If your business needs help with its marketing and promotion, you may consider a freelance marketing consultant. But what should you look for in a freelance marketing consultant? There are many consultants out there, but just like any relationship, you need to find someone who you can work well with and will produce the results you want.
How to choose a freelance marketing consultant
When it comes to what to look for in a freelance marketing consultant, it’s usually down to personal preference. However, there are five key areas that your freelance marketing consultant should tick before you hire them.
Experience
Everyone has to start somewhere but if you need a marketing consultant to look at your business as a whole, then you need someone with experience. At least five years of digital marketing experience should be the baseline for a consultant and that has to be the last five years. If they have not been working in the industry consistently for this time they may be out of touch with the latest trends and updates to digital tools, channels and practices. The digital marketing industry is one of the fastest-paced industries to be involved in so you need a consultant who is up to date.
Skills
Not only should a freelance marketing consultant have relevant, up to date experience in digital marketing but they need the skills to back it up. Ask your consultant what their skills are, you should get more nuanced answers than just SEO or social media. Their focus could be on particular platforms, offering a holistic approach, specialism in specific industries or a particular skill that they value above all else. For myself as a freelance marketing consultant, I have a strong focus on research-driven content marketing that feeds into my clients’ other digital marketing strategies, including SEO, social media, and PPC. Creating entertaining, informative and inspirational articles is one of the core skills that drives my consultancy.
Initial Understanding of your industry/niche
Look for a freelance marketing consultant that can understand your industry and empathise with your audience. As a business owner, you are the expert in your field, but your marketing consultant should become a mini expert in their own right. A good indicator of whether they’ll be able to work in your industry is how they respond to you in your first official meeting or call. They should have made the time to learn about your industry already. They should have a basic grasp of the:
- Challenges your niche faces.
- Opportunities that are available.
- Types of clients interested in your products and services.
- Marketing ideas specific to your industry.
If they don’t display some basic understanding of your industry, they either do not have the research skills to learn it or they have not put the work in. Either way, this would be a big red flag.
Values
Something often overlooked when it comes to business relationships is whether you and your employee/supplier share common values. Although the role of a freelance marketing consultant is to help you grow your business through marketing, it doesn’t hurt to work with people whose values align. A consultant that believes in your company, shares a similar work ethic or is invested in some way will give it their all. This will result in a more productive relationship for you and the consultant.
Trust
Trust is such an important part of any relationship. It can be a gut instinct, but there are also some practical aspects to look out for when choosing a consultant.
- Sticking to meeting times
- Providing clear information and pricing
- Professional looking website
- Testimonials or reviews
Look out for these in the early stages of looking for a consultant but always trust your gut, it’s probably right.
Choosing a Freelance marketing consultant
To summarise on what to look for in a freelance marketing consultant. Look for someone who:
- Has relevant and recent experience.
- Has a high skill level.
- Puts the initial work in to understand the basics of your industry.
- Shares some values with your company.
- You can trust.
If you are looking for a freelance marketing consultant currently, why not get in touch with me. Let’s see if we are the right fit and work together to make your business grow.
