Should You Hire a Marketing Consultant? Here's How to Tell
You’re the driving force that’s gotten your business to where it is. You came up with an idea, refined it, and put it out into the world. Then you streamlined its delivery to ensure client satisfaction. That makes you a shining example of the entrepreneurial spirit.
But being the sole person propelling your business forward comes with a catch— you can’t do it all.
CEOs, consultants, and contractors are capable of incredible things (there’s no disputing that), but every business reaches a point where more hands are needed to scale and achieve the greater vision.
Marketing is a cornerstone in any growth strategy. It’s how brands attract qualified leads, deliver value to their target market, and gain a competitive advantage. In fact, businesses that align their sales efforts with a strategic marketing plan are 38 percent more profitable than their competitors, on average.
The million dollar question is this: Do you have the time and expertise required to develop a perfectly-positioned marketing strategy?
If not, hiring a marketing consultant may be the smartest move. But before you make a final decision, let’s really analyze the question “Should I hire a marketing consultant?”.
What Does a Marketing Consultant Do?
You need to have a foundational understanding of the responsibilities a marketing consultant assumes before you can determine if hiring one is the right step.
Here’s a brief overview of what a marketing consultant does:
1. Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is the process of aligning your marketing efforts with your future business goals and target outcomes. This is done in a way that’s tangible, measurable, and time-specific. A marketing consultant analyzes a variety of internal and external business factors to determine the best approach for success. Then they pitch a comprehensive strategy to you, explaining the reasoning behind any recommended tactics.
2. Campaign Execution
This is another key duty to consider when deciding whether or not to hire a marketing consultant. Marketing campaigns require a ton of oversight and coordination. Whether it’s assigning tasks to team members, sourcing visual and written content, or setting up automation tools— having someone you can trust to manage the execution of these elements is a huge benefit. A marketing consultant looks after all of these tasks (and more).
3. Performance Monitoring
The last item on my list of “What does a marketing consultant do?” is in no way the least important. Every successful business has to constantly analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the effectiveness of its campaigns— and yours is no different. The challenge, of course, is that performance monitoring takes time (and most entrepreneurs have very little to spare).
It also requires access to robust marketing analytics tools and software solutions, which can cost hundreds of dollars depending on how deeply you want to be able to dig into your data.
Partnering with an independent marketing consultant taps you into the expertise and resources you need to understand the viability of your social media campaigns, SEO strategies, email marketing sequences, and more. Most marketing consultants have a full suite of tools they use regularly, and have the professional experience required to interpret data in ways that are meaningful and relevant.
7 Reasons to Hire a Marketing Consultant
Now that we’ve clarified exactly what a marketing consultant does, let’s loop back to the question “Should I hire a marketing consultant?”. There are specific situations where the answer to this question is always “yes”.
Here are the top reasons to hire a marketing consultant:
1. You’re Running Marketing Campaigns Without a Clear Plan
Trial and error is never a winning marketing strategy. Sure, miracles happen, but is that really what you want to place your bets on?
There’s a ton of preparation that needs to happen before you begin promoting your product or service online— goal setting, targeting and positioning, segmentation, client journey mapping— the list goes on and on.
If you don’t have a formal, overarching strategy that informs and guides all of your marketing decisions, hiring an expert is a clever choice.
2. You Don’t Have a Strategy For Search Visibility
Did you know 51 per cent of content accessed on the web is done so through organic search? That means not optimizing your content for search engines instantly cuts your visibility in half.
A content marketing consultant implements advanced SEO tactics like topic clusters, link building, and mobile-first optimization to supercharge your ranking gains. Plus, they’re intimately familiar with Google’s algorithm and the type of content it prioritizes so they can provide you with high-impact copy that checks all the boxes.
3. Your Social Media Posts Aren’t Converting to Sales
Being active on social media is one thing, but actually seeing comments, likes, and shares translate to tangible profit is another. If you’ve been putting out content without connecting your social media presence to a greater sales funnel, you’ve got a problem.
As a marketing consultant in Edmonton, I always advise my clients to invest in a campaign strategy prior to publishing content. It provides a detailed customer journey map so you know exactly what steps you want your potential buyers to take, when they should take them, and what structures you need to put in place to make it happen.
From visiting your website, to researching your products, requesting a free trial, following you on social media, or filling out a contact form— everything needs to be streamlined prior to promoting what you have to offer.
“It’s impossible to improve your content marketing strategy over time if you don’t know where it currently stands or what initiatives are performing best.”
4. No one is Monitoring Your Marketing Metrics
Do you know your click-through rate? Your top three traffic sources? The number of incoming links to your website? These are just a few examples of key performance indicators every business needs to keep an eye on.
It’s impossible to improve your content marketing strategy over time if you don’t know where it currently stands or what initiatives are performing best.
I provide clients with detailed reports that break down exactly how their content is performing, so they can clearly visualize the impact of their efforts and move forward with total confidence.
5. You’re Not Aware of New Market Opportunities
To remain an agile and savvy business, it is imperative to analyze the marketplace and conduct competitive analysis on a regular basis. You need to know what everyone else is doing, and what they aren’t, so you can fill in the gaps for potential clients and innovate in ways that best meet their needs.
You can tap into the power of market research by hiring a marketing consultant. They have access to advanced data exploration tools and platforms, giving you the best chance of establishing marketing campaigns that are scientifically set up to succeed.
6. All of Your Marketing Plans Are Short-Term
Many business owners plan their marketing content on a month-by-month basis, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing— but there needs to be an overarching long-term strategy to tie these smaller campaigns back to.
Marketing isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. It can take a year (or more in some cases) to generate major results in terms of brand awareness, SEO rankings, and expanding market share.
Putting together an expertly mapped out long-term strategy is one of the biggest responsibilities under the marketing umbrella. Unless you have a ton of time, professional experience, and market insight, it’s likely best to leave this one to a pro.
7. You’ve Lost Sight of the Big Picture
Are you getting lost in the details? I see CEOs, consultants, and other self-starters experience this all the time— the day-to-day responsibilities of being a business owner prevent them from taking a step back to view how their efforts are culminating.
When you ask yourself “Should I hire a marketing consultant?”, the answer is dependent upon two things:
Am I willing to step away from certain aspects of my business to dedicate the required time to marketing?
Even if I did step away to focus on marketing, would my business be better served by a content marketing consultant?
Only you have these answers. But in my experience, daily operations are difficult to step away from completely. Even if you hire an operations manager, the strategic guidance and final say of a CEO or business owner will be required.
Marketing is one of the easiest components of a business to outsource. Plus, the more your marketing works, the busier you’ll be catering to your new leads (further limiting your time).
If you’re most valuable overseeing the day-to-day workings of your business, there’s no disputing it— hiring a marketing consultant is the right move.
Should I Hire a Marketing Consultant? (The Final Verdict)
THE ULTIMATE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION COMES DOWN TO 3 MAIN THINGS:
Time
Value
Budget
If you’re feeling burnt out as a business owner because your time is consistently spoken for, that’s a sign.
If you know your business would benefit from the value an experienced marketing consultant would bring, that’s a sign.
If you have the budget to outsource marketing and you feel the time and energy you’d save justifies the cost, that’s a sign.
And if all three of these criteria apply to your situation? That’s an unmistakable, BLIMP-SIZED indication you need to bring someone on board.
My Approach As An Edmonton Marketing Consultant
I’m all about purpose-driven marketing. As your one-call, does-it-all content marketing consultant, my job is to not only provide you with content, but to connect all the dots back to your greater vision.
Let’s discuss how we can communicate your value, captivate your potential clients, and compound your cash flow.