For many consultants, one of the biggest obstacles is getting clients for their consulting business. Sometimes, it’s as simple as connecting with someone who needs their specific expertise, but other times, it’s more complex.
Especially when you have just started a new consulting company, you don’t have a big portfolio, and you don’t yet have the credibility or social proof that attracts new clients.
So, you may also lack testimonials, case studies, or referrals that more established consultants rely on.
On top of that, you’re likely competing against seasoned professionals who have built strong networks and a solid online presence.
This makes it harder to convince prospects to take a chance on your services, especially when consulting often involves high-value, trust-based engagements.
Secondly, you might have planned to expand your consulting business, and now you need more clients. You might have been relying on some of the strategies like referrals, organic social, paid media, etc, but you need a powerful marketing strategy to get new clients consistently.
A marketing strategy isn’t just about advertising, but it’s the strategic approach to reach the right audience and close the deal. And it’s a tough task.
In this article, I’ll provide practical advice on how to attract clients. It’s not just about where your potential clients are, but also about how to make them realize they have a strong reason to choose your consulting services over others.
On this page:
Identify your unique value proposition:
Consulting is a competitive market. To close deals, you need to give people a clear and compelling reason to choose your services over others. That’s where your value proposition becomes essential.
It’s not enough to simply have the right skills. You must define what makes your business different. Why should clients hire you? What can you offer that others cannot?
Once you have a clear value proposition, your entire approach to promotion changes. Advertising becomes strategic marketing. You can write more persuasive copy, promote your services with confidence, and invest in marketing without the fear of wasting time or money.
Thus, even before you invest anything in marketing, begin by identifying your key strengths. Then, focus on reaching individuals or organizations that can benefit most from the specific expertise you provide.
When your unique selling proposition (USP) is clearly communicated, it becomes much easier to attract and retain the right clients, those who truly see the value in what you offer.
Identify your ideal customer persona (ICP):
After having a clear value proposition and USP, the next important thing to take care of is your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). With an ICP, you understand exactly who your ideal customers are, what problems they face, and how your service fits into their needs.
For instance, not all small businesses are ideal clients for a marketing consultant. A consultant specializing in SaaS growth strategies might not be a great fit for a local bakery or a retail store. But they would be highly valuable to a tech startup struggling to increase user acquisition or conversion rates.
Knowing your target market is key to fine-tuning your marketing strategies and hitting the bullseye. Take note of their demographics and psychographics to create plans for better outreach.
To begin with, go through the list of past clients and pinpoint those who brought you joy while working with them. What was the reason for this? If you’re a fresh consultant, has never worked with clients, you can still have an ICP.
You can define a competitor and then figure out their ICP for your business.
What do all your best clients have in common? Do they share similar job titles, work in the same industry, or operate within a specific location?
Start by identifying the common fears, goals, and challenges your ideal clients face.
Once you’ve gathered this information, create a detailed ideal client persona. This persona will give you a clear picture of who you’re targeting. And this will improve the ROI of your marketing efforts.
Create an effective online presence for your consulting business:
This is one of the most important things to understand if you want to consistently attract clients to your consulting business: you need a strong web presence to draw in potential clients and influence their decision to choose your services.
Start with a professional website. By that, I mean a site that includes all the essential elements that can help convert visitors into clients.
For example, if you’re running ads or promoting your services and people are landing on your website but leaving without contacting you, it likely means your web copy is weak or your site isn’t optimized for conversions.
An effective website should clearly explain who you are, what you offer, who you serve, and why clients should choose you. It should also include trust-building elements like testimonials, case studies, and a clear call to action.
Next, be active on social media platforms, forums, and industry-specific groups. These are powerful tools for building your brand and helping others by solving real problems.
Take LinkedIn, for instance. You’ll notice many professionals regularly posting content. They do this to build trust, increase brand awareness, and attract clients through consistent value-driven engagement.
Make your consulting business appear on Search Engines:
Once you’ve started building your social presence, the next step is to make your business visible on Google and other search engines.
There are many strategies to dominate search results, but let’s start with a few simple and free ones:
- Get Your Website Indexed: Make sure that your website is indexed by major search engines like Google and Bing using their respective tools: Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. While search engines can find your site through social media links, manually submitting your sitemap helps guide crawlers to the right pages. This also prevents them from indexing pages you don’t want appearing in search results.
