Marketing. If you’re a business owner, the chances are you don’t have an experienced and efficient team of people to make it happen. If you’re wearing all the hats, from marketing and HR to finance and business development, focusing on marketing itself can be tricky.
Sure, you can read all the books and attend all the training courses – but will you still have time to do your day job too? Too many businesses take a ‘suck it and see’ approach to marketing, using a scatter gun style and hoping some of the activities work. But is that the best approach to marketing for your business?
Hiring a freelance marketing consultant might seem like a step too far for you or your budget, but here are just a handful of reasons why making that move could save you time, stress and money while propelling your marketing activity to new heights.
Let’s tackle the basics first.
What is a marketing consultant?
A marketing consultant is a marketing specialist who can be brought in on a freelance basis to help direct and demystify your marketing efforts. He or she will help you identify your audience, differentiate your products and services and work out how to communicate with your potential customers in a consistent and powerful way.
Your marketing consultant, using their wide-ranging experience of business in general and your sector in particular, will help you develop a varied and effective marketing plan. They will then work with you and your team to achieve the goals and targets set out in that plan, improving your marketing communications at a fraction of the cost of ‘winging it’.
In short, a marketing consultant knows marketing inside out. They know the laws and best practise of all the different elements of marketing and will help you form a solid and reliable plan to achieve your marketing goals.
There are a number of reasons why your business needs a freelance marketing consultant. Let’s have a look at those reasons.
1 They can see the bigger picture
Your marketing consultant is a marketing professional. It’s their day job. They work, eat, sleep and breathe marketing and know what does and doesn’t work.
A marketing consultant will have working knowledge and experience of the channel or platform you’re thinking of using in your marketing plan, helping you save time and money on research and test projects.
He or she won’t simply rely on the tactics and strategies that have worked (to varying degrees) for your business in the past. They’ll also explore avenues you might not have thought about for your industry, delivering potential new audiences or marketing tactics in a well-devised marketing plan for your company.
2 A marketing consultant will keep you accountable
It’s an age-old problem with in-house marketing plans that they simply don’t all see the finish line. Some fall at the first hurdle or limp along ineffectively until a new plan is devised.
A marketing consultant will not only provide you with a sound and effective marketing strategy but will also keep you accountable in your execution of the plan. Initiatives will be kept on track and your audience will be targeted consistently.
Not only that, but a marketing consultant will measure and record all marketing activities to make sure your tactics are working towards the overall goals of your strategy.
3 You’ll understand your brand position
One of the key elements of creating a sound marketing strategy is knowing your brand position in the first place.
It’s no good shooting off in one direction with your marketing if you haven’t understood who you are, what you do for your customers and how you add value to their lives. A marketing consultant will carry out research, competitor analysis and hone in on your target audience so your marketing spend is focused on the areas that will make the most difference and provide the best return on investment.
4 Marketing consultants are objective
While in-house marketing teams and loyal members of staff might be incredible advocates for your business, a marketing consultant will provide an objective outlook on your organisation and its products or services.
He or she will look objectively at your brand position and your current marketing, providing advice and guidance where necessary to challenge the status quo, if that isn’t working currently. They’ll ensure your brand is unique and communicating effectively with your audience.
5 Consultants will save you time
Bringing in a freelance marketing consultant will save you time, allowing you get on with what you do best – running your business. Because a consultant knows marketing. He or she will complete marketing tasks quicker and more effectively than someone who isn’t purely focused on marketing or who is has so much else to do.
A consultant knows how to find the relevant information for research purposes, has a network of other marketing professionals on hand to streamline the process and understands marketing best practise to get better results, faster.
If you’re considering hiring a freelance marketing consultant, why not drop Simonside Marketing a line to see how we could help you and your business find new heights?
Sound good? Contact us today.
