One of the biggest headaches I see in marketing isn’t bad ideas—it’s too many good ideas that don’t mesh together.

When it comes to hiring marketing help, clarity is everything. Too often, businesses bring on multiple vendors—consultants, agencies, freelancers—without defining who’s responsible for what. The result? Confusion, conflicting advice, and wasted time.

If you’re hiring a marketing consultant for big-picture strategy and a marketing agency for implementation, you need to decide upfront: Whose strategic advice takes priority? Likewise, if you hire an SEO company and a copywriter, make sure you know who has the lead. Otherwise, you’ll end up stuck with confusing choices and second-guessing every decision.

Here’s why this happens: In marketing, there’s rarely one “right” way to do things. There are different approaches, and each specialist sees the world through their own lens.

An SEO company will focus on ranking in Google, optimizing every word and page for search engines.

A copywriter will focus on persuasive messaging that resonates with your audience and drives conversions.

Neither approach is wrong, and in many cases, the best solution is a mix of the two. They just have different priorities. But without a clear hierarchy, you’ll end up getting pulled in two directions.

The takeaway? When you hire multiple marketing partners, establish a chain of command. Know whose advice you’ll prioritize for strategy, and whose role is to execute within that framework. Doing this upfront will save you headaches later and ensure your marketing specialists work toward one goal instead of against each other.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

We Want Your Take! Have you ever found yourself caught between conflicting advice from different marketing partners? How do you decide whose perspective takes the lead—your consultant, your agency, or your specialist vendors? Join the conversation and share your ideas at the OnNiche® Public Square!