- Create Business Listings: Set up your profile on platforms like Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) and Bing Places. These listings improve your visibility in local search and maps. You should also list your business on reputable directories such as Clutch, Crunchbase, and other relevant industry platforms.
- Stay Active on Social Media: Being consistently active on social media not only helps build your brand but also sends positive signals to search engines about your business. Regular engagement increases your online presence and supports your SEO efforts.
If you want to learn more, you can follow these 9 best ways to make your business appear on Google and Bing.
Leverage SEO to dominate SERP:
People often search on Google and other search engines when they are looking for consultants. And this is a big opportunity to target these potential clients.
You can target these potential clients with search engine optimization (SEO), which means optimizing websites to rank on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Perplexity, etc.
In fact, it’s a powerful tool when done properly.
SEO only brings you organic traffic, but it can also do much more when executed properly. It is a powerful strategy for perfect brand positioning, demand generation, and building trust and authority. – Junaid Raza (B2B SEO Expert)
Take a look at a few keywords people search for in the USA:
- For instance, people search for the term ‘Dermatology Consultants‘ over 12,000 times a month, which means thousands of people are seeking dermatology consultants every month, and someone is surely acquiring them.
- Similarly, people search for ‘Business Consultants‘ over 12,000 times every month, meaning many are looking for help with strategy, operations, or growth, and someone is landing those contracts.
- Similarly, the keyword ‘Life Coach‘ has over 10,000 search volume.
Here is the search volume with keywords, according to The Hoth.
If you want to copy data, you can copy from this table:
| Search Term | Google Monthly Searches |
|---|---|
| American Technology Consulting | 14,800 |
| Financial Consultant Near Me | 14,800 |
| Free Lawyer Consultation | 14,800 |
| Business Consultant | 12,100 |
| Consulting Firms | 12,100 |
| Dermatology Consultants | 12,100 |
| Financial Consultant | 12,100 |
| Midwest Eye Consultants | 12,100 |
If you have optimized your website to rank for these terms, you can get many of these clients for your consulting business. Ideally, you should always hire an expert for each marketing strategies, still, if you want to implement SEO tactics yourself, you can learn here on Google’s SEO Starter Guide.
Networking effectively:
For any consultant who wants to expand their client’s base, it is essential that they network. In growing your consulting business, you should be visible, believable, and supportive where potential customers can be found.
In the end, people want a consultant they can trust, who they can identify with, and who they can relate to well. You could build lasting business relationships and attract new customers by focusing on these networking strategies.
Get referrals:
Referrals are one of the simplest yet most effective ways of attracting new clients. You don’t have to spend extra for marketing purposes because word-of-mouth recommendations work well when they come from reliable sources.
Concentrate more on developing strong relationships with your current customers as well as offering remarkable services to them. When you surpass their expectations, they will likely recommend you to their friends or associates in business.
These referrals come with a built-in level of trust, making it easier to win over new customers without having to convince them so much.
Cold pitch to get more consulting clients:
It is generally about going directly to potential clients via cold calls, emails or messages. Though it may be uncomfortable at first, it can work wonders if done right.
Narrow down your pitch to the right people—those who have visited your website and/or are active in relevant online community forums. It is more likely that these people will be interested in what you have to offer.
For instance, I recently received a pitch from a SaaS as a listed one of my startups on ‘Product Hunt’. And I was really included to their offer.
Comparatively, research indicates that cold messaging on social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn have proven more effective than cold emails. Maybe, it’s because in consulting business you need to build your authoritative brand so your social posts or audience have a direct impact on your potential clients.
When making a pitch, personalize it for each recipient. Address them by name and include specific insights on how you can address their needs. This kind gesture shows that you have done your research and that you sincerely want to assist them.
Offer free workshops and webinars:
If you want to attract potential clients for your consulting business, consider offering free workshops and webinars that can give them a glimpse of what you are capable of.
When you offer something for free, in this way, you prove to people how competent you can be while building trust. It may make them more inclined to think about using your consulting services.
