If your marketing team is not well-versed in online activity, you may benefit from hiring an internet marketing consultant to handle the online presence of your business.
An internet marketing consultant handles companies’ web presence and online advertising to increase traffic, gain followers and promote conversions.
They have specific goals and objectives to attain and work with the marketing team or manager to set those goals. They use a number of marketing tactics such as PPC campaigns, email campaigns, and SEO strategies for optimization and evaluating the analytics.
Many consultants specialise in just one marketing discipline. Others are multi-skilled but work under specific umbrellas, such as growing your traffic or helping you to scale your business.
A marketing consultant or internet marketing consultant is not an employee of the company. They are independent contractors or an organisation hired by the company to conduct the work in their own space unless other arrangements have been agreed upon.
What Is an Internet Marketing Consultant?
What types of skills does an internet marketing consultant need?
An internet marketing consultant must have a specific skill set in order to be successful in this role.
They should have at a minimum:
- Understanding of analytics,
- Writing skills,
- Knowledge of PPC,
- Knowledge of Google AdWords,
- How to conduct successful email campaigns,
- Knowledge of SEO,
- Knowledge of the creative process,
- Knowledge of social media platforms,
- Working knowledge of web design and CRO.
These skills are important when working as an internet marketing consultant.
They are tasked with the challenge of creating content that will help attract online audience engagement to help build the brand and get loyal followers. They must be diligent in knowing buyer personas and create targeted campaigns and online assets that make a difference.
In addition to being a marketing expert, an effective consultant should also know your business inside out. They need to fully understand who buys your product and why.
How Can an Internet Marketing Consultant Help Your Business?
An internet marketing consultant can work with other marketing consultants you may have on board to develop a comprehensive cross-strategy that will tie all your marketing elements together.
Internet marketing is very strategic and can be more intensive than a standard marketing plan.
Internet marketing requires a lot of analytic and qualitative information, which means there are a lot of numbers, statistics and interpretations of data based on certain demographics and other markers.
Consultants are typically experts in one field. Here are some of the most common disciplines in which companies engage outside help to work:
SEO
An experienced SEO consultant can optimise your site and online campaigns to perform well in search engines. This is a detailed process that takes time to achieve; it’s also a lot more complicated than most people realise.
SEO is all about making sure that people who will benefit from your products or services can find your business. This requires a unique blend of creativity, strategic thought, and technical knowledge.
This task consists of analysing the competition and identifying the keywords and phrases that will help your ranking. An effective SEO consultant then uses this information to decide how to maximise your search engine visibility.
Ranking is a huge part of SEO. If done correctly, you could have the potential to end up on the first page of the search results, which is what you want.
However, before this stage, an SEO consultant will help you figure out the kinds of search engine users most likely to buy your products. This includes both users who are aware that they’ll benefit from a purchase and those who are not.
PPC Advertising
Pay-per-click ads help draw visitors to your site. These ads are shown to individuals while they are in search engines. There is a fee involved every time someone clicks on those ads. Utilizing this feature helps stay on budget.
Depending on a few factors, you could spend very little money and still have a good return on investment. PPC campaigns can be time-consuming.
The right PPC advertisement can draw immediate attention to the site. It is important to see those ads whenever someone searches.
Any good PPC strategy comes in two stages. First, it’s important to experiment with your ad set-up and landing pages to find the most cost-effective approach. Then, you can scale your efforts and maximise your inbound traffic.
Social Media
An internet consultant should be well aware of the social media platforms that are popular in your industry. This is an area where a few marketing consultants or a larger team would benefit.
Social media is time-consuming and needs a lot of attention in order to get new followers.
Or, someone may have joined your Facebook following when someone they know tags them in a post from the company. The more you grow your social media, the more you can expect growth with your business.
The key is to be creative to grow your customer base and keep them loyal. Posting links, using contests, or introducing new promotions work well. You can also conduct a poll or ask questions in real-time because the key is to stay engaged.
Email Marketing
Email is still one of the most effective tools used to reach customers.
Utilizing this tool the right way will increase sales and engagement. Emails can also be forwarded to someone else, which is also trackable. This is a proven way to drive sales and get repeat visitors to your site.
Many businesses don’t realise that email marketing is actually highly scientific. A large amount of experimentation, psychology and data analysis goes into creating email campaigns which offer a return on investment.
Content Marketing
Content is king. Writing different posts and engagement pieces makes a world of difference. The internet marketing consultant will be able to write a copy for every asset you have – including videos, emails, social media postings, and more.
Considering a whitepaper or e-book? You will be surprised at the number of people who will download an asset because of a strong CTA. Your marketing consultant should be able to start a blog and keep it full of interesting content.
Link Building
Having good links is a key part of getting customers to visit your site to help your ranking. Linking through other sites that may have some authority based on keywords or phrases should definitely have a buy-in.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case. With so many improvements to search engines, it is important to have high-quality links to make a difference. Link building is very real and takes time, resources and dedication to the cause.
Having the right links indicates to the search engines you can be trusted as an industry resource.
There are consultants out there who specialise in getting relevant, high-authority links for your site. These people tend to have keen content marketing skills, as well as an extensive network of contacts to secure guest posts.
When NOT to Hire an Internet Marketing Consultant
Of course, there are no silver bullets in business. Many business owners assume that bringing on a consultant will solve all of their marketing woes. The truth is that consulting is a collaborative process.
This means that the better your marketing is, to begin with, the more value you’re likely to see by hiring a consultant. Once you’ve gained some knowledge, you’ll also have an easier time shaping the outcomes of your marketing plan.
There is much you can do on your own before spending money for a consultant to set up the basics. At a minimum, you should consider the following before engaging with a consultant:
- Making your website search engine friendly, for example, is one of the stepping stones of online marketing. There are many free SEO tools and digital marketing tools available online that can help you familiarise yourself with the concept.
- Basic market research can be done in the form of simple surveys on your social media page. This gives you an idea of the direction you or a consultant can work on in the future.
- A blog related to your business can be an effective way to increase your traffic. This step requires some commitment and time, but the payoff is worth it if done correctly. Here’s a good place to get started: How to Create a Blog, Promote it, and Things to Blog About
- Hiring interns is the second best thing if you decide online business consulting isn’t for you. They would have to be creative, hardworking, and have a background in SEO and, preferably, digital marketing.
When an Internet Marketing Consultant Can Help You
The next step for any ambitious business is always expanding, and that is where online marketing consulting can really have an impact.
Once you are on your feet in the market and ready to go further with your brand, you can consider hiring a consultant or digital marketing agency. First, you’ll need to provide them with all your previous data or how you got this far.
Then you have to show them where you want to be, like expanding to a new market or increasing your traffic five folds. It would be better to even have a time frame set for the consultant to stick to.
If you’d like to speak about how we can help you with your marketing strategy, contact the ProfileTree team today. In the meantime, check out some of our other articles that will help you with an insight into being an internet marketing consultant:
Ethics and Legality in Marketing
After you and your online marketing consultant aligned your visions, there’s only going forward and upward from here.
