Creating and maintaining a strong online presence is a key to success for many industries, which is why so many more businesses are utilising the services of a digital marketing consultant to help them optimise their marketing efforts. Many business owners simply don’t have the time to actively manage their marketing channels, while others lack the technical skill or confidence to ensure their strategies are producing the results they want for their business.
This is often where employing external help can be useful, with digital marketing consultants possessing the knowledge and strategic insight necessary to help businesses better engage their target audience. Whether it’s optimising website performance, crafting compelling content, or implementing targeted advertising campaigns, digital marketing consultants can play a pivotal role in driving business growth and achieving long-term business objectives.
However, with hundreds of different consultants vying for your attention, finding the right one for your business can be a daunting task. You’ll need to identify the marketing needs of your business and the services you need assistance with, while also assessing whether your marketing consultant, agency or freelancer has a strong track record of achieving positive results.
Making that assessment could be the key to maximising the return on investment for your marketing efforts, which is why we’ve put together this guide to help you choose the right consultant for your business. Read on to learn more about how to identify your company’s needs, assess your consultant’s track record and ultimately monitor the performance of your online presence.
Identifying The Digital Marketing Needs For Your Business
Before you start searching for a digital marketing consultant, it is essential to assess your business’ specific needs and goals. Every business is unique, and what works for one may not necessarily work for another. Are you looking to increase website traffic, generate more leads, or reach more customers through your company’s social media platforms? Each of these could be a valid goal for your business but they all require different approaches, with different consultants and agencies better at providing some services than others.
Not all digital marketing consultants offer the same services, so it’s crucial to find one whose expertise aligns with your objectives. For example, if you’re primarily focused on social media marketing, look for consultants with a proven track record in that area. Similarly, if you’re aiming to improve your website’s search engine ranking, seek out consultants with strong technical SEO experience.
Another key part of understanding your own business’ digital marketing needs is having a full picture of exactly who your target audience is. Many established businesses think they know who this person or group are, but do they fully understand what marketing channels they utilise, what types of content they react positively to and how they commit to making a purchase or engaging a service? The same can be said of new businesses, who can often be found trying multiple strategies in the hope one that one hits, instead of a tailored marketing strategy that is specific to their industry and target audience. Finding that target audience and aligning your goals with their needs is a key part of any marketing plan, and something that a digital marketing agency or consultant can quickly assist you with.
Assessing The Digital Marketing Consultant Marketplace
Once you have a clear understanding of your digital marketing needs, it’s time to start your search for the right consultant. The digital marketing consultant marketplace is vast and diverse, with freelancers, agencies, and independent consultants offering a wide range of services. If you believe your business needs assistance in several different areas, then you may need to consider the services of a digital marketing agency. From web design to social media marketing, these agencies will likely be able to take you on board as an ongoing client and help partner with you to establish a broad marketing plan that optimises each of your digital channels.
Need something specific? There are consultants that offer specialised services that are great for important, one-off tasks, like video production or ongoing copywriting for regular publication. There are also a number of freelancer marketplaces that new businesses often utilise, including but not limited to Fiverr, Airtasker and UpWork. These marketplaces can be great starting points to find a new logo design or basic one-page website, but note that you will often get what you pay for in this space. More complicated tasks, like building a fully operational website or ongoing marketing plan, need to be properly tailored to suit your business needs and audience, and these freelancer services can easily miss the mark, leading to several revisions and a frustrated business owner.
So if you’re instead going down the consultant or marketing agency path, how do you decide which one is right for your business? There are several factors you should consider when evaluating your shortlist of marketing agencies, starting with their specific areas of expertise:
Review And Compare Their Services
Have a clear understanding of what services your business needs? Then be sure to compare your shortlist of digital marketing consultants on the services they provide, from those offering expert web design to graphic design specialists who can re-vamp your business’ documentation. There are also a number of marketing agencies who offer specialised services for specific industries, particularly for companies who require ongoing video/photo production (e.g. real estate companies). If your company needs a complete marketing re-vamp or a new marketing plan, then you may need to consider the services of a full service agency who can help steer your company in the right direction with targeted planning for each of your marketing channels.
