Hiring a communications consultant takes the pressure off of you to figure out how best to reach and engage with your audience. A consultant understands the ins and outs of marketing across many platforms. They know how to use email automation and social media to the best advantage and how to craft a clear, strategic message to connect you to the people that need you most. 

Here are 7 concrete ways that hiring a communication consultant can help your brand succeed:

1. Strategize your brand

   Your brand is one of the most memorable aspects of your business. It clearly conveys who you are and appeals to your ideal audience while being relevant, distinct, and exciting.

   If your messaging so far has been scattered, inconsistent or unclear, a communications consultant can help you shape your existing work into a cohesive message that shows your audience how you will solve their problem. 

   When you work with Right+Good, our team will support and coach you through everything from setting up your website to implementing a strategy for your public or community meeting.

2. Clarify your goals

   This sounds like an easy one, but a good communications consultant will help you dive deeper (beyond “more sales!”) into how you want to engage with, show up for, and serve your audience. 

   Are you wanting to increase fundraising by 75% over the next quarter? Do you want to launch a new product or course but aren’t sure how to time it to your advantage? Are you needing to get more traction on a campaign you’re running, but you don’t know the best platform to use? 

   Being specific about what your true goals are is the first step to building a clear marketing strategy. We believe that by caring about your audience and thoughtfully considering your approach to promoting your business, you can actually build and participate in your community, versus waiting for it to grow.

3. Determine what you need

   With all the platforms available today, audience engagement can take more forms than ever. Trying to figure out what will work best for your audience and your message is confusing and time-consuming. 

   What does your audience want? Where do they look for information? Where do they hang out in their free time? Your communications consultant can help you answer these questions based on their professional knowledge of platforms, trends, and best practices. 

   Determining the best way to reach your audience–blogs, public meetings, ads, social media, newsletters– will put your message in front of the people you want to see it. We take time to know your brand and your audience and help you move them from point A to point B by understanding how your audience communicates. 

4. Develop a strategic plan

   You’re clear on your goals and you know how you want to reach your audience. Now what? 

   You don’t want to overwhelm your prospective client with emails, but you don’t want them to forget about you either. You want your message to tell a story and take your audience on a journey. 

   You need cohesive, connected content to engage your audience. Random, scattered messaging doesn’t build up the confidence and trust in you that your audience needs to move forward. 

   A communications consultant will work with you to plan content in a way that makes sense and keeps your audience interested and engaged. Planning out monthly themes or specific content around holidays, political movements or industry events means that you have a steady stream of ideas. Working with a consultant to craft an editorial content plan means no more scrambling to find the right thing to say!

5. Break that plan into actionable steps

   Now that you have your content plan in place, how do you actually get all of the creative contented done? 

   Whether you’re a one-person show or have a team to work with, your communications consultant can help you figure out where to start and prioritize. You’ll also think about things like what you should focus on vs. what needs to be outsourced.

   For example: maybe there are accounts to set up and platforms to learn before you even start to create content. By organizing your projects by priority and defining each step in the process, your consultant will make it easy to see exactly what your next move is. 

   Consultants offer implementation, project timeline development and client resource management to make your life easier.

6. Connect you to the right people to make that happen

   Just because you’re a stellar business owner doesn’t mean you’re also a copywriter, graphic designer or webmaster. 

   Or hey, maybe you are–but who has time to do all that?! 

   Your communications consultant will often have resources they can call on to help you get the right person for the job. When your consultant has an in-depth understanding of your brand and your voice, they can direct you to someone who will be able to represent you in the best way possible. 

   At Right+Good, we consult independently with responsible small business, non-profit teams, government agencies and social good organizations to produce and author digital, blog, web, social and media content. We also collaborate with a network of pre-vetted content creators to find the perfect fit for your project. Check out The Collective here!

7. Maintain your presence

   Last but not least, after your content strategy is up and running, it’s important to maintain some ongoing work.

   Your communications consultant can help you decide on a schedule for regular community engagement and outreach, posting, sending emails and any other audience engagement platforms you’ve decided to focus on. They can also advise you on how to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. 

   Whether an email campaign needs tweaking or you’d like to focus on hybrid technology outreach, your consultant will use their expertise to optimize your content strategy for the long haul. They’re often also a great addition to any team that’s either too small to hire a full-time CMO, or needs an outside voice to steer the ship for a team without additional communications support.

   We’ll help you manage all of the moving parts with annual strategic planning meetings, email automation, analytics, crisis and risk planning, and much more.

When you work with a communications consultant, they will help you articulate your vision and help your team define the shared goals and objectives that you need to structure your project and build big wins. 

A communications consultant  bridges the gap between your offering and your audience, helping you build trust and shared understanding that will lift you both up. 

If you’re thinking of all the ways you could use some communication help, schedule your free 30-minute consultation–we’ll get to know each other, discuss your overall needs and see if we’re a good match.

Want to learn more?