cash at Beginning of Period$0$16,710 $90,188 $158,957 $258,570
Cash at End of Period$16,710 $90,188 $158,957 $258,570 $392,389
Download our Social Media Marketing Business Plan Template

Other Sector Templates