Why hiring a marketing consultant helps you manage your business

It’s a funny old world.

Did I think when I was studying Design and Communications that later in my career, English Heritage would ask me to present to their board for a funding argument? Kuoni Travel would ask me to develop a product to make them more attractive to a younger market? That I’d be writing customer acquisition strategies for Stagecoach rail franchise bids? Or deciding what colour to paint a plane? Nope. 

Not to mention a tourism growth plan for Jersey or simply how a lawyer was going to be able to succeed in a changing digital world…

As I get older and I guess wiser, more and more of my role steps beyond what could be expected of a marketer and treads on a C-suite role, helping to direct a business through challenging times in order to thrive in a competitive environment.

As the CEO, MD or Founder of a company, you’ll know it’s hard to make the big decisions on your own. Finding an affordable expert to help you manage your business is not the first reason you’d think of for hiring a good marketing consultant. You may be asking yourself: is a marketing consultant well positioned to support top level decisions?

Let’s look more in-depth at why hiring a marketing consultant will help you manage your business.

Insight 

For growth to be achieved, your marketing consultant has to understand all there is to know about your product or service and its profitability, your customers and where the potential sales are going to come from. Alongside this, they need to know how much you’re prepared to invest to win a new customer and their lifetime value. Access to this top level information is crucial in order to create positive change in your marketing results and subsequently, your bottom line. 

So who better to lean on when making business decisions than the person responsible for selling them?

As a marketing consultant myself, I gain many insights into what works and what doesn’t work in my client’s businesses. I’m involved behind the scenes as well as at the coalface of the company. This makes me well positioned to provide guidance and direction. I help my clients formulate ideas, refine products or services and give direction to business plans, including where best to place investment for better growth.

All my clients, no matter how big or small, come to me first when they have an idea or when they are seeking clarity and direction for their business because I have a 360 degree view. Plus, forensic analysis of marketing ROI (MROI) is a fantastic barometer for which direction to take.

Data

There’s no two ways about it – marketing generates data. Marketing is all about retaining current customers, driving purchasing intent, and reaching new people. In order to do that successfully, a marketing consultant implements data-informed tactics to achieve measurable business results. 

A marketing consultant sets up systems to collect valuable data that informs not just marketing activity but identifies your sales strengths and where there’s headroom for further opportunity.

Data collected for database profiling, user experience analysis, and understanding buying behaviour for example enables you to understand what’s working and what’s not. You’ll also be able to explore where, why and how your business is building and ensure you replicate the good stuff whilst limiting any sales and marketing wastage. 

What you learn from this data will help you track sales and perform business analysis.

Strategy 

You might not know what to expect when working with a marketing consultant but one thing is for sure, there’s plenty of strategy formulation and implementation.

In my role as a marketing consultant, I create fully integrated campaign strategies based on my client’s objectives. I plan my client’s communication strategy, figure out every consumer touch point and pinpoint how to raise awareness and drive conversion at every stage of their sales opportunity. My position gets me into every fibre of the business.

By appreciating what makes commercial sense and where marketing investment provides the best return, I operate at a high-level and see the bigger business picture. Not only does a marketing consultant produce marketing strategy but we also help you manage your business with financial forecasting, resource planning, and budget preparation.

Brand building

Your brand lies at the heart of marketing, and the stronger your brand voice, message, visual identity and purpose, the stronger your presence and likelihood of making an impact on your customers. 

A marketing consultant helps you crystalise your brand and build its reputation. This clarity filters down to how your company operates – the company culture, the performance of your people, and how the business comes across to potential talent.  

In conclusion 

A marketing consultant sees the whole picture and how everything fits together in your business, not just one element in isolation. A good marketing consultant ensures you have the appropriate resources to not only drive your marketing activity, but give you invaluable insight and direction on taking your business to the next level.

I hope this look at  why hiring a marketing consultant helps you manage your business was useful. If you crave support and clarity from a highly experienced, independent marketing consultant who can advise on what you should and should not be doing, help you establish and grow your business and attract the customers you deserve, please GET IN TOUCH.