Table of Contents
In this guide, I’ve shared expert-level content marketing strategies and case studies from consultancy companies that have been consistently producing high-quality content for their target markets.
These case studies include a detailed description of the problem, the implementation of the content marketing strategy, and a significant resulting ROI.
Why Consulting is a Unique Business
Almost everyone knows about the perks of consulting, such as the decent money and the nice suits, from talking to acquaintances in the profession.
Indeed, consulting isn’t only about the money—there are many lesser-known reasons to become involved.
If you’re still undecided about whether or not to pursue a career in consulting, here are five reasons why you might want to reconsider.
Skip the C-suite
Climbing the corporate ladder and taking on company-wide strategic problems is something many people strive for throughout their life.
If you want to work on and solve these challenges, there are few professions or opportunities where you don’t have to put in the time and effort.
In the meantime, consulting provides a unique opportunity for you to develop your strategic muscle and learn about this thinking style.
Knowing what keeps senior leaders up at night—and knowing that you can help them handle those issues—is a significant reason to enter the sector, regardless of whether you continue consulting.
Wide range of options
Every time we employ someone fresh out of college, I hear about this perk of working in consulting. But, unfortunately, choosing a job path after graduation can be difficult for many recent college grads, who are either hesitant or unwilling to make a decision.
People who decide to pursue a career in consulting will have the opportunity to rapidly explore other industries, functional areas, and even geographical locations to discover what they enjoy the most.
Consultancy is a great way to learn about various corporate cultures and meet people inside them, which can help you make a more informed decision about where you want to work in the future.
And if you decide to stay in consulting, what are your plans then? Again, everyone seems to select a practice area or niche that is just right for them.
Networking
The fastest and best approach to expand your professional network is to join a consulting firm.
As you work on various projects, you’ll have to deal with multiple clients and stakeholders.
You’ll be able to meet people at all levels of an organization, including those who are generally reasonably senior, and develop relationships that could lead to job offers, consultancy assignments, or even mentorships.
You can also work with people who have many of your features, such as A-type personalities if you choose to engage in consulting.
Your friendship will last for years to come, even if your former colleagues have moved on to new careers (see consultancy departure options).
One of the biggest reasons to engage in consulting is the extensive network you will develop, which will likely extend across cities, organizations, and degrees of seniority.
Expertise is quickly acquired.
Consulting offers unmatched training and education. However, you’ll be able to learn on the job and through official training programs (which shouldn’t be overlooked).
As a result of the fast-paced nature of the projects and the fact that you’re usually working in teams, you’ll quickly become an expert in a wide range of fields, from developing organization-wide KPIs to conducting stakeholder interviews to assessing the potential savings companies can achieve through supply chain contracts.
It’s not just about reading about the significant macro trends that influence your client or the industry as a whole; consultants are also expected to challenge and discuss these trends with the people they deal with.
Variety of growth opportunities
There is a hierarchy in consulting, but there is also a strong undercurrent of merit-based opportunities and performance.
There are no long periods in which your supervisor is absent for you to advance in your career in a job like this one.
Asking for “stretch” roles will allow you to expand your skillset beyond what you already know.
As a result of their abilities, credibility, and confidence, many junior employees have been elevated to “go-to” status and earned a seat at the table with senior partners.
Main Challenges in Consulting Business
Uncertainty in the marketplace
Uncertainty in the marketplace is a critical business challenge for over half of respondents in these uncertain times. With a 30 percent increase in replies since 2019, it is clear that the global COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on their lives.
Despite this, management consulting firms have long struggled with the inability to foretell the future.
New consulting companies are moving from relying heavily on interpersonal interaction (think networking or referrals) toward a more open online marketplace.
That’s where the game is being played more and more, and consumers are picking the winners there.
However, there is a lot more going on in the market than just changes in corporate development.
Mergers and acquisitions are occurring at an unprecedented rate, and new well-funded companies with distinct business models are springing up with alarming regularity.
The tumultuous market is here to remain, and the most successful companies will find ways to deal with it by being more flexible.
Changes in service buyer behavior
Forty-seven percent of management consulting businesses are concerned about the shifting purchasing habits of their clients, which is only a fraction of the market uncertainty.
