How do you know if you need a marketing consultant?
Answer yes or no to these questions, then we’ll talk.
- Are you worried about your brand’s image?
- Do you want to post more or better content online?
- Are you looking for ways to drive traffic to your website or store?
- Do you have lots of ideas, but no time to implement them?
- Do you feel out of sync with your target customers?
If you hesitated or answered yes to any question, a consultant will help your business.
Keep reading. You’ll learn how a consultant saves your company time and money — while producing results.
What Is a Marketing Consultant & Why Do You Need One?
A marketing consultant professional is knowledgeable about consumer behavior and marketing.
The consultant works with you to create and manage a marketing strategy designed to achieve your company goals.
A consultant may be hands-on, act as a mentor to your staff, or manage an outside team. Or, the consultant can perform on all three levels.
In every scenario, the consultant collaborates with the business to launch a plan and track its progress.
Many consultants specialize in certain skill sets, such as:
- Social Media Marketing
- Content Marketing
- SEO and PPC Campaigns
- Online Marketing
- Direct Response Marketing
It’s important to hire someone who knows how to resolve the obstacles between you and your target audience.
Someone who specializes in your problem can focus on solving it fast. This will save time and money.
Ask the marketing consultant to present ideas for engaging with consumers, and positioning your product so people want to buy. Request work samples that show strong results.
You can hire a consultant who works independently or someone who joins your in-house team for a specific period of time.
Before you hire anyone, do a deep dive interview. Your consultant must understand your businesses and growth goals. Make sure you and the consultant agree on a budget, expenses, and timeline.
Hiring the right consultant for your company will allow you to focus on other areas of the operation. A good fit means open and productive communication on the road to success.
1. Define and Solidify Your Brand
Sometimes it’s hard to recognize when a marketing message isn’t clear.
Is your logo dated? Does your website expedite the customer journey? Is there a consistent brand identity across all media? Is your message easy to understand?
Management and staff often are too close to the subject to be objective. Internal company issues or history may influence their decisions.
An outside marketing consultant provides a new perspective and point of view.
The consultant establishes design and brand guidelines to solidify your image online, in print, and in person.
A coherent brand helps consumers know and understand your company and products.
2. Develop a Marketing Strategy
A consultant determines the best strategy for your goals.
The strategy is a detailed plan for marketing your message. It identifies the types of messages, plus how, when, and where to send them.
The consultant makes everyone accountable. Constant monitoring and progress reports keep messaging on track.
Consultants are creative and analytical. They generate ideas and analyze results. They use data to show the strategy is working.
Problems and positives are reported to everyone involved. If a plan isn’t successful, the consultant reevaluates and tweaks the process.
3. Create and Manage Online Content
A marketing consultant creates engaging content to appeal to your audience.
Online content can be blog posts, social media messages, video, photography, and podcasts. Informative and entertaining narratives work best.
Successful content is valuable to your potential customers.
For example, an explainer video on the website tells the company’s impressive history. A video on social media announces a new product and shows clients how to use it.
Video and interactive content are popular with consumers. A seasoned consultant knows where video can help your business. They also organize and manage video production.
Interactive mobile apps, surveys, virtual reality, and contests draw clients into your message. A professional consultant shows your company how to use interactive content.
4. Develop Buyer Personas
Buyer personas are detailed profiles of current and potential customers. Demographic and psychographic information is used to create the persona.
Buyer personas give your team a concise image of your target audience. It includes a descripton of the consumer’s pain points and problems.
This description lets you strategize a message to address the client’s problems. You show consumers how your products help them.
A marketing professional can create specific buyer personas for your company.
5. Manage Social Media Plan
When staff is short on time it’s easy to rush or skip social media posts.
Confusing or uninspired messages frustrate your audience. An inactive account scares away potential customers.
Randomly posting lots of messages doesn’t work either. In fact, too many posts annoy people. And, poor quality content makes a bad impression.
An experienced consultant creates a social media plan to reach your audience. Multiple accounts are managed by the consultant, or set to post automatically.
Hashtags, SEO, and paid advertising are part of the plan. Each message is matched to the specific platform.
Social media content boosts SEO and drives traffic to your website or storefront.
Effective social media means clients find you when they search for products or services online.
6. Give Your Website SEO Boost
Consultants make Search Engine Optimization (SEO) a priority.
Their focused keyword research and website optimization make your business rank higher in online searches.
The consultant improves SEO on existing web pages by adding keywords to text, and alt tags to images. They craft social media posts to increase website traffic.
A savvy consultant stays current on search engine algorithms so your website is up-to-date and compliant.
7. Save Time and Money
Trouble deciding between hiring more staff or engaging a consultant?
Remember, there’s no learning curve or wasted time when you hire a marketing consultant. An experienced consultant knows which techniques work.
The focus on improved SEO and website traffic begins immediately. You won’t spend time and money on unproductive approaches.
When you hire a consultant you’ll stay within your SEO marketing budget. You can design a contract to match your financial resources.
Hire a Marketing Consultant to Get Results
It’s easy to lose sight of marketing goals. It happens when no one person is accountable for the plan.
When you hire a professional consultant you have a point person who is accountable.
The consultant will set goals and establish a strategy. A timeline for meeting objectives plus concrete guidelines make marketing a priority.
Everyone in the company and your clients will benefit from clear messaging.
If you’re ready to focus on your company’s growth goals, contact Musselwhite Marketing. We’ll give you the right marketing strategies and tools to grow your business.
