Hiring a Digital Consultant vs an Agency: Which Is Best?

As digital marketing has evolved over time, developing an effective strategy for it has become increasingly complex. The rise of social media and the changes in search algorithms have brought in new techniques and discarded old ones. Help is often necessary to keep up.

Here are what you must know about hiring a digital consulting expert to build your SEO strategy:

• The roles of digital marketing experts in SEO
• The advantages and drawbacks of picking a consultant
• The advantages and drawbacks of choosing an agency

There is a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes.

Let’s go!

Are you looking for a full-service digital marketing agency? See the DAP difference below!

The Role of a Digital Consultant and Agency

In the context of search engine optimization (SEO), digital marketing is using any digital channel (websites, social media, listings, etc.) as a means of reaching and attracting your target market. Marketing is simpler with the help of a digital consulting service from a digital consultant or agency.

A digital consultant or agency handles critical digital marketing tasks involving strategizing, conceptualizing, and enacting plans that allow you to reach your business goals. Business owners have many types of services and providers that differ in extent and cost.

Digital Marketing Consultant for When You Have In-House Teams

A digital marketing consultant is an expert who usually operates alone and whose primary job is to advise and assist clients on how best to use digital channels to reach more people. Their advanced skills and abilities are vital to avoiding common digital marketing mistakes.

   Three Advantages of Picking a Consultant

For many reasons, outsourcing your digital marketing strategy to a digital marketing consultant is an excellent idea. Here are the three most compelling ones you should take into consideration:

1. A digital marketing consultant is like a one-stop shop for businesses to get valuable and crucial knowledge and advice. They can also build digital marketing strategies that assist in developing better reach and maintaining positive engagement with their target market.

2. Hiring a consultant to build your digital marketing strategy is more cost-effective than hiring an agency to do the same work. This works best for larger companies that can execute the plan themselves with an in-house team of digital marketers.

3. A consultant is essentially an all-arounder with knowledge of and skills in various digital marketing concepts and tools. They function effectively on their own. That makes them a reliable resource for anything related to digital strategies.

   Three Drawbacks of Picking a Consultant

Although hiring a consultant carries an overall advantage for your business, it also has drawbacks that should affect your decision. Here are three that you must know and think about:

1. The downside to consultants is that, because they work alone, they are often held back by time constraints. Couple this with the responsibility of helping multiple clients, and you realize that working with one is a trade-off of time and cost for quality consulting service.

2. A consultant’s services are cheaper to hire because their primary responsibility to clients is creating a robust marketing strategy. However, they do not have the time or resources to execute their action plan, though they can advise you on how to apply it yourself.

3. No matter how skilled or knowledgeable a consultant is, at the end of the day, they are still only one person and can only accomplish so much within their work hours. Although they have broad skills, you might not be able to benefit from it as much as you want.

Digital Marketing Agency, the Best Solution for Complete Services

Few methods work better to prepare you for digital marketing than hiring a team of experts to work closely with. Digital marketing consultants are great, but they have strict and severe limits to their abilities. A digital marketing agency employs teams of experts to get the job done.

   Three Advantages of Choosing an Agency

Given the points above, hiring a digital marketing agency to take over your SEO strategy has several key benefits that you cannot ignore. Here are three of the most critical ones you need:

1. A digital marketing agency has significantly more resources and manpower in reach than a consultant, so the quality of its output is likewise better and more tailored to clients. It comes from the hard work of multiple experts and professionals coming together as one.

2. When you hire an agency, you can pick the needed services and personalize any work agreement or contract to meet your budget. The most important point is that you get more than just the strategy; you get a team who can execute it on your behalf, too.

3. An agency relies on the skills of individual specialists to fulfill its client’s needs. That means strategies such as brand building and social media have a dedicated person or team handling the work. This ensures high-quality services without sacrificing results.

   Three Drawbacks of Choosing an Agency

Like digital marketing consultants, an agency also has drawbacks that affect the quality and speed of service you receive. Here are the top three most basic issues for you to consider:

1. An agency takes on many clients simultaneously. They need to have the manpower to split tasks and devote time to multiple projects simultaneously. They charge more for their services, but their competitive advantage can be substantial.

2. The pricing and packages of an agency are more flexible than a consultant's, but the result is still that it costs more to hire the former, regardless of how you look at it. This is not a waste of your marketing budget, but it poses a risk for those who want to cut costs.

3. An issue with outsourcing marketing work to an external team is that, while they have the necessary expertise to accomplish the work, contact with key persons is limited. With an agency, you do not get to direct each team or receive updates from individuals.

Summing Up

A digital marketing strategy is essential—that is a fact that no one can deny. However, reaching any level of success takes great skill, which few people have. Hiring a professional digital consultant or agency depends on the needs of the business, which only you can answer.

Need help in choosing the right digital consultant or agency? Contact Digital Authority Partners to learn how we can help.