There is no concrete evidence to support this hypothesis; nonetheless, we assume that an increase in the number of people using the online search and social media in their search for an evaluation of consulting firms may be contributing to this worry.
Even the method of obtaining referrals has changed over time. Today, many referrals are provided by people who have never even worked with your company but have heard about you from other sources.
Increasingly, companies are creating their online identities through sophisticated content marketing campaigns and direct social media involvement, and this trend is expected to continue. It’s not hard to imagine that some businesses aren’t ready for these developments.
But the clock is ticking! If consulting businesses want to stay relevant in today’s fast-changing environment, they must embrace the digital revolution.
Increasing competition
The increased competition meant that we had to move down from last year, but still finish third place.
Survey respondents from management consulting firms are concerned about new and larger competitors, with the emerging-firm threat taking the lead.
Every industry segment we evaluated has these threats in the top five problems.
What does this discovery imply? First, there is a lot of concern among smaller, less well-known companies about their ability to remain competitive in the face of a rapidly changing commercial landscape.
As a result, the consulting sector is seeing a lot of consolidation, and new technologies threaten to commoditize some of the most profitable bread-and-butter offerings.
Understandably, companies who aren’t participating in either of these trends are feeling apprehensive about the future.
Creative skills are required
Nearly 40 percent of management consulting firms said that the demand for new talents was a significant concern for them in 2020.
Companies are under constant pressure to adapt to new technologies and approaches constantly being introduced in the marketplace. If they don’t, a rival will
Maintaining this pace necessitates the employment of individuals armed with the necessary qualifications.
Businesses can gain new talents in two ways:
1) Retraining and reskilling their current employees.
2) Recruiting new employees who already have those abilities.
Both of these methods are used by most companies, but each has its drawbacks. To put it another way, educating current employees diverts their attention from high-paying jobs. In addition, the cost of recruiting new employees can be prohibitive in a highly competitive market.
To compete for the most significant business, companies must have the appropriate people with the proper skill sets.
Automation and artificial intelligence
Automation and artificial intelligence are making their way into the top five most anticipated business concerns for the first time, according to 36.2 percent of management consulting firms (AI).
Management consulting businesses aren’t the only ones concerned about this issue. Organizations across the professional services spectrum listed automation and AI as the third most anticipated business challenge.
Consulting firms that have a competitive advantage over their slower-growing counterparts by using technology to automate components of their core business or marketing and sales efforts stood out as a clear illustration of this.
Pros and Cons of Starting a Consulting Business
Pros
- Flexibility
- Ability to start your business from home
- Little startup costs required
- Rewarding work
- Scalable
- No overhead costs
- Meaningful business connections
- High margins
- Quick build time
- Control of workload
- Gain exposure and experience
- Unlimited income potential
Cons
- Longer Selling Cycles
- Inconsistent work conditions are expected.
- Insufficiency of benefits
- Taxes
- There is no safety net.
- Stressful employment and a tight schedule
- Be ready to move out of your comfort zone and try something new.
- Low-intensity physical activity
- There’s a learning curve
- Criticism is easy to come by.
- The job can be physically and emotionally taxing.
Consulting Marketing Strategies
Focus on a specific market
Although this isn’t strictly a marketing plan, a successful consulting career relies heavily on it. Of course, it’s possible to target a smaller market with more precise goods, but it’s also possible to appeal to a broader audience with more detailed offerings.
Let’s imagine you’re promoting your management consulting firm as an example. In the world of management consultants, you’ll face stiff competition if you decide to promote yourself as one.
As a “management consultant for business-to-business (B2B) organizations,” on the other hand, you’ll be limiting your potential clients. Nevertheless, a good thing has happened.
As a result, you’ll have a smaller pool of potential clients to choose from. B2B firms won’t hire a rival consultant if they specialize in serving B2C enterprises. Your potential opponents have just shrunk.
That’s only the beginning. You may go even more specific.
Previously, I’ve had the opportunity to work with an agency specializing in sporting groups’ branding. This is a highly specialized field, and they have a lot of skill in it. To find a sports branding consultant, type in “sports branding consultant” into Google, and this agency will show up in the results.
