What Is a Marketing Consultant? + How to Become One

The rise in social media and digital marketing means that working in marketing brings many opportunities. Marketing consultants have a wealth of experience gained from working in marketing or a specialist area, building up the necessary knowledge and skills to offer advice and guidance to clients. 

As a marketing consultant, you may pursue a career in a marketing agency or consulting firm or go it alone as a freelance consultant. Discover more about the role of a marketing consultant, the expected salary, and how to make a start in this career.

What is a marketing consultant?

A marketing consultant advises companies on how to reach consumers in a target market and convert them into paying customers. The marketing consultant role is similar to that of marketing coordinator and marketing manager in that professionals in all three roles will likely need a degree in marketing or a related field, relevant experience, and key marketing skills. 

Some important distinctions you might discover as you explore these roles and your marketing career potential include the following:

• A marketing coordinator helps coordinate a company’s marketing efforts. In this role, you typically conduct market research, create content, and monitor ad campaigns. Coordinators may report to a marketing manager.  

• A marketing manager is often a leader within a marketing team, developing marketing plans and overseeing their implementation. 

• A marketing consultant is often an outside party a company hires to advise on the next steps. 

What does a marketing consultant do? 

Depending on a company’s needs, marketing consultants may take on the following responsibilities: 

• Gather information and key metrics, including target market insights, website traffic, social media engagement, and more, to evaluate the effectiveness of a company’s marketing efforts.

• Present data to the company's marketing team and stakeholders.  

• Monitor the results of a marketing strategy once it’s implemented and recommend ways to optimise it for better results.

• Recommend new methods for reaching customers.

Marketing consultant salary and job outlook

The rise in digital marketing and social media creates more marketing jobs than ever. According to Glassdoor, a marketing consultant's average annual base salary is £47,613 per year [1], with a lead marketing consultant earning an average of £69,966 per year [2].

How to become a marketing consultant

To become a marketing consultant, consider earning a degree in an area where you want to work, gain professional experience, and seek out opportunities to build key marketing skills. Build your CV and explore the job market when you’ve gained the experience and qualifications necessary to work as a marketing consultant. 

Becoming a marketing consultant may be a good career for you if you are ready to build marketing expertise and advise businesses and individuals on effectively marketing their brands. Follow these steps to streamline your efforts:

1. Reflect on different employment scenarios.

Depending on your passions, interests, and career objectives, you’ll find several employment scenarios that you might pursue. Reflect on the following examples to clarify what you want to achieve: 

Staff employment

• Find a position with a marketing consulting agency, a company that offers marketing services to startups, small businesses, and large enterprises. In this scenario, you’ll be one of the consultants on staff, working independently or on a team, to develop and execute marketing strategies for the agency’s clients. 

• Find a position with a company that offers products and services unrelated to marketing. As the consultant (or one of several) on staff, you will likely deliver marketing solutions for your employer or its external customers.  

Freelancing or building your own business  

• Help startups, small businesses, and large enterprises temporarily to achieve their marketing needs. In this scenario, project size, contract duration, and tasks can vary, and you may take on multiple clients at once. 

Taking on freelance marketing consulting projects could be a rewarding alternative to long-term employment or could set you up to find the job of your dreams. Be open to the possibilities available to you as your career evolves. 

2. Consider earning a degree.

Earning a degree is an important step in becoming a marketing consultant and learning the relevant skills, although some employers may consider you without one. Subjects to consider include marketing, business, and communications. 

3. Gain marketing experience.

Before getting a marketing consultant job or launching your own consulting brand, gaining experience solving real-world marketing challenges is important. With experience comes authority that will be an asset in a consulting role, as companies and individuals look to you for guidance. Ways to gain experience include the following: 

• Find an entry-level marketing job or internship and practice foundational skills.  

• Find an advanced marketing role, such as marketing coordinator, and build leadership and advisory skills and years of experience. 

• Look for freelancing opportunities and take on increasingly challenging projects.  

3. Build marketing skills in key areas.

At the same time that you acquire real-world experience, be sure to build marketing skills that are in demand. For example, LinkedIn's 2024 survey of global executives revealed that the most in-demand marketing skills are [3]:

• Adaptability

• Communication

• Customer service

• Leadership

• Project management

• Management

• Analytics

• Teamwork

• Sales

• Problem-solving

• Research

You might find it useful to specialise in a particular area of marketing. For example, you could present yourself as any of the following and potentially get the attention of employers or freelance clients who are looking for someone who can perform specific tasks: 

• Digital marketing consultant (also referred to as web marketing consultant and internet marketing consultant) 

• Small business marketing consultant 

• Email marketing consultant 

• SEO marketing consultant 

• Inbound marketing consultant 

• Facebook marketing consultant

• Social media marketing consultant 

4. Update your CV and online presence.

As you add more qualifications to your repertoire, update your CV and online presence to represent your qualifications. Consider the following approaches:

• Post-marketing projects you’ve completed to an online portfolio or website, especially projects in which you advised other businesses and entrepreneurs. Include a description of each project and the results you were able to deliver, along with any testimonials from satisfied clients.

• Post relevant content to your social media account, especially material that showcases your ability to provide marketing advice. 

• List all marketing experience on your CV, using action verbs to describe tasks and projects you completed and quantifying the results of your work. 

5. Explore the marketing consultant career landscape.

When you’re ready to take on a marketing consulting role, explore the career landscape to find available opportunities, from job openings at different organisations to freelance gigs. 

Narrow down the opportunities you want to pursue based on your goals, the industries you find most interesting, the marketing campaigns you’d like to help companies launch, etc. Then, apply to positions or pitch potential freelance clients using your updated CV, portfolio, and other materials. 

Improve your marketing skills with Coursera

Working as a marketing consultant takes years of experience and knowledge building to gain the skills and insight companies look for in someone at a consultant level. 

Online courses can be a great way to explore your potential as a marketing consultant and keep up to date with trends and technology. Sharpen your skills in social media strategy, building online stores, measuring marketing performance, and more with a Professional Certificate on Coursera. Check out the Google Digital Marketing and E-Commerce Professional Certificate or the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate.