Be honest… how many marketing plans, use cases and/or best practices have you saved, planning on implementing them later, and never looked at them again?
There are many strategies and success stories out there. And if you don’t currently have the marketing team in place to test them out, or if you have a team but are not sure they can handle testing new approaches with their current workload, you might be in need of a Marketing Consultant.
When should you hire a marketing consultant?
Hire the wrong kind of marketing help and you lose twice: the money, and the quarter it takes to realize it was the wrong fit.
- ✓ A coach builds your skills so you can do it yourself.
- ✓ A fractional CMO leads your marketing as an ongoing seat at the table.
- ✓ A consultant diagnoses a problem, delivers the fix, and hands it back to your team.
You should hire a marketing consultant when…
…You can name the problem, and the metric that proves it.
Not a vague “marketing feels off.” More like “demo requests dropped 40% since Q2.” A specific problem gets a specific answer. (Can’t name it yet? That’s fine… finding it is the first thing a good consultant delivers.)
…You have hands, not a head.
Your team or agency can execute. What’s missing is a plan worth executing. A consultant builds that plan and hands it to the people you already trust.
…You’re too close to see it.
You’ve read your own messaging so many times it all sounds right. An outside set of eyes sees what your customers see, not what you meant to say.
The quick test: Need a teacher? Hire a coach. Need a leader? Hire a fractional CMO. Need an answer? Hire a consultant.
What does a marketing consultant do?
A marketing consultant looks at your business from the outside, finds what’s holding growth back and builds a plan to fix it. Whether they also implement that plan depends on the consultant and the scope you agree.
Consultants also differ in how hands-on they are, and this will be impacted by what your specific needs are. Do you need the consultant to do the work or will your team do the work with regular guidance? A good consultant can flexibly match your needs. (Check out my marketing consultant page to see how I show the differences.)
How to prepare before you call a marketing consultant
If you’re working out how to hire a marketing consultant, start before the first call by getting three things ready:
- Write down the one result you want. More leads, more repeat customers, higher prices or a successful launch, etc. Pick one.
- Pull your numbers. What you spent on your goal last year, roughly where it went and what you think it brought in. Rough numbers are fine.
- Decide how involved you want to be. Do you want to learn to run it yourself, or have someone run it for you?
10 questions to ask before you hire a marketing consultant
Ask all 10 on the first call. Strong consultants answer with examples and numbers.
- How will you learn my business before you recommend anything? Expect interviews and a look at your numbers first.
- What will I have at the end of this engagement? A plan, a working system or a trained team, written into the proposal.
- Who does the work? Find out whether it’s the person on the call or a junior team member.
- How will we measure success? Revenue, leads, pipeline or cost per customer.
- What will you need from me and my team? Every engagement takes your time, so get an estimate.
- What businesses like mine have you helped, and what changed for them? Ask for results with real figures.
- What do you do when something isn’t working? You want someone who adjusts quickly.
- What won’t you do? Every consultant has limits, and it’s better to hear them on the first call.
- How do you price, and what’s included? Fixed fee, monthly retainer or hourly, with the scope spelled out.
- What happens after you leave? If the answer is “you’ll call us again,” keep asking.
Red flags in a marketing consultant’s answers
Walk away if you hear any of these:
- Guaranteed results. Nobody can guarantee how your market will respond.
- Vanity metrics. Impressions, likes and reach are easy to grow and hard to bank. If revenue never comes up, keep looking.
- The shelf report. A polished deck with no plan for who does what next week.
- One answer for everyone. If every client gets the same strategy, you’re paying for a template.
- Recommendations on the first call. They usually mean the plan was written before you showed up.
What should the first 30 days look like?
A strong consultant spends the first weeks learning before recommending anything. In my own process, that’s a two-week Profit Assessment covering your marketing spend and allocation, conversion points and drop-off rates, and strategic gaps. It ends with a Profit Assessment Report and a Strategic Roadmap.
Whoever you hire, by day 30 you should have:
- a clear picture of where your marketing money goes and what it returns
- the few priorities that matter most, in order, with a reason for each
- a practical plan with owners, timelines and the numbers you’ll track
Frequently asked questions
How much does a marketing consultant cost?
Marketing consultant rates depend on experience and scope, and most consultants price by fixed project fee, monthly retainer or the hour. My own consulting starts at $5,000 a month, and coaching starts at $2,500 a month.
How long does a marketing consultant engagement last?
A marketing consultant engagement usually starts with a few weeks of diagnosis and planning, then moves into implementation if the plan is working. In my process, implementation runs from week 3 to week 12.
Is a marketing strategy consultant the same as a marketing agency?
A marketing strategy consultant decides what your marketing should do and why, while an agency carries out the work. Many businesses use a consultant to set the direction and an agency to execute it.
Your next step
Before you hire anyone, find out where your marketing budget is going. Join my free Marketing Waste Audit masterclass and see which spend is producing a return.
-JL
Stop Marketing. Start Profiting.