Should Your Startup Hire a Marketing Consultant? What to Look For When Hiring One?

Marketing is vital for any company, but it is even more so for startups. When you start a new business, very few people in the industry know you. Even if your products or service is top-notch, you can still go unnoticed.

Can you do the marketing yourself or make an in-house team? Yes, you can definitely do that, but should you hire a marketing consultant instead?

After all, you have loads of other things to think about when running a business. As a result, you might benefit from hiring a marketing consultant.

First of all, outsource a knowledgeable marketing professional will help you save a lot of time and resources. It also gives you peace of mind that someone is finding new business for you.

Let’s explore some more reasons why your startup should hire a marketing consultant.

Reasons To Hire

So, will hiring a marketing consultant help your startup in any way? Well, first of all, it saves you and your staff a lot of time. And time is the most valuable resource when you set up a new business, isn’t it?

But there are some other benefits of hiring a marketing consultant.

Expertise

Today, there is a real need for marketers with an advanced set of skills. A marketing consultant will be someone who has that expertise. But, unfortunately, you might not get the same level of skills when you go around setting up an in-house team.

Marketing consultants have years of experience finding business for their clients. With their expertise and experience, they know exactly how to market your brand. When you hire a marketing consultant, your startup benefits from the experience.

Would you get the same marketing know-how if you built an in-house team? Well, it is possible but improbable.

Less Expensive

Setting up an in-house marketing team can be expensive as there are loads of expenses starting from the recruitment process. After all, you are hiring new staff members that will report to you.

You also spend a lot of time and energy putting together an impressive marketing team. As a result, you might end up spending vast amounts of money. And when you own a startup, can you afford to do that? You’re already trying hard to get your startup the exposure it requires!

That’s why it is better to outsource marketing to a consultant. All you need to do is focus your search and find an experienced marketing consultant.

If you find a good marketing consultant, you stand a chance of getting an excellent return on your investment.

No Long-Term Commitment

When you hire an in-house marketing team, they’ll all be on a contract. Any employment contract is for a minimum of twelve months. So what do you do if you’re not satisfied with the performance of the marketing team? You get stuck in a long-term commitment.

When you hire a marketing consultant, the commitment is flexible. You can hire them for the short-term to see if they can market your brand well.

If you don’t like how they do things, you can look for a different marketing consultant. Flexibility is another reason why startups should hire a marketing consultant.

Lesser People Management

Running a startup can sometimes be tiring. As the owner, you need to be on your toes and manage various departments. Then there’s a lot of people management to do as well.

If you hire an in-house marketing team, you’ll have some more people management to do. Hiring a marketing consultant, on the other hand, is a lot more stress-free. All you need to do is check the progress now and again.

In a nutshell, if you hire an experienced marketing consultant, you can concentrate on other aspects of your business.

Flexibility

A consultant can give your company the flexibility you need. You can hire a professional on your lower season to organize your marketing, and in higher season, you have your team executing the strategy. You may be able to keep the professional less time just for monitoring the work.

So flexibility is definitely key for a better ROI.

How to Hire a Marketing Consultant?

A few factors need to be considered when hiring a marketing consultant, and you need to use your checklist and evaluate each item.

Industry Knowledge

Industry experience may be one of the most important factors to consider depending on what you need the marketing consultant for. Of course, if you need the professional to organize the internal processes, create your organizational structure, and hire people, maybe you don't need as much industry knowledge.

On the other hand, if you need this professional to find market opportunities, run SWOT analysis, understand product launch trends, or beat your competition strategy, you would rather choose someone with knowledge.

Team

Is this professional working alone or with a team? If a team, is he going to execute some of the tasks or give orientation. If there is an execution, what’s the team’s experience. All factors need to be put into consideration according to your needs.

 

References

When you refer someone, you’re putting your name behind it. If he brings references from trustable sources, these people most likely had good professional experiences with them. Make sure these references give some examples of the good work done by your potential consultant.

Proposal

How is their way of working, how will they charge you, by the hour or project? What type of work and ROI they expect to bring. All of that should be brought into consideration when evaluating your next hire.

Know Your Business Needs

When looking for a marketing consultant, make sure to keep your business needs in mind. In addition, it would be best to always look for a consultant who is familiar with working for your niche. That’s how you can find an expert who knows what he’s doing!

Ensure you will need this professional before starting your search. Consider if a marketing agency wouldn't do the work for you. Or, consider hiring a full-time marketing employee as well. If none of these options offer you a better result, start evaluating the topics mentioned above to hire the right professional.

About the author

Nijam Seth is a full time blogger and a part time foodie. He likes to share technological trends on web developments and also has published his bylines on major platforms.

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
CAPTCHA
This question is for preventing automated spam submissions.