What each one is for
| Marketing agency | Business consultant | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts with | A brief: channels, budget, creative | A question: what’s really holding growth back? |
| Output | Campaigns, content, ads, reports | A diagnosis, decisions and a plan |
| Scope | Usually one or two channels | Marketing, sales, pricing, operations, technology |
| Paid for | Delivering the service | Getting the decision right |
Signs you need an agency
- You know which channels work and need more capacity to run them.
- Your positioning, pricing and product are solid.
- You can judge the agency’s work against clear targets.
Signs you need a consultant
- You’ve changed agencies and the numbers didn’t change.
- Marketing blames sales, sales blames the product, and nobody can prove anything.
- Growth has stalled and you can’t name the reason in one sentence.
- You’re about to make a big decision: a new market, a new platform, a rebrand.
Why the two get confused
Many agencies offer “strategy”, and some consultants run campaigns. The test is incentives. An agency is paid to deliver its service, so its strategy usually recommends more of that service. A consultant should be willing to tell you that you don’t need more marketing at all.
From our work: [A client who came to PURSHO after two agencies, and what the real constraint turned out to be]
Often, you need both
The best set-up for many growing businesses is a consultant who sets direction and measures results, and an agency or in-house team that executes. We often work this way, with the client’s existing agency. See our business strategy consulting approach.
How PURSHO approaches this
See how we help with this in Business Strategy Consulting, or book a free 30-minute consultation. Related case study: [Category] D2C brand.
![Picture of [Founder Name]](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fb72704240c3527ba45904a8705865922f70a9c4f3c11bfa93c839f939945884?s=300&d=mm&r=g)
