How a Digital Marketing Consultant Can Take Your Business to the Next Level

Speaking frankly, we all love to save money. Many business owners follow the “do-it-yourself” approach, cutting back on extraneous expenses where they see fit and choosing to handle a project in-house, rather than hiring outside. Yet, let’s not be too hasty in bashing those who penny-pinch — cutting back optional expenditures or pursuing an alternate cost effective solution are traits of the thrifty business owner. However, someone who bypasses a lucrative outside tool for the sake of saving money can’t hide behind the shroud of “thriftiness” any longer. You wouldn’t try to repair a broken vehicle yourself when a ready technician can do the job in half the time and with twice the efficiency. Going with the technician not only awards you peace of mind, but gets you to your destination at a faster pace, with less risk, and overall efficiency. So, when does thriftiness become imprudence in disguise?  — When the short term fear of losing money results in long-term jeopardy of your business.

That being said, you may wonder where and when in your business strategy you need to go with an outside hire. Introducing the digital marketing consultant(DMC). Much like the name connotes, the role of the consultant is all encompassing. A consultant must be at the ready to adjust him or herself to tackling an array of unique business needs. By default, the consultant is a chameleon — readjusting, revising, and re-contextualizing their approach to marketing with every client. Now, notice how at this point we’re referring to a consultant alone. Let’s add the digital component; the role becomes  more complex once we move to the niche realm of digital. From SEO, PPC advertising, social media expertise, and web design, a DMC is a wearer of many hats.

Let’s start with SEO. You may think that search engine optimization is a simple route to promoting your businesses web content. Plug in some keywords, and presto! — you have the lingo to pull together content that’s engaging and draws viewers to your site. Idealistic, yes. Realistic, not so much. SEO requires constant maintenance. From data analysis to social media management, making your site visible to search engines, and marketing the value of your site is a nuanced process. Without prior knowledge of SEO, tackling marketing strategy yourself is to take a shot in the dark. Even if your mark hits, retaining and generating more users to your site requires constant maintenance, by those who have expertise in the field. Your maintenance crew? You guessed it: the digital marketing consultant.

The digital marketing consultant does more than SEO maintenance; they also hold claim to the role of Designer. Well, Web Designer, that is. Even if you have the best copywriter in the world, good content is nothing if not correctly framed on your site. Like an artist before a canvas needs a paint-brush to create the intended masterpiece, the business owner needs a DMC to manifest his or her business in online form. They know that it isn’t the content itself that leads to conversions, but the way the content is manipulated. They know that when it comes to web design, its all about the user experience. For example, a site that is accessible on multiple devices is far more likely to be accessed. A digital marketing consultant understands this, and has the utility to structure your site based on what generates leads, not what appears viable to the business owner.

Knowing how to manage content in a way that attracts viewers is a tenet of digital advertising, one that the DMC is aware of. An astute investor knows where to put his dollars;  a digital marketing consultant  boasts a familiar expertise in recognizing which ad formats will fail and which will be lucrative in generating leads and conversations. Is banner advertising worthwhile? Is social media most effective via Facebook, Twitter, or an outside platform? Is the ideal buyer persona more swayed by heavy text ads, or are they visual? All questions the DMC is prepared to answer.

A comprehensive digital marketing strategy is not a one-size-fits all platform, and neither are its viewers. A good consultant understands this and has the capacity to recognize the pieces of a site that make it unique to others, manifesting it in light of your business. So don’t be frugal, be thrifty; know where expenses are needed. Invest in a digital marketing consultant and invest in a site that competing businesses in your industry will rival.