By Piotr Maryanski | March 2026 | 6 min read
“Marketing consultant” is one of those job titles that sounds impressive and means almost nothing without more context. I’ve seen it applied to people who post on Instagram three times a week, people who run £500k in paid ad spend, people who rewrite positioning documents, and people who show up once a month to tell you what you already know and charge handsomely for it.
If you’re thinking about hiring one, you deserve a straight answer about what you’re actually getting. So here it is.
What a marketing consultant is supposed to do
The job, done properly, is to look at your business and find where growth is being blocked — then fix it.
That sounds simple. The catch is that the blocks are rarely where you think they are. The business owner who thinks they need more social media posts usually needs a better follow-up process. The one who thinks their ads aren’t working usually has a conversion problem on the landing page. The one who’s spending £5,000 a month on Google Ads and getting mediocre returns often needs the email sequence that runs after the click, not better ads.
A good marketing consultant’s job is to find the actual problem, not solve the perceived one. Which means spending time understanding the whole picture before recommending anything.
What it’s not
A marketing consultant is not the same as:
- A social media manager — someone who creates and posts content on your behalf. That’s execution, not strategy. Valuable, but different.
- A marketing agency — a team of people who handle execution across multiple channels, usually with account managers and junior staff between you and the person doing the work.
- A digital marketing specialist — someone who focuses on one channel (just SEO, just Google Ads, just email). A consultant should see the full picture.
- A coach — someone who helps you figure out what to do yourself. A consultant figures it out and then does it, or at minimum tells you exactly how.
The simplest test: at the end of a month working with a marketing consultant, something in your business should be measurably better. Not more planned, not more reported — actually better. More enquiries, better conversion rate, higher email open rate, more revenue. If you can’t point to a number that moved, something went wrong.
What a marketing consultant actually does day-to-day
It varies significantly depending on the brief, but here’s what it typically looks like in practice:
Week 1–2: Audit
Before touching anything, I want to understand what’s already happening. That means looking at the website (what do visitors see, what do they do, where do they leave), the analytics (where traffic comes from, what converts), the ads (what’s running, what’s being spent, what the actual returns are), and the email — if there is one.
Most businesses are surprised by what the audit finds. Not because they’ve been doing something catastrophically wrong, but because nobody has ever looked at the whole picture at once.
Week 3–4: The fix list
After the audit, I put together a clear list of what’s broken and what order to fix it in. Not everything at once — a ranked list based on what will move the needle fastest, with the least effort. The quick wins usually take care of themselves in the first month.
Month 2 onwards: Execution and build
This is where the work actually happens. Depending on what the audit found, this could be:
- Setting up or restructuring paid ad campaigns
- Building email flows that run automatically (abandoned cart, welcome series, post-purchase)
- Rewriting website copy so it converts better
- Fixing the Google Business Profile and review strategy
- Building a proper content and social strategy — not posting for the sake of it
- Looking at the offer itself — price point, positioning, what you’re leading with
The specifics depend entirely on the business. But the output is always the same: something that improves the bottom line.
When you need a consultant vs an agency
This is a genuine question worth answering properly, so I’ve written a full comparison here: Marketing consultant vs agency — which one do you actually need?
The short version: if you know exactly what you need and just need people to do it, an agency makes sense. If you’re not sure what’s broken or what to fix first, a consultant is more useful. You don’t need a team of people executing the wrong strategy.
What does a marketing consultant cost in the UK?
Rates vary widely. Freelance consultants typically charge between £400–£1,500 per day, or £2,000–£8,000 per month on a retainer. Senior consultants or those with a track record in specific industries can charge more.
The question isn’t whether the monthly fee is expensive. The question is: what is the problem currently costing you? If your ads are burning £3,000/month and producing mediocre returns, the cost of not fixing it is far higher than the cost of fixing it.
Signs you’re ready to hire a marketing consultant
- You’re spending money on marketing and can’t clearly say what it’s returning
- You’re doing the marketing yourself and it’s taking time away from running the business
- You’ve hired a social media manager or junior marketer and it hasn’t moved the needle
- You have a clear revenue goal and no clear plan for hitting it
- You’ve been burned by an agency and you’re not sure what you actually need
Signs you don’t need a marketing consultant yet
- Your business is under 12 months old and you don’t have product-market fit confirmed yet — sort that first
- You’re looking for someone to take over social media posting — that’s a different hire
- You have a very specific, well-defined problem (e.g., “just run my Google Ads”) — a specialist might be more efficient
The bottom line
A good marketing consultant isn’t a luxury for businesses that have money to spend on extra things. They’re useful when you’ve hit a growth ceiling and can’t work out why. When marketing is happening but not producing. When you need someone to look at the whole picture, not just execute one channel.
If that sounds like where you are, the best place to start is a conversation — not a proposal.
Not sure if you need a consultant?
Book a free discovery call and I’ll tell you honestly — whether that’s me, an agency, or something else entirely.
Frequently asked questions
What qualifications does a marketing consultant need in the UK?
There’s no regulated qualification required. In practice, the best indicator is track record — specific results, industries worked in, and how long clients stay. The CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) qualification is well-regarded, but plenty of excellent consultants don’t have it. Ask for results, not certificates.
What’s the difference between a marketing consultant and a marketing manager?
A marketing manager is usually an employee who handles ongoing execution within a team. A consultant is typically brought in from outside, often on a retainer, to solve a specific problem or own strategy. Consultants tend to be more senior, more expensive per hour, and more results-accountable. They don’t have the administrative overhead of an employee.
How do I find a good marketing consultant in the UK?
Ask for case studies with real numbers. Ask how long their typical client stays (short tenure is a bad sign). Ask what they’d do in the first 30 days. If they can’t answer the last question without knowing more about your business, that’s actually a good sign — it means they audit before they prescribe.
Can a marketing consultant help a small local business?
Yes — in fact small businesses often get more value from a consultant than large ones, because there are usually more untouched opportunities. A small business with no email marketing, a neglected Google Business Profile, and no review strategy can see significant growth from fixing basics. A consultant finds those quickly.
Piotr Maryanski is the founder of Crunchy Ads, a marketing consultancy based in the North East. She works with ecommerce, hospitality, and service businesses on paid ads, email, and full-funnel strategy. Book a free discovery call.