When to Hire a Digital Marketing Consultant

Debating whether your business needs a digital marketing consultant?  It’s understandable that you may want to handle your own marketing.  But, without sufficient expertise, you risk running ineffective campaigns and wasting valuable hard-earned money.

Working with a consultant is the surest way to get more bang for your marketing buck.  These professionals have strong skills in various digital marketing aspects, including search engine optimization, marketing automation, and community online reputation management.

So, when is the right time to hire a digital marketing consultant?  As soon as you launch your business?

Keep reading to find out!

Your Digital Marketing Efforts Aren’t Paying Off

The #1 reason business owners handle their own digital marketing campaigns is to keep overhead costs low.  And with the DIY movement gaining momentum across the globe, you can be forgiven for trying to hack it in digital marketing realm.  However, when it comes to running a small to medium-sized business, every dollar counts. There’s no room for experiments that may prove costly farther down the road.

As soon as you realize your digital marketing campaigns aren’t delivering a good return on investment, pull the plug and bring a digital marketing consultant on board.  Expect the consultant to tweak your existing digital marketing strategy or design a new strategy that focuses on your target audience and delivers on expectations.  A great digital marketing consultant should provide analytical data and fresh ideas to your marketing conundrum.

Your Competitors Are Steps Ahead of You

Competition can grow your business.

Sure, you may lose your customers to competitors, but that usually happens when your products and services aren’t cutting it.

If you’ve pulled every trick out of the bag and you’re still unable to catch up with your competitors, it’s time to hire a digital marketing consultant.

Working with a consultant is the only thing they could be doing that you aren’t! Perhaps you’re wondering, “How do I know whether my competitors are using the services of a digital consultant?”

It’s really simple!

Pull up their websites and social media pages and analyze their online strategy and visibility.  Are their websites responsive?  Are you seeing lots of videos on their social media channels?  Are their posts generating lots of comments, likes, and shares?

If you answered yes to these questions, they probably have a digital consultant on their payroll.

And it could be the reason they are edging you out.

You Have a Not-So-Good Online Reputation

Reputation is everything.

In life, a good reputation gets you better friends and earns you respect amongst your peers.  In business, a solid reputation helps you get ahold of the industries best employees, keeps your customers loyal and attracts new ones.

Did you know 65 percent of consumers Google a company before deciding whether to buy its products or services?  While building a strong digital online reputation might seem easy, a single negative tweet or Facebook post about your business can severely damage it.  If your business has been affected by negative online reviews and you’re unable to shake off the bad reputation, you need a digital marketing consultant to help raise you out of the hole your business is in.

A great reputation consultant will research the cause of your bad reputation, list the keywords related to the negative reviews, and identify the digital channels you can use to repair your reputation.

If you don’t have a reputation tracking and management software, your consultant should be advising you to acquire one.

Your Employees Need Training

As your business grows, you may feel the need to hire in-house marketing specialists.  Although your employees may have the digital marketing know-how, you need an experienced pro who has honed their skills.  A digital marketing consultant could develop and implement a training program covering subjects such as SEO and writing for the web, social media management, digital ads and Google analytics.

As the industry continues to evolve, your consultant will keep updating the training content to ensure it reflects the current market.  Even more importantly, with a consultant on your payroll or as a 1099, employees will have a go-to expert at their disposal; someone they can reach out to for help when they run into marketing obstacles.

Your consultant can also use his or her vast contacts to help your employees gain access to the latest digital marketing research and industry findings.

You Have a Website That Craves a Facelift

Your business website is your primary gateway to the digital world and the face of your company.  Think of it as the storefront of your business.  We recommend every 3 – 5 years, your website needs a makeover to give customers a fresh experience and an increased interest in your business.  So if you feel it’s high time it got a facelift, you should hire a digital marketing consultant to lead that project.

Why is it important to hire an all-round consultant instead of a specialist web designer?

Let’s take for example, a web designer.   The job of a web designer is to build a functional, appealing website.  Awesome, you’ve accomplished the first step.  Unfortunately, He/She may not have the marketing “mind” to build a site that compliments your digital marketing strategy.  It’s one thing to build a glorified business card, but something else completely to have a website that generates income for your business.

On one hand, a marketing consultant with vast web design experience will deliver a website that supports all your marketing efforts and can build a strategy to help your website pay for itself and then some!

You Feel Your Business Needs a Valued Partner

When you hire a digital marketing consultant, you aren’t just hiring someone to oversee your marketing efforts.  You’re bringing on board a valued partner; someone who can add value to your brand.

Have you seen the way consulting agencies (and many other B2B companies) list their clients on their websites?

Imagine getting listed by an industry-respected consultant… Upon discovering your partnership, customers will know you’re working with the best businesses to deliver high-quality services.

This may not look like a big deal, but it’s such little things that make a difference sometimes.

The Bottom Line on When to Hire a Digital Marketing Consultant

Whether your business is a one-man show or an established mid-sized company, you should never overlook hiring a digital marketing consultant.

This professional will help your business to get the most out of digital tools.

Your brand will gain a higher online visibility, attract more customers and make more sales.

Now that you’re convinced that you need a consultant, how do you identify the right one for your business?

True, the field is crowded, but at Olive Group, you’re assured of getting the best consultants in the business.

All your digital needs, from market strategy creation to web design and content development, will be met.

Get in touch with us today.