What Is a Content Marketing Consultant?

There are many benefits to investing in content marketing. Increased organic traffic, greater brand awareness, more revenue, the list goes on. To get the most out of your content marketing, it’s important to work with professionals that have years of experience. This way you can ensure you’re following the latest best practices and get the best ROI possible.

What does a content marketing consultant do?

A content marketing consultant is a person or company that provides advice and services related to content marketing, including content strategy, content distribution, content writing, and creation, with an overarching goal of engaging a specific audience and driving targeted traffic to your website.

Why hire a content marketing consultant?

The reason people hire a content marketing consultant is to save time, money, and get expert help, which leads to better results. There are many benefits of content marketing, including more organic traffic, a better reputation, more brand awareness, establishing industry authority, increases revenue, develops relationships and trust with your audience, and more. A good content marketing consultant will help set content marketing KPIs that work towards achieving all of these benefits.

While content marketing is not rocket science, it’s also not something you’re going to truly get the most out of without the help of an expert who knows what they’re doing. That’s where hiring a consultant comes in handy.

When it comes to the entire package (strategy, creation, distribution) there is a lot to consider and a lot that goes into a content marketing campaign to get the best results. Not all consultants will know every area of content marketing. Some will be experts at distributing content, others will be more well-versed at actually creating it. So it’s important to understand what you need the most help with and get a good sense of what the consultant or agency you’re considering hiring knows best. 

9 questions to ask before you hire a content marketing consultant

To ensure you hire the right consultant for your content marketing needs, have a read of the following questions and answer them for each consultant you’re considering hiring. These questions will help you make a better decision.

1. Have they got proven results?

Let’s be frank. It’s easy to slap the label “content marketing consultant” on your LinkedIn profile or a single-page website and come across as a professional. Anybody can do that. But not everyone can get results. That takes experience. 

So how do you differentiate between the pros and the newbies? Ask if they have case studies you can see. Have they gotten results for previous clients? Can they back their claims? Have they had clients in a similar situation to yours? Were the clients in a similar industry to you?

If they’ve gotten results for big names, or at least companies similar to yours, then that’s a green flag that they’re serious professionals committed to helping you achieve your goals.

2. Are they asking YOU questions?

A good content marketing consultant has worked with a lot of clients and understands commonalities between them. A sign that your consultant knows what they’re doing is if they ask you a lot of questions to help determine the best course of action.

Someone who doesn’t really know what they’re doing is going to send over an invoice just to get your money. An expert wants to get you results, and to get the best results they need to have a good understanding of how your business works, what’s important to you and what your content marketing currently looks like. So keep an eye out for consultants that ask smart questions – it’s a good sign!  

3. Are they a culture fit?

Finding a consultant that’s the right culture fit is especially important if they’re going to be in-house and working in your physical office.

“Culture fit” is a broad term that means different things to different people. Overall, you want to look for a consultant that you can easily communicate with and get on well with. You have to trust them, and they also have to respect the way you operate your business and what your company’s culture is like. This can make a big difference. Even if a consultant is good at what they do, if they don’t mesh well with the way you operate, then that’s going to lead to trouble. 

4. Will they provide reporting and analysis?

Some consultants will provide you with advice, or content, and then leave you to it. Other consultants will take care of strategy, content creation, and they’ll also provide you with regular reporting so that you can easily track your content marketing KPIs, such as blog traffic, bounce rates, and conversions.

This can be useful to know especially if you’re not very experienced with tracking and reporting using tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console. So be sure to find out whether that’s something they offer and more importantly whether that’s something you need.

5. What are the payment terms?

Different consultants will charge differently depending on their experience, the services they provide, and other factors. Some will charge 100% upfront, others will set up milestones, and others will work at an hourly rate and bill you regularly for it. In general, high-quality consultants will charge upfront.

Sometimes as the one hiring you’ll have to make compromises on what’s ideal for you, especially if you’re working with a sought-after expert, but there are plenty of consultants out there you can find that will work around your ideal payment terms.

If you’re paying any amount upfront, just be sure to do your due diligence to ensure they’re a credible and trustworthy provider.

6. Will they provide content creation? 

If you’re working on content marketing for your website, then creating content (blog posts, YouTube videos, etc.) is a big part of this equation.

There are some content marketing consultants that just advise and provide recommendations for your content strategy, while there are others that have teams of content writers that can deliver high-quality content for you. It’s up to you to determine what you’re looking for and then find a consultant that either provides content for you or find a separate provider to do this for you. Vetting, hiring, and managing writers and editors can be time-consuming, so it’s usually worth outsourcing content writing.

7. Do they have any testimonials?

When researching a content marketing consultant, be sure to check out reviews about their services and testimonials from past clients. Ideally, you want to check out testimonials from third-party websites, such as G2.com or Trustpilot.com, as they have a lower chance of being bias, as opposed to testimonials on their website.

Think about what it is you’re looking for in a consultant and what it is you want to avoid and see which testimonials resonate with your desires most from your selection of consultants. 

8. Do they have content you can check out?

If you’re hiring a content marketing consultant to create content for you, then it’s important to have a look at previous content writing samples. Whether you’re looking for blog posts, white papers, articles, or press releases, be sure to ask to see samples. When examining their content, if it’s for SEO purposes, use a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush to assess the performance.

Check the credibility and authority of the websites the content is published on, and also, of course, actually read through it or have someone on your team review it so that you can judge the quality for yourself. Ideally, they should have writing samples in your industry.

9. Who’s on their team?

While a freelance consultant or company that provides services may not reveal exactly who is on their team (which is fine), be sure to ask who anyway as they’ll be able to confirm things like the experience and qualifications of their team members.

For example, at the most basic level, you’d want to confirm that they’re working with native English speakers who are writing your content. Do they have an editorial team that will edit and proofread your content? These are important pieces of information you should consider when discussing your needs with them so you know exactly what you’re getting.

The bottom line

Investing in content marketing is a great way to grow your brand over the long term. A content marketing consultant can help you make great decisions and deliver high-quality content to publish on your website. Before you hire a consultant be sure to do your research so that you can select the right one for your needs and goals. Hopefully, this article has given you a good starting point.