What Skills Do the Best Digital Strategy Consultants Have?

When searching for a digital strategy consultant to lead your campaigns, you want the best agency that knows your industry and the latest digital trends. But how do you know when you have found the best person or agency for your business, if this is your first time hiring one?

This article is about the skills to look for in a digital strategy consulting agency:

• Technical Consultant Skills
• Valuable Soft Skills

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Technical Consultant Skills

Technical skills set expert digital strategy consultants apart from the rest. These require specialized knowledge and unique expertise needed to perform specific tasks, as well as to use industry-specific tools and software.

Whether it’s for a small or large company, consultants must possess a diverse set of skills. Some technical skills and knowledge are industry-specific, so look for these when hiring a one.

     1. Assess the Agency’s Marketing Knowledge

A digital strategy consultant must be well-versed in marketing principles, tools, and techniques to help clients achieve their marketing goals.

A consultant with up-to-date marketing knowledge can help clients stay ahead of the curve. They can provide insights into the latest marketing trends, tools, and platforms, and enhance them to reach target audiences and achieve business objectives.

The consultant uses their marketing knowledge to develop a comprehensive digital marketing plan. A plan includes strategies to identify target audiences, develop messaging and positioning, define key performance indicators (KPIs), and optimize campaign performance. The following can help you assess a consultant’s marketing knowledge:

• Look at their educational background, work experience, and any certifications or training related to marketing.
• Ask for case studies to see how they approach challenges and their ability to deliver results.
• Evaluate how they identify and analyze the target audience, especially the audience’s buying behavior and preferences.
• Assess their familiarity with marketing techniques, such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media, email, content, and paid advertising marketing.
• Identify their ability to measure success, such as defining and tracking KPIs for a campaign.

     2. Evaluate Their Analytical Thinking Skills

Consultants help businesses with complex problems and create data-driven strategies. Digital marketing involves analyzing website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates. Analytical thinking skills help consultants collect and analyze data effectively, finding patterns and opportunities to improve campaign performance.

Digital strategy consultants need strong analytical skills to develop strategies that meet the client's business goals. They analyze market trends, identify competition gaps, and create growth strategies.

They use analytical thinking to find the root causes of problems, weigh different solutions, and recommend the best course of action. Here’s how to evaluate a consultant’s analytical thinking skills:

• Evaluate their ability and experience using Google Analytics, SEMrush, Moz, etc.
• Assess their approach to problem-solving, analyzing complex problems, breaking them down into manageable components, and developing solutions.
• Check their adaptability to new technologies and trends to quickly learn and adjust their strategies.

     3. Gauge Their Project Management Skills

Project management skills are essential for a digital strategy consultant to help businesses, as they must simultaneously manage and coordinate multiple projects. They need to ensure on-time and within-budget delivery to the client's satisfaction.

Good project management skills require effective communication. Consultants must identify and manage risks effectively, and establish quality control processes to thoroughly review and test campaigns before they launch. Remember the following to gauge a consultant’s project management skills:

• Find their project management methodologies, such as agile, waterfall, or hybrid, to assess their ability to effectively manage projects.
• Evaluate how they communicate with stakeholders, project teams, and clients, especially regarding project goals, timelines, and status updates.
• Assess how they manage resources, such as staff, budgets, and technology infrastructure, and how they allocate resources to ensure on-time delivery.
• Evaluate risk management skills, how they anticipate potential issues, develop contingency plans, and manage risks.

Valuable Soft Skills

Digital strategy consultants must possess soft skills to help clients achieve their marketing goals. These traits and attributes are often harder to gauge than technical skills. Sometimes, you may only notice them once the campaign is up and running.

Consultants must possess the following soft skills when working with a small company or an established business:

     1. Check Their Communication Skills

Digital strategy consultants work with clients to develop strategies that help them achieve their business goals. Good communication skills are crucial to building strong client relationships, managing expectations, and keeping clients informed of project progress.

Consultants often work in teams with other professionals, and good communication skills help them coordinate and collaborate with everyone to make sure that the team has aligned project goals and timelines. Effective communication skills also resolve conflicts, manage expectations, and find solutions to problems that may arise during the project.

These strategies help you check a candidate’s communication skills.

• Review their website and social media presence to provide insights into their communication style. Look at how they present themselves, their tone, and their ability to explain complex ideas.
• Check their previous work; use review reports, presentations, and other documents to see if they are clear, concise, and easy to understand.
• During initial interactions, such as email exchanges, phone calls, or video conferences, observe. Note their ability to listen, ask questions, and respond to your concerns.

       2. Focus on Flexibility

The digital landscape is constantly changing. Thus, a digital strategy consultant must be flexible. Every client is unique, and agile methodologies are becoming increasingly popular. Flexibility means the consultant can adapt to these changing requirements and customize their approach for each client.

They must have the ability to effectively work in an agile environment, think creatively to solve problems, and successfully collaborate with different team members. These tips help you assess a consultant’s flexibility:

• Using their previous work, check their ability to adapt to different clients, industries, and project requirements.
• Ask about their experience with agile methodologies. This flexible approach to project management emphasizes collaboration, frequent deliveries, continuous improvement, and adaptability.
• Identify their experience with digital channels, such as social media, email marketing, search engine optimization, etc.
• Speak to previous clients and ask them about the consultant's ability to adapt to changing circumstances and to handle unexpected challenges.

     3. Highlight Their Creativity

Creativity helps digital strategy consultants develop innovative solutions and stand out in a digital marketplace. A consultant can think unconventionally to create unique and practical strategies that align with the client's objectives. They can generate fresh ideas for content creation, website design, social media marketing, and other digital marketing activities.

Creativity also enables a consultant to identify new opportunities and potential areas for growth. They can use their imagination to develop campaigns that resonate with the target audience and create a memorable brand experience. Here are ways to find out a candidate’s creativity:

• Review their portfolio to see their previous work and assess their creativity, such as unique solutions to problems, implemented inspired campaigns, or developing innovative strategies.
• Request case studies demonstrating their ability to develop novel solutions to complex problems.
• Conduct a brainstorming session to get a sense of their creative approach. Provide a problem or scenario and see how they approach it.

Summing Up

Seek the aforementioned technical and soft skills before hiring an expert digital strategy consultant. Check for marketing knowledge, analytical thinking, and project management skills. Identify a candidate’s communication skills, flexibility, and creativity. All of these skills help improve your digital marketing campaigns and give you an edge over your competitors.

Contact Digital Authority Partners (DAP) today. DAP has the skills and expertise to quickly boost your digital marketing strategies and achieve your goals.