Digital Marketing Consultant is one of the most demanded positions at present by Companies, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs.
The figure of Freelance Digital Marketing Consultant is relatively new in the sector.
The opportunities offered by new technologies and digital transformation are key points for companies to want to take advantage of all the potential that online marketing can offer them and increase their turnover.
And that is where the figure of the consultant comes in because introducing or enhancing our company, product or service in the online world is something very serious.
That is why we need the advice of trained and especially honest professionals to whom we can entrust this work.
Have you ever worked with a consultant or required consulting services for your Company?
If not, I invite you to know better what I do.
For this, I am going to explain what it is, what a digital marketing consultant does, main functions and competencies, as well as essential skills.
I hope this article will help you clear any of your doubts and help you when hiring a digital marketing consultant when the time comes.
Do we start
What is a Digital Marketing Consultant?
A digital marketing consultant is a person who will help you define the different digital strategies that your Company, Business, Product, Service or even your Personal Brand needs.
A consultant must have very specific skills, in addition to solid training.
In my opinion, you must be a professional who meets the following skills:
- Leadership Capacity
- The power to unite work teams
- Global and Strategic Vision
- Leoninely analytical and at the same time flexible
- Identify the latest trends and tools
- Provide training to work for teams or individually, therefore must be a good communicator
- Commitment and Involvement
- Have a solid Personal Brand, that builds confidence
We must not forget that being a digital marketing consultant is a great responsibility where the future of entrepreneurs and companies depends on us, on our knowledge and strategies.
What type of clients demands the service of a Digital Marketing consultant?
Customer profiles that demand the services of a digital marketing consultant are:
Entrepreneurs who need to digitize their business, but because of ignorance, lack of resources or because they think their project is not important enough, they have not yet done so.
- SMEs that want to introduce their business in the digital world and need help in creating and implementing the right strategies.
- Companies that have already begun to digitize their company, but are not doing it correctly and the results are not as expected.
- Companies that are already positioned in the online world with a digital marketing plan and want to improve and expand their strategies.
Its main objectives are:
- Increase in the return on investment or ROI, which is the economic value generated as a result of carrying out the various marketing activities.
- Attracting new customers.
- Increase your turnover.
During my professional career, I have worked in all types of companies and I have seen on many occasions that the first game that was attacked when making cuts was that of marketing, advertising, and communication.
This is a serious mistake since today it is essential to have a digital presence, be in the sector that you are.
So my advice is that, according to your possibilities and the size of your company, when reviewing or preparing your annual Financial Plan, you can use this item instead of cutting it.
What does a Digital Marketing Consultant do and what are its main functions?
First of all, gather all the necessary information through a Briefing.
The Brief is a document where we provide all the information we need to start our work.
There are different types of Briefing, however in my case, I customize each of them, each company is unique and special.
Basic questions in a Briefing:
- Business activity
- Product or Service Features
- Target audiences
- Direct competition
- Objectives to achieve.
- Budget available
- If you have carried out marketing, advertising or communication actions before: results.
We will also treat in principle according to the perception of the client in such important points as weaknesses, threats, strengths, and opportunities.
With all this information it is easier to detect what is not working properly and offer the most appropriate solution.
Once we have obtained all the necessary information about the project, we will see a list of main functions that a digital marketing consultant should perform.
1# Project Audit or Previous Study
The first thing a digital marketing consultant or consultant should do to know what state your business is in is to perform an audit.
If we have a website or a corporate blog, our presence in social networks, SEO, email marketing, etc.
In short, what digital channels are we using?
In the event that digital marketing actions have been carried out before, even more so, we need to know what has been done, how and what the results have been, as well as the point where we are at this moment.
All this information will reveal to us what our current situation is.
2# Internal and external analysis
For this we will use the SWOT matrix, analyzing both internal and external aspects of our Company, business or Project.
We will complete our SWOT, with the PESTLE analysis method that describes the political, environmental, legal, social, economic and technological factors of a company’s environment.
Both matrices will lead us to know exactly what our weaknesses, threats, strengths, and opportunities are.
3# Competition Analysis
First of all, we must know our project very well so we must know what exactly our competition is doing.
Communication channels that you use, digital marketing strategies that you are implementing as well as your results.
As the saying goes, keep your friends close, but even closer to your “enemies.”
