5 Reasons to Hire A Marketing Consultant

Updated on July 8th, 2021.

Did you know that digital marketing makes up 43.5% of all marketing spend for the average business? If you aren’t a savvy digital marketing expert, you should consider working with a business marketing consultant. These specialists are experts in marketing that can work with your business to make a rock-solid marketing strategy.

If you want to grow your business, reduce your workload, and increase sales, then a marketing consultant in Los Angeles is right for your business. Consultants come with some advantages over in-house marketing, like the flexibility of a project-by-project contract. To find the right marketing consultant, you can work with a marketing consulting firm to gain access to a specialist with plenty of experience in your industry.

 

What is a Marketing Consultant?

Marketing Consultants are experts from the marketing industry that work with businesses to implement a successful marketing strategy.  These specialists will help you drive traffic and sales by looking at your business and assets, market space, and customers to create a marketing plan that works for your specific situation or goal.  Marketing consultants are either contracted, meaning you don’t have to hire them and become a permanent part of your team or part of a digital marketing agency. Instead, you work with them on an as-needed basis at your convenience.

Marketing consultants often specialize in specific areas of marketing. For example, some specialize in business-to-business marketing, while others work in social media or digital marketing.  Each of these niches is an enormous space, and working with a veteran of that marketing field will give your small business a marketing advantage. In addition, since marketing consultants can be independent contractors or part of a larger digital marketing agency in Los Angeles, you have a range of flexible options when it comes to hiring the right specialist.

 

Summary

• Marketing consultants are experts from the marketing industry that can help craft an effective marketing strategy for your business.
• Consultants are contracted workers, making them easy to work with on an as-needed basis.
• Many marketing consultants specialize, letting you focus on areas like social media marketing.
• You can work with an individual marketing consultant or with a more prominent marketing firm.

 

 

Does My Business Need a Marketing Consultant?

Most small businesses understand how important marketing is, with 62% investing 4% or more of revenue into marketing.
However, it can be daunting to navigate the marketing industry on your own. Figuring out whether you need a marketing strategy coordinator, a pay-per-click specialist, a content strategist, an SEO audit, or any other marketing vendor can easily overwhelm business owners. Every business has a unique situation, and a marketing consultant can assess your business’s needs, helping you make the right choices.

Small business owners find themselves doing everything, from managing payroll to working on social media accounts to negotiating deals. A marketing consultant is a powerful addition to your marketing team if you have no presence in the digital space, so let a professional help you get started. Marketing consultants know the toughest small business marketing challenges and how to overcome them. They also know how to use all available marketing tools to leverage time and be more productive. When you hire a small business marketing consultant, you get a subject matter expert who can help guide your business in the right direction. You hire an attorney for legal advice. So why not treat your marketing the same way? Marketing is changing quickly; it’s nearly impossible for a small business owner to stay on top of trends and technologies. If you want to expand your business, reduce your workload, or are unsure how to navigate the marketing industry, your company should consider working with a marketing consultant.

Summary

• Any business owner who wants to grow their business or isn’t sure how to market themselves should consider a marketing consultant.
• It can be tough to come up with your marketing strategy or to find the right marketing vendors to work with
• A marketing consultant will navigate your business through the marketing process, including creating a plan, finding the right specialists, and driving sales.
• By working with a marketing consultant, you reduce your workload while growing your business.

 

How does a marketing consultant help?

A marketing consultant in Los Angeles can help identify new opportunities and maximize customer lifetime value for businesses in the long run. A marketing consultant’s responsibilities include keeping an eye on the changing trends and recent developments in the marketing industry to help companies to sail ahead successfully. Here are a few benefits of teaming up with a marketing consultant.

 

1. They save your time.

Most marketing consultants have been in the industry for quite some time and know exactly what works and what doesn’t. As a result, they are quick to adapt to the latest developments and deliver results faster. While you or your in-house team may still be learning to adapt to different market situations, consultants have plenty of experience dealing with several businesses, which means they are much more efficient with their time. So while you stay focused on your business and customers, a marketing consultant will research, plan, strategize and execute flawlessly. 

