Best Consulting Firms

Best Consulting Firms in Chicago in 2020

A consulting firm is a business whose experts advise an individual or an organization in order to solve industry specific problems, improve their business strategy, and generate growth. Consulting firms in Chicago are trained in a variety of disciplines including IT, finance, human resources, social media, and marketing.

According to data provided by PitchBook, there are currently 47 US tech startups that have reached unicorn status in 2018, meaning they’re valued at $1 billion or more. And while their success can be attributed to a number of different factors, working with a small army of consulting experts played an instrumental role in their journey to the top.

Sifting through hundreds of consulting firms in Chicago and finding the one that caters to your specific needs can be a painfully slow and frustrating process that will only stall your growth.

We’re here to help.

In this article, we’ve compiled some of the top local consulting firms in Chicago, broken down into four main categories: emerging technologies, marketing, public relationships and social media.

Emerging Technology Consulting Companies in Chicago

You can’t even begin to fantasize about building a world-class company without first learning how to implement emerging technologies.

If you’re looking to join the big leagues of highly successful companies, you’ll need to start using artificial intelligence (AI). Top-performing companies are more than twice as likely as their industry counterparts to use the AI for marketing and 84% of businesses say AI will enable them to stand out from the competition.

Among other things, AI application can automate recruiting and supply chain processes, assist with cybersecurity defense, and identify patterns in data to create business value.

As amazing as they are, emerging technologies can be a hard to grasp concept.

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Digital Authority Partners

Digital Authority partners puts the client first, always. DAP specializes in creating transformative digital experiences for the client's users, empowering them to compete and grow in a digital-first world. Their data-driven approach encompasses a cutting-edge understanding of e-commerce, marketing analytics, and brand voice. The DAP team has decades of experience bringing success to Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, as well as startups. The company’s main industries are healthcare, financial technologies, and government.

DAP has been named a winner of the 2019 Timmy Awards, as well as a top Digital Marketing Agency 2018 by Design Drizzle.
DAP’s signature digital experiences include a voice narration app for Dolby that generated 100k downloads in one month.
Top clients include Business Talent Group, athenahealth, and Kroger.

Expertise: Digital strategy, user experience design, analytics, and development.

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MXO TECH

mxotech is a technology consulting firm that specializes in healthcare, manufacturing & distribution, utilities, professional services, and construction companies. They have a history of helping companies scale as well as protect their data with safe backup technologies.

The agency boasts a 98% client retention rate.
Unique to the industry, 40% of mxo's employees are women.
MXO calls itself an "IT concierge for clients", owing to both their availability for help and technology capabilities.

Expertise: Managed IT services and custom software applications.

BDO Digital

BDO Digital, previously SWC Technology Partners, predominantly caters to small and medium sized businesses. The company specializes in using cloud-based technologies to enable innovation and business growth.

BDO has been named one of "Chicago's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" for 10 years in a row.
The company is very transparent about their client and services list.
They are able to handle projects' entire lifecycles, owing to their diverse capabilities.

Expertise: Managed IT services and custom software applications.

Marketing consulting companies

Finding the perfect local digital marketing partner can be as challenging as finding your soulmate. That might be an exaggeration, but only because we want you to understand what a pivotal role marketing is playing in today’s world.

There are so many ways a marketing consultant can help you, but digital advertising might be top of the list. A marketing expert will make sure your online ads get in front of targeted audiences, on the right channels, at the perfect time and packaged in a way that’s too appealing to turn down.

Content marketing is another sought-after service. According to the 2018 Content Marketing Institute Report, 56% of companies in America outsource their marketing functions to third party agencies. Every piece of content coming from your company, from blog posts to whitepapers, infographics, and banners all add to your overall brand story and impacts the way the world perceives you.

Perfectly executed marketing content can turn customers into brand ambassadors who not only will continue to buy your products and services for years to come, buy they will happily spread the word about them without asking anything in return.

ComboApp

ComboApp focuses on helping their clients monetize their applications. The company works on offerings ranging from marketing analysis and product strategy to design and launch. If you're planning to build a mobile app or wearable device, ComboApp may be a great fit for your business.

ComboApp has over 800 projects to their name.
Top clients include Intel and SeaWorld.
ComboApp specializes at serving the healthcare, finance, media & entertainment, retail, education, and travel industries.

Expertise: Mobile marketing and PR.

CMI Media

CMI Media claims to be the leading media resource for the world's top healthcare companies. Their methodology of "Precision, Performance and Personalization" guides their approach to engaging with target audiences. They also support a number of philanthropic initiatives.

CMI Media currently creates strategic marketing plans for 170 brands.
The agency has offices in King of Prussia, PA; Parsippany and Cherry Hill, NJ; Chapel Hill, NC; Chicago and New York.
Top clients include Abbott and Johnson & Johnson.

