Top 10 Marketing Strategy Consultants to Hire for Improved Marketing Campaigns
Hire a marketing strategy consultant to help you drive awareness and conversions with a unified strategy.
Published March 3, 2024.
A marketing strategy consultant's job is to help companies implement the most effective marketing strategies to reach their target audience and hit their growth goals. These experts can help with market research, implementation, targeting, competitor analysis, and messaging.
Our picks for the top marketing strategy consultants
1. Barbara H. - Best overall
2. Itzett R. - Best for marketing strategies in the tech sector
3. Michael K. - Best for personalized strategies aimed at KPIs
4. Pawel K. - Best for strategies in tech companies
5. Nicolas D. - Best for high-value paid ads strategies
6. Akihiro N. - Best for digital marketing engagement and consulting
7. Dan G. - Best for CMO and CRO marketing consults
8. Murtaza A. - Best for marketing strategies in the finance industry
9. Alesandro P. - Best for experienced PPC marketing and consulting
10. Jose J. - Best for consulting in professional service industries
What does a strategy consultant do?
A marketing strategy consultant works with the business owner, chief marketing officer (CMO), or head of marketing to diagnose problems, identify solutions, and provide an unbiased perspective.
They could do any number of things, including:
- Meet with the client to learn about their business objectives
- Conduct research on existing marketing operations, the product, the ideal customers, the current marketing technology stack, and the current digital marketing trends of the day
- Identify issues and areas for improvement
- Create a digital marketing plan with solutions and specific strategies
- Create reports and presentations
Those are specific actions the consultant would be taking, but there are several general areas of marketing that consultants can help you with, including:
- Brand and customer strategy
- Pricing optimization
- B2B go-to-market strategy
- Customer experience
- Sales management
- Digital marketing
What skills does a strategy consultant need?
A marketing strategy consultant needs several basic skills to succeed, including interpersonal soft skills, analytics, creative thinking, and a dedication to your business. Let's talk about each one in greater detail.
People skills
Marketing consultants need to have advanced interpersonal skills since they interface with various teams. Depending on the size of the company, they could interface with just the marketing team or with people on the product, dev, and operations side of the business as well.
Analytics
A lot of the success in marketing is due to the correct use of data. A digital marketing consultant is going to spend most of their time analyzing data and then creating recommendations and a marketing plan from that data. They need to know marketing tools and platforms like the back of their hand and be experienced in Google Sheets or Excel.
Creative thinking
Creativity is a must-have skill for any independent consultant. Your strategic planning freelancer needs to develop creative ways to market the business to engage with potential clients and build customer loyalty with the existing customer base.
Creativity is the backbone of any marketing effort, including paid marketing campaigns, email marketing, and any kind of customer acquisition.
Dedication to the business
Your marketing strategy consultant is going to spend many hours researching your business and your ideal customers. They will need to really get into the weeds of your value prop, your position in the market, and your competitors.
It will take many long hours of research before they come up with a plan, and even then, they won't see any results from it until after you implement it. So patience, dedication, and an entrepreneurial mindset (to get stuff done) are key here.
Questions to ask your consultant before hiring
- How much marketing analytics experience do you have?
- Which marketing techniques do you use to gather customer insights?
- Which industries are you most experienced in?
- Which analytics tools do you use?
- Do you have experience in specific channels (online advertising, SEO, content marketing)
- How big are your typical clients? (1-10 employees? 20-50 employees? >100?)
- How soon can we expect a growth strategy, and would you also help with the implementation?
- How many projects are you currently working on?
- How much management experience do you have?
How to hire the best strategy consultant for your business
Want to hire the best marketing strategy consultant for your business? Here is a step-by-step process.
Identify your goals
First, identify your goals. What do you feel is not working for your business? Is there a specific challenge? Are you planning to do a complete digital transformation to your business? Or is everything working great, and you are expanding and want to get the best strategy moving forward?
Write the job description
Next, decide on your specific requirements. What's your budget? How many hours will you want to hire your freelance consultant for? Would they advise your marketing team on specific marketing campaigns, implement marketing initiatives themselves, or create a plan from scratch?
Put everything in writing and compare your description to what you find online for your niche.
Advertise online
Once you publish your job ad, it's time to share it on social media platforms, online groups, and Slack channels. You can even sponsor online newsletters or pay for placement on job boards.
The challenge here is that these places require a lot of sifting through applications, and you will probably get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of applicants.
Ask your network
An easier way to find the right digital marketing consultant is by asking your professional network. You could even reach out to your customer base (if you're in B2B) and see if they know any good candidates. You'd be surprised how much people want to refer their friends.
Hire a vetted marketing strategy consultant through Mayple
The best way to hire the right talent is to work with Mayple. Our platform has over 600+ marketing experts that are vetted by our team, and matched to your business based on their proven experience in your niche and a successful track record.
Bonus: our experts can not only create the marketing plan for you but also run your marketing campaigns, work directly with your marketing team, and help convert your potential clients into raving fans.
FAQ
What do strategy consultants do day to day?
A strategy consultant looks at the past performance of a business, evaluates its strengths and weaknesses (read: SWOT analysis), and comes up with an action plan to execute specific digital strategies to help the business hit its goals.
What is an example of strategic consulting?
An example of marketing strategy services could include a SWOT analysis, competitor analysis, creating the best digital marketing strategy for a product launch or a brand extension, or creating an action plan for a specific marketing channel.
How much do strategy consultants make?
The average salary of a marketing strategy consultant is $93,000, and the total average pay, including bonuses, profit sharing, and commission, ranges from $64,000 to $165,000 per year.
And it completely depends on the stage the consultant is in their digital marketing career. Here's a breakdown by career stage:
- Entry-level (0-1 year): $73,000
- Early-career (1-4 years): $86,000
- Mid-career (5-9 years): $101,000
- Experienced (10-19 years): $117,039
- Late-career (20+ years): $132,000
What is the hourly rate of a marketing strategy consultant?
According to Zippia, the hourly rate for a marketing consultant is about $32.43 per hour. That comes to just over $67,000 per year, and it can vary by geography and industry.