When businesses want to elevate their marketing, they often look to a full-service agency. A savvy business leader understands that, as valuable as an agency partnership can be at the right time, it’s not always the best first step.
A marketing consultant who combines functional insights with a proven history of executive leadership can be a much better fit for resolving overarching issues. By taking a strategic view, these consultants can operationalize their knowledge of the toughest challenges facing your business – because they’ve been there, too.
That’s not something most marketing professionals can say.
Here are five problems a marketing consultant can help you with:
1. Conducting a Marketing Review
As a company’s organic growth peaks and begins to descend, it’s crucial to pivot to marketing-led growth. Every business is doing some kind of marketing, but until every expense is rationalized and connected to performance data, success will not be repeatable.
A marketing consultant gives you the 30,000-foot view necessary to understand where your opportunities and challenges lie. That includes a complete review of your current platforms, campaigns, and historical data so you can separate the signal from the noise and leverage the valuable insights hidden in your raw data.
It’s all too easy for marketing departments to get caught up in “doing things the way we’ve always done them.” Unfortunately, conventional wisdom might not apply to your industry, your enterprise, or your audience. With an unbiased outside perspective, your marketing can get a truly transformative breath of fresh air.
That’s good for you, your customers, and your marketing team.
2. Uncovering Problem Areas
Have you seen a negative trend in your marketing efforts’ performance?
Do you feel like you aren’t getting the best ROI from your marketing agency or campaigns?
Odds are good that the data will bear out your hunch.
In the marketing review phase, your marketing consultant harnesses cross-industry experience to illuminate why your marketing initiatives might not be performing as well as you expect – or as well as they once did. A clear, adult conversation about macro-level marketing trends can get you back on track fast.
It’s crucial to develop marketing strategy with a clear-eyed approach to the facts. Most marketing campaigns are based on key assumptions that need regular “reality checks.” There might be industry-wide shifts in play. For instance, social media platforms can make changes that leave formerly successful approaches falling flat.
Whatever the case, leaders like you know that doubling down is rarely the prudent choice.
Fortunately, you’ve got better options. A marketing consultant helps you determine what they are.
3. Properly Allocating Your Budget
Every dollar you spend on marketing should have value.
Your budget needs to be strategically designed to move the needle.
Andrew & West consultants consistently uncover expenses that are not performing as they should, including overspending on things that could be more cost-effective. That can lead to significant savings – 10% is not unusual or unreasonable. Now, you have options for elevating the impact of your teams: instead of raising your headcount or budget, you can reallocate resources where they matter most.
4. Optimizing Your CRM
A Customer Relationship Management platform has the potential to be one of the most valuable operational assets in your business. However, CRM systems can have a significant learning curve – and the rush to prove “first value” may mean your personnel aren’t utilizing it to its full potential. A marketing consultant can help.
CRM systems were originally associated with sales teams, and not all marketing professionals are aware of their full power. Perhaps you don’t have a CRM yet – or perhaps you do, but you suspect it isn’t providing as much as it could to your bottom line. Whatever the case, your marketing and sales teams can reap greater benefits.
Without a plan or proper guidance, CRMs have a paradoxical effect: they seem to complicate things that could be simple, leading to resistance and low adoption. That’s especially true when team members feel they spend more time entering data into your CRM than getting results out of it.
A marketing consultant cuts through the clutter, unveiling the ways your CRM can save you time and money. If you’re still deciding, your consultant can help you choose the right option for you. Just completed a roll-out? A quick engagement will accelerate efficiency and empower you to capture the full ROI of your system.
Even if you’ve had your CRM for years, a marketing consultant gets you to the next level.
5. Creating a Strategic Plan
A marketing consultant can guide you through specialized engagements like the ones above, but what about all of your quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year marketing goals? A consultant delivers the clarity of vision you need to turn your long-term goals into the near-term objectives your team can execute on.
Developing a strategic marketing plan is arguably one of the most important things a marketing consultant can help you with. A strategic plan empowers you with the right foundation to build something even better. It’s the roadmap you need for goal-setting, budget planning, and even forecasting future hires.
A Marketing Consultant Gets You on the Road to Even Greater Success
Many business leaders are leery of outsourced marketing partners because what seems like a simple target can take months or years of incremental progress to actually hit. The consulting mindset transforms the issue: Each strategic engagement has a clear timeline, deliverables, and an off-ramp.
A focused engagement with a marketing consultant saves time and money while preventing scope creep. And in the case of a strategic marketing plan, it establishes a North Star you can use to harness and direct your efforts for years to come. That keeps you out of the weeds and focused on what your business does best.
Contact Andrew & West to see if we are a good fit for you.
