Why your agency needs a consultant
If you manage a growing agency your secret weapon could be an ongoing relationship with the right marketing consultant or freelancer. We review the business benefits and pros and cons for your agency.
Both AdAge and Consultancy UK have reported the reduced gap between management consultants and creative agencies. Rather than always being in competition, consultancies and agencies are more frequently working as a team and bringing together both sides of the coin for the benefit of the end client.
We see this model working on a smaller scale than WPP and Publicis, or Accenture and Deloitte, but do believe that both agencies and consultancies can learn from each other, both in terms of overall approach and toolkits.
Creative, marketing, PR or even digital agency clients have their own specialisms and expertise, often bringing the creative angle, whereas marketing consultants tend to favour a more data-led business strategy. However, both understand the importance of the customer and goals of the client and can work alongside for a very productive and efficient relationship.
Whilst global agencies are developing their own consulting arms, many benefit from a solution that brings in external consulting and expertise without any significant changes to structure or overheads. Hence the consultant (or freelancer) and agency relationship is born. Progressive agencies are no longer seeing consultancies and freelancers as threats or competition, but as opportunities to grow in breadth, depth, value to the client and long-term revenue.
"Progressive agencies are no longer seeing consultancies and freelancers as threats or competition, but as opportunities to grow in breadth, depth, value to the client and long-term revenue."
Top 10 reasons your agency should hire a marketing consultant
Some of the key benefits of working with a expert consultant include;
- You can utilise the expertise of a digital or strategy expert as a fully-fledged extension of your team
- Your services can be extended to include digital strategy solutions that you may not otherwise offer or have capacity to provide
- Outsourcing saves you time and money with recruitment and you can still make a good profit from the work
- Consultants can be part of your project as and when you need them, and you don't need to worry about continuous fee-based work to occupy them and balance the books
- Whilst being entrenched in the client is always a valuable situation for an agency to be in, the input of an 'outsider' can often bring fresh ideas and new approaches to difficult problems
- Developing an ongoing relationship with the right consultant can be an incredibly valuable resource for an agency, and partnerships can often bring a variety of benefits for both parties
- An experienced consultant can be a great sounding board for a variety of ideas and suggestions you may have on running your agency, working with clients, recruitment issues and much more. Many agency owners like to take advantage of the opportunity to run things past someone who's gained a wealth of agency and client experience, and we are always happy to help and advise
- There are many cost efficiencies you don't have to worry about when you don't directly employ someone - and remote working means no chance of loosing time due to being snowed in!
- A consultant can often be as hands on as required. Our optional white label solution means that we can work closely with your team, and act on your behalf, working directly with the client if required. This is totally down to you, but many of our agency clients like to equip us with everything the agency team has, from email address to benefits and a feature on the website!
- Consultants should be proactive, open and honest. Our time reporting options and transparency means we are always accountable and are proactive in seeking ongoing feedback, making any adjustments as necessary.
For more examples and details on how we can support your agency with the skills you need, read our agency clients page and view examples of the agency services we offer.
--
If you liked this post you may also enjoy …
--