Digital marketing strategies are required to scale a business no matter the size. Starting out as a Financial/Management Consultant requires having the proper skills and competences that will make the journey worthwhile. It is awesome to start but getting clients sometimes become a great challenge as there are many out there who profess to be one without the requisite trainings and skills.
There are very many of such who pose as freelancers and owners of consultancy firms but cannot really offer the desired services hence making quacks gain or get an upper hand in the profession.
So how do you set yourself apart so that you can consistently outshine others and flourish in the trade? You will have to put together a workable strategy that will make you outstandingly different and ahead of the pack.
Steps
Situational analysis
Set your goals
Identify your Target Audience
Create a Marketing Budget
Create Digital Presence
- Create your website
- List on Google My Business/Local SEO
- Content Marketing
- SEO & Keyword Research
- Email Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Using Targeted Ads
Measuring Results and Set Goals
Conclusion
Step 1: Situational analysis
The first thing to do when developing your digital marketing strategy is to carry out an internal analysis of yourself. It is important to look at your strengths and weaknesses as they match the requirements of your profession.
Every profession has her own status qualifications and requirements for practice and so it is in the management consultancy field of endeavour. Ensure you have the required certifications such that where a peer-to-peer analysis is done, you won’t be found lacking in that area.
In Nigeria for instance, a Management Consultant will be certified by the Nigeria Centre for Management Development (www.cmd.edu) asides his professional certificates (ICAN) to be able to practice as a Management Consultant.
Step 2: Set your goals
Setting goals for your business/brand is important as it enables you create a clear idea of where your actions should take you. Everything you plan must work towards meeting those goals. The goals will define your tasks, means, methods of achieving them, and channels of communication with the audience. Put up the short- and long-term goals in line with the SMART goals framework. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound.
Note that the business goals must be pointed in the direction of your vision for the company.
Step 3: Identify your Target Audience
Once you’ve defined your business goals, you need to develop how to achieve them. This is where you segment your target audience by creating an audience persona – what their tastes, needs, or preferences are, where are you looking to meet their expectations. The target market is mainly small businesses, Entrepreneurs, business owners who require trainings on how to grow and position their business and the financial know-how of keeping such on the upward trajectory.
Step 4: Create a marketing budget
Before implementing your strategy, you should be aware of how much you need to invest. A well thought out budget helps you distribute money properly. You can divide the budget for your business into several parts and direct them to different channels. Figure out how much you are eager to spend to gain some positive results.
Consider paying for content that will drive SEO (organic traffic), social media optimization and management, email marketing, website design, paid advertising, and more
Step 5: Create Digital Presence
Create a website:
The aim of creating a digital presence is to get more revenue for your consultancy firm as many others are doing it too. Try to be distinct in your approach.
This is the window through which the world sees your skills and competences. This should be a description of your skills, and your offerings, for prospects to be turned to customers. It increases the credibility of your organization.
List your Business on Google My Business
Getting your business listed on Google My Business listing shows searchers where and how to visit your business. A Google Business Profile also improves your local SEO. A listing for a local business is more likely to appear when people search for a nearby business using Google Maps.
Content Marketing:
The main goal of content marketing is to attract a customer’s attention, educate newcomers, and nurture leads. This is important for creating, distributing, and managing original content that attracts your target audience and positions your consultancy firm as referential in the user’s mind.
Besides, you also have to map out a specific communication plan (content marketing) for every channel.
SEO & Keyword Research:
SEO is about optimizing your website and improving organic traffic while keyword research involves identifying appropriate keywords for you to use correctly in your content to organically improve our SEO positioning. This is imperative for every content strategy if you want users to find you on search engines.
Email Marketing
Email is a worthwhile marketing tool that involves sending promotional content to your clients. 3.9 billion daily email users make this channel the most popular for eCommerce businesses. It allows marketers to send personalized campaigns, segment their audience, and create relevant content for them
Social Media Marketing
There are over 3.5 billion people that use social media for different needs, they make up 45% of the world’s population. Social media marketing means using social media channels, such as Twitter and Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and LinkedIn to connect with their audience. It is aimed at building a brand community, boosting sales, increasing traffic to websites.
Showcasing your brand on social media is a great way of leaving footprints in the mind of your target audience.
Endeavour to plan out what you are going to publish and when on every social media platform with the copies best suited for each one, all while having the ideal number of characters, links, hashtags, and more.
Using Targeted Ads
You can reach your target audience more effectively by using targeted advertising. Whether it is Google ads or social media ads, they all provide advanced targeting options to help you reach your target audience. You can target the ads based on your audience persona – demographics, location, and interests of your audience.
Step 6: Measuring Results & Set Goals
The work doesn’t stop after you’ve designed and implemented your digital marketing strategy. The next step is one of the most important: analyzing the results. Analytics has turned into a critical pillar for successfully optimizing digital marketing performance and spending.
Conclusion
Setting up a marketing strategy for your Financial/Management consulting brand includes audience acquisition and reach as an important step in putting your services and all you have to offer in the marketplace. It is only when you reach your target audience effectively that you’ll be able to drive more sales and grow your revenue maximally.
Okorie-Emeka, Digital Marketing Intern, IIDM