The Value of a Marketing Consultant to UK Businesses
What Does a Marketing Consultant Actually Do for a UK Business?
Author: Rob Budd
There is a lot of marketing advice out there.
Post more on LinkedIn.
Start a blog.
Run Google Ads.
Improve your SEO.
Do some email marketing.
Get on TikTok.
The list goes on.
And this is part of the problem.
Most business owners don't need another list of things they should be doing. They need someone to look at what they are already doing, work out what is actually working, what isn't, and where the hell they should be spending their time and money.
That is where a good marketing consultant can earn their fee.
Not by giving you more work.
By helping you make better marketing decisions.
So, What Does a Marketing Consultant Actually Do?
In simple terms, a marketing consultant looks at your business, your market, your customers and your existing marketing, then works out what needs to happen next.
That sounds straightforward. It isn't always.
Marketing has become incredibly fragmented. You might have a web designer, an SEO company, a Google Ads agency, someone posting on social media and a CRM system that nobody really looks at.
Everyone is doing their bit.
But who is joining it all together?
That is often the missing piece.
I have seen businesses spending good money on marketing without being able to answer a fairly basic question:
"Where are our enquiries actually coming from?"
If you can't answer that, there is a good chance your marketing needs looking at.
The Problem With Marketing in Isolation
This is one of the biggest problems I see with SMEs.
Social media is treated as social media.
SEO is treated as SEO.
Google Ads is treated as Google Ads.
The website is treated as a website.
But your potential customer doesn't think like that.
They don't care which marketing channel you used to reach them.
They care about whether you understand their problem and whether you look like the right business to solve it.
Someone might find you through Google, read one of your articles, come across you again on LinkedIn a week later, visit your website and then finally get in touch.
That is a customer journey.
Not five separate marketing activities.
A Consultant Should Start With the Business, Not the Marketing
This is where I think marketing consultants sometimes get it wrong.
They arrive with a list of tactics.
"We need more content."
"We need backlinks."
"We need to run Facebook Ads."
"We need to optimise your website."
Maybe.
But before doing any of that, I want to know what the business is trying to achieve.
Do you need more enquiries?
Better quality leads?
More sales from existing traffic?
A stronger presence in your local market?
A new customer segment?
A better return from your existing marketing budget?
Those answers change the strategy.
There is no point producing 50 blog posts if the real problem is that your website does a terrible job of converting visitors into enquiries.
And there is little point increasing your Google Ads budget if you haven't worked out which leads are actually turning into customers.
Where Is Your Marketing Budget Going?
This is another area where an outside perspective can be useful.
Marketing spend has a habit of creeping up.
£300 here.
£500 there.
Another subscription.
Another agency.
Another campaign.
Before long, you can be spending thousands every month without having a particularly clear idea of what you are getting for it.
I'm not saying every pound has to be directly attributable to a sale. Marketing doesn't work like that.
But you should have a reasonable understanding of what your marketing is supposed to achieve and whether it is moving you towards that goal.
That means looking at the numbers.
Website traffic.
Enquiries.
Conversion rates.
Cost per lead.
Search visibility.
Advertising spend.
Sales.
And, where possible, what happens to those leads after they arrive.
This is where good tracking becomes incredibly valuable. I've written more about this in my article on getting maximum information from tagging actions for analytics.
Because "we had 2,000 visitors this month" isn't particularly useful if you don't know what any of them did.
SEO Is Not Just About Getting to Number One
SEO is another area where businesses can easily get distracted.
Of course rankings matter.
But ranking for a keyword that never generates a customer isn't particularly useful.
The first question should be:
"What is the person searching for?"
That is search intent.
If someone searches for "marketing consultant Portsmouth", they are probably looking for something very different from someone searching for "what does a marketing consultant do".
One has much stronger commercial intent.
That doesn't mean the second search is worthless. It might be part of the journey.
It means your content needs to have a purpose.
That is where things like on-page SEO, internal linking, content structure, crawlability, user experience and other search engine ranking factors come into play.
Your Blog Should Have a Job
I see businesses being told they need to blog.
So they do.
Once a month, they publish another article.
Then another.
And another.
Six months later they have 20 blog posts and very little to show for it.
The problem isn't necessarily the writing.
It is the strategy behind it.
A good SEO blog structure starts with the question you are trying to answer and the person asking it.
Then you build the article around that.
For example:
• What is the searcher actually looking for?
• What information do they need?
• What related questions are they likely to have?
• What would make them trust you?
• What should they do after reading it?
• Which relevant pages on your website should you link to?
That is blog optimisation.
Not simply sticking a keyword into a headline and hoping Google likes it.
A Simple Marketing Consultant Framework
If I was looking at a UK SME's marketing from scratch, this is roughly how I would approach it.
1. Understand the Business
What do you sell?
Who buys it?
Which customers are most valuable?
Where do you want the business to go?
You can't build a sensible marketing strategy without knowing the answers.
2. Look at What's Already Happening
Before throwing new tactics at the problem, look at the existing marketing.
Website.
SEO.
Google Business Profile.
Google Ads.
Social media.
Email.
Content.
Analytics.
Lead handling.
There may be plenty of good stuff already there. It might just need joining together.
3. Understand the Customer
What are they searching for?
What problem are they trying to solve?
What questions do they ask?
What makes them hesitate?
What convinces them?
This information should influence your content, website, advertising and sales process.
4. Map the Journey
Think about what happens between someone discovering your business and becoming a customer.
It could be:
Google search → website → useful content → enquiry → conversation → sale.
Or it could be completely different.
The important thing is understanding what actually happens.
5. Find the Gaps
This is often where the interesting stuff starts.
Maybe you're getting traffic but not enquiries.
Maybe you're getting enquiries but they are poor quality.