 

2. Consultants are well-informed and connected.

Suppose you hire a web marketing consultant who is part of a more prominent marketing firm. In that case, you are at the advantage of having access to experts specialized in different areas of marketing. A consultant can guide you with the best advice on SEO, online reputation management, and design, as they are in constant touch with many prolific marketers. All your marketing requirements will be catered to by a seasoned marketing expert who is well acquainted with the different nuances of marketing. 

 

3. Enhance your marketing efforts.

You may have spent a substantial amount of money on marketing. But are the returns satisfactory? ROI of any marketing activity is a question worth pondering since most businesses aren’t aware of whether their marketing captures leads and conversions. A marketing consultant fully understands your business and identifies areas of improvement in your existing marketing plan. Consultants are responsible for prioritizing profitable marketing channels for businesses and developing a growth-centric strategy that produces concrete results. 

 

4. Industry-specific experience.

Industry-specific experience is integral to make the most of opportunities and flourish in a competitive landscape. A specialized consultant in tackling the marketing challenges of your industry can do wonders for your business. Depending on the size and nature of your business, a consultant will craft a growth plan that addresses threats from competitors and eventually propels your business towards the leader position in your niche market. 

 

5. Prepares you for long-term growth.

Marketing consultants work with foresight and vision and are never solely focused on short-term goals. Instead, they prime your business to unlock its full potential and work towards achieving the most important goals that will eventually help your business capture and increase the market share in the future. As a result, marketing consultants can handle business downturns exceptionally well and continually drive growth with an agile marketing plan. 

 

Summary

1. A marketing consultant understands marketing best practices and helps steer clear of costly mistakes. 
2. Your business can move faster and achieve more goals in less time by leveraging the expertise of a marketing consultant. 
3. Business marketing consultants optimize your existing marketing efforts and track key metrics that provide insight into what needs to be improved. 
4. A marketing consulting firm provides specialized skills and expertise lacking by a company’s internal team. 
5. A marketing consultant has absolute clarity about the future course of action and prioritizes objectives with long-term business gains in mind.

What advantage does a marketing consultant have over an in-house marketing team?

Many small businesses have an in-house marketing specialist or run their marketing.  While this can work for your small to medium-size business just fine, there are some reasons to add a consultant to your team.  Unless you have experience in the marketing industry, you likely won’t be as effective at creating your marketing strategy as a specialist.  Especially for business owners without a marketing background, you can get the experience you need to handle your business’s marketing strategy moving forward correctly by working with a digital marketing strategy consultant.

Your in-house team may comprise separate specialists, but each of these professionals needs to be effectively organized to produce the best results. By bringing in a marketing consultant, you’ll have a marketing expert who can effectively utilize the strengths of everyone on your in-house team or tell you which outside vendors to work with or not.

One of the hardest things to do for a business owner is keeping up with trends. When you have your industry as well as marketing to monitor, it can become downright hectic. Marketing consultants need to follow the latest and best strategies to stay abreast of developments. They attend conferences and events, read marketing publications, and follow the latest trends—all at their own expense—and bring this information to the table for use in your plan execution. Ad buying and paid search, for example, are constantly changing areas, and it’s essential to know how to choose the right bidding strategies for your business.

An outside firm offers more than just marketing. When hiring a digital marketing agency in Los Angeles, you gain access to the latest technology and tools available for processes such as online advertising, lead generation, email marketing, social media management, website content management, and nurturing prospective buyers. Having the right marketing tools on hand can increase efficiency, productivity, and performance. Sure, there are tools you can dig up for free if you know where to look. But hiring a marketing agency gives you access to premium-level services, software, and analytical data reports without charge.

Summary

• Unless you’re a marketing veteran, working with a consultant will give you better results for your marketing strategy.
• An outside perspective provided by someone with specific expertise can take a good thing and turn it into a great thing — so long as the foundation is already in place.
• Having your marketing team can be more costly than working with an outside consultant since you only pay for the consultant when you work with them.
• A marketing consultant can organize your in-house team or guide you through outside vendors for maximum ROI
• Marketing consultancies use tried-and-tested software they’ve purchased already. These are often available to their clients, which saves you from having to buy the programs.

