Wondering if a digital marketing consultant can help you grow and scale the business?
Or maybe you’re curious about what it means to bring an online marketing consultant on board?
It might be time to call the digital marketing doctor…
I want to help you fully understand what it means to work with a marketing professional…
This includes how they can help:
- increase the ROI of your digital marketing strategy
- simplify the execution of your digital marketing campaigns
- maximize your online presence
If you’re the Owner, Founder, VP, or Director—you’ll agree that the ultimate goal here is producing results.
So keep reading to see if a digital marketing consultant is right for you…
What Is A Digital Marketing Consultant?
A digital marketing consultant is a marketing specialist that works with a business to identify the gaps and opportunities in their marketing strategies in order to attract and acquire a defined target audience.
This can include working with marketing specialists to increase the ROI of your Facebook or Google Ads, marketing automation for your email marketing, improve your web design, social media marketing, or content marketing, or just using marketing tools.
If it involves digital marketing—a consultant is a trusted advisor.
These consulting services bring clarity, focus, and expertise to you and your team.
What Does A Digital Marketing Consultant Do?
Marketing consultants are your strategic advisors.
1. Roadmapping
Here’s the thing, your business needs a marketing strategy.
Without one, you’re relying on hope. But sometimes it’s difficult to get from Point A to Point B, so your digital consultant will help you bridge that gap and create a roadmap from where you are now to where you want to be tomorrow.
Maybe your website isn’t getting enough visitors, a consultant will help you map out a plan to generate awareness and traffic.
2. Partnership
Your business will go through ups and downs, that much is guaranteed.
Having an outside party that considers your success to also be theirs is a huge advantage. A marketing consultant will champion the success of the business. They’ll provide the radical candor that you seek because unlike your employees, they’re just removed enough to not hold back, but involved enough to give a damn.
Perhaps you’re not getting enough sales. What if churn is high or buyer frequency is low? We’ll suggest the levers to pull yourself up.
3. Systematizing
Systems and proven processes will keep you from getting spread too thin.
Every business will experience a state of chaos when things are working, but they’re being held on by a thread (often times that’s you). A consultant help you keep the manual labor to a minimum, freeing you up to focus on the higher leverage activities.
Let’s say you’re in need of automating a proven marketing funnel, we’ll assist with crafting that process.
4. Ideation
Two strategic minds are better than one.
Putting together an expert in your business (you) plus an expert in marketing (the consultant) is a match made in heaven.
When you need to brainstorm ways to scale, innovate, and test new ideas, your strategic advisor will have the playbooks to do so.
5. Accountability
An often overlooked advantage is good ol’ fashioned accountability.
Will you bring an excuse each week as to why you or your team did not implement the plan? Or will the pressure force you to exceed your expectations and step outside your comfort zone?
The 1-on-1 interactions will help you work through any roadblocks and create focus on your next steps.
6. Upskilling
Getting into the nitty gritty of advertising, SEO, email marketing or other channels can be tricky.
This might also include using and understanding analytics tools such as Google Analytics to measure campaigns. Perhaps you’re investing in writing blog posts, you’ll want to know specific metrics and the return on those efforts.
Whatever digital channels are needed to create an infinite loop of customers, a consultant will provide the expertise.
But what about an agency you ask?
Should I hire an agency instead?
Consultants are your go-to option for advising on strategy, long-term thinking, and working though tactical roadblocks.
Agencies are a great option to implement the tactics within the strategy when you don’t have an internal team to do so.
To draw on an analogy, if the agency are your soldiers on the front line, the consultant is your right hand and trusted advisor.
You can choose to work with one or both. But a proven strategy is always a must-have…
How Much Does A Digital Marketing Consultant Cost?
A digital marketing consultant’s fees will vary by consultant.
But here’s something to consider…
The average salary in the US for a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is $173,594 and a VP of Marketing is $146,709. What about a Marketing Director? The average salary is $87,506.
The reason these numbers are important is because a tried and true consultant will charge accordingly—and they will provide CMO-level expertise.
You’ll pay a fraction of that salary because they’re not an employee. So, less overhead for you.
Here’s a perspective, you’ll pay less per month than a hiring a recent college grad.
In fact, my services will cost you thousands less than an entry-level marketing employee…
5 Reasons Not To Hire A Digital Marketing Consultant
Bringing a digital consultant on board is not for everyone. I would strongly discourage you from hiring someone like me if you meet any of these points…
1. You don’t believe in what you’re offering
Passion is everything. If you don’t believe in what you’re offering then neither will your target customer.
2. You’re just getting started
Validation is key. Before you invest in a consultant (or even an agency), get your first number of sales to be certain that your idea has legs.
3. You’re tight on money
Cash is king. If you can’t afford to bring on a strategic advisor or feel like marketing is a cost as opposed to an investment, you’re not ready for a consultant.
4. You hate change
Change is always coming. The most successful businesses innovate and adapt to change, so if you’re spending time fighting it, it’s best to look for other options.
5. You want unreasonable results
Results can come fast. However, big results will take some time to achieve, so keep a reasonable and feasible deadline in mind and don’t rush the process.
Ok, still here? Here’s why you should…
5 Reasons To Hire A Digital Marketing Consultant
You’re a good fit to hire a consultant if…
1. You’re lacking marketing expertise
Don’t feel you have that much needed “deep” knowledge of marketing?
Well that’s okay, you probably aren’t your own doctor, accountant, lawyer, or even personal trainer either. Seek expertise from the experts and instead do what you do best.
2. You recognize a need for systems and processes
Let’s face it, you can’t do it all, all the time.
Systems, frameworks, processes, playbooks. These are the what’s missing when you’re manually doing it all and spending valuable time that you won’t get back. These allow for scale, automation, growth, and much-needed time saved.
Time that you’ll use for more important things. Why not ping an expert to create these for you?
3. Candor and honesty from a peer is valuable
A consultant, coach, strategic advisor has no personal ties to your business.
But they still care because your success validates their expertise. So you can expect candor, honesty, and a no B.S. filter.
4. Innovation and fresh ideas are important
What happens when the market takes a down turn?
You can no longer rely on what got you here and you’re forced to either adapt or fail. A digital marketing consultant is here to brainstorm with you, bring fresh ideas when needed, and keep up with the changes in the market so that you can continue to innovate and prosper.
5. You want to take your existing results and blow them up (in a good way)
You’ve gotten good results but you just can’t seem to get over the one hill.
A tried and true expert can help you take the work you’ve already created and maximize the results with the knowledge they’ve accumulated. There’s a reason why athletes hire coaches, raw talent can only take you so far before you have to begin investing in yourself.
How To Hire A Digital Marketing Consultant
Alright, if you’ve gotten this far, it means you’re genuinely interested in hiring a digital marketing consultant.
Or at the very least, you’re curious enough to learn more because you believe that goal you have in mind is possible.
So I’d like to offer you a free Clarity Call so we can see what gaps and opportunities your business has.
If we are a good fit, we can discuss working together, if not, you have valuable information to implement on your own.
