Marketing Consulting
Marketing consulting means different things to different people. Generally, consultants tackle specific issues that require outside expertise, or something that the management team can’t get to due to other responsibilities. See below for more information on hiring a marketing consultant.
Consulting engagements work toward a specific solution, objective, or goal. Sometimes we execute creative as well; sometimes it’s just strategy.
Client Case Studies
We have formed some great relationships since 2009. Click the button below to review some case studies.
Testimonials
Relationships are everything.
You really get to know people when you learn about their business. It might be business, but in many cases, it's also very personal. We get it.
“We engaged with Strategic Glue for marketing consulting in 2009, and Terry joined our company as VP of Sales and Marketing for 5 years after that. Terry continues to consult with us, and I highly recommend him for strategy, branding, sales and marketing integration, and digital marketing. It is unusual for marketers to accept accountability for the results…Terry does.”
“Terry is a strategic thinker who possesses strong creativity and brand building skills. At Ignite! Learning, we experienced significant growth and profitability in a short time after Terry’s arrival. More importantly, he led the charge of re-positioning the brand to build lasting value for the company. If you want to build your brand in a way that integrates sales and marketing efforts, Terry is your guy.”
Three Commonly Asked Questions About Marketing Consulting
As businesses grow and evolve, outside marketing consultants are often a viable option to help with strategy or specific initiatives, particularly for resource-challenged companies. Consultants are typically brought-in based upon their respective areas of expertise, or to simply get an outside perspective to confirm or challenge management’s current or future plans.
Three commonly asked questions about marketing consulting include:
- How do you know if you need a marketing consultant?
- What can you expect from a marketing consultant?
- How much do marketing consultants charge?
How Do You Know if You Need Marketing Consulting?
One of the first questions to ask is, “Do I need strategy help, execution help, or both?” Generally, strategic marketing consultants don’t usually execute (but not always), and creative professionals who do execute sometimes refer to themselves as marketing consultants.
Typically, management turns to a strategy consultant when they’re determining next steps for business growth and value creation. General marketing planning, branding, new market entry, digital strategy, customer acquisition and retention, and competitive analysis, are among many initiatives that may necessitate hiring a marketing consultant.
This is a helpful article from LinkedIn.
What Can You Expect from a Marketing Consultant?
Strategic marketing consultants who specialize in specific areas bring expertise that management might not have or who might be otherwise consumed in other areas of the business. Consultants have the benefit of being “outside” the business and can usually offer a less biased or objective perspective without the fear and intimidation that full-time employees sometimes face.
Consultants usually start by understanding your goals and objectives, followed by a needs assessment and then some type of methodology that includes research, analysis, recommendation, and perhaps measurement of results at some point (if applicable). That may sound formal or clinical, but it’s simply a very high-level overview of what they do to help you reach your respective goals and why what they do should bring value to your organization.
How Much Do Marketing Consultants Charge?
Many consultants charge by the hour, which is usually dictated by the project scope, their experience, expertise, education, and location. Others operate on a monthly retainer for a specificed period of time dependent on the scope of the work. Either way, it is important to remember that you are paying for their knowledge and experience – and most likely knowledge that your company doesn’t have either by choice (maybe you don’t need a high-level consultant on the bench) or necessity (limited resources).
Hourly rates vary wildly with $150.00 per hour on the low-end to $1,000 and up on the high-end. In the Midwest, for example, a $200.00 per hour rate is not uncommon. But, you have to remember, this is for a finite amount of time and level of expertise that you don’t have to employ on a full-time basis. Travel and expenses are typically not included in the hourly rate, but consultants are not limited to your city or state; many travel and use technology to communicate with clients.
Many consultants also charge by the project, which many clients find beneficial. Your consultant will determine the scope of the project with you and provide a quote based upon the timeline, milestones, and deliverables. Consulting projects can range anywhere from several thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars for more elaborate or extensive projects.
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FAQs
Why types of consulting projects does Strategic Glue work on?
We’ve done a vast array of marketing projects, but our sweet spots are brand strategy, digital strategy, general marketing strategy, customer acquisition, customer retention, marketing technology, and sales and marketing integration.
What type of clients does Strategic Glue work with?
We work with all types of clients – ranging from $1 million to $200 million in annual revenue. Having said that, the commonality between all of our clients has been the need for help in the strategy areas of brand, customer, offering, marketing, sales, and management – the 6-To-Fix Marketing Strategy Framework we developed to address these areas. Generally speaking, the clients who have needed us the most generally fall below $50 million in annual revenue.
Do you charge by the hour or by the project?
We’ve done both but prefer to charge by the project for consulting engagements. Clients are often wary of being charged per hour, and frankly, so are we. It is a lot easier to mutually establish a value for the project, and then the onus is on us to deliver on time and within budget.
How much do you charge?
Completely depends on the scope of the project, the duration of the project, the number of resources needed, etc. The best thing we can do is sit down with you, understand your goals and objectives, establish a scope of work, and then propose a consulting engagement, which specifies all of the aforementioned.
How knowledgeable are you with marketing technology?
Strategic Glue is a Hubspot Certified Partner, SharpSpring Certified Partner, and very proficient with Salesforce and other CRMs. Enterprise-level knowledge include Adobe Marketing and Advertising Cloud; DOMO; and Tableau, among others. Additionally, we have done many projects with clients’ existing data to drive personalization in both online and offline tactics. We have a great working relationship with Boingnet/Postalytics, among others.
