Hiring a Freelance B2B Marketing Consultant
Whether you are looking for a full-time B2B marketing consultant or you need help with a one-off project, I can support your business in building an effective marketing plan for growth. I can also connect you with a team of highly skilled B2B specialists to support with design, creative, copywriting and other services.
You might need B2B marketing expertise to help build a new marketing strategy, or a B2B project director to manage your latest rebrand. My experience as a B2B marketing consultant coupled with an outside-in perspective can help you reach your next growth milestone more quickly. And your investment doesn’t need to be sizeable – just a few hours each week can make a big impact.
Benefits of Hiring Me
Reduced Costs
Hiring a B2B marketing consultant gives you the flexibility to pay as you go, and can often be cheaper than recruiting and hiring a full-time team member.
Faster Lead Times
Steal a march on your competition and get your growth plans started today, avoiding costly recruitment bills, staff training and employers’ legal obligations.
A Fresh Perspective
An outsider’s perspective can add tremendous value to your growth plans, as well as bringing fresh, creative, and sometimes whacky ideas to the table.
Proud and privileged
to have worked with
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Fifteen Years as a B2B Marketing Consultant
My experience as a B2B marketing consultant spans fifteen years working with clients of all shapes and sizes, having a particular focus in the B2B technology, cybersecurity and services sectors. During the early stages of my career I worked in a marketing manager role for a leading B2B telecoms company and then as a campaign manager at an international B2B marketing agency. Over the years I have worked with leading B2B brands and agencies, both national and international, helping them grow and expand their businesses through innovative marketing approaches, channels and strategies.
How I Became a Chartered B2B Marketing Consultant
Three years after starting work in a B2B marketing role, I completed a CIM diploma in marketing communications at Cambridge Marketing College. This practical qualification combined class-based learning with on-the-job skills development, giving me the flexibility to continue full-time work while studying during weekends in Cambridge.
On completion of the diploma I was awarded MCIM status from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. After this, I set out to achieve Chartered Marketer status, completing an additional two years of practical study and professional development followed by one final exam.
Since then, I am proud to have maintained Chartered Marketer status by completing the required CPD and professional learning activities each year.
Working with Leading B2B Companies
I’m proud and privileged to have worked with some fabulous B2B clients over the years, with projects covering a wide mix of marketing requirements such as full campaign strategy, Google Ads, LinkedIn, social and creative. In addition to working with dozens of B2B SMEs, I have also worked as a B2B marketing consultant for a range of national and international brands including Fujitsu, VMware, Auth0, Citrix, Bupa, Research Machines, NCR Technologies, and Pearson.
Benefits of Hiring a B2B Marketing Consultant
As an experienced B2B marketing consultant, I can offer your business a wide range of services including strategy, planning and execution. What I cannot execute myself I can source specialists to help, or guide your business towards achieving this with your own in-house teams.
Acting as your external marketing consultant I can also provide a fresh perspective of your business and marketing plan, helping you decide if the status quo is the best approach. My assessment of your existing campaigns will be both objective and subjective, and I will try to bring facts and data to the table to support any insights, suggestions and findings.
In some situations, it is wise to consult other stakeholders inside or outside your business. In these circumstances I may suggest scoping sessions with your sales and marketing teams, or interviews with customers to gain additional marketing insights.
How I Keep Track of Campaign Performance
In my experience, most clients prioritise campaign ROI over everything — after all, the main reason for companies to invest money into hiring a marketing consultant is to seek better performance from their marketing budget. As such, I work closely with all my clients to achieve better campaign ROI alongside a range of other positive outcomes which can include improved brand recall, better brand visibility, enhanced marketing collateral, and high-performing campaigns across all marketing channels.
Whatever your goals, we will work together to verify these and set them out in writing, creating an effective B2B marketing plan around them.
All my clients have access to their own custom B2B reporting dashboard showing key campaign KPIs and performance metrics. The B2B reporting dashboard is used to inform the progress of each campaign element or channel, as well as to keep you updated on general performance. You may also wish to have these reports emailed to you on a weekly or monthly basis.
In addition, I will setup a regular call or meeting to help you keep track of major campaign updates and performance data. The meeting will be a chance for you to offer feedback on the quality of inbound leads, provide any other relevant feedback, and shape the future strategy of the campaign.
