Inbound marketing consultants are in high demand in the small business world. When you’re in need of a consultant, there is no shortage of options on where to find one. However, it’s not always easy to know how to choose the ideal inbound marketing consultant for your company and what they can do for you. This article offers some tips on finding the perfect inbound marketing consultant and some ways that they might help your business grow.
What is an inbound marketing consultant and why should you hire one
An inbound marketing consultant is a professional in their field that specializes in helping small business owners with various inbound strategies. These consultants are usually responsible for conducting regular audits of your website, social media accounts and other online platforms to determine areas where you can improve SEO rankings or boost consumer engagement. Many inbound marketing consultants also have in-depth knowledge in the field of content marketing, allowing them to help your company develop new kinds of content with which you can draw in potential customers.
Content is important for any business’ success in today’s digital age, but it isn’t easy to create something that will engage consumers and drive sales conversions. Working with an inbound marketing consultant can help you in this area, allowing them to create content for your company while teaching you how to do it yourself in the future.
What is an inbound marketing strategist how are they different from consultants
An in-house inbound marketing strategist is usually someone who takes on the role of an inbound marketer within a business. They are responsible for creating and implementing inbound strategies to help boost sales conversions, website traffic numbers, lead generation and many other KPIs that matter in today’s digital world.
In contrast with consultants, in-house inbound marketing strategists are usually employees of the company they work for. They can be part-time or full-time depending on the needs and size of their employer’s business, but in most cases in house inbound marketers have much more access to resources that consultants typically don’t have at their disposal including all kinds of different platforms and tools to help in creating inbound strategies.
While inbound marketing consultants are content experts, inbound marketing strategists often have experience with lead generation and conversion rates. Strategies can help you to identify the most effective ways for your company to grow its customer base through specific inbound techniques like SEO or social media outreach so that you can best allocate resources.
What are inbound marketing services?
There are many inbound marketing services that inbound marketers can provide for your company. They include:
- Social media audits to help you identify areas where you’re being successful and others that need improvement in order to boost engagement with customers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram;
- Link building services which aim to make it easier for your website to rank in Google search results;
- Content marketing services which help you create content that will drive traffic and engagement on your site. Consultants can also teach you how to write blog posts, eBooks or case studies of the future so that you won’t need their services in this area in the long term;
- Website audits in order to uncover hidden opportunities for your company’s website.
What does an inbound marketing agency do?
Like inbound marketing consultants, an inbound marketing agency is also responsible for conducting regular audits of your website and social media accounts. What separates agencies from consultants however is that they instead offer a full suite of services to help grow your business online including everything provided by the above mentioned strategies as well as SEO management, email list building and much more.
Inbound marketing agencies have the benefit of being able to offer a more in-depth suite of services in comparison to inbound marketing consultants. They also have a better idea on which inbound techniques will be best for your company’s needs since they likely have first-hand experience in this area. In contrast, inbound marketing consultants are experts in content creation and can save you money in the long term.
Pros:
- In-depth suite of services for your business
- Full access to resources
Cons:
- Higher prices in comparison to inbound marketing consultants
- Longer time frame needed in most cases in order for inbound strategies to take effect.
How to find the best inbound marketing consultant for your business
It can be hard to find inbound marketing consultants, so it is important to consider the following in order to help in your search:
- Talk with friends or experts in your industry for recommendations of inbound marketers they’ve had success with in the past. If you have a friend who has had a positive experience with an inbound marketer, they will likely be more than happy to provide you with contact information.
- Search online for inbound marketers in your city or state by typing phrases into Google such as “inbound marketing consultant” or “inbound marketing agency”. Remember that before hiring any inbound marketing agency make sure that they are qualified and experienced in what you need.
- Ask Google – if you can’t find inbound marketing agencies on your own, try searching for inbound marketing agency and the name of your city (i.e. inbound marketing agency Toronto).
- Look at their website – does it look professional? Are they using modern design elements that will appeal to your target audience? Do they have a blog where you can learn more about inbound marketing? If they don’t have a blog, do they at least have any case studies or testimonials from past clients that you can look through?
- What kind of experience does the inbound marketer have with your industry specifically? Do not pick an inbound marketer who doesn’t specialize in what you’re in need of.
- How much experience in the inbound marketing world does this inbound marketer have? Are they just starting out or do they already have a few years under their belt working with clients in your industry specifically? Keep in mind that you get what you pay for, so it’s better to work with someone who has more experience in inbound marketing than someone who’s just starting out in the business.
- What can they do for your company that another inbound marketer might not be able to? Make sure that their services meet a need or solve a problem you have with inbound marketing, whether it is working with an inhouse team, creating videos and graphics, or in some other way that is out of the box.
- What kind of inbound marketing services do they specialize in? It’s important to work with someone who specializes in your industry – for example, if you’re in ecommerce, don’t hire an inbound marketer whose main focus has been working with SaaS companies.
