Hiring a consultant today isn’t what it used to be. With the MarTech boom, the word “consultant” gets thrown around a lot, and too often, it just means someone doing administrative work on a platform. Traditional agencies are still stuck in execution mode, focused on clicking buttons and delivering assets without context.
But without strategic alignment, none of it drives real impact. Modern consulting should mean trusted guidance, not just task management. It’s about connecting the work to business goals and getting things done.
If you’ve encountered consultancies that call themselves strategic while delivering purely technical output, you understand how such an approach dilutes the value they’re supposed to give you. This is why GNW operates differently. We pair tactical work with business strategy and results, like every true consultancy should. Here’s more about why this matters.
Why Traditional Consulting Is Broken
Far too many agencies are running the same playbook from 2018, with the same frameworks, KPIs, and rinse-and-repeat ideas. While these approaches may have been valuable at one point, they don’t flex with modern business needs. These agencies act like IT arms of their clients’ companies, building emails and launching campaigns, failing to realize that technical work does not equal strategic work.
That’s why so many agencies and consultants today are seen as execution resources. The MarTech boom shifted the focus toward platform activity and volume, not outcomes. When output becomes the key focus, strategy gets ignored and meaningful consulting disappears. Without actual consulting to guide how and why technology is used, the tools themselves become inefficient, misaligned, and ultimately fail to deliver real impact.
That is what we’re seeing in today’s world, which is why agencies and consultants are being scrutinized more than ever. Companies are realizing that despite all the activity, the results just aren’t there. When technology isn’t connected to clear business goals, it turns into busywork—and the impact never materializes.
What "Modern Consulting" Should Actually Mean
Modern consultants and agencies need to know more than just the tools. They need to understand how a business operates and how to align MarTech execution with real goals like growth, engagement, expansion, or retention. Every action has to have a reason behind it. If you’re building a program or sending an email, it should tie back to something the business is trying to achieve.
That’s where true consulting delivers value. Building programs or launching campaigns is just the baseline. The real work is helping marketing teams show how those efforts contribute to pipeline, retention, or revenue. It’s about linking execution to outcomes so the business understands what’s working and why.
Tactical work, like building emails and programs, is the baseline level of competency agencies need to provide. However, this only goes so far. The real value comes from bringing execution and business goals together and showing the impact.
Why Now?
The MarTech boom created a new era in what it means to be a consultant, and more importantly, it changed how consulting agencies operate. It shifted the focus toward platform execution, where success was measured by tasks completed rather than outcomes achieved.
But today’s businesses need more than button-pushers. They need effective consultants who align marketing efforts with business goals so every initiative drives meaningful results. Knowing how to build is table stakes, and operational intelligence is the new edge.
The real value lies in knowing what to build, when, and why. If your agency partner isn’t connecting execution to outcomes, you’re not just wasting money; you’re stuck backpedaling, trying to justify your marketing spend and explain what the work is even accomplishing.
Reclaiming the Word “Consulting”
The pendulum has shifted. Before the rise of MarTech, consulting was rooted in business strategy, focused on finding ways to execute on those goals. As the tech landscape exploded, the focus flipped as agencies and consultants zeroed in on execution, prioritizing tools and workflows over business alignment. We gained more ways to do the work, and somewhere along the way, we stopped asking what the purpose of the work was or how it tied back to business needs.
Now the pendulum is swinging back. Companies are demanding more than platform expertise. They need partners who can connect execution to business goals and drive outcomes. That’s what real consulting looks like, and that’s where GNW comes in.