Expertise: Pharmaceutical brand management and medical publishing.

IDM Brand

IDM Brand are committed to understanding your bigger brand purpose. They create simple yet creative solutions to log wins for your company, and then leverage data to analyze the success of these solutions.

IDM Brand has been the winner of a number of awards, including WebAwards and W3 Awards.
Top clients include Amazon, JLL, and Northwestern University.
IDM Brand has locations in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Naples.

Expertise: Brand development, web and mobile app development, and social media strategy.

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Digital Authority Partners

DAP has been named a winner of the 2019 Timmy Awards, as well as a top Digital Marketing Agency 2018 by Design Drizzle.
DAP’s signature digital experiences include a voice narration app for Dolby that generated 100k downloads in one month.
Top clients include Business Talent Group, athenahealth, and Kroger.

Expertise: Digital strategy, user experience design, analytics, and development.

PR consulting companies

It’s not surprising that 75% of marketers plan to increase spending on PR over the next five years. Public relations and advertising services come in handy at every stage of your company’s growth. Building a strong brand image and ramping up your promotional activities will ensure you stand out in a crowd of local competitors and generate sales.

Attracting investors for your startup or increasing your prospects list becomes effortless when you’re covered in renowned media outlets. And establishing your business as a thought leader with the right PR strategy will make you irresistible to top talent.

Greentarget

Greentarget is a strategic Public Relations firm that works exclusively with business-to-business organizations. The company prides itself in forging strong relationships with journalists and teaching them how to spin suboptimal situations into news that generates positive conversations.

Founders Corey and Schoenherr are former communications strategists for high-profile law firms.
Greentarget has good relations with a number of contract employees, including a network of marketing, technology, and graphics.
Their staff of over 60 works out of Chicago, San Francisco, London, New York, and Los Angeles.

Expertise: Enhance reputations, building relationships with influencers, and positioning.

Finn Partners

Considered one of the fastest-growing Public Relations firms in the world, Finn Partners excel in crisis communication, content creation, and digital creative campaigns. The company is well-versed in a variety of industries, from arts and education to health, financial services and publishing.

Finn Partners was named “Best Midsize Agency” in 2015 and “Best Agency to Work For” in 2013.
Their team consists of over 800 people across 3 continents.
Finn Partners is among the world's largest digital agencies.

Expertise: Crisis communication, B2B marketing, community relations, consumer marketing, corporate communications, and corporate social responsibility

APCO Worldwide in Chicago

APCO Worldwide is one of the largest privately-owned PR and strategic communications firms in the world. With a focus on healthcare, energy, tech, and food & retail, the firm's team is exceptional at navigating crises and reputational challenges.

Top clients include Dell, eBay, and Honda.
Employees include former journalists and lawyers.
APO can boast 30 offices in major capitals throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

Expertise: Public affairs, reputation and crisis management, opinion research, and corporate responsibility.

Social media consulting companies

As a local business, staying visible and relevant within your community is imperative for long-term success. But this can only be achieved through a multifaceted social media marketing approach.

Constantly posting on your social media accounts, creating engaging content, optimizing your website for local searches, figuring out the best platforms to place your ads on, staying on top of your negative reviews, while also tending to day-to-day business operations can be a tall order.

In a time when 97% of users search online to find a local business and 86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, investing in SEO services is the best way to survive – and thrive – in the digital age.

Perfect Search Media

Perfect Search specializes in digital marketing for higher education and e-commerce. The agency can also take care of your Amazon advertising strategy by creating sponsored product ads and helping you reach relevant audiences.

Perfect Search was named on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies in 2017.
Top clients include Columbia University and New York Film Academy.
They are a Premier Google Partner.

Expertise: Search and social media advertising, Amazon advertising, mobile advertising, SEO, digital marketing for higher education and e-commerce.

RevLocal

RevLocal prides itself on boosting local businesses. If you're a small Chicago business struggling to leverage digital, RevLocal can help you optimize your website, create a social media strategy, and manage your paid advertising and online reviews.

RevLocal is a Premier Google Partner.
They recently announced an integration with Amazon Alexa, which optimized client listings for searches via voice.
High-profile clients include Kitchen Tune-Up, Ablak Holdings, and Sky Zone.

Expertise: Digital marketing, local search marketing, review and reputation management, paid advertising, and social media content.

Matchnode

Matchnode leverages Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, and KissMetrics to help business increases their ROI. The firm promises that you will understand exactly what you're paying for as they remain transparent about their marketing process.

Matchnode's clients include the Chicago Bulls and New Balance Chicago.
The agency has overseen successes such as doubled ticket purchases for Dabble, an educational class service.
Matchnode excels at both solving assigned problems, and identifying roadblocks in client businesses.

Expertise: Pay-per-click advertising, Google Adwords, Google Analytics, Facebook advertising, conversion tracking, and strategy creation.

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