FOR CONSULTANTS & ADVISERS
How does video marketing for consultants build trust?
Why video helps advisers win trust, which types of film work, where to use them and how to feel comfortable on camera.
How independent consultants can use Google Ads to reach people already searching for help, and when search advertising is not worth the money.
Google ads for consultants work when people are already searching for help with a problem you solve. You pay to appear for a particular search, then send them to a focused page with one obvious next step. They suit consultants with a defined service and clients worth real money. They’re a poor fit when nobody searches for what you do.
Social advertising interrupts people. Google ads for consultants catch people who are already looking. Someone searching for a fractional finance director, or HR support for a growing business, has a problem right now, and that’s a very different moment from idly scrolling a feed. If you’d rather hand the campaigns to someone else, see our advertising for consultants service.
That same intent is why clicks can be expensive, and why a sloppy set-up burns through money fast. Here’s how to go about it as an independent consultant or a small consultancy.
The test is simple. Do your buyers search for what you offer? Type a few phrases a client might use into Google and look at what comes up. If other advisers are advertising above the listings, there’s demand, and competition with it. If the results are mostly unrelated articles, there may be very little to catch.
Google Ads works best for clearly named services that meet a need people recognise, such as “interim HR manager”, “ISO 27001 consultant” or “business turnaround adviser”. It’s weaker for work clients don’t yet know they need. Content and speaking reach those people better, and so do referrals. Our guide to marketing for consultants shows where each one fits.
Pick search phrases that show someone wants to hire help. Someone who only wants to learn is no use to you. “Employment law consultant for small business” is a buyer. “What is employment law” is a student.
Google Ads Help describes three match types. Broad match is the default, and it can show your ad on related searches. Phrase match, written in quotation marks, covers searches that include the meaning of your keyword. Exact match, in square brackets, gives you the most control and the smallest reach. For a niche service on a small budget, starting with phrase and exact match keeps spending tight.
Negative keywords stop your ads appearing on searches you don’t want. Google Ads Help says they let you exclude search terms so your ads reach people interested in what you offer, and it warns that adding too many can shrink your reach. For consultants, sensible ones to exclude often include “jobs”, “salary”, “course”, “free” and “template”, depending on the service.
Once the ads are live, look at the real searches that triggered them. You’ll find phrases worth adding and others to exclude. Make it a weekly habit. It’ll save you more money than any clever setting.
Don’t send paid clicks to your home page. Send them to a page that matches the search, with one service for one audience and one thing to do. Google scores this directly. In its Quality Score guidance, landing page experience means how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad, and it’s one of three components, sitting next to expected clickthrough rate and ad relevance.
A good page for a consultant usually has:
The site behind the page counts as well. A page that loads slowly or looks dated works against the ad. Our consultant website checklist covers the basics.
Without conversion tracking, you’re guessing. Google Ads Help says conversion tracking measures the actions people take after interacting with your ads that are worth something to you, like sign-ups or phone calls, and shows you which keywords, ads and campaigns are driving them.
For a consultant, these are the conversions worth tracking:
Google also points out that bidding strategies such as Maximize Conversions use this data to optimise, and that only works if the tracking is accurate. Test every form and phone number yourself before you spend a penny. Tracking relies on cookies, so make sure your cookie banner and privacy policy are up to date.
It depends entirely on your market. Cost per click varies with the keyword and the competition, and no honest article can hand you a fixed figure. You can, however, work backwards from your own numbers.
Then set a daily budget you’re comfortable with and run it for several weeks before you compare the real cost per enquiry against your ceiling. If it’s out of reach, tighten the keywords or improve the page before you add more budget.
In any of these cases, work on your website and your reputation first. That will usually pay you back sooner.
We plan and run Google Ads for consultants, covering keyword research and landing pages as well as conversion tracking. If search demand is too thin to justify the spend, we’ll tell you straight. A clear brief, scope and fee are agreed with you before any work begins.
Neither one is better across the board. Google Ads suits services people actively search for. LinkedIn suits reaching particular job titles who aren’t looking yet. Choose based on how your buyers find advisers. Plenty of consultants start with whichever fits their service and add the other one later.
Ads can start showing within days of approval, but working out which keywords and pages perform takes several weeks. Expect an early spell of tweaking. Review the search terms every week, and don’t judge the results on a handful of clicks, especially since consulting sales cycles can be long.
You need somewhere relevant to send people, and for a consultancy that means a credible website with a page matched to each service. Clicks sent to a social profile or a generic home page rarely turn into enquiries, and Google rates landing page experience as part of ad quality.
Automated bidding can work well once your conversion tracking is accurate, because that’s the data it learns from. With very few conversions, it has almost nothing to go on. Start with careful keyword choices and solid tracking, and think about automation once enquiries are coming in regularly.
Say what you do and who it’s for, then what happens next, in the words your buyer used to search. Responsive search ads let you supply up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, and Google Ads Help recommends filling them with as many unique options as you can. Keep your claims honest and provable, and don’t guarantee results.
Why video helps advisers win trust, which types of film work, where to use them and how to feel comfortable on camera.
What thought leadership is for consultants, how to find a point of view, which formats suit you and how to prove your expertise.
How independent consultants can rank for the services and problems they solve, using topic pages, genuine expertise signals and earned links.
Four quick questions, and we’ll show you where we’d start. Your answers come straight to us with your message, so you won’t have to explain it twice.
A 30-minute introduction call on Microsoft Teams, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Your answers come with the booking, so we’ll be ready for you.
Prefer to talk it through? Make an appointment for a 30-minute call on Microsoft Teams, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
A closer look at the work behind each part of your plan.
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