Hire a marketing consultant - a how-to guide.

Meet Cody Gutierrez, CMO turned Marketing Consultant for Hire:

I help $1M-$100M businesses to scale-up profitably. In the corporate world, I earned 9 promotions in 10 years, quickly climbed to the C-Suite & scaled revenue 2X, 5X & 10X for 3 separate companies. In 2022, I walked away from my executive job (CMO) at a VC-backed startup to build my own portfolio of companies to grow & invest in. Learn about me here.

Why you should:

• Hire marketing consultants: tap into broad marketing experience & skills, without the full overhead of a full-time salary. It fills a skill gap quickly.

• Hire digital marketing consultants: tap into deep, specialized online marketing experience like social media, SEO, ads, etc. In most cases, this is a given when you hire a marketing consultant. It fills a skills gap quickly AND performance is measurable.

• Hire fractional CMO / part-time CMO: get the highest-level marketing expertise & leadership without the full-time cost. This is your “quarterback” for your marketing department & growth initiatives.

• Hire freelance marketers: this is synonymous with hiring a marketing consultant. However “freelance marketing” typically is reserved for lower-skilled marketers you’ll find on Upwork and other price-focused marketing talent marketplaces. Good for ‘down & dirty’ work though, it’s the most cost-efficient type of marketing talent & they typically specialize down to the channel-level like ads vs. affiliates etc.

• Hire Chief Marketing Officer or marketing executive: get full-time executive leadership & decision-making for your marketing department. This in the long-term will be the most bang for your buck; but it’s the most expensive upfront.

• Hire marketing specialists: this is synonymous with hiring a marketing freelancer. Specialists typically have deep expertise in a few areas, but the title also infers a beginner marketer. Typically a low-cost, low-skill option.

When you should:

• Hire a marketing consultant: if you need an outside perspective and/or if you want to add additional marketing capacity quickly. Great for all company stages because it’s so versatile.

• Hire a digital marketing consultant: same as above, but focused on digital marketing channels, digital transformation initiatives, and items that require performance visibility.

• Hire a fractional CMO / part-time CMO: if you’re committed to growth but have immediate marketing budget constraints, this is usually a go-to. Great for companies that have the early signals of product-market-fit, or companies that are scalable.

• Hire a freelance marketer: if you have a specific marketing project in mind already and/or if you have short-term marketing needs, this is a go-to. Great for smaller companies that know they need “stuff” but don’t necessarily need high-level marketing strategy yet.

• Hire a Chief Marketing Officer or marketing executive: if you have product-market-fit and want to “pour gasoline on the fire”, this is your best bet to accelerate growth. Great for companies that can afford full-time marketing resources. Starting with a Fractional CMO that can transition to full-time is often preferred so you can get a “test run” first.

• Hire a marketing specialist: if you have specific marketing challenges in a given area, then this is your best bet to “fill the need” quickly. This resource will be more of a “Task Rabbit” & not necessarily a deep marketing expert. Great for companies on a budget that need something low-cost.

What gets done when you:

• Hire marketing consultants: you both collaborate on the priority list, they execute.

• Hire digital marketing consultants: same as above.

• Hire fractional CMO / part-time CMO: they recommend the priority list, you approve or adjust, they execute (with additional marketing resources depending on the agreement).

• Hire freelance marketer: you provide the priorities, they execute.

• Hire Chief Marketing Officer or marketing executive: they will recommend priorities, they’ll execute (with the team), they’ll collaborate with you along the way.

• Hire marketing specialists: you provide the priorities, they execute.

Where to find:

• Marketing consultants for hire: LinkedIn, MarketerHire, Upwork

• Digital marketing consultants for hire: same as above.

• Fractional CMO / part-time CMO for hire: LinkedIn, personal brand websites (like www.codygutierrez.com), network referrals.

• Freelance marketer for hire: Upwork

• Chief Marketing Officer or marketing executive for hire: LinkedIn

• Marketing specialists for hire: Fiverr

Checklist when you hire marketing consultants:

• Do they have a track record of growing revenue?

• Do they have capacity?

• Do they have credibility?

• Do you trust them?

• Does their Price-to-Value ratio make sense?

• Is their own marketing good?

• Do they have experience with the thing you need done?

• Do they have clients or projects similar to you?

• Ask yourself these questions before you hire a marketing consultant and you’ll be in better shape when you choose one.

