Reasons why a marketing consultant will help you do more than survive in the new normal
Sometimes it’s actually the lack of marketing focus that’s limiting business performance and success. And that’s particularly true during and beyond the Coronavirus pandemic . Every business needs to be marketing. But different businesses need a different approach depending on their type and target audience. You need to stand out, you don’t want to be the best kept secret. And that’s when you should think about hiring a marketing consultant to help you thrive not just survive.
Since COVID-19 hit, businesses have needed to revisit their business models, adjust and cut budgets. For some this means a dynamic shift and reinvention in order to survive. Buying behaviours have changed with a significant shift to digital for both B2B and B2C businesses.
Flexibility and value
No marketing team can be expected to have all the expertise you need across a wide range of marketing skills. Often businesses simply don’t have the right mix internally for what they need today. That’s particularly true when you’re navigating a constantly changing environment.
So, embracing the services of a knowledgeable and seasoned marketing consultant gives you instant expertise and enables you to be nimble. Marketing consultants offer a broad range of services and have the flexibility and know-how you can tap into. They know how to improve your business performance and help you stand out and achieve your commercial goals.
When you mention the words ‘marketing consultant’ many will assume a high price tag. But marketing consultants can be better value for businesses than other options. An experienced consultant will bring a holistic approach for businesses large and small, tapping into extensive knowledge and experience to help you identify road blocks and accelerate performance. This approach delivers the boost or support needed. They can be embedded into the existing structure with ease, but without the commitment of additional headcount.
Thrive not survive in the new normal
Are you’re struggling with to make sense of your market place in the current economic environment or gain a clear understanding of the changes you need to make to thrive as a business? How to develop the right digital strategy? Increase your lead generation, make a success of social media, create content, accelerate website traffic and performance, the decision to hire a marketing consultant is a good one.
As an independent, skilled and competent contractor they can identify key priorities, where the quick wins are and what’s needed to make your business stand out. They’ll work with your existing team and resources to develop and execute what you need to thrive. They will add value to your business and team, that you will retain once they leave.
Low sales performance
Many of the businesses we are talking to today are seeking a short-term injection of expertise, to help navigate and thrive in a post coronavirus environment. Its logical to assume that sales may have been affected by the dramatic changes imposed during covid-19 lockdown, but planning and building for the future is essential. Remember you’ll need marketing to make that shift.
It’s easy to set unrealistic sales targets, but when you’re not building awareness that generates leads for your sales team then it’s a good indicator that your marketing isn’t working. Perhaps you are generating leads, but they aren’t closing?
A marketing consultant, can hit the ground running, is experienced in fully understanding your business, fast. With that knowledge they will be able to identify where the road blocks are, why you’re not winning against your competitors or generating leads. You’ll get constructive honesty that comes with options and solutions to fix and improve your outcomes.
Committing budget to marketing staff
Depending on the size and type of business you may have an existing marketing team, staff who are tasked with supporting marketing activities alongside other responsibilities or no one at all. Maybe you don’t know what you need? Some companies are just not ready to commit to hiring full time or part time marketing staff or simply just don’t know what they need and where to start. We hear this a lot from clients who recognise they need marketing support, but just don’t know what they need.
A marketing consultant can help you test the waters a ‘try before you buy’ approach. Best of all you can switch this on and off as you need to, giving you complete flexibility and control of your budgets.
An experienced marketing consultant can help give you structure, create strategies, tactics and priorities. They’ll help you define what makes sense for your business and where you should put your efforts to see the greatest results. Setting business and marketing goals, and how to deliver marketing performance.
You can tightly manage budgets without adding permanent headcount to your business. This flexible approach is in high demand for businesses who need expertise and marketing direction to support new business models and approaches forced on them as a result of COVID-19. How to win business with changing buyer behaviours and competing in a busier digital world. How to cut through the noise and stand out can be hard without the right expertise to guide you.
Intelligent Marketing through a new lens
A different perspective, looking at your business through a new lens
A marketing consultant has the ability to listen and understand your business fast. A key skill of a good marketing consultant is being able to ask the right questions, probe appropriately and extract the necessary information from your business in the most efficient manner.
They will carry out a marketing audit or marketing health check on your business, industry and your target customers. Armed with this knowledge they can identify ineffective marketing activities and provide direction and guidance on how to see better results from your efforts and budget. Simply improving your ROI.
You know your business, but a marketing consultant will bring a much-needed outsider perspective that will really make a difference.
Injecting specialised marketing skills
You may already have a marketing department or team. Some of what they’re doing is working really well, while other areas may need a boost. You need to understand your areas of weakness and how to resolve them, so you can adjust your priorities. A marketing consultant will help you to get the best results for your business. Sometimes its as simple as using an expert to help you achieve more with your budget and resources. Layout out a plan and tactics that your team can execute can really help you excel.
A short-term engagement with specialised marketing consultant can accelerate performance in branding, search engine optimisation, website performance, content development, marketing strategy, lead generation, and social media. Buyer journeys vary, so understanding clearly the mix of marketing activities that you need to commit to, in order to win your dream customers can help you turn a weakness into a strength.
If you’re looking for some support, get in touch hello@intelligentmarketing.uk.com
