Who Is Digital Marketing Consultant And What Functions Does He Perform?

A Digital Marketing Consultant is one of the outlets where people in the sector specialize the most because it is a position that is in great demand by companies.

They have realized that they need a profitable strategy to get visibility and sales online.

Especially as a result of increased competition.

And this is where the consultant or digital marketing consultancy figure comes into play.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

In this post, I will tell you in detail what a Digital Marketing Consultant is and his main tasks.

Digital Marketing Consultant, What Is It?

The Digital Marketing Consultant is the person who helps implement the digital marketing plan of a company or organization.

It does not matter what is sold (products, services, training…) or if the only thing the brand is looking for is to position itself in the sector, have an online presence, and achieve its objectives. A multi-channel strategy must be drawn up. We want to strengthen our brand; optimizing this presence within the online environment takes work.

The Digital Marketing Consultant has enough knowledge to analyze where a business is and define which roadmap should be followed to improve and increase its benefits.

Social networks, advertising, SEO, communication strategies, podcasting, workshops, and webinars…

Many strategies and actions can be carried out, but in the end, it is essential to know which ones will make a business profitable at the lowest cost.

What Does a Digital Marketing Consultant Do?

One of the most essential things in a digital marketing consultant is the first meeting in which the business needs are known, and the briefing is completed.

But what is a Briefing?
With that information, the marketing consultant:

Determine what is most relevant.

Add new points of view and proposals.

Analyze the competition to see what they are doing.

Define the strategies to achieve the goals set by the company and improve the current situation.

Come on, what is known as a Digital Marketing Plan?

In this plan, the business goals are defined in the short, medium, and long term and the actions will be carried out in the different online platforms to achieve them.

Functions Of A Digital Marketing Consultant

And what are the functions and tasks of a Marketing Consultant?

Let’s see them one by one:

Submit Marketing Proposals

The freelance marketing consultant must get their clients so that they will create their own sales funnel.

One way to attract customers is by submitting marketing proposals to companies that may interest you, commenting on bugs you have found, and suggesting improvements.

If the company decides to hire a consultant, it is when it defines in detail the strategies and actions to carry them out.

Therefore, making professional presentations and communicating confidently are essential skills.

Do a Business Audit

The first phase of a digital consulting service is to audit the client’s project and compare it with the competition.

One of the keys to why many marketing strategies fail is because the necessary time has yet to be dedicated to analyzing what actions have been carried out and what the competition has carried out.

Therefore, in the marketing audit, it is necessary to analyze the following:

How Social Media is being managed.

What is the status of the project in terms of SEO positioning?

Audit advertising campaigns on social networks.

Content Strategy Analysis.

Analysis of search engine advertising campaigns.

All the information collected is then transferred to a SWOT analysis, where the company’s weaknesses, strengths, threats, and opportunities are determined. 

Define the buyer persona

One of the main mistakes in business is needing to be more precise on which customer profile your product or service is focused on.

And this translates into investing money in actions that are not directed to the correct public and therefore do not work.

The digital marketing specialist must help his client define who that buyer person is to aim well with the strategies.

Design the company’s digital marketing strategy

After analyzing what is and is not working in the company, you will define the roadmap.

Ideally, the marketing consultant masters all areas so that it is a multi-channel strategy, that the company promotes itself and impacts its potential clients from different channels so as not to depend on a single means of recruitment.

Analyze the internal and external processes of the company

On other occasions, the marketing strategy fails because there needs to be coherent internal connection and communication between the company’s departments.

For this reason, it is also essential to analyze which processes are followed and see if it is possible to automate any of them to improve the company’s efficiency.

Here it is also essential to know what resources will be available (both human and financial).

Because you can only create a powerful strategy if there are enough resources to execute it.

Implement the marketing strategy

Designing is different from implementing.

Many companies hire a digital marketing consultant to design the strategy and execute it themselves.

But on other occasions, companies, in addition to hiring the design, also need to implement it due to ignorance or lack of resources.

For this, it will be essential to define a Road Map and a GANTT calendar, where all the actions are scheduled, and thus each person responsible for the team is planned and organized much better.

Measurement and Reporting

Finally, (and no less critical… quite the opposite) the digital marketing consultant must supervise that the strategies and actions that have been carried out have served to achieve the business objectives.

To do this, present a report to your clients with the metrics and marketing KPIs achieved.

Based on the results, improvements and modifications are applied to the digital marketing plan.

What Does a Digital Marketing Consultant Need To Know?

Knowing strategic marketing is something that will make the difference between a purely online consultant and one who also has experience at a strategic level and in the offline part.

The more complete the profile, the more competent and with more significant opportunities in the sector.

Even so, it is only possible to be an expert in some of the skills I will explain.

Since each competence I am going to list is a specialization, the online marketing consultant will not be able to master all of them.

These are:

SEO

Knowing what factors Google or any other search engine takes into account to improve visibility and positioning according to the user searches is essential.

Therefore, you must know the techniques and trends in the algorithms to keep the positioning intact and always try to improve it.

SEM.

SEM or also called English Search Engine Marketing.

The marketing consultant will advise the client on the most appropriate payment channels to advertise.

Search engine campaigns, YouTube videos, Google Shopping, Display on other websites…

Social Media.

Social networks are here to stay, and there is no doubt.

But really, how many companies know how to use them appropriately to get sales?

This is not about posting content to post.

To do marketing on social networks, it is necessary to create a strategy that aligns with the company’s objectives. The digital marketing consultant will advise the business on the networks that can give the most performance at the business level because its target audience is there…

Email Marketing.

Email Marketing is a powerful communication technique that the digital marketing consultant must master so their clients can implement.

It is a more private channel, and communication with the person is constant. Therefore it increases sales opportunities considerably.

Choosing the right email platform is essential since you can run very profitable automated campaigns depending on the resources.

For example, a common practice in online stores is to create abandoned cart automation for all who visit a product but end up closing the tab without completing the purchase.
Emails are sent to them to finish the process, which is a very effective way to recover sales.

Affiliate Marketing.

Affiliate marketing is a type of marketing that allows you to earn commissions by promoting other people’s products.

They can be from companies or freelance entrepreneurs.

Now, it only works with some people, and you must think about it strategically.

If these brands do not have a community behind them, it is challenging to do effective affiliate marketing, and for this, it is essential to know how to choose those affiliates.

Something that the marketing consultant should also know.

E-commerce.

Defining the strategy of an ecommerce is quite complex, much more than for other types of businesses.

You have to know how to prioritize the products and services that you want to promote and thus define the communication and distribution strategies of the products.

Or do you think all the products in an online store are equally profitable or have the exact conversion?

Absolutely.

The digital marketing consultant must analyze which products are more critical in profitability and how to increase sales and the average purchase ticket, with strategies such as Up Selling and Cross Selling.

Usability.

When starting the web project or optimizing conversions, you have to consider issues at a visual level for the design and usability of the user.

The user is the focus of everything, and the web must be intuitive and always guide him toward conversion.

Having a “pretty” website is not enough.

This is something the marketing consultant must understand and convey to the client to consider in the strategy.

Content Strategy

Blogs are a channel that allows you to attract visits to the web from people who may be interested in your products.

The content is aligned with the business model and is based on a strategic approach.