Best Marketing Consultants in St. Louis

A marketing consultant is a specialist in the marketing field who is hired when a company owner or manager wants to outsource marketing efforts. The marketing consultant collaborates with key personnel within the organization to develop marketing strategies and jump-start them into action. Some vital tasks provided by a marketing consultant include:

• Identifying an objective for marketing efforts
• Researching the market to identify customer needs and interests
• Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of competitors
• Developing a plan to reach customers and show how a product or service meets their needs
• Implementing the marketing plan to get the message out to targeted market segments

A marketing agency is an organization that's made up of marketing professionals who each have unique skills in the marketing field, such as performing research, developing strategy, and writing advertising copy to target a specific demographic.

The team of professionals working in a marketing agency may also have industry-specific skills, such as print media marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, and web design. Agency team members may also be videographers, campaign managers, or branding experts.

In addition to employing different types of professionals, a marketing agency may specialize in a specific kind of marketing. Examples include digital marketing agencies, full-service agencies that provide a one-stop service for businesses, and social media marketing agencies that connect influencers with companies.

Marketing consultants fall under the category of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers and, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics or BLS, earn an average hourly rate of $64.34 per hour. Wages for consultants and agencies with special skills may command higher salaries, and some agencies may use a cost-plus pricing strategy based on the number of promotions developed plus a markup amount.

A bachelor's degree is the typical level of education required for advertising, promotions, or marketing professional. Broad-based business educational programs are common for marketing professionals.

Topics typically studied for this field include marketing, communications, journalism, and sales. Visual arts, consumer behavior, business law, and finance are also subjects commonly covered in a marketing management degree program.

A digital marketing agency specializes in providing marketing services that combine the latest digital technology with marketing techniques. Some offerings that separate digital marketing agencies from other types of marketing agencies include creating email marketing campaigns and helping clients establish an online brand. These agencies may also design and develop websites for clients while optimizing digital content to perform well in search engine queries.

A full-service marketing agency manages all aspects of marketing and advertising for an organization. However, some full-service agencies offer an a la carte menu of services, so business owners have the choice of which services to use. Outsourcing marketing functions to a full-service agency lets the business owner or manager focus on the core competencies that make the company special. Some specific services offered by full-service marketing agencies include:

• Strategic planning based on market analysis
• Choosing media forms to market products and develop the brand
• Content creation, including copywriting, videography, and graphic design
• Website and app development
• Analytics to track the performance of a marketing campaign
• Managing all aspects of advertising, both digital and in print

Social media marketing agencies generate marketing messages to create an experience based on content and developing long-term relationships rather than published advertising that interrupts a potential customer's experience. These agencies may hire influencers to prepare content and share it on popular social media channels. They also create sharable content and interact with bloggers to get branded content shared online.

An email marketing consultant helps an organization get results, such as increased sales or a higher click-through rate, from an email marketing campaign. Services provided include researching and developing strategies for the campaign as well as building and managing the email contact list. The consultant prepares and curates written content to include in email messages and handles the technical aspects of sending out messages.

Influencer marketing agencies make money by providing a point of connection between businesses that want to hire influencers and influencers who are open to posting on their social media channels. These agencies usually charge a monthly fee for this service. However, on occasion, they may charge by the number of posts, the complexity of the campaign, or the desired amount of followers the company expects an influencer to have.

A boutique marketing agency is made up of a small group of marketing creatives who work together to create marketing campaigns for businesses. This type of smaller agency lets business owners work directly with the people creating their marketing content rather than being transferred from department to department, which may happen in larger agencies.

Hiring a marketing agency can save time and money for small business owners. It puts a team of professional marketers at your service, and it's often cheaper than hiring a marketing professional to work in-house. Some benefits you may gain by hiring a marketing agency include:

• Time to focus on other aspects of the business rather than marketing efforts
• Marketing knowledge and experience a business owner may not have
• A more polished and professional look for the company
• A cohesive marketing strategy based on market research and insider information
• Increased revenue through previously untapped prospect sources