Maybe your SEO is bringing visitors to the wrong pages.
Maybe your Google Ads are generating leads but nobody is following them up properly.
Maybe your social media gets plenty of engagement but very little business.
The problem isn't always where you think it is.
6. Prioritise
You don't need to fix everything at once.
In fact, trying to do everything at once is usually a great way to achieve very little.
Work out what is likely to make the biggest difference and start there.
7. Measure It
Decide what success actually looks like.
That might be more qualified enquiries.
More sales.
Lower cost per lead.
Higher conversion rates.
More organic traffic from valuable searches.
Or simply a better understanding of where your customers are coming from.
Then keep an eye on it.
Do You Need a Marketing Consultant or a Marketing Agency?
It depends.
A marketing consultant is often brought in for experience, strategy, direction and an independent view.
An agency may provide a team to deliver specific marketing activities.
You can also use both.
For example, a consultant might develop the strategy, oversee your marketing and manage external specialists while an SEO agency, web developer or paid media specialist handles specific pieces of the work.
For some businesses, a fractional marketing director can make even more sense.
You get senior marketing experience without necessarily employing someone full-time.
That can be particularly useful for an SME that has reached the point where marketing has become too important to leave to guesswork, but isn't ready for a full-time Marketing Director.
When Is It Worth Bringing in a Marketing Consultant?
There isn't a magic revenue figure where you suddenly need one.
But I'd start looking for help if you recognise yourself in any of these:
• You're spending money on marketing but don't know what's working.
• Your marketing feels reactive.
• You are doing lots of activity but getting very few enquiries.
• Your website gets visitors but doesn't convert them.
• Your SEO has stalled.
• You don't know which marketing channels to prioritise.
• You have several suppliers but nobody joining everything together.
• You are about to launch a new product or service.
• You want to grow but don't have a clear marketing plan.
• You are considering hiring a Marketing Manager or Marketing Director.
Sometimes the answer will be that you need more marketing.
Sometimes it will be that you need to stop doing half the things you're currently doing.
That is one of the useful things about having someone independent look at it.
How Much Does a Marketing Consultant Cost in the UK?
There isn't one answer.
Some consultants charge by the hour or day.
Others work on specific projects.
Others provide ongoing support through a monthly retainer.
The price will depend on experience, the work involved and how much responsibility you want the consultant to take on.
But I'd argue that cost shouldn't be the only question.
The better question is:
"What is the cost of getting the marketing wrong?"
If you are wasting £2,000 a month on activity that isn't producing results, paying someone to work out why could be considerably cheaper than carrying on as you are.
What Should You Look for in a Marketing Consultant?
Experience matters.
But so does how they think.
I'd look for someone who asks questions before telling you what to do.
Someone who understands commercial objectives rather than just marketing metrics.
Someone who can explain what they are recommending without hiding behind jargon.
And someone who is prepared to tell you when something isn't worth doing.
You don't need another person telling you that your business needs to "leverage omnichannel synergies".
You need someone who can look at the situation and say:
"Here's the problem. Here's what I'd change. Here's why. And here's how we'll know if it worked."
That's what good consultancy should feel like.
What I Think the Real Value Is
I've spent a long time working in marketing, across both B2B and B2C, and one thing hasn't changed.
Businesses rarely have a shortage of marketing ideas.
They have a shortage of clarity.
There are always another five things you could be doing.
Another platform.
Another campaign.
Another piece of content.
Another advertising opportunity.
The skill is knowing what deserves your attention and what doesn't.
That is where I believe a good marketing consultant adds real value.
Not by making your marketing more complicated.
By making it simpler.
A clear strategy.
The right audience.
The right message.
The right channels.
A sensible customer journey.
Proper tracking.
And a way of measuring whether the whole thing is actually helping the business grow.
If that sounds like the sort of marketing support your business needs, you can find out more about my marketing consultant services for UK businesses.
Because marketing shouldn't be about doing more for the sake of doing more.
It should be about doing the right things, for the right reasons, and knowing whether they are working.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a marketing consultant?
A marketing consultant is an experienced marketing professional who provides strategic advice and practical support to help a business improve its marketing and achieve specific commercial objectives.
What can a marketing consultant help with?
Depending on the business, this can include marketing strategy, SEO, content marketing, Google Ads, lead generation, website conversion, analytics, customer journeys and marketing planning.
Is a marketing consultant worth it for a small business?
It can be particularly useful when a business needs experienced marketing advice but doesn't need, or isn't ready for, a full-time senior marketing employee.
Can a marketing consultant help with SEO?
Yes. A consultant can look at your overall SEO strategy, search intent, on-page SEO, content, internal linking, technical issues, user experience and how organic search contributes to lead generation.
What is on-page SEO?
On-page SEO involves optimising the content and structure of individual web pages so search engines and users can understand what the page is about and how useful it is for a particular search.
What is a fractional Marketing Director?
A fractional Marketing Director provides senior marketing leadership to a business on a part-time or flexible basis, rather than working as a full-time employee.
How do I know if my marketing is working?
Start with the things that matter commercially. Look at qualified enquiries, sales, conversion rates, customer acquisition costs and revenue alongside channel-specific metrics such as organic traffic, rankings and advertising performance.
About the Author
Rob Budd
Rob Budd is a UK marketing consultant and founder of Axcellerate Marketing. With more than 25 years of marketing experience across B2B and B2C, he works with UK businesses on marketing strategy, growth, lead generation, SEO, paid advertising and getting more from their existing marketing budget.
His approach is fairly simple.
Less marketing bullshit.
More marketing that actually works.
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What does a marketing consultant actually do? Rob Budd explains how UK businesses can improve strategy, SEO, leads and marketing ROI.