It’s worth noting that many advise against narrowing one’s focus. There’s a convincing argument to be made by Greg Faxon, for example, that you shouldn’t choose a niche but rather evolve into one.
You need to know what your product or service is and who your target audience is, regardless of whether or not you decide to narrow it down.
Place Ads on Google and social media
Among digital marketing techniques for consultants, online advertising has a distinct advantage: it is highly targeted.
The number of individuals you can reach through blogging, social media, and in-person events is enormous, yet you never know who you’re reaching.
The people who are looking for what you have to offer can be found through advertising campaigns. As well as others who don’t yet know they need your services but will benefit from them.
You can show an ad to people who search for a phrase relating to your issue using various targeting parameters. These target people work at organizations that could be potential clients or focus on people in your location or state.
It’s not always simple to determine which Google AdWords keywords to target. However, in this case, a niche is a godsend.
Using the keyword “marketing consultant” in an ad will cost a lot of money and make it difficult to stand out from the crowd.
Publish an email newsletter
In an essay for Consulting Success, Anthony Iannarino emphasized the value of their email marketing efforts. They’re household names, and their use of email marketing speaks powerfully of its effectiveness.
An enormous task is launching and maintaining your email newsletter.
Getting people’s contact information is the first step. To get the most out of your list, you’ll need a lot of individuals on it, even if you only have a few clients.
There are several ways to increase the number of people who sign up for your email, such as blogging, generating lead magnets like webinars and ebooks, and so on.
The first step in getting people to listen to what you have to say is establishing your credibility. Then and only then are they more likely to subscribe to your mailing list.
It’s then only a matter of employing a CRM to keep your list in order and up to date. But an intelligent CRM does more than merely organize your contacts and divide them into groups. You can also use an email marketing service to incorporate it.
Because of the integration between Copper and Mailchimp, it is simple to transfer contacts between the two services.
It’s possible to monitor who has received a specific email campaign and when they’ll receive the next one once you’ve connected the two platforms
Organize and host events
It’s priceless to meet prospective customers in person. You may show off your personality and respond to inquiries right away. You’ve got an excellent marketing strategy if you combine that with giving them something they want.
Consultants benefit from live events because they can draw the people they want to do business with.
Several resources are available to assist you in getintgettinged with webinars, such as this list of webinar tools. Others organize local meetups.
Meetings are an excellent method to bring individuals together to exchange relevant information, demonstrate their skills, and create connections with possible clients.
Not sure where to direct your attention to your event? Consider focusing on your area of specialization.
Holding an engineering meeting for your peers can help you stay on top of the latest developments in the field. To showcase the value you could provide to a firm, you (or someone else) can deliver a presentation and then take questions from the audience.
In the same way that webinars are comparable, you gather a group of people with similar interests and questions, give some information, and allow time for discussion at the end.
Likely, your first event won’t draw many people. That’s not a problem. Instead, it will gain traction as more people discover its benefits and begin to spread the word about it.
Focus on spreading the word first before hosting your first webinar or event. Any site where you communicate with potential clients (like LinkedIn groups or Meetup.com) might be a fantastic place to promote your event.
Spend time networking
Developing a solid network is one of the most critical keys to consulting success.
Attending relevant conferences, local meet-ups, and promotional events, as well as engaging with individuals online and setting up virtual meetings, are just a few of the many ways to build your network.
Remember that no matter why you choose to network, you need to connect with a diverse group. Developing a diversified network is an effective way to stimulate new ideas, joint ventures, and other forms of expression.
Establish your role as a thought leader
One of the best ways for independent contractors to sell their services is to establish themselves as thought leaders in their field.
When you use a platform like LinkedIn or your website to blog, you open yourself up to a whole new audience that you might not have been able to reach via more conventional means of marketing.
Another approach to get your name and voice out there is to participate in public speaking engagements. Offer to share your knowledge with local media, professional organizations, and conferences.
Final Thoughts
Not every marketing strategy is profitable. If you choose to invest in consulting marketing strategies, make sure you seek out case studies that back up claims of success.
Get recommendations from fellow business owners who have used the service to make sure you get quality results.
