10 Marketing Tips for Solo Consultants

If you’re a marketing consultant and you’re looking for tips on marketing then read this blog.

As the economy is opening up and things are getting back to normal, solo consultants and business coaches have an opportunity to guide businesses to make the most of this opportunity.

For that, they would need an effective outreach that includes content marketing.

As a solo consultant, although you have the expertise, you may not have the resources that say a Ernst & Young has.

You won’t have a marketing team, research wing, or advertising and PR strategists that are needed to market your services.

The good news is that for marketing yourself as a solo consultant, you don’t need most of that.

You can successfully market yourself as a business consultant without spending much on the traditional avenues of marketing.

What you need is a well-laid-out plan and ingenuity. To help you with that, here are 10 marketing tips for solo consultants.

But before you begin marketing your consultancy services, you need to work on your brand.

Beginners Branding 

Whether you’re a consultant or a business coach – big or small – you’re a brand.

This means that your primary objective is to create a distinct and persuasive identity.

Your talent, expertise, and experience should be bundled together into a compelling brand.

Before you get into content marketing, emails, blogs, videos, this is where you should spend your time.

So, how do you create a brand out of your skillsets?

Branding is a complete process and isn’t something you do overnight.

Here are some blogs that you might find helpful with your brand:

How To Craft a Mission Statement You Actually Use

How To Do a Brand Discovery Process Without Hiring a Branding Agency 

A good place to start is with your name.

It could be your name or a name that you give to your consultancy.

If you’re naming your business, ensure that it’s short, easy to remember, and spell.

The next step is visual identity.

You would need a logo and a design mnemonic that people can identify with your consultancy.

You should also try to get a name and logo with category codes in terms of colour and typeface.

Then it’s time to define your target audience. Are you looking at IT startups, or brick and mortar retailers?

Is your audience more of solo entrepreneurs or mid-size businesses? Is your expertise in the business to consumer (B2C) or business to business (B2B) sector?

After that, you should define your brand character.

Put simply, it’s how someone would characterize your brand.

Would you like to be known as authoritative, traditional, sober, or playful, young, and dynamic?

Keep in mind that your brand character should resonate with your target audience.

It should have the attributes and codes prevalent in your industry.

Finally, your brand identity should be communicated across all touchpoints.

Your website, social media, online profiles, business card, voicemail, and even your laptop bag, and the way you dress should be consistent with your brand character.

Now that you know the importance of creating a brand, here are 10 tips that will help you market yourself as a solo consultant.

10 marketing tips if you’re a solo business consultant

1. Optimize your website

Your website will be the first point of contact for your prospective clients.

It’s your elevator pitch that needs to convince visitors that you’re the right person to help their business and convert them into clients.

The way to create a successful website is to think three to five years into the future.

Where would you like your business to be?

Who would your clients be?

What kind of credible content would you have put on your website by then?

Get all those into your website right now.

It should have at least two landing pages that direct users from your digital campaigns.

Those pages should be clutter-free and convey your difference in a matter of seconds.

Importantly, your website should answer questions that your prospective clients may have.

That’s how you make your website SEO-friendly.

Your landing pages and other content should have the keywords your target audience is likely to use.

It should have an easy-to-use interface that enables visitors to easily navigate.

Your website should also have a capture form to get the email addresses of your visitors.

In every sense of the word, it should be an active marketing tool for your business.

2. Request referrals

The most effective way to market your solo consultancy and get clients is through referrals.

When an existing client refers your services to another business owner, it makes it easier for them to trust you.

It’s implied that you add demonstrable value to a business for them to refer you.

Referrals also save you time.

You don’t have to spend money and time working on your sales pitch and making cold calls.

The prospect is already interested in knowing more about your service.

For all that to happen, you should seek referrals from your clients.

You may have to repeatedly remind them and even offer financial incentives in the form of a referral bonus.

You would also have to reach out to your past clients for referrals.

Your clients aren’t the only source for referrals.

You could also partner with businesses in other sectors and do cross-referrals.

3. Online advertising

There are primarily two ways to conduct your online advertising; Google Ads and social media campaigns.

For Google Ads, you should know the keywords your target audience would use.

It would highly helpful if you could find out both niche and long-tail keywords for your Google Ads campaign.

For example, ”tax consultant” is too generic.

What you want is a keyword with specifics.

So, “tax consultants in Ontario” or “tax consultants for small businesses” is a better option.

Social media advertising, especially on Facebook and LinkedIn, will help you target by industry and designation.

This is the most practical way to find business leaders but ensure that you have your website optimized before you run digital campaigns.