Benefits of hiring an inbound marketing consultant
There are many benefits to hiring inbound marketing consultants, especially if you’re a small business owner that doesn’t have the time or skills necessary in order to grow your company’s online presence.
- They provide in depth knowledge and expertise in your industry, so they know exactly what you need to do in order to grow your business online.
- If the inbound marketing consultant has experience working with companies like yours before, then there is a good chance that they can help you take advantage of current trends and best practices for inbound marketing in your industry.
- Inbound marketers are in touch with current trends in the world of marketing and can tell you which strategies will work best for generating traffic to your website or blog as well as increasing conversions.
- They have an eye for design that will help them create a visually appealing brand identity, one that potential customers may be more likely to respond to in a major way.
- Inbound marketers create strategies that revolve around content marketing, which is one of the best ways in increasing your brand’s visibility online as well as attracting more customers and building up trust with them over time.
- By hiring an inbound marketer, you’ll have someone on your team who is in touch with what is going on in the online world and can help you make better decisions in terms of your company’s marketing efforts.
What do inbound marketing consultants do all day?
Inbound marketing consultants are in charge of your company’s inbound strategy. They will research trends in your industry, conduct market analysis in order to identify the most effective inbound techniques for you and then create a customized plan that sets goals for growth using these strategies. Once this is done they’ll implement their plans across various platforms including social media, your website or in some cases print media like newspaper ads.
How much does it cost to hire an inbound marketing consultant?
Inbound marketing consultants are in high demand in today’s market which means that their prices are often very competitive. Depending on your needs, inbound marketing strategies can either be affordable or quite expensive to implement however it is important to remember that the benefits you’ll receive from this service might lead to a huge increase in revenue for your company down the line in the long run.
Here are some average inbound marketing consultant prices in the US:
- Development of inbound marketing strategy: $1000-$5000
- Six month inbound plan implementation: $2000/mo.
- Social Media Management: $15/hr or flat rate (can range from $200-$2200)
- Expert in SEO and link building – Link Building Package includes links to sites like Fiverr, YouTube, Quora etc.: ranges from 5-6 hours for 1 site to 12 hours for 10 dofollow links. Average cost is around 220$.
- Content creation: inbound content marketing, video script writing and production, social media management; $400-$700 per month.
Tips for selecting the right person for your business needs
The first thing you’ll want to look out for in a consultant is experience. They will need to have worked in your industry in the past and understand how this market works in order to be effective at helping you grow your sales online. Remember, it’s better if they’ve also had some time working with other companies in addition to yours.
Ask them how they measure success and what results you can expect to see from working together. If a consultant only uses vague terms like “increased website traffic” it may be time to move on in order to work with someone else.
Make sure they provide you with a detailed plan and not just vague promises of success in growing your business online. This will help ensure that you get the most out of their services in terms of ROI for your company.
Ask them what platforms or mediums they use when implementing inbound marketing strategies. Some consultants will only work on one platform, while others may focus on more than one in order to provide their services in a cost effective manner for your business.
Finally, it is important to look at the online presence of any inbound marketing consultant you are considering hiring. See if they have any website or digital marketing that you can refer to in order to get a sense of the work they have done in the past.
Inbound marketing consultants should be able to speak about their successes in implementing inbound strategies for other businesses and how it led to increased revenue or sales figures down the line so look for these details when screening different specialists.
Questions to ask potential candidates before hiring them
Here are some of the questions that you may want to ask potential candidates before hiring them in order for this service to be a success:
What is inbound marketing and how does it work?
They should be able to explain inbound marketing in the simplest terms in order for you to understand exactly what they plan on doing in order to grow your business online.
How will they measure success in terms of inbound marketing in my business?
This should be in the form of a breakdown in terms of how many leads they will generate as well as an increase in website traffic and conversion rates.
How much will this cost and what results can I expect in the long run?
Prices need to be in accordance with the benefits you will receive in terms of increased revenue and sales figures in your business.
What platforms do they work with when implementing inbound strategies in different mediums online?
Knowing the platforms in which inbound marketing consultants work in is important in order to ensure you get the most out of their services.
Do they have a website or digital presence that we can refer to in order to learn more about their services.
This is important in order to learn more about their work in the past and gain an understanding of how they might be able to help your business grow with inbound marketing strategies.
Now is the best time to get started
Inbound marketing consultants can be a huge asset in helping your business grow online with the right inbound strategies. They will research trends in your industry, conduct market analysis in order to identify the most effective inbound techniques for you and then create a customized plan that sets goals for growth using these strategies. Once this is done they’ll implement their plans across various platforms including social media, your website or in some cases print media like newspaper ads.
If all of this sounds intimidating and you want help enacting these principles, let us know. Our team of experts are ready and waiting to partner with you to create a stellar SEO or marketing plan that drives sales by considering how your customers think, behave and what inbound marketing techniques they respond to.