How marketing consultant services have pivoted

Marketers are renowned for being creative, coming up with new ideas, leveraging old one's and being strategic in their approach. When a marketing consultant is employed by a company, there is a certain number of expectations that every small business expects.

These include;

Ability to read through the lines: Knowing what the small business needs is paramount to finding a solution. Quite often small businesses struggle to effectively communicate their needs and in essence their problems, which hinders the road to finding a true solution.

Professionalism in conduct: Without doubt there is a certain level of professionals expected of marketing consultants that differs from a straight out creative, a public relations expert or a web developer. They are expected to be 'polished' in their approach, and capable of navigating the conversation and narrative.

Industry based experience: Coming straight from college, it would be a stretch to be a marketing consultant with experience. That's why it is encouraged to get experience on the job before setting sail on testing what you have learned at college on the real world. A marketing consultant is expected to have experience, but not just any experience. Industry based experience is critical to understand the dynamics that surrounds marketing strategy and the implementation of marketing campaigns.

Risk versus reward mentality: No-one wants a marketing consultant that plays it safe all of the time. Through great risk, is great reward. Any small business owner knows that. The expectation of a marketing consultant is that they know when to take risks and they know when to hold back and stick to the plan. 

Knowledge of marketing strategy: No marketing consultant can hold this role if they don't know how to develop an effective marketing strategy. What is important today is that they understand all the different facets of marketing and are strong in digital marketing - not just in concept but in practice. While there are great marketing strategy technologies that do all the work for marketing consultants today, it is critical to remember that strategies don't implement themselves and the person or people behind it need to know exactly how to activate marketing campaigns.

Exactly how marketing consultant services have pivoted is a change in mindset. Being without the usual confines of an office, and unable to get out amongst it meeting people, having conversations and bouncing ideas, means that they have needed to be more focused on the use of technology to do their jobs. In particular, the internet and all that it encompasses in the marketing world. Everyone is sitting behind some type of device, and how we connect to that person is not a mass approach, but a one-to-one marketing communication powered by data.

The idea is to not stand still, but to pivot knowledge, technology and creativity sitting at your dining room table. It's not as easy as it sounds but the world is adapting fast, and marketing consultants are being forced to throw away bad habits, basic intuition and become the owners of their profession.