 

How Can A Marketing Consultant Implement a Digital Marketing Strategy

The digital marketing space is complex and can be tough to navigate for those without years of experience. When coordinating separate email, SEM, SMM, and content marketing campaigns, small business owners should rely on a marketing firm. Marketing firms and web marketing consultants know how to take an integrated approach to digital marketing, using all digital assets to get the best ROI for your digital marketing spend.

Research and facts are what goes behind every excellent marketing campaign. A consultant will research the market you are trying to break into and the behaviors of your audience. This will give your marketing a better insight when looking to provide what people want. Marketers keep up with analytics of how your strategies are working. They use this to give feedback and improve. This can be through social media or content creation.

A marketer will work with marketing automation technology to help get the most work done at once. These can make your campaigns more effective. And help you focus on the more essential parts of managing a business. In addition, by using automation systems, you can help make each client experience unique. This is done by customizing the flows in which they see your content.

Whether you’re unsure if your outside marketing vendors are performing well or seeing the ROI you want from your current campaign, a marketing firm or consultant will give you the right analytics to ensure that your campaigns meet your business’s demands.

Summary

• Digital marketing can be complicated to coordinate, so working with a marketing consultant is a must for small businesses to maximize ROI
• An integrated digital marketing approach will produce a much higher ROI than focusing on each channel separately.
• Marketing consultants can track your campaign’s success, how well your vendors perform and give you thorough advice based on this data.

 

How Do I Find the Right Marketing Consultant?

Once you’ve decided to work with a marketing consultant, you’ll need to make sure to find the right professional. Marketing consultants need a mix of technical and soft skills to work effectively with their clients. These consultants are skilled in marketing, business, communications, and psychology. Many consultants focus on specific industries, different sizes of business, and various types of marketing. Many will also specialize in specific marketing, such as Online marketing, Social media marketing, Nonprofit marketing, Copywriting, and direct response marketing.

If your business considers hiring a marketing consultant, look for one who can show both creative thinking and practical, results-driven analysis. Anyone you hire should be familiar with the consumer behavior of your target audience and willing to work collaboratively to achieve the best possible results, not just for their portfolio but for your business’s goals.

Once you’ve determined what kind of marketing plan you’re going for, like digital marketing or social media marketing, look up reviews on websites like Yelp. Also, googling consultants in your area or using social networks like Linkedin is a great place to start looking for a marketing specialist.

Another sure-fire way to get the right consultant is to work with a marketing firm.  Firms have many web marketing consultants specializing in a range of marketing fields and industries.  By working with a marketing firm, you’ll get a consultant specializing in the type of marketing campaign you want to run with years of experience in your industry. In addition, many firms specialize in working with small businesses, making it an excellent choice for small business owners looking to implement a successful marketing strategy, grow their business, and drive traffic and sales.

Summary

• Find a marketing consultant with experience in your field that specializes in working with small businesses.
• Go where the consultants are: Yelp, Google, and social media are great ways to connect to the right consultants. Browse Upwork, for example, where you can view portfolios and experience with a few clicks. LinkedIn and WorkMarket are some additional resources worth browsing.
• Marketing firms employ many consultants, so work with a firm to get the right marketing professional for your small business.

 

 

Conclusion

Marketing consultants are veterans in the marketing industry that can work with your small business to create the ideal marketing strategy.  Any company looking to expand or without a solid marketing plan should work with a marketing consultant. Marketing consultants can be cheaper, more flexible, and more effective than an in-house marketing team.  Small businesses should look for a marketing consultant with experience in their industry or work with a marketing consulting firm. Do you have your 2021 marketing strategy planned out yet?

Marketing Revive has more than 20 years of experience in marketing consultation for businesses both big and small.  We serve a range of industries, including healthcare, e-commerce, real estate, restaurants, among others. Get a free 1-hour consultation by visiting our website and checking us out on Facebook and Linkedin.