Benefits when you hire a marketing consultant or hire a Fractional CMO:

• Grow your revenue

• Build your brand

• Scale profitably

• Save you time or opportunity costs

• Improve marketing performance and/or marketing efficiency

• Increase profits

• Get immediate expertise without full-time costs

• Immediately level-up your marketing efforts

• Enhance your brand positioning

• Get access to other resources in their network (like agencies, other contractors etc.)

If you hire marketing consultants or hire a Fractional CMO, here’s what they should have experience in:

• Growth strategy

• Marketing operations

• Budgeting & goal-setting

• Data analysis

• Managing products & pricing

• Technology skills for marketing platforms

• Building & leading teams

• Performance marketing

• Branding & positioning

• Marketing strategy

• Managing growth partners & agencies

• Ads, analytics, automations, & RevOps

• Email marketing

• Content marketing

What is the typical cost when you:

• Hire marketing consultants: $50-$250+ / hour. Hourly or project-based.

• Hire digital marketing consultants: same as above.

• Hire fractional CMO / part-time CMO: $2K & up per month and/or $100+ per hour. Retainers, value-based pricing, performance-based models, etc.

• Hire Chief Marketing Officer or marketing executive: $150K per year and up. Salary/base + performance pay.

• Hire freelance marketers: $25 - $100 per hour. Hourly or project-based.

• Hire marketing specialists: same as above.

Hiring Marketing Resources: how to decide between resource types & options.

• Investors / Capital Partners: if you're cash-strapped or have big scaling potential/plans. Infuses capital, but gives up ownership.

• Marketing Technology: if you value consistency & scalability. Infuses efficiency & predictability, but lacks flexibility & control.

• Marketing Employee (FTE): if you want to maximize control & ROI. Infuses dedicated effort & long-term value, but at a premium total cost.

• Marketing Contractors / Freelancers: if you know your priorities & value flexibility. Infuses direct-to-expert execution, but at a limited capacity.

• Virtual Specialists (Offshore): if you value "lean" execution more than work quality. Infuses low-cost labor, but lacks high-level thinking.

• Marketing Agencies / Firms: if you're committed to growth & need to fill multiple execution gaps. Infuses expertise, but at a premium per-unit-cost.

• Considerations: Cost | Value | Risk | Speed | Control | Flexibility | etc.

• "All Things Considered": Generalized Resource Rankings: Investors | Technology | Employees | Contractors | Offshore | Agencies

Win/win compensation strategies when hiring a marketing consultant or hiring a marketing executive:

• Revenue Sharing Note (RSN): debt. Borrow capital from Partner (time/funds/discounted price etc.); pay-back is a % of rev. until principal & investment multiple is repaid. I.e. capped-payments.

• Work-in Equity: standard equity. Partner works for the Company, & earns an ownership stake over time. The details matter tho: structure (grants/options/RSUs), vesting plan, cliffs, share valuation/price, etc.

• Performance Sharing (Rev., Profit, etc.): cash/equity/etc. Partner helps to achieve desired results & receives a portion of the proceeds.

• Affiliate / Commissions: cash. Partner delivers direct, attributable results (customers etc.) & receives a portion of the [direct] proceeds.

• Build Your Own Bonus Plan: goal-based incentives & payouts. Partner receives bonuses when Company goals are hit. Flexible.

• The Gist: align Partner interests (pay) w/ Company interests (goals).

• Examples: earn 1% equity, 4-year vesting (monthly), 1-year cliff. earn 10% of Company revenue growth. earn $X bonus if Y goal is hit. Etc.

Principles for Win/Win Agreements when hiring marketing consultants:

• Balance Price & Terms: fundamental factors for why deals close or not. Tradeoff between 'Your price, my terms' & 'My price, your terms'.

• Collaborate: ask & understand their perspective, what they value, what's important, constraints & decision criteria. Build it into the deal.

• Team Problem-Solve: Be flexible. Incorporate & "stack" all possible forms of value. Use alternative or creative deal structures. If both parties want to work together, a win/win deal can be “built” together.

• Use Strategic Offers & Acceptance: conditional counters ("change X to Y & I'll sign") vs. revisions ("change this"). "Pre-negotiate" a fair deal that's signable-as-is. Don't "negotiate against yourself" - no discounts until an offer. Anchor offers to "prep for the middle". A "Yes" is better than "Best". Use hypothetical-future Q's.