The first thing you should do is select a theme that goes along with the concerns individuals in your sector have. Your website and social media platforms can be useful marketing tools for this purpose. During the workshop or webinar, emphasize the delivery of valuable insights as well as interacting with all participants.
Lastly, it is good to conclude with a strong call to action, like scheduling an appointment or registering for the services. This will help you convert attendees into clients by showing them how working with you can be beneficial.
Leverage email marketing:
With 4.37 billion people using email around the world, it becomes evident that email marketing is a powerful tool for attracting clients.
By sending messages to specific clients, you are likely to draw their attention and make them feel valued. This strategy creates trust and keeps the relationship strong with the audience.
To build your list, you can offer a useful checklist, report or template would be most suitable for prospects.
Alternatively, you might want to consider starting your own newsletter where you can share industry news as well as use it to communicate some tips, among other things that relate to your business.
In any case, a well-crafted newsletter will always keep customers up-to-date and interested in what they have signed up for. I have seen many SEO consultants build lists on social media, and convert them to sign up for their free Newsletter. They are making a decent amount of money from their Newsletter.
Create case studies and testimonials:
Social proof is an influential marketing tool. It lets potential customers know that other people have been satisfied with your consulting services.
In order to build this social proof, get success stories from clients who have used the services before and use them as case studies.
You should indicate the specific challenges met by those clients, how you solved them, and the positive outcome afterwards. Add testimonials to your marketing materials, which will display real feedback from pleased clients.
In addition to building credibility, this also serves to attract more customers by showing that you have knowledge and are successful in what you do.
Leverage online marketplaces and platforms:
There are always opportunities to find clients on sites like Upwork, fiverr and LinkedIn. You might also want to have an awesome profile that outlines your skills, experiences and services.
Some of the things that could make a difference in this regard would be how you uniquely value your proposition as well as any relevant certification or achievement in order to stand out from the rest. This should include participating in discussions and actively applying for projects.
Being part of these marketplaces can improve your visibility and link you up with clients who are seeking your expertise.
Use paid advertising:
Paid advertising, such as PPC (pay-per-click) ads and social media ads, can help increase the prominence of your consulting business. PPC advertisements show up in search engine results, targeting users specifically through keywords associated with your services.
For instance, if we search “Business Consultants” on Google, we might see ads like these:
These are paid results, and any business can appear here. It costs them an amount for each click they get on their website. Actually, search engine advertising (SEA) is a paid alternative to search engine optimization (SEO). But unlike SEO, SEA is expensive, and as you turn ads off, your business disappears from the search engine result page (SERP).
Alternatively, you can run ads on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Advertisers place ads to reach particular individuals based on their demographics or interests. And these ads aren’t expensive like PPC. But the conversion rate is low.
Measure ROI while consistently improving campaign optimization for better performance.
Develop strategic partnerships:
You may be the best SEO consultant; however, you cannot meet the needs of all your clients. They often work with multiple consultants and require a variety of services.
Therefore, it is a good idea to establish strategic partnerships with other consultants or agencies that provide complementary services.
For instance, you can combine forces with web designers who are able to create visually stunning websites and content creators who produce high-quality blog posts and articles. These partners can also supplement your SEO efforts in order to serve customers better.
Rather than compete directly against you, look for partners who contribute positively to your offerings. The collaborations offer cross-promotion opportunities and increase the customer base. You will have integrated solutions offered as a result of working together while enjoying each other’s referrals.
Create a podcast or video series:
It’s worth considering starting a podcast or video series to help you connect with potential clients and share your expertise.
But first, take some time to come up with content that really captivates people and speaks directly to your target market.
Consider discussing themes that showcase your consulting abilities while also delivering some tangible benefits.
After creating top-notch content, publicize it! Advertise your podcast or video series on various social media platforms as well as in forums where you can meet prospective clients.
By promoting regularly, this will help you attract more viewers and listeners, thus boosting your profile as an authority in your field.
Get published in niche magazines and sites:
Publishing your writing in niche magazines or niche blogs is a great way to establish credibility. You can contact niche publications by offering to write guest posts or articles that demonstrate your expertise.
Being featured on these reputable platforms would enhance your reputation and attract prospective clients. It’s a good way to showcase your knowledge and attract those who are seeking the kind of consulting you offer.