There has been a huge paradigm shift in the marketing world due to the unforeseen happenings over the last year. Many companies have been forced to shift their marketing focus to the digital world as the traditional means of marketing are having a much lower level of impact. Companies who depended heavily on face to face or in person marketing strategy are now looking to the internet and other digital means for lead generation and growth. There lies the issue. Many of these companies have neglected the Digital channels over the past years because they may not have seen value. Now as the Digital Revolution continues to take shape they are finding themselves in a position where they need to refocus, relearn, and retrain themselves in a new way of marketing that if done correctly can turn out to be extremely fruitful. The question lies though is how we get there. In this article, we will discuss 5 reasons why turning to a Digital Marketing Consultant is one of the best ways to get your company on track in the digital marketing world.
5 Reasons to Hire a Digital Marketing Consultant
The Digital Marketing channel is a very complex yet broad channel of marketing that consists of multiple avenues that can be utilized to achieve your marketing goals. Some channels are more complex and technical than others, while some channels rely heavily on how much money you want to throw at it. The hardest part when it comes to the Digital Marketing space is deciding which channels to focus on and how much to spend while doing so. If you are just getting started in the Digital Marketing world this can be somewhat daunting task that if not done correctly can end of costing quite a bit of money in the end with very little to show for it. So how do you avoid making these costly mistakes? Hire someone who knows the ins and outs of the digital marketing space.
Here are the 5 reasons why hiring a Digital Marketing Consultant is the best choice for your company:
1. Cost
There are really three options. The first option is to hire someone such as a Director of Digital Marketing, who knows the Digital Marketing space and can co-ordinate the efforts of your team (considering there is one) to properly market your product or service in the digital space. This can be a great option, but it comes with a high price tag. According to Glassdoor the national Marketing average salary of a Director of Digital is $103,465 . This is salary alone, not considering any channel spends or costs involved for marketing budgets.
The second option is to outsource to a Digital Marketing Agency. In many cases this is a much more cost-effective approach towards digital marketing, and you gain a bit more resources and knowledge than just a single individual. Depending on the agency that you are dealing with and the industry that you are in you can look to spend somewhere between $3,000 to $10,000 per month to the agency. Depending on their recommendations this number can climb with the addition of spends to platforms and paid advertisements.
The third option would be to hire a Digital Marketing Consultant. A consultant can offer you the best of both worlds when it comes to your digital marketing needs. You can have the benefits of an individual or group of individuals that can coordinate the efforts of your team to ensure that your resources are being spent in the right place without the high salary. Many consults have specialties that they can manage internally as well as a slew of resources that available at a reduced cost. Hiring a consultant should run you somewhere in the $2,500 to $3,000 per month range.
2. Flexibility
A Digital Marketing consultant can should be viewed as a member of the team and with that they are committed to the success of the team. One thing is true about digital marketing and that is that it is constantly changing. With changing being the norm it is important to have someone who understands the industry and is in the know about the changes as well as someone who is able to pivot on a dime when changes need to be made. A great digital marketing consultant is constantly plugged into what is going on in the world of digital marketing so they should be able to understand when changes are happening and what should be done to mitigate the effects them.
3. Research Based Approach
Considering you are hiring someone to make suggestions and help in the execution of a sound Digital Marketing strategy it is important that they understand the ins and outs of your business. Upon hiring a Digital Marketing Consultant, they should conduct a large amount of research before making suggestions. This research will consist of looking into which channels will offer the best return on investment, organic opportunities, competitive research, and what a growth strategy should look like. This will in turn ensure that once you begin to execute your digital strategy that your marketing budget will be going to the right place and you will be seeing a strong return on investment.
4. Educational Focus
5. Access to Resources
Digital Marketing consultant uses a slew resources, tools, and partnerships to get the job done. Many of these resources are paid for by the consulting firm and are utilized to get the most accurate, timely, and effect data to assist in the growth of your company. Considering your consultant is constantly plugged in to the industry chatter you will be able to gain insider information on the newest trends, tools, and resources. Along with that your consultant will typically have the ability to act upon most of their recommendations but when needs arise outside of their scope of expertise they typically have a partner network of individuals to assist in getting you what you need.
Closing Thoughts
Digital Marketing is going to be part of the “new norm” when it comes to the Marketing landscape. If you are looking to position your company as a leader in your field and leverage the digital space to help your get found, hiring a Digital Marketing Consulting is the perfect launching place. The highly cost effective, educational approach is a perfect way to get started in the Digital Transformation.
