Many entrepreneurs decide to bring on a marketing consultant when they realize they have too much on their plate and need some help. This can be a good thing: by delegating marketing work to a consultant, you should free up time to focus on other areas of your business. Hiring a consultant can also mean that your business benefits from their expertise in certain areas of marketing or in marketing to a certain industry. 

But not all marketing consultants can or will provide the same results, and we know many entrepreneurs have been burned by bad consulting engagements before. So, if you’ve decided to hire a consultant, what should you look for to understand if they’re the right person to work with you and your business?  

Cast a wide net

Start by sourcing potential consultants from a broad and diverse pool of candidates. When hiring a marketing consultant, you are bringing someone onto your team, and studies have shown that diverse teams make decisions faster, with less meetings and deliver better results. Expanding your search to include as many consultants as possible means you’ll have a better chance of finding someone whose outlook, skills and expertise are a match for your business’ needs. 

Many of us default to asking our immediate friends and family for recommendations when hiring, and that’s a great place to start. However, to really cast a wide net, you can search for marketing consultants through a few other ways:

• Making a public post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn to ask for candidates or recommendations by a certain date (here’s an example of an Instagram post looking for a marketing assistant) 
• Making similar posts in public and private groups, such as Facebook or LinkedIn groups or Slack channels focused on entrepreneurship
• Asking your customers for help and any of their recommendations (who knows, you might find a customer who is a marketing consultant!)
• Contacting your local Small Business Administration, chamber of commerce or entrepreneurship groups in your area (here’s an example from our city)

Ask a lot of questions 

Once you’ve made contact with potential consultants, set up time to talk with them. You will need at least 30 minutes, but usually these conversations can last up to an hour or longer. In this conversation, you’ll want to ask each consultant questions to learn about them, their experience and their approach to marketing. Some example questions include:

• What led you to becoming a marketing consultant?
• Is there a specific type of marketing that you focus on? Do you have experience in specific areas of marketing? 
• Are you more of a strategy builder or an execution-focused consultant?
• Tell me about one of your favorite engagements or clients so far.
• How would you approach marketing a business like mine?
  

You should also come to these conversations prepared with a set of expectations for your future consultant. Ask yourself what you want to get out of hiring a consultant for your business. Do you want to grow your email subscriber list? Are you looking for help with sales? Or, are you in need of a brand revamp or something else? If you’ve set aside a certain budget for hiring a consultant, what do you expect to get in exchange for spending that money? Asking yourself these questions and setting expectations will help you come to this conversation prepared and ready to articulate what you are looking for a marketing consultant to deliver. Setting expectations can be as straightforward as asking, “I am looking for a marketing consultant to deliver x, is this something you feel comfortable with and how would you approach it?” 

You will also want to ask questions to figure out if you would work well together. This can include asking about their schedule, other clients they may have and their communication preferences. Examples include:

• Knowing my expectations and my business’ needs, how much time do you think you would be spending on my business each week?
• Is there anything I should know about your schedule? 
• How will you balance and prioritize my business against the other clients you have? 
• How do you normally communicate with your clients? 
• How often do you check in with clients? 
• If I choose to go with you, what’s the best way to give you feedback? 
  

Finally, you want to make sure that any consultant you’re talking to has done their homework on you and your business. They should come to the conversation prepared and be interested and excited to talk to you. If they haven’t done their research, that’s a big red flag that they may not prioritize you as a client if they can’t even prioritize winning your business. 

Moving forward

If you’re interested in moving forward with a consultant, we always recommend asking for a reference as your next step. Most consultants can provide a previous client or colleague that they have worked with who can vouch for their work. You want to make sure you ask their reference for their honest opinion about what went well and what could have been improved. This is also your chance to ask about a consultant’s strengths and weaknesses, and the results they’ve provided for another business. If it all checks out, that’s great! If any of the references raise a red flag for you, you should ask the consultant before moving on. 

The last step in hiring a marketing consultant is signing a contract with them. Generally most consultants have their own contracts that stipulate their rates and payment terms, though you may find some who want you to bring your own contract. Make sure you review the contract in depth, and if you can, ask for specific milestones or goals to be included in the contract to keep your consultant accountable. For instance, if you want them to drive a specific amount of traffic to your website, or hit a certain sales goal, you should ask for it to be included. 

Once you’ve got the paperwork set up, it’s time to get to work! Make sure you set up a kick off meeting and set up regular touchpoints to make sure your marketing consultant is delivering growth for your business.