If you’re a small business owner who has an in-house marketing coordinator or marketing team – you may not see any reason to bring in an outside marketing consultant. Your in house team will likely handle all website updates, social media content, and backend analytics and reporting. Even with an in-house team, there are times when outside assistance is warranted.
6 Occasions To Call A Marketing Consultant
1. You have a new-to-market idea or product.
So you have a new product, and you just know that everyone is going to LOVE it. You tell yourself “I know marketing this product won’t be effortless”, but secretly you’re sure that anyone who hears about your idea will be sold immediately. Of course it’s not that easy, you knew it wouldn’t be. You need a marketing campaign that draws from facts found during market research.The campaign needs to include branding, messaging, landing pages, utm codes, and social channel strategy. Can you put this together in house? Sure, anything is possible. But If this is a new product or idea, you may want some new eyes to put together a new message.
2. A Marketing Consultant is a fresh set of eyes.
Speaking of new eyes, there comes a time for every team when – you’re out of ideas, engagement is down and the mojo is gone. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes to get the brainstorm juices flowing is just what the doctor ordered. It’s also possible that the team actually had a good idea to begin with, but the boss needs to hear it from a new voice. And sometimes it’s good for a team to get a little competitive with a new kid in town. A fresh set of eyes to shake things up can be exactly what your team needs to get back on track
3. You’re ready to incorporate new software into your sales & marketing process.
You’re ready to take the plunge and invest in a new software product to increase efficiency in your sales and marketing process, but you’re not sure which product to use or where to start. The first step is to visit Capterra.com and do a quick comparison of software products in the market that fit your needs. The second step is to call a marketing consultant to help you narrow down the 10 choices Capterra provided, down to 2-3 options. Capterra is a great service, but the market is flooded with software solutions – it’s nearly impossible to narrow it down without painstaking research. A marketing consultant who has done work in your industry previously can be very valuable when you’re considering which software product will be a good fit. If you’re about to uproot your entire sales and marketing workflow, isn’t it worth bringing in an advisor to talk you through the advantages and disadvantages of each product before you make a final decision?
4. You’re hosting an industry event and you need to create a buzz.
If you’re putting together a trade show or fundraiser that requires ticket sales, it’s a good time to call in a marketing consultant. A consultant will have the contacts you need to get a media boost to increase awareness. They’ll likely also have advice and strategy for how to use social media and email campaigns to your advantage to get the word out even on a smaller budget. Engaging a consultant with a PR inclination would be a great asset as you plan your event.
5. You need help building out your annual marketing plan
If you’re not sure where you should be spending your valuable marketing dollars next year, work with a marketing consultant to build out a plan that will directly support your sales goals. Your sales goals will, ideally, be built using segmented data that includes information about the sources of your sales, i.e. referrals, organic website traffic, etc. If your sales goals are not built using your year end sales data, you’ll want the consultant to help you gather that data. If you don’t have the ability to segment your sales by source today, the consultant should be able to help you get systems in place to track that data for the next year.
6. You don’t have an in house marketing coordinator.
If you’re the business owner and also the marketing coordinator and you’re ready to free yourself from performing the day-to-day marketing tasks, bring in a marketing consultant to help you identify and prioritize marketing tasks that can be delegated to someone at a lower pay grade. The consultant can likely help you draft a job description and screen applicants or refer you to an agency for marketing management if they don’t take on such projects in house.
Marketing is the outward facing voice of your company – it is a department which requires nurturing and constant updating. If your business needs a little shake up in the marketing department – find a marketing consultant to help you navigate the process.