As a digital marketing agency owner, having access to outside expertise can help you grow your business faster and more sustainably. Marketing coaching and consultancy services can provide valuable insight into your agency, but their services differ significantly. So, which one is right for your business?
Marketing Coach vs. Consultant: What’s the Difference?
Marketing coaches and consultants can provide valuable advice and information to help you solve problems in your agency and follow a stable growth trajectory. However, their methods of instruction are different. The right choice for you depends on your preferred learning style and your business’s needs.
These are the main differences between coaching and consulting:
Showing vs. Telling
Marketing coaches use an action-oriented teaching style. They’re often agency owners themselves, and they know the specific processes you need to complete to grow your agency. They guide you through those processes, showing you the steps while providing examples from their experience.
Meanwhile, a marketing consultant’s teaching style is more instructional. They tell you what your agency should be doing differently but don’t hold your hand. They lay out the facts in detail; you can choose whether to follow their instructions or tailor them as you see fit.
Exploring Strategies vs. Solving Problems
Typically, you bring a marketing consultant into your business to help you solve specific problems. They perform an audit, identifying weaknesses in your business structure and determining your biggest obstacles to growth. Then, they help you solve those problems.
Meanwhile, an agency coach focuses less on solving problems and more on exploring your business’s potential. While they guide you when you encounter problems, their services help you avoid them by setting your business up for long-term success. They provide valuable resources that worked for their digital marketing agencies and that you can leverage within your agency to grow sustainably.
Externally vs. Internally Driven Growth
Marketing coaches and consultants can provide an outsider’s perspective on your business. But a marketing coach’s advice is more externally driven, while a consultant’s is internally focused.
A marketing coach draws on personal experience and expertise to help you develop a successful marketing plan aligned with data-driven strategies. Meanwhile, a marketing consultant analyzes your business from the inside out, learning your processes and solving your precise challenges.
Inviting Reflection vs. Providing Answers
A marketing consultant examines your marketing execution, finds flaws, and provides answers. This process can be invaluable if you’re having trouble stepping away from the business and viewing it from an outsider’s perspective.
A marketing coach empowers you to recognize problems in your agency and learn how to solve them. A coaching program gives you the time and space to reflect on your business’s challenges and successes. When you can’t solve problems on your own, you have access to a network of professionals who have been in your shoes and can provide relevant insight.
Focus on Problems vs. Focus on Business
Marketing consultants are problem-solution experts. They’re trained in the fastest ways to identify problems and determine solutions. If your business is facing significant obstacles to success, a consultant can help you pinpoint and break down those obstacles, turning them into manageable steps.
Marketing coaching services focus more on your business as a whole than on the problems you’re facing. They celebrate your successes, train you in the best marketing strategies, and help you overcome challenges. This comprehensive approach fosters long-term, sustainable growth.
Which Is Right for Your Business?
Both marketing coaches and consultants can provide valuable services to grow your digital marketing agency. The right choice for you depends on your business’s current state and your goals for the partnership.
If you need a professional to come in and tell you exactly what you’re doing wrong and lay out the solutions in systematic detail, choose a marketing consultant. However, if you want a professional to help you explore your potential and provide resources for long-term success, a marketing coach is what you need.
Seven Figure Agency: Expert Marketing Coaching Services for Agency Owners
At the Seven Figure Agency, we provide experience-driven marketing coaching services for digital marketing agency owners. We’ll provide the resources, expert insight, and professional community you need to grow your agency to seven figures — and beyond.
If you need help navigating industry challenges and setting your business up for success, schedule your free coaching session now to get started. Then, check out the Seven Figure Agency podcast for free resources for business owners.
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