Nowadays, having the support of a marketing consultant is vital. Engaging this outside help is a brilliant choice, whether you have a startup or a bigger business. Although there are countless marketers out there, finding the best person for the job isn’t easy. For this reason, you need to know what your business needs are beforehand.
This article is a complete guide to choosing a great marketing consultant for your business. By the end of this read, you will be able to identify all the factors you should consider before hiring a marketing expert. But before we dive deeper into those, let’s discuss what a digital marketing consultant does.
What is a Digital Marketing Consultant?
A digital marketing consultant is an outsourced guide, hired by you to help scale your business’s online marketing. When it comes to managing online marketing platforms and channels like Facebook or Google Ads, there is simply no better option.
In a few words, a professional digital marketing consultant will help you increase your sales conversions, generate leads, and lift your online presence in general. Still, how can you identify if a candidate is perfect for your needs? A digital marketing consultant may or may not be the best fit and we’ll explain why.
The Tricks to Choosing a Top-Tier Marketing Consultant
As mentioned earlier, finding the right marketing consultant can be challenging. Consequently, we have created a list of the eight most important things you should consider before hiring a marketer. Reading through this list will help you make the right choice for your business:
1. Define Your Goals
As with most hiring processes, goals are something you have to establish first up.
Defining your business goals and needs is crucial for several reasons. If you don’t know precisely what you require from a marketer, you won’t be able to identify the right candidate.
Apart from that, having a clear list of goals and objectives will help your marketer create a strategy. Therefore, defining your goals (like the increase of sales, engagement, leads, etc.) will be one of the keys to success and will ensure the marketing strategies for your business will be successful.
2. Find Out Their Areas of Expertise
Once you define why you need a marketing consultant for your business, you have to find exactly the right person for the job. You’ll need this ingenious hiring strategy.
As with recruitment, this will require a shortlist. Still, how can you achieve that? Well, the first thing you can do is identify each candidate’s areas of expertise. Marketing has many different areas of specialisation and all the best marketers focus on specific categories and have one or more areas of expertise.
For this reason, you should first check what each consultant can offer. To be more precise, if you need to engage a digital marketer to improve your website’s SEO, you should look for someone who has excellent experience and is well-known as an SEO expert. On the flip side, if you need someone to create a complete marketing strategy for your business, you should go for a consultant with a broad skill set.
3. They Have Practical Experience
As with any other job position, previous experience plays a significant role when it comes to hiring a digital marketer. Likewise, practical experience is crucial for a consultant to understand your business needs and create a marketing strategy adjusted to your preferences.
Apart from that, an experienced marketer has proven results in related projects and has the required positive reviews. Likewise, this person is a very reliable choice for your company. Thus, hiring an experienced marketer is an intelligent way to ensure that your (theoretical) marketing strategy will be transformed into actual profit and success.
6. They Should Understand How Digital Marketing Works
Apart from practical experience, the marketer you will choose should understand how digital marketing works, given most marketing is executed digitally nowadays. It is crucial for your business’s marketing strategy to follow digital marketing rules and benefit from its potential.
For example, your marketer should have an excellent understanding of SEO, social media platforms, PPC, etc. This is crucial for your online presence to be not only successful but also respectable. Thus, identifying your candidates’ level of digital marketing experience is also vital for the success of your hiring process.
5. Check Out Their Website & Copy
As long as you ensure that a marketing consultant satisfies all the previous requirements, it is time to examine their online presence. By checking a candidate’s website, you can ensure that this is the right person for your business. Try to answer the following questions:
- Are their website’s copy and content effective when it comes to sales conversion?
- Does it indicate how their services can help your business grow?
- Does it include all the answers to your key questions/issues?
- Does it evoke your interest?
6. Check Out Their LinkedIn Profile
Apart from their website, all reputable marketers use LinkedIn to showcase their expertise. For this reason, the platform is a great way to identify if a candidate matches the profile you require.
In fact, LinkedIn recommendations are unedited, and for this reason, more authentic than testimonials. Apart from that, a great LinkedIn profile will answer all your questions when it comes to a marketing consultant’s previous experience, education, certifications, etc.
7. Review Their Portfolios
Even if a marketer has a fantastic website and LinkedIn profile, you can always ask to review their portfolios as well. In most cases, marketing portfolios have more information when it comes to the person itself. Don’t forget that hard skills and expertise isn’t the only thing a business should look for.
Through a marketer’s portfolio, you can also identify if the person has the soft skills and style you require. Likewise, by reading their portfolio, you can save some time and prepare your questions for the interview.
8. Check Out Reviews and Testimonials
Even though LinkedIn recommendations are critical, reviews and testimonials are another smart way to ensure a marketer is professional and a great team player. Thus, it would be best if you always asked them from your candidate.
By reading their clients’ testimonials, you will be able to identify if they:
- Have worked with companies similar to yours, with the same goals and needs.
- Have succeeded when it comes to increasing profits and statistics.
Conclusion
It becomes evident that choosing a marketing consultant isn’t easy. However, if you make the correct choice and hire a top-tier marketer, you will hugely improve your business’s marketing strategy.
By reading this article, you acquired all the knowledge needed to hire a great marketing consultant. Following the tips highlighted here will help you ensure a productive and successful partnership.