The competition always gives us very valuable information.
4# Define our target audience
This point is usually the workhorse of many projects since sometimes they do not have well defined the anatomy of the client they want to capture.
In short, it is to determine who is our ideal client and what their needs are.
Create a person or several buyer profiles, this will depend on our product or service.
Using parameters such as age, profession, income, hobbies, personal tastes, social networks in which it is more active, etc.
5# Digital Strategy and Objectives
Once located we must create and define our strategy through a digital marketing plan.
The objectives will be established based on the SMART method must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and also that we can execute them in a timely manner.
6# Measurement and control
Once we have defined and implemented our marketing strategies, we must make the necessary measurements.
Get feedback and know if the different strategies we have created work or have to make corrections or adjustments, in our roadmap.
For this, we will have previously defined our KPI’s that serve us to know exactly if we are fulfilling our objectives.
An example of KPI so that you understand the term well, increase our followers on Twitter by 30% within 6 months. It is measurable since we can track the data and convert it to a numerical value.
“What you cannot measure cannot be controlled; If you can’t control it, you can’t manage it; what cannot be managed cannot be improved.”
Competencies of a good Digital Marketing Consultant
A good consultant must have knowledge of all areas of digital marketing, to chart the strategy that your Company, Business, Service or Product needs.
A consultant is a strategist.
Let’s see what skills should dominate, if you think about each one of them is a specialization in itself, but it does not necessarily have to be specialized in all of them.
General knowledge gives us as a consultant the global vision necessary to develop a project.
To do this, we must choose an online marketing consultant that is usually always specialized in any of them.
Web
You do not necessarily have to be a web designer or an expert in WPO, but you must know the principles of web usability and user experience.
It is vital that you know if the design and architecture of the page before you are focused on converting.
Make the necessary corrections so that your website achieves its objectives: convert visits into customers.
SEO
In this case, you should know what aspects Google or other search engines consider as relevant factors so that your website appears in the first search results in an organic way.
SEM
First of all, I would like to clarify that when we talk about SEM we are talking about any marketing action within search engines, whether or not it is paid.
On certain occasions, our business, service or product requires additional help, in this case, the use of paid marketing campaigns.
They must be well segmented so that the desired benefits are obtained:
- Quickly publicize our product, service or company.
- A quick return on investment (ROI).
- Direct our potential client to our website and landing page or also known as landing pages optimized for sales.
Social media
Creating the strategy of your company in social networks is another aspect that must be taken into account.
In which social networks you must have a presence according to your activity: Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, etc. What type of content is appropriate and when it should be published.
As well as carry out the corresponding advertising campaigns.
A careful and effective strategy in social networks, it affects us by the value that the comments of our online community contribute.
This makes us raise positions in search engines is what today is called SMO or Social Media Optimization.
Email Marketing
It is a great communication tool with great potential, well implemented.
In addition to a large sales channel, carrying out the correct strategy, it allows us not only to promote our products or services but also to attract new customers.
Content Strategy
An essential factor when positioning and giving visibility to our blog and our website.
It should be able to create the necessary strategies focused on the objective that your Company or Business needs.
Good examples would be Create Branding, Sales, Visits, etc.
Inbound Marketing
Attraction marketing, non-intrusively combines marketing, and advertising techniques.
The purpose is to contact the user at the beginning of the purchase process. In short, accompany you in each of the phases until you make the final transaction, buy.
Hire a Digital Marketing consultant, Why?
If your company or business is in any of these situations:
- Your website does not receive visits.
- The contents of your Blog do not work.
- Subscriber uptake rates are very low.
- Email marketing campaigns are either not implemented or do not convert.
- You don’t have a presence on social networks or they don’t work properly.
The problems I finish listing are a common denominator in many companies and businesses, they are not a few assets.
So yes, indeed!
You need to hire a digital marketing consultant, who draws a roadmap that takes you directly. In addition to correct towards the digital transformation of your company, product or service.
And do not forget something fundamental, achieve the objectives you want to achieve and a correct brand presence on the internet.
Today many consultants come from other work environments, so you will also have additional help.
We end up getting involved in other areas of the company, such as logistics, administration, accounting, etc.
What is a digital marketing consultant for you?
Any function, aptitude or competence that you consider should be added?
