Small Business Marketing Consultant – Hire or Not?
Hiring a small business marketing consultant is not an easy task or a one size fits all approach for any business owner or entrepreneur. A small business tends to at its initial launch to have many unstructured approaches and unorganized business development strategies, which is understandable, as the business begins to establish itself and attempts to penetrate the market it is in. Owners and employees tend to wear different hats within the business, until the business settles into its structure and business goals are met.
So, with the above point in mind let me discuss the reasons why you should and should not hire a marketing consultant for your small business. I will start with the why you should not hire a marketing consultant for your small business first. This will provide you with a clear picture and hopefully, prevent you from making the common mistakes most small business owners make.
Why You Should Not Hire a Small Business Marketing Consultant?
1. You Think Marketing Consultants Provide Immediate Results
A marketing consultant is not a miracle worker. A good marketing consultant will not provide you with short cuts to get immediate results. Those results may seem to work for you in the short run but might eventually not work for you in the long run, and your marketing efforts become futile, harming your business in the future.
When looking into hiring a marketing consultant, do not expect fast results, because your business no matter how small, is a complex puzzle that requires careful studying and analysis. Your business operates on both internal and external factors which determine the success of your business. Therefore, it is a marketing consultant’s job to provide you with a carefully planned out marketing plan, marketing strategy, and the tactics to implement those tactics into action. So, expecting immediate results is not realistic, and unattainable.
2. You Do Not Intend to Spend on Marketing Long Term
A business that intends to do marketing at the beginning its launch, should expect to continue to spend on marketing long term. If you think that marketing is a one stop shop at a point in time for your business needs that you use once, then you are for a harsh reality. Your business will always require you to invest in marketing, and the more success you achieve, the more marketing you will require to maintain or surpass that level of competitiveness.
3. You Do Not Intend to Spend on Other Parts of Your Business
When you hire a marketing consultant you get the expertise that will make your business succeed and grow. Having your business grow and succeed means you will have to invest money and time into other parts of your business, from sales to customer service, and maybe introduce and implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system to handle your day-to-day business interactions with your growing customer base.
If you are not willing to invest in other parts of your business, which are usually a by-product of good marketing campaigns, then you should not think of hiring a marketing consultant for your small business.
Now let me move on to the why you should part!
Why You Should Hire a Small Business Marketing Consultant
1. You Do Not Have a Clear Marketing Strategy
Hiring a marketing consultant for your small business will help you create a marketing plan with a clear marketing strategy. Sometimes small businesses run into bumps on how to market their products or services, and how to pinpoint their target market. A marketing consultant will guide you through a well constructed marketing strategy, the optimal marketing tactics to deliver on that marketing strategy.
2. You Do Not Have a Time for Marketing
Marketing is essential for any business, and not keeping up with your marketing efforts constantly and consistently will end up hurting your business. If you feel you do not have the time for marketing, then do not let it be an excuse for allowing your business to suffer. You may feel that hiring a marketing consultant is an extra expense but handing over your marketing tasks to a marketing expert would benefit your business and allow you to focus on other parts of the business.
3. You Do Not Have Enough Resources
In many cases, you might find yourself overwhelmed and undertaking many roles within your business. Not having enough resources range from time, budget, and expertise to having the right people to run the daily operations of your business.
If you feel that there is a resource gap for your marketing, whether it is because of a knowledge or people gap, hiring a marketing consultant for your business will bridge that gap for you and steer your business in the right direction.
4. You Are Not Generating Leads
Many small businesses tend to have difficulty generating leads, even though they have their products or services aligned with their target market. The issue is usually on how to raise brand awareness within their intended target market and generate those leads into actual customers.
Hiring a marketing consultant will bring the expertise and action plan for your business and bring out the shared value that you want to portray about your business to your potential customer.
5. You Can Not Differentiate Yourself from The Competition
Sometimes it is difficult to penetrate the market as a new business, especially when the market you are entering in is very competitive. Many business owners, decide that the first initial step is to compete for price advantages. However, sometimes that works, but only for the short-term.
What a marketing consultant would bring to the table is the ability to paint the big picture after studying the details of your business, what your brand represents, and the persona of your target market. This will allow you to bring out your unique selling proposition of your brand versus the competition and present it to your potential customers.
Conclusion
When it comes to hiring a marketing consultant for your small business , you should be aware of your own capabilities and what you need done for your business for it to succeed. Marketing is not just a one-time thing, but a lifetime endeavor while running your business. So, hope the points mentioned above provide you with a guide when you consider hiring a marketing consultant.
Are you interested in hiring a marketing consultant?
Contact me to learn more!