The Process of Hiring a B2B Marketing Consultant
1. Initial Scoping Session
My B2B marketing approach varies from one client to the next, but the typical process usually starts with an initial scoping session to understand the specific needs of your marketing campaign or project. During a scoping session I will ask questions about your goals, previous campaigns, what worked and what didn’t, what you are keen to include and what you want to avoid (in terms of visual cues, messaging, creative or tone of voice for example), and what your budget expectations are.
2. Providing a B2B Marketing Quote
As with most consultants, after the initial scoping session I will provide a written summary of my findings from our session along with details of your goals and desired outcomes, where applicable. This will usually be accompanied by a full quote for my B2B marketing consultancy services. On acceptance of the quote and terms, I am typically available to start work within weeks – although exact timescales will be confirmed with you in the terms of engagement which will be provided before work commences.
3. Engagement
Once all parties are happy with the costs and terms of engagement, I will ask for your approval to proceed in the form of a signed agreement. I usually issue my first invoice at around this time which is payable within 28 days. Additional costs for campaign ad spend may be payable by you to the platform owners (Google, LinkedIn etc), although I am also able to handle these payments on your behalf subject to a credit agreement or payment in advance of campaign commencement.
4. Campaign Plan & Key Deliverables
As the relationship kicks off, I will work with you to set out the specific deliverables for the campaign and introduce you to any other contacts who may be involved in creating or managing aspects of your campaign.
I will also need access to your marketing accounts to execute certain elements of the campaign, for example Google Ads, Google Analytics, or your LinkedIn company page.
Each campaign milestone will be documented (in advance) in the initial campaign plan that I produce at this stage of the engagement. All milestones will be supported by a delivery date or expected date for completion. As we move through the campaign setup process and towards the campaign or project launch, each key deliverable will be tracked in the campaign planner. Any delays or changes will be communicated with you in advance.
This stage of the campaign will also include major elements for setting up the new campaign or project, for example creation of ad assets, ad approval, content creation and other campaign assets that will be used throughout the campaign.
5. Campaign Launch
As an external B2B marketing consultant, many of my engagements start with a period of ’embedding’. This means that there will be several weeks of planning and asset creation before the campaign launch date.
The specific timescales will vary but will be detailed in a campaign plan provided at the beginning of the project. This phase of ’embedding’ is essential for me to create the campaign assets needed to run the campaign, as well as for other initiatives such as technical and background work on campaign tracking, account setup, ad approval and other admin-related aspects.
Once the embedding phase is complete, we will move towards setting a final launch date for the campaign based on the original plan provided at the beginning of our engagement. Most clients find this extremely useful as it enables them to communicate with their internal B2B sales and marketing teams exactly when a new campaign is scheduled for launch. This provides their teams with advanced notices of new leads, new activity or new promotions that are a consequence of the newly launched campaign.
Channels Used by B2B Marketing Consultants
B2B marketing consultants are fortunate enough to have a broad set of skills working with different channels and tools. The exact channels used in your campaign will be dependent on your company’s specific goals — for example if you specifically want to engage with buyers on LinkedIn then LinkedIn Ads may be used.
In terms of a very typical approach, it is common to combine a mix of lead generation and brand awareness channels in a B2B marketing campaign at a ratio of around 60:40. This often includes Google Ads, retargeting ads (where ads are showing to visitors of your website), account-based marketing (utilising a direct marketing and sales approach targeting specific companies), email marketing, marketing automation software, and even direct postal mail.
The specific mix of channels used will be outlined in the initial campaign plan provided shortly after we start working together.
B2B Marketing Audit
Optionally, I may offer your company a B2B marketing audit to help uncover new findings and opportunities for growth. This service provides an in-depth, outside-in look at your existing and previous campaigns, marketing processes, the market environment in general, and market trends and external factors that may influence your campaigns such as political changes, technological advancements, or environmental factors.
The B2B marketing audit will also outline your position in the market compared to your competitors, with details on specifically how you can leverage any opportunities to improve your existing position and value proposition.
As a B2B marketing consultant, I may visit your business to meet with your sales and marketing teams, or even request to sit in on a sale appointment with your sales staff to understand the key purchase drivers and motivations of buyers when they buy your B2B product or service.
What’s Next?
For more information about hiring me as your B2B marketing consultant please get in touch using the form on this page or call 0118 324 7770.