How to become a marketing consultant in four steps?

In this article you will learn about:

What is marketing consultant job used for?
What are the marketing knowledge, skills and experience required to become a marketing consultant?
Tips about becoming a marketing consultant.

What is marketing consultant job used for?

Marketing consultant is the marketer who being consulted by companies, organizations or individuals to help them in marketing their products or services.

If we are talking about marketing jobs hierarchy: usually marketers start their marketing career job with marketing executive and the process ends with strategic marketing director.

The

marketing consultant job

comes after you resign from your current work as marketing director, and open your private business (mainly) or when you join marketing companies who are working in

marketing consultancy

.

But also you need to consider that sometimes when your marketing knowledge, skills and experience became enough to coach and guide other in marketing, then you can work as marketing consultant directly. I am telling you this because I knew many marketers who started their marketing career as marketing executive and after being promoted as brand manager or product manager, they resign and work as marketing consultants. And by the way; they are doing very well.

What are the marketing knowledge, skills and experience required to become a marketing consultant?

My answer will be like a shock for you. I can tell you there is no limited no. of experience, knowledge or skills to work as marketing consultant. Because this is depending on whom you are consulting; are you working as marketing consultant for individuals who are suffering from small problems in their marketing plan implementation, are you working with organizations who are suffering a problem in their branding, marketing communications, marketing research, customers’ loyalty or their products are declining in product life cycle (PLC)? Are you working as marketing consultant for FMCG product, for Pharmaceutical products, for services companies? Are you working as marketing consultant for search engine optimization (

e-marketing consultant

)?

I am telling you all of above questions; because it is very important to understand what are the experience, knowledge and skills required for your target segment to become a marketing consultant.

But there are general guidelines and

tips to become a marketing consultant

:

1. Get a qualification in marketing (at least Diploma, MBA or Master Degree is enough, while DBA is a plus).

2. Work in companies and organizations as marketer for at least 5-7 years, even if you got paid very small money compared to your colleagues who are working in other companies. This is important to get the enough skills and experience about marketing planning, marketing research , marketing communications, marketing management, relationship marketing, business to business marketing, service marketing, international marketing, strategic marketing planning, corporate planning, and stakeholders relationship management skills and experience. I always say do not look for money as primary objective when you shift your career from a job you do not like to the job you love. Focus on getting the skills and experience first, and when you became skillful marketer and experience candidate, then you will find organizations and companies are looking for you and willing to pay what you want to hire you.

3. Became updated and involved with the marketing changing dynamics worldwide: Because when you work as marketing consultant; you can expect any organizations from any country around the world will contact you to help them.

4. If you did not take the chance to work for companies as marketer, and you get step no.1 and no. 3, then my recommendation is to join non-for-profit organization and working there as marketing consultant for free. This can be an approach to learn the experience of marketing consultancy although it will not be enough to make you qualified as marketing consultant (because of the limited budget of those organizations will not help you to apply what you learned from marketing knowledge).