Are you thinking about hiring a marketing consultant? Perhaps you feel that you are not getting the most out of your marketing and all the hours you’re putting in. Maybe you feel that you could be doing it better. Or maybe your head is spinning from all the different advice you see online or from looking at what your competitors are doing.
In this blog, I’ll explain what a marketing consultant does, reasons to hire a marketing consultant, how to know if you need a marketing specialist and how they can benefit your business. Hope you find it useful.
What I’m going to cover here
- What is a marketing consultant?
- Why hire a marketing consultant?
- What does a marketing consultant do?
- Do I need a marketing consultant?
- How much does a marketing consultant charge?
- Do marketing consultants specialise in certain areas?
- What should I ask before choosing a Marketing Consultant?
What is a marketing consultant?
A marketing consultant is an experienced marketer who works with your business to help improve your marketing efforts. Basically, they’ll help your business grow with better marketing.
They do this by getting a good understanding of your customers (their pain or gain points) and from that, develop strategies and tactics that help you communicate your positioning, your brand and your offers better to them.
A consultant is usually a highly experienced individual that works across a wide variety of sectors and industries. They know how to find opportunity within a business (i.e. they see the wood from the trees).
They assess your business model and what you’re trying to achieve and then using different techniques and tactics, develop a marketing plan that will help you reach your goals and targets. A consultant will help you decide on the best messaging (what will appeal to your customers and make them act) and point out the best marketing mix to communicate your message. Once the marketing plan is decided, you or the expert can execute that plan.
Why hire a marketing consultant?
As you know, your marketing costs money and time to deliver results and it is so easy to waste money with mis-targeted or inefficient marketing.
If your business is growing and you’re happy to continue doing your own marketing – keep doing it, you don’t need a marketing consultant.
The big advantages marketing consultants bring to the table are – they know what works, even more important they know what doesn’t, they know the latest techniques, they’re objective, they often see the missed opportunities that you don’t (most common thing I hear is “why didn’t I think of that?”) and the low hanging fruit.
What does a marketing consultant do?
A Marketing Consultant advises your business on your marketing strategy (online and offline or traditional as we used to say). Your consultant shouldn’t show a bias towards any particular channel such as online (paid media, SEO, affiliate marketing or social media) or offline (PR, advertising, networking, routes to market).
They should take a high level view of your business and develop a plan to find the perfect customer for your business. They’ll help you put your product or service in front of the customer /prospect at the right time, with the right messaging and give your marketing the greatest chance of succeeding.
Do I need a marketing consultant for my business?
Only you know that answer but if any of the following feels familiar, you will benefit from hiring a marketing consultant;
- Is your business where you want it to be right now?
- Are you attracting clients who aren’t the best fit?
- Are you relying on referrals and wondering what happens when they stop coming…
- Are you not sure exactly who you should be targeting and always looking for a gap in the market?
- Are you not reaching your revenue goals even though you’re working all the time?
How much does a Marketing Consultant charge?
Fees are usually between €50 – €200 per hour. My fees are €75 +VAT per hour.
Fees can be calculated in a number of ways – some charge hourly rates and some are more project-based. A consultant will charge depending on their experience and perceived value.
In addition their pricing will reflect their location. A consultant in Dublin will charge higher rates than someone in Tipperary or Kilkenny.
Do Marketing Consultants specialise in certain areas?
Some do and some don’t. You can get a great all-rounder who will have experience in numerous areas of marketing and can point out what areas your business should focus on (that’s me, by the way!). There are also consultants who specialise in particular areas of marketing such as brand marketing, advertising, communication, product marketing, product development, SEO, PPC, Social Media, Affiliate Marketing or Content Marketing (the list is long). So if you know your marketing issue is one particular speciality area, go hire a specialist in that field. I’m happy to let you know who I think is brilliant in each area.
What should I ask before choosing a Marketing Consultant?
- What’s your process?
- Can you give me examples of successes you’ve had for clients or testimonials/references from clients?
- How well do you know this industry?
- What is your cost and why?
- How will you measure success?
- How long before I see results?
Hope the blog was useful in answering any questions you have about marketing consultants.
If you are interested or would like to investigate what we could do for your business, then feel free to get in contact with Una via showmehow@marketingeye.ie or the contact page to arrange a consultation or just for a chat.
