Help! I Need a Marketing Consultant!

There’s a number of reasons a company of any size would need a marketing consultant for additional expertise.

Whether you are looking to create and execute your first marketing plan, rebrand your company, assess your current marketing activities or launch a new product, having an expert on hand who has done it before can save painful lessons learned and often speed things up. Bringing in an marketing consultant can be a great way to quickly address the need and keep the focus on results without committing to long term overhead costs. At Cerius, we have seen the strategic use of an Interim Marketing Consultant include:

  • Brand Strategies
  • Company Positioning and Messaging
  • Target Market Assessment and Sizing
  • Marketing Communications Programs
  • Demand Generation Programs
  • Lead Generation and Management
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
  • Marketing Automation Platform Planning and Implementation
  • Online Strategies
  • Channel Marketing
  • Product Portfolio Assessment and Repositioning
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Pricing Strategy

As we mentioned, the situations for bringing in marketing consultant can be limitless.  Here’s a few of the most common ones we see from clients at Cerius, how they were addressed and the types of results the client experienced:

Family owned construction products manufacturer Part-time Chief Marketing Officer: 1-2 days/week, 12 months

Situation

  • Declining sales
  • Sales  force not trained to get new customers
  • Only traditional business development techniques
  • No marketing being done, no sales collateral, no understanding of how to use digital marketing or social media

Implementation

  • Developed new website
  • Led planning sessions to expand opportunities & identify targeted marketing programs
  • Created large set of technical marketing collateral to support dealers and contractors
  • Developed YouTube videos – first in market earning them credibility
  • Developed large online contact list
  • Started consistent marketing program
  • Packaged services for more effective selling such as local delivery service
  • Taught team how to measure and interpret marketing metrics from various tools

Results

  • Increased sales
  • More than doubled website traffic in first year
  • Grew self-opt-in email contacts 4x in first year
  • Achieved over 75k views on YouTube
  • Generated 14 digital newsletters with average open rate of 29%

Automotive Aftermarket Manufacturer Marketing Consultant: 2 Month Part-time Project

Situation

  • Online marketing was under-performing
  • More of a marketing engine was needed to drive more revenue from fewer products
  • Marketing programs inconsistent from year to year
  • High dependency on low-cost guerilla marketing tactics
  • Shortage of resources in company to manage marketing programs

Implementation

  • Developed a measurable online marketing program the company owners can respect and trust
  • Built a scalable, tightly controlled marketing program that directly drives revenue
  • Led a pilot project for a short period of time optimizing performance and measuring results
  • Documented the best practices so the marketing department can generate improved results for subsequent campaigns

Results

  • Improved website design, generating 7% increase in revenue
  • Product sales attributed directly to individual ads in pilot project
  • Mathematical model to measure marketing program returns
  • Techniques and results can be repeated internally

Technology, web filtering company serving B2B and the government – Sales Management & Marketing Consultant: 5 month part-time project

Situation

  • Sales were slowing
  • Slow-down in government purchases
  • Company did not have a marketing plan (SWOT and Goals, Objectives, Strategies& Tactics).
  • Company concerned that the sales comp & incentive plan wasn’t right
  • Management team operating in silos
  • Senior management felt middle level managers were too new and untrained. No synergy between departments.

Implementation

  • Reviewed sales compensation plan and recommended changes
  • Created a marketing plan and weekly market execution meetings
  • Developed a custom management training program; weekly team problem solving program
  • Cross trained managers so they understood various department roles
  • Created a common language allowing various departments to communicate better with each other

Results

  • Increased sales by 7% over forecast
  • Middle management team worked more closely together to solve problems
  • Marketing, finance, engineering and sales now connected through a common language and approach
  • Streamlined sales comp plan
  • Developed a marketing plan which led to predictable lead generation, on time product development and introduction.

Technology Company: Marketing Consulting Project

Situation

  • New President brought in to continue rapid growth
  • Company name change with rebranding and product line re-launch needed

Key Challenges/Issues

  • Limited amount of time to accomplish new marketing programs and execution
  • Need additional marketing expertise beyond current staff
  • Needed someone capable of being customer facing

Implementation

  • Rebranding and design of all marketing collateral
  • Full marketing, lead generation & customer support assessment
  • Marketing personnel job descriptions, long term candidate screening and training
  • Analysis of new market segment and launch plan
  • Complete product redesign
  • Lead ranking & tracking system, customer education program and sales campaign methodology

Results

  • Accelerated the quality and quantity of marketing programs by at least two years
  • Reduced rebranding & graphic identify costs by one-third
  • Converted marketing distribution program, reducing costs by more than 50%
  • Developed lead referral program that increased # of leads by 500 % over prior year

Though no two companies and situations are the same, we find there are often common themes within organizations and at Cerius, we know how to find the right expertise to address the need and provide results.  If you have more questions about interim executives and management consultants click here some of the most commonly asked questions and answers.

To learn about how Cerius Interim Management can help you, please visit our home page by clicking here.

 

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