You could say that marketing consultants matter for any startup, no one has any real idea who you are at this early stage in the game. You could have the best product going, and it still wouldn’t help you if customers didn’t know your name.

The trouble is that you have enough to get your head around right now without having to worry about marketing. You’re all about developing your product, as you should. Still, you need to know that someone is out there drilling up important business for you.

This is so vital you may even want to hire a marketing consultant before anything else. Even before you can afford wages, outsourcing this service or hiring a freelancer can boost your early profits no end.

That could then lead to the expansion of your company and the working team which you need so badly to get going. To prove how important this step is for what you’re trying to achieve, consider what a marketing consultant for startups can bring to the table.

A reputation

That’s right; a marketing consultant could literally build your reputation. Through things like a website and social media, they’ll make sure people know who you are and what you stand for. That increases the chances of customers looking your way for the right reasons.

In the long term, reputation building can even lead to loyal customers, especially if a consultant focuses on social media. It also opens you to the benefits of methods such as word of mouth marketing.

Yet, none of this would be possible if you didn’t get a specialist consultant on board. Even if you tried to tackle this yourself, there’s no guarantee you could build half as good a reputation.

In fact, one foolish Tweet could have seen you gaining a reputation of entirely the wrong sort. That’s never something you’ll have to worry about with a marketing consultant because they have…

Industry knowledge

If you take your time finding a marketing consultant, you can hire someone with industry knowledge. They’ll know precisely what it takes to market to your audience because they’ll have prior experience about what does and doesn’t work for the people you’re appealing to.

They’ll also be able to target marketing campaigns to meet audience needs in a way you could not. Along with increasing your audience, your marketing consultant could expand your knowledge.

Through observation, you’ll come to understand who your product appeals to the most. Then you can tailor what you do to meet their needs. Even if you don’t know who your target audience is, an experienced marketing consultant could tell you.

Given that knowing your audience is essential, that fact alone makes this worth your while.

Leads

A marketing consultant can help you create leads. It’s these which turn into sales in the long run. By reaching out and appealing to customers, they ensure people pay attention to what you’re doing.

They can drive traffic to your website, and get people to sign up to newsletters from your company. They can also get customers to come in for consultations, or build hype for any open days which you host.

You would then be free to work your magic and turn those leads into sales. Sales are less likely to happen if you don’t have someone making your leads.

So, that’s why you need a marketing consultant. Any business owner would agree that they can’t do without the above. When you’re starting, it’ll also be a huge weight off your shoulders if someone else takes care of these things.

Your profits could grow a whole load faster if you merely took the time to invest in this area. You can also bet that your business would stay at the front of people’s minds for a long time if you hired a winning consultant.

The question now is, how do you find one? Whether or not you’ve used one before, marketing consultants are important. Finding a good one is requires doing more than posting a generic job advertisement.

You may prefer to go out and find the right consultant, rather than letting them come to you. But, how do you go about finding a professional like this?

Know what you want from them

First, you need to ask yourself what you want from your marketing consultant. Finding someone with experience in your niche is the best way to see results fast. As mentioned, a marketing consultant can find your target audience for you.

But, knowing your niche well ahead of time allows you to reach out to a consultant with experience in your market. Even if you don’t know exactly who would buy your products at this stage, keep it general. Something as simple as knowing whether you’re working B2B or B2C can help you narrow things down here.

It can also help to know where you want to focus your marketing efforts. If your business is online, for instance, a digital marketing consultant might be best. If not, a more generalized consultant can cover all your bases.

Before you hire brainstorm a few ideas to come up with what exactly you’re after. Once you know that, you’ll be able to…

Focus your search

Once you know what you want, it’s time to focus your search. As we mentioned at the start of this article, generalized searches for marketing consultants are a bad idea. That’s because they don’t allow you to cater to the niches you identified above.

Instead, you want to focus on more specialized searches to find the best consultant you can. Sites like LinkedIn and Reddit are fantastic for this. They allow you to search for exactly which professionals you would like.

There are even marketing groups on Facebook which could point you in the right direction once you know what you’re after. If you still can’t find the right person, it’s even worth reaching out to specialist consultancies. These allow you to work with some of the most experienced marketing professionals on an outsourced basis.

The benefit with this option is that you’ll be working with people who manage campaigns like yours every single day. The only downside here is that you won’t get the one-on-one benefits of a consultant who solely works for you.

But, that may not be half as bad as you think. Look around and consider what each option could bring to your company.

Follow credentials

The chances are that your research will lead you to a few potential consultants. Once you’ve narrowed your list in this way, it’s time to follow credentials to the leader of the pack. These will help you see which consultant has the best standing in their field.

That ensures you hire the best of the lot. But, what credentials matter most with marketing consultation? It should go without saying that client testimonials should be your first port of call.

These are a fantastic decider here because they’re unedited and honest opinions. By looking at them, you’ll be able to glimpse everything from work ethic to relationships. You may even find it worthwhile to look out for negative reviews.

Then, you’ll know exactly what you’re about to get into. Google rankings are also a useful indicator here. If a company who claim to boost your SEO ratings rank poorly themselves, you can bet they aren’t your best option.

If, however, they come top of the list, you’ll be able to see what they do for yourself. Speaking of seeing what they do, the last credential worth looking for is that of past work. By heading to a consultant’s portfolio, you’ll be able to see them in action.

That alone should show you whether they’d share your business vision.

Consider cost

Lastly, consider the cost of the consultants left on your list. Pricing matters for any startup. That’s the case even with a consultant who stands to boost your profits later.

The last thing you want is to blow your entire budget on this and see your products suffering. Once you research this, you’ll find that some consultants charge by the hour, while others accept payment per job.

Payment per job may be your best chance at breaking even here at this stage. Make sure, too, that you’re aware of which services you’re getting for that price. The more you can get for your money, the more benefits you stand to see.

There’s no denying that hiring a marketing consultant takes some thought. If you want the best, you will need to go out there and find them. But, as you can see, this is an effort which is well worth your time. You could even say you owe it to your startup.