If there is one big advantage to working in the same industry for many years, it is gaining a great amount of knowledge and incomparable experience. Through years of hard work, various situations, and diverse circumstances you have become a well-trained expert with paramount understanding and proficiency in how the trade works.
Consulting service businesses are the go-to place for owners looking for advice and suggestions to help them grow their business. Keep in mind, though, that maintaining a consulting business is no easy task. One day you might have dozens of business owners wanting your expertise and suggestions and the next you might be staring at the phonebook looking for clients. New prospects, fresh leads, and recent contacts are the lifeblood of your business.
Finding clients can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. It requires a time investment and being seen in the right place at the right time by your ideal audience. There are many easy and effective ways to market a consulting firm to boost your list of potential clients.
Optimize your website for local traffic
A nice looking website with a short introduction about your business, the history behind it, the people who manage it, services you offer, and contact information – think these say it all? Unfortunately, this information is not enough anymore. Websites with basic content are a thing of the past, and today you need to create fresh content every so often to improve your traffic and maintain your ranking in search engines.
Nowadays, search engines favor active websites with new content and updates than those that remain stagnant throughout their creation. If you want more traffic, a higher ranking, and increased web visibility, consider creating blog posts to keep your readers up to date with relevant topics. Reaching out to a wider service area might seem like an easy way to expand, but be sure not to neglect those in the local area.
- Optimize your Google My Business listing and make sure that all details are correct.
- Mind your keywords, use geo-targeted keywords to increase local search engine visibility.
- Guests blogs are a great way to showcase your expertise attracting more followers and clients.
Build a YouTube channel
Advertising and promoting your consulting business should be done in a modern and technical way. Most businesses are using social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to become noticeable. But one medium that is often overlooked by many owners is the power of YouTube. YouTube isn’t just for watching entertaining content and documentary specials. You can also use it to improve your ranking and market your services.
Similar to how local search engine optimization works, video results also appear in search engines. But instead of presenting your clients with tons of words to read, you’re sharing information in the form of videos. Using the right keywords and sharing your YouTube channel on social networks as well as on related forums will help direct more traffic to your website, thereby increasing business visibility.
- Do your own research on YouTube and take note of keywords related to consultancy.
- Watch content uploaded by others and carefully study how they craft the whole presentation.
- Do it better than what’s already out there -don’t copy others’ techniques but instead create your own version, just like you do in your consulting business.
Maximize your LinkedIn presence
One person creates an account on LinkedIn every second, and there are now nearly 65 million users on the platform. Marketing a consulting firm is easy if you’re in the loop of professionals who specialize in their respective field. Think of LinkedIn as the search engine of professionals, as those who need services turn to LinkedIn to look for active providers.
By optimizing your profile, tweaking your services, showing your proficiency, and letting people know that you are “the expert” in your field customers can be you on the platform. Make a profile that is designed to impress, and showcase what you’ve got but don’t overdo it. In the same way, don’t forget the importance of creating a company page in LinkedIn. This is where you need to engage people so that they learn more about your consulting firm. Here are some tips for a more effective LinkedIn profile:
- Regularly update your profile and talk about your latest customers and recent projects.
- Insert keywords in your profile and share relevant content to improve ranking.
- Promote your company page by adding a LinkedIn follow button on your website.
Leverage email marketing
Direct emails, newsletters, and sending messages to potential clients. There are many ways of email marketing and all of them, if done correctly, will increase your chances of getting new customers. Although some may consider it obsolete, email is still the most powerful way to reach your target audience. Most of your emails won’t even get a reply but don’t lose hope because this is just how things are. Email marketing is a numbers game, the more you send messages the more likely it is you’ll get a response.
The beauty of email marketing is that you can reach a wide variety of audiences right from the comfort of your own home or office. You can send promotional newsletters to prospective clients and at the same time remind former customers that you’re still in the business should they need your services again. When doing email marketing for your consulting practice, remember to:
- Choose an email newsletter service. MailChimp, iContact, and Aweber are all great options.
- Build a targeted list by adding recipients manually or using applications to fetch emails.
- Make sure that your emails are easy to read and add value to recipients with a call-to-action.
Increase visibility with networking and guest speaking
There are tons of marketing strategies to generate more clients, but most if not all focus on advertising your business using modern technology. While email marketing and video promotion will reach a wide audience, promoting your consultancy firm through personal networking and guest speaking adds a human touch to your business.
Many business owners focus on immediate ways to market a consulting firm that they often neglect to appear in local conventions or at business meetups. Public speaking is yet another way to earn a reputation within the community while increasing your chances of developing new clients. Get involved by attending conferences, dinner events, gala nights, and business assemblies.
- Start slowly by offering your services as a speaker at small gatherings and occasions.
- Widen your personal network by joining symposiums within your local area.
- Make yourself available for industry-focused networking groups to expand connections.