The marketing mistakes consulting firms make at each growth stage

Have you started investing more seriously in your marketing, but you're still not seeing the results you'd hoped for?

You're not alone. A lot of consulting firms still feel stuck after scaling their marketing efforts - because they keep making these common mistakes.

These marketing mistakes aren't just made by beginners. They show up at every growth stage... and eat up your budget.

We spoke to professional services marketing expert Nick Synnott, MD at Create Engage, to identify - and, crucially, fix - the mistakes made at three major growth stages for consulting firms.

If you'd like to hear more marketing insights from Nick, check out our webinar and podcast with him.

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Growth stage 1: 1-25 FTEs

Common mistake: Waiting too long to start, then expecting immediate results.

Many early-stage firms rely almost entirely on partner networks and referrals. And it works... until it doesn’t. The pipeline slows. The partners get busier. Growth stalls.

That’s when someone says, "We should do some marketing."

This is where Nick sees many consulting firms make a critical mistake: hiring a junior marketer to "own marketing" and expecting them to work magic:

"It sets both sides up to fail because the hirer thinks that they're getting the strategic marketer who can direct their marketing. The hiree thinks they're getting all of that support, and then there becomes this big gap in the middle."

What you end up with is a lot of content, but very little traction.

Here's what works instead:

• Founder-led LinkedIn and brand building
• Simple, high-impact webinars or events
• A consistent rhythm of useful, visible content

You don’t need a "marketing function" yet. You need a marketing drumbeat.

Nick shared some more tips for firms in this growth stage to start their own marketing drumbeat in this blog.

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Growth stage 2: 25-100 FTEs

Common mistake: Throwing budget at shiny tactics without a foundation.

This is the splash-the-cash stage. Firms move on from that junior marketer and hire a head of marketing - or maybe even build a team.

Then come the big spends: events, SEO, rebrands, paid campaigns.

But these spends are too often made without a clear strategy or metrics.

"Firms at this stage go and chase something they've seen in the SaaS world, and these are expensive, time consuming, long plays that you're not going to always necessarily get instant ROI on."

That means a lot of noise, but not a lot of leads.

Here's what works instead:

• Lock in a strong drumbeat: monthly webinars, regular insights, active LinkedIn presence
• Layer in campaigns tied to specific offerings or buyer needs
• Focus on repurposing content across channels

A simple way to think about it is to start treating marketing like client delivery: with goals, milestones, and retrospectives.

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Growth stage 3: 100+ FTEs

Common mistake: Scaling without segmentation.

At this size, you probably have multiple practice areas. But most marketing still happens at the firm level.

This is how the messaging gets vague - which means campaigns underperform, and each practice ends up saying, "Marketing doesn’t get us."

"If I'm a practice, what's my content drumbeat? How are my team posting? How are we doing a monthly newsletter or a weekly newsletter?"

Here's what works instead:

• Shift from firm-level to practice-level strategies
• Assign marketers or budgets per practice
• Run tailored campaigns with clear ROI goals

At this stage, you’re not one firm with one message anymore. You’re a portfolio - so market like it!

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Final thoughts

More often than not, your budget isn’t the problem. Your expectations, timing, and structure are.

Marketing works when it mirrors the way your firm grows: first as a drumbeat, then with targeted campaigns, and eventually as a segmented strategy.

Get the sequence right, and marketing becomes your multiplier. Get it wrong, and you’ll keep asking, "Where did all the money go?"