Unlike traditional platforms, digital advertising is accountable.

So, you should regularly check whether your keywords and targeting are getting the desired results and then make the necessary changes.

4. Contact clients directly

Instead of creating campaigns and waiting for clients to come to you, you can reach out and contact potential clients directly.

This will also differentiate you from the competition.

You should have a list of potential clients, finalized from trade directories and business listings.

Depending on your sector, you should also look out for which company has got recent funding, announced expansion plans, or is on a hiring spree.

LinkedIn is also a great platform if you find the right groups.

In certain sectors, direct mail will also be beneficial especially if you’re targeting small businesses.

Once you have a list of potential clients, you shouldn’t start making cold calls or sending proposals.

You should customize your pitch to the client’s needs.

For that, you need to know what their current plans are and where they will be focusing in the short to medium term. You should also know the key individuals in the company that you can get in touch with.

5. Network

After referrals, the most effective strategy to get new clients is through networking.

One of the first steps to start building your network is by attending events.

Whether you’re starting as a solo consultant or have been doing it for years, you should strive to attend networking events especially if they’re related to your industry.

Whether it’s a generic event or an industry-specific conference, you should know that there will be competition.

To stand out, you should have an effective sales pitch and a functional website and social media presence.

Do remember that it’s a numbers game.

Expecting only around ten percent of your prospects to get in touch with you, you should approach as many business leaders at events as possible.

6. Use social media

It will take time and it will take a lot of effort but if you do it well, social media will generate a substantial number of high-quality leads for you.

The first step is to understand that although you need to be present on all social media platforms, you only have to be regular on two or three.

The platforms that you should focus on are Facebook, Linked In, and YouTube.

LinkedIn gives you access to professionals and your content there should help you establish your brand.

Your content should also be tailored to the audience of the platform.

This means you shouldn’t repost from your other social media pages.

You should also be consistent in your posts and run targeted ad campaigns once every few months.

7. Create videos

The fastest-growing form of content is undoubtedly video.

This is the reason why you shouldn’t ignore YouTube in your social media strategy.

Remember that YouTube is also the world’s second-largest search engine.

What makes video crucial to your marketing efforts? To begin with, it’s easy to consume.

Unlike a long-form article, you can watch a video in a few minutes.

It’s also easy to share videos through social media and texting platforms.

Lastly, a video will give you visibility and go a long way in building a brand.

Your videos should be short, professionally made, and offer solutions, answers, or tips to your audience.

They should also be reflective of your brand characteristics.

Use the same design elements, background, colours, music, and graphics for memorability.

8. Start an email newsletter

It’s the easiest way to engage with your target audience and anyone else interested in your services.

It’s cheap and helps build your credibility.

It also opens doors for partnerships with other brands and influencers.

To get subscribers to your email newsletter, you can run targeted digital ad campaigns and be active on social media.

Once you start getting traction, you should invite your followers to sign up for your email newsletter.

Other than topics relevant to your industry, you should also interview business leaders for your email newsletters.

That’s also an effective way to build your network.

It will take time to bear fruits but once it starts working, your email newsletter might become your biggest sales funnel.

What you primarily need for it to work is patience.

9. Start a blog

The biggest names in consultancy have built their reputation through blogs.

That’s because it’s content marketing at its finest.

A blog will help build your authority, share your expertise, and is highly scalable.

You need to be consistent with your blog knowing that it will take months or even years to build a large readership.

Until then, you’ll have to regularly write on topics in your industry, management, economy, and any other general topic that might interest your readers.

Once you post, you should share that through your social media pages with a snippet of the article.

10. Write for publications

To build your credibility and regularly get followers, you should write for publications in your industry.

You needn’t start with the biggest names but can approach popular websites that focus on business and entrepreneurship.

What’s important is to consistently write on subjects related to your industry and on topical issues.

For example, how a government decision might affect businesses or how companies can navigate the challenges of remote work.

Your article bio should tell readers about your consultancy and expertise. It should also feature your social media buttons to expand your follower base.

Pro tip: Get professional help

The primary aim of your marketing should be to establish your expertise and thought leadership in your industry.

Videos, email newsletters, blogs, and writing for publications are the most effective channels to build that expertise.

That means you’ll have to consistently create content.

Understandably, you may not have the time to do it considering your workload. This is why hiring a content writer is an effective idea.

With ghostwriting, you’ll get the services of someone who’s a specialist and knows how to create content that’s compelling and SEO-friendly.

A ghostwriting service will also give you enough content for all your marketing efforts while building your authority in your industry.

That’s the reason why most solo consultants rely on ghostwriters to amplify their marketing.

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