Digital Marketing Agency Vs Digital Marketing Consultant

After you have set up your business, the next challenge is to reach the customers. For this, you want to get to as large an audience base as possible. The digital age demands a well-planned digital marketing strategy by agency or digital marketing consultant, to reach the target audience and make business conversions. Here, a choice awaits us that decides the fate of marketing for your business in the future. You often face a dilemma of what kind of service provider you want to hire, a Digital Marketing consultant or a Digital Marketing agency.

Let us understand how these are different and which between them can give you an upper hand in your marketing goals.

Definition

A digital marketing agency is an agency that is hired to focus on your marketing strategies. They can have any number of employees, though the range beyond 50 is considered a large agency.

On the other hand, a digital marketing consultant performs the role of a marketing advisor by auditing your business processes. It identifies and diagnoses the issue and applies the strategy to fix and move the company forward.

Execution strategy

As stated above, marketing consultants are best at diagnosing, fixing and applying the strategy, consulting and supporting internal teams executing the work. A digital marketing consultant may be a better option for you if you have the necessary manpower and resources to reach your marketing objectives, but you require some guidance.

In contrast, digital marketing agencies are best at doing things themselves. They take responsibility for every small thing that comes under your digital marketing umbrella and execute them by their in-built team, which comprise experts in each domain. They can operate at multiple channels.

Control

When working with a digital marketing consultant, you know exactly who it is you are working with. They are more specific, like a small team with defined responsibilities. In the case of a marketing consultant, you are well aware of the role of the employees, their background, and how they can add value to your goals.

While with a digital agency, you are working with an entity. You assign your project to them and it is up to them to manage it efficiently in the prescribed time. You communicate your requirements, and they take care of them internally.

Functions

Agencies are well-groomed and can handle multiple accounts at a time without allowing the quality to slip. If you need a workforce outside your business who can take care of your channel, and handle specific tasks like writing content, marketing, and managing Ad spending, then an agency is the right choice for you.

Digital consultants are experts on a single channel. It may sound like a con on the consultant’s part, but the expertise and the required strategy that they bring to the table is unmatched. They have huge experience working with various clients and under various conditions. These conditions groom them into subject-matter experts in what they do.

Pros and Cons

Marketing consultants are more focused on overall objectives and provide constructive insights. They work more closely with the marketing team than the agency and understand them better. Consultants are a cost-effective option if your business is in the starting phase and doesn’t need high-level optimization. Since the consultant is a single person, or in maximum a small group, you will have a one-on-one communication relationship with each act as transparent as possible. This is not possible with an agency, even if you hire the best digital marketing agency in India. 

Last but not least, a digital marketing consultant can provide expert advice on each leg of marketing like website design, promotions, advertising, SEO, social media marketing…, etc. On the other hand, since they serve other clients as well, there is a good chance of a mix-up. Also, they are not always available since they serve other clients as well.

In the case of a marketing agency, their strength is the available resources with them. From SEO to paid search to content marketing, they have a defined system for everything. They often have big names in their service portfolio that bring experience and market understanding to the table. Since they have a bigger team, they control the accuracy and are up-to-date with the latest industry development. On the dark side, they are often expensive for the range of services they provide.

Both marketing agencies and digital marketing consultant in delhi India have their upside as well as the downside. It’s up to your requirement what you choose for your project.