Email Marketing Consultant: When to Hire One and What to Expect

Most companies will attempt to implement their own email marketing program and miss out on a lot of potential income because of it. A professional email marketing consultant is able to help you fill in the holes in your program, address technical concerns, and establish systems that will provide recurring revenue.

However, the consultation process is a costly venture. In this guide, you’ll learn what an email marketing consultant does, when you might need one, how to hire one, and how much you should pay for them.

Table of Contents

What Does an Email Marketing Consultant Do?

Email marketing consultants are independent experts that you hire to improve your email marketing efforts. This is different from agencies, which manage your execution for you.

Common Consultant Engagements Include

Email program audit: Assessing your existing email marketing solution, finding its weaknesses and building an improvement strategy
Strategy development: Developing a segmentation strategy, a content calendar and an automation strategy
Platform setup and migration: Setting up a new ESP or migrating between platforms
Deliverability assessment and fixing: Identifying inbox deliverability problems and rebuilding sender reputation
Automation build: Developing welcome sequences, nurture series and lifecycle campaigns
Team training: Training your team on managing the platform and running successful email campaigns
Performance optimization: Performing A/B testing and optimization based on results analysis

When Should You Hire an Email Marketing Consultant?

A consultancy service is useful for:

You’re Not Sure Why Your Emails Aren’t Performing

Decreasing open rates? Emails going to the spam box? Income generated through emails lesser than expected? A consultant will determine the problem quicker than a long period of guesswork.

You’re Switching Email Platforms

The migration process of a platform is complicated. An experienced consultant, who has already migrated to multiple companies, will avoid problems such as data loss and down time.

You Need to Build Your Program Quickly

The new venture that requires a comprehensive email solution within 60 to 90 days is a perfect case for consulting.

Your Team Lacks Specific Expertise

Even if you have a marketing department and lack people with extensive knowledge about email automation and deliverability, a consultant will provide an answer without a new full-time staff member.

You Need an Outside Perspective

Occasionally, it is difficult for the internal team to see certain aspects of the problem because of its proximity to the process.

Email Marketing Consultant vs. Email Marketing Agency: What’s the Difference?

One more typical question is:

Consultant

Individual or small business owner
Focused on projects and short-term engagements
Plans strategy and systems, trains your team
Generally costs less for clear scopes
Good for auditing, strategic development and platform development

Agency

Team of experts with different specializations
Focuses on management
Executes the plan for you in the long term
Costlier per month but more hands-on
Good for businesses that want to outsource execution completely

Most businesses begin with a consultant to lay down the groundwork and do execution in-house or through an agency later on.

How to Find a Good Email Marketing Consultant

There is stiff competition in the market when it comes to email consultants. Here are tips to help you get the best email consultant:

1. Look for Relevant Specialization

A consultant who focuses on ecommerce email marketing (Klaviyo, Shopify flows) is different from a consultant who focuses on B2B lead nurture (HubSpot, Marketo). It all depends on your needs.

2. Ask for Case Studies and References

A good consultant should always be able to give specific statistics of what they have done in the past. Do not believe a consultant that says “we increase open rates.”

3. Check Their Online Presence

Does the consultant publish articles on email marketing? Does he/she send out a newsletter? When a consultant does what he/she says, that’s a good thing.

4. Platforms to Find Email Consultants

LinkedIn (search “email marketing consultant” + your industry)
Upwork (good for shorter, project-based work)
Clutch.co (rated consultants)
Email marketing platforms’ directories (Klaviyo, HubSpot, and Mailchimp all have a directory of certified partners)
Referrals from within your network

5. Evaluate Their Diagnostic Process

Before an excellent consultant gives you a quote, he or she must be interested in knowing about your existing environment, goals, and problems. Never trust any consultant that gives you a quote without even asking you anything.

What to Expect in a Consulting Engagement

Email Marketing consulting services follow a standard process, which includes the following:

Phase 1: Discovery and Audit (Week 1–2)

The consultant analyzes your existing program by looking at such things as your email platform settings, current automations, performance history, list health, deliverability ratings, and competitor benchmarks.

Phase 2: Strategy and Roadmap (Week 2–3)

The consultant provides you with an actionable plan for improving your results, based on the findings of their audit.

Phase 3: Implementation (Weeks 3–8)

The consultant designs or supervises the design of new automations, segmentation strategies, templates, and processes, which can take varying amounts of time to do.

Phase 4: Handoff and Training (Final Weeks)

The consultant trains your team on how to use the new tools and processes and provides comprehensive documentation.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Email Marketing Consultant

“What is your area of specialty when it comes to emails?”
“Could you give me an example of a past project you did and the outcomes?”
“What is your process in diagnosis before you begin?”
“How do you measure success in an engagement such as mine?”
“Will you be the one doing the actual work, or will it be subcontracted out?”
“What does your handover process look like?”
“Have you worked on our email platform before?”

How Much Does an Email Marketing Consultant Cost?

Costs will depend on scope, experience level, and engagement model.

Typical Rates

Consulting on an hourly basis: $100 to $300 per hour
Audit of email marketing program: $1,500 to $5,000 fixed price
Full engagement on strategy development: $3,000 to $15,000 depending on scope
Monthly retainer engagement (continuous advisory): $1,000 to $4,000 per month
Migration project to another platform: $2,500 to $10,000+

Cheaper is not necessarily better. Consultant that charges $250 per hour and solves your deliverability issues in 10 hours is worth more than a cheaper consultant who spends 50

Red Flags When Hiring an Email Marketing Consultant

Promises Specific Metrics Upfront

“We guarantee a 40% open rate” is definitely not a phrase that a reputable consultant would use.

Can’t Explain Their Methodology

The consultant should be able to explain how he will achieve his goals in simple terms.

No References Available

All reputable consultants have references; if not, don’t use them.

Recommends Tactics That Violate Email Compliance Rules

Anyone suggesting purchasing lists or neglecting GDPR regulations is definitely a problem for you, not a solution.

Vague Deliverables

Always make sure there are deliverables and success criteria for every consulting engagement.

Final Thoughts

A good email marketing consultant will be one of the most efficient uses of your money in the entire marketing process. A good person will be able to audit your processes, see where things are going wrong, devise a strategy, and teach your people how to maintain those results.

The trick is finding a consultant who has the necessary experience in the particular area you need help in. Spend some time analyzing the situation before choosing a consultant and be sure to ask for references.