How To Find The Best Marketing Consultant For Your Startup?

By Author: Barry Elvis
Total Articles: 173
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Startups cannot afford to invest both time and money into ineffective marketing. A competent marketing consultant can help you avoid the painstaking process of trial & error, while an incompetent one will waste your resources. How can you find the former and avoid the latter?

Establish Priorities

Before looking for a consultant, establish what you need. Perhaps, you need to acquire 100 new customers or improve conversion on your landing page. If your issue is unclear, a consultant who offers to run advertisements may not be the best choice, since they may have no idea what message resonates with your clients. Define your needs as well as the consultants will know what solution to propose.

Screen for Experience

... href="https://vodicadvisory.com.au">Hiring a marketing consultant in Adelaide to help you sell a product is not the same as hiring one to improve lead generation in a well-known company with an established product. The first consultant will have to operate with a smaller budget, a less recognizable brand as well as a product that is still being developed. Ask about the candidates’ experience with startups as well as try to obtain quantifiable results: “How much did you reduce client-acquisition costs last year?” or “What was the increase in customers in the last six months?”

Evaluate the Consultant’s Methodology

A competent marketing consultant should propose to identify the target audience, develop a consistent message and test a variety of channels. Pay attention to red flags: a consultant who wants to use 15 different platforms at once is likely to pursue a scattergun approach. Ask about the selection criteria for channels, the expected key performance indicators and how they will measure cost per acquisition, conversion rate & customer lifetime value. A good consultant will ask questions too: What is the target audience for my product? What are my customers’ demographics & behaviors?

Determine the Consultant’s Agency

Some business owners have issues with delegating tasks. A consultant can provide assistance in developing a marketing strategy, but a business coach may be necessary to set priorities as well as allocate resources. Some consultants offer to perform both roles; if the candidate you are considering does not, ask whether the two will be able to cooperate effectively.

Make Sure the Candidate Asks the Right Questions

During the meeting, ask for references as well as contact at least one of them. Inquire about the terms of the cooperation: how often will you meet, who will actually perform the tasks and how the success of the collaboration will be measured. Discuss what will happen if the objectives are not met.

Test the Consultant

Do not hesitate to ask for a sample assignment: run a campaign audit or develop a three-month strategy for you. This allows you to assess the consultant’s competence as well as avoid spending money on a full-scale collaboration that does not yield results.

Author Resource:

Barry Elvis writes about business coaching in Adelaide, strategic planning and advisory support, helping owners make better decisions, improve performance and achieve sustainable, long-term business growth. You can find his thoughts at marketing channels blog.