Exact marketing consulting rates and what you get in 2022

How much should you pay for marketing consulting? Company standard Pricing models and comparison of the results you can achieve. US Marketing consulting prices in 2022 are:

Marketing Consulting Rates US 2022 by CITY PROFIT

Freelance marketing consultant vs Professional marketing consulting firm

Freelance marketing consultant rates are cheaper then firms consulting fees. 

Freelancers are the ones who offer their services to companies on a temporary basis. They are usually hired by small businesses that don’t have the resources to hire a full-time marketing consultant.

Freelance marketing consultants can be contracted for a period of time or for specific projects.

Professional marketing consulting firms, on the other hand, provide services to not only SMB`s but large companies that need more than just one or two experts in marketing. Marketing consulting firms usually have a team of experts, marketing managers, who specialise in different aspects of digital and traditional marketing. 

And, for sure, consulting business in any area – means you need to find the best competenced team out there and pay them properly. This is why they almost every time have higher pricing model.

P.S.: Yes, achieving business growth is crucial. You can`t just STOP your marketing when sales are the same and acceptable for you from month to month. Business owners are starving for growth. So, it doesn`t matter what you choose – in-house, freelance marketing consultant or professional marketing consulting services. You need it. Or you`re loosing your loyal or potential customers.

But wait, there is a big gap between both variants. And it`s not about money, but about your strategy. Keep reading – it`s worth it

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How much should you pay a marketing consultant?

Marketing experts (marketing managers and consultants) are invaluable in today’s rapidly changing business landscape. The right marketing consultant can help you implement a successful strategy to grow your business. 

A good rule of thumb is anywhere from $100 to $500 (hourly rate), depending on the consultant’s experience and expertise. Yeah, it can`t be cheap, but at the same time, it is worth every penny.

Hey, I think it would be a good idea for you to just sit down, do some math and figure out if a marketing consultant would work out for your business.

The main question is this: How much profit you should get on top of what you have already if you`ll buying consultant`s services? 

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Example: Marketing consulting rates you can afford

My average marketing and sales goals are to double my sales in a year, with 100+ fresh customers. That would give me about +100K EXTRA in personal Net Income / per year.

How much can I pay for that? Well, for me it`s 50K easy! Or, 20K. 

Lets stop math on 35K (Be generous – it worth it!)

Lets split it into monthes. 35/12= almost 3 K per month. That means you can have (approx.):

  • 30 hours of freelancer with 2 years experience and few good portfolio records (based on hourly rate)

Or

  • 8 hours of PRO-level Marketing consulting firm.

Fair enough?

I hope this helps you better evaluate a marketing consultant.

“Pay them for their value, not just how much time they spend.”

Marketing consulting rates per hour - experience and records dependencies

The rates of marketing consulting can vary a lot depending on the experience, skills and records of the consultant. The rates also depend on the type of consulting – whether it is for a one-time project (high price) or ongoing work (low price).

What I recommend? Just do not ignore two things:

Experience: overall Marketing and SALES experience in YEARS (not in specific area like copy, design, seo, ads… more complexed strategies is always better don`t matter the size of business you have now).

Results: records / portfolio IN NUMBERS (yep! there is now straight dependencies between experience and records. We, for example have almost perfect (96%) record of real business sales and margins results, but our top-10 competitors has about double quantity of clients, but 10% in results when it comes to sales dynamics).

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Marketing Consulting Rates in 2022

Let me make it simple for you:

  • no real experience (less then 2 clients per year, less then 2 years overall), no real results = 20 – 50 USD / hour
  • no real work experience, good results = 50 – 100 USD / hour
  • good work experience, good results = 150 – 200 USD / hour
  • perfect work experience, perfect results (80%+) = 200 – 500 USD / hour

And one more thing that is not about marketing managers consulting fees. A lot of experience = less surprises. A lot of results = more overall trust and higher rates. But there is such thing like TIMING. You better find the team or person who delivers FAST acceptable results (stop seeking for perfect – they don`t exist).

Let’s assume a 10-hour project that’s preparing a simple marketing strategy for a short-term marketing campaign.

Does it realy lasts 10-hour? Sometimes marketing managers higher rates means less time ammount for completing your project.

Larger marketing projects means you'll have to use more complicated and dependent instruments. And yes - higher marketing consulting rates.

Account manager from Marketing Consulting Firm is almost everytime is very experienced guy. He`s going to ask you about your business goals and your own pricing model and owners and TOP-managers work experience. So who is interviewing who? Good marketing consultants always ask a lot of questions. And if they asked everything, now it`s your time.

In long-range (by time, not business type) projects you have to consider:

– Strategy aspect (does your project consist a long-term and short term strategies? and are they solidly connected to YOUR personal business goals?)

– Multichannel aspect (how many marketing instruments and channels you should use?)

– Experience / Results of every person who`s connected to your project implementation

– Consulting fees of maketing managers that are utilized in your project and specific KPI`s they have

– Are these marketing campaigns fresh and crispy for you and your target market or specific clients?

Before you begin a Small, Medium or Large Project

1) Before selecting digital marketing consultant or big firm consulting services, make sure you ask for some samples to see the experience they have. Like a Test Drive. Need to make sure they know how all theirs equipment, instruments and competencies works together as well.

So, stop googling for average marketing consultant salary. It`s 100-500 USD per hour. Period. And don`t start to talk about money before you`ll get something like Free Website Audit or Free Marketing Consultation. Consulting fees going to be more based on something after that. 

2) Create a project brief before buying marketing consulting. Main Business Goals, particular marketing project (numbers, timing) and descriptions. And then.. go for Marketing Consulting Rates research.

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Rules for both sides: business owners and marketing consultants

Projects tactics change with time. That`s why someone looses their businesses if not ready for that.

Both sides should know, that there is a thing called A/B testing. Basically it means that you always need a backup tactics plan that operates not AFTER but WITH the main tactics. You make two variants of an Ad. Wich one got more leads wins and stays as an “A” variant, and you should develop a new “B” variant. And that A/B testing never stops.

This is why your tactics changes. And it`s normal. So:

  1. A/B testing as a normal and most effective instrument for Marketing and Sales
  2. Never stop on One instrument, because of rule #1
  3. Only strategy remain the same for as long as project goes