Research Their Portfolio Of Clients And Review Their Case Studies
One of the first actions customers take in the buying process of a new product is researching reviews online, helping to ensure whatever they are buying will meet their expectations for the product and the price they are paying. So why not do the same for marketing services when finding a consultant for your business? Top performing marketing consultants and agencies will themselves have built a strong presence online, from their own social media channels to a Google My Business listing featuring past client reviews, so you should definitely review and evaluate these channels prior to making any commitment to a marketing consultant.
They also may feature case studies on their website highlighting customer success stories and the services they provided. This will give you quick insight into what they achieved and how they operate as a business, providing you with more information that will assist you in making a decision on your business’ marketing.
Conduct Interviews And Check References Like You’re Picking A New Employee
Selecting a marketing consultant or agency to work with your business should feel like picking a new employee for your business, because in an ideal word they will naturally become a part of your team! Both your business and theirs will benefit from achieving successful marketing outcomes, and to achieve that beneficial relationship you’ll need to pick the right candidate from the crowded consultant marketplace.
Businesses looking for a marketing consultant should conduct interviews with top candidates and aim to better understand their approach to marketing, communication style and work processes, aligning these factors to the needs and operations of your company. You should also consider asking for references from these consultants or checking out their aforementioned case studies to see how they’ve performed for past clients and if their work aligns with the vision you have for your companies marketing channels.
Monitoring Your Company’s Digital Marketing Performance
Utilising the services of a digital marketing consultant is a great first step, and will likely lead to enhanced results for your marketing channels going forward. But without the knowledge of how to properly monitor these channels and analyse these results, you simply won’t understand what improvement in this space looks like.
This can quickly lead to the horror marketing stories we’ve all heard about: wasted advertising budget, poor website performance and social media campaigns that simply miss the mark. Avoid these common pitfalls by taking note of the below and reviewing when possible:
Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Work with your consultant to establish clear KPIs that align with your business goals, not someone else’s. With proper KPIs in place both you and your marketing consultant can rest easy knowing what good performance looks like, with adjustments available to both parties if results are not going to plan.
Utilise Analytics Tools
Take advantage of analytics tools like Google Analytics and social media insights to track and analyse the performance of your digital marketing campaigns. While these analytics tools can seem complicated, there is a ton of information online to help you understand terminology, industry benchmarks and much more, with companies like Google even publishing their own guides to help you analyse their data.
Regular Performance Reviews
On a yearly, quarterly or even monthly basis you should be scheduling performance reviews with your consultant to review progress, identify areas of improvement and collaborate on adjustments to optimise results. Once again, this is for both parties’ benefit as your consultant will be able to further understand your business needs and further optimise your marketing channels. Better communication will lead to better results, allowing you to focus on the operations of your business and the consultant to the tasks laid out in the ongoing marketing plan.
Stay Updated on Industry Trends
Your marketing consultant or agency will likely be aware of the latest trends online and any potential new platforms that are popping up in the online world, but they shouldn’t be the only ones with an eye on this space! Business owners should be aware of what actions their competitors and industry are taking in the digital marketing world, and relaying that to their consultant where appropriate. Your digital marketing consultant may be able to utilise this trend to your advantage, or potentially come up with a new strategy that makes your business the trendsetter.
Ultimately, picking the right digital marketing consultant should feel like you’re hiring a star team member to become a part of your organisation. Finding someone that is aligned with your companies’ values and fulfils the marketing needs of your organisation is key; someone who understands your customer and puts plans in place to help guide them through the full custom journey to your business. Having someone on board to set out that plan, with the experience to execute it, will lift a huge weight off your shoulders and allow you to focus on the core operations of your business, while someone else optimises your online presence.
Here at Sky High Digital, we’ve been helping business navigate the digital marketing world for nearly a decade, working with both industry leaders and those just starting their business journeys to climb to new heights and achieve success online. From web design to social media ads and paid search campaigns, we can help tailor a strategy for your business that optimises your business’ marketing channels, helping you to focus on whatever it is that your company does best. Learn more about our full suite of services by calling us today on (03) 9723 1783 or emailing our team at hello@skyhighdigital.com.au.
