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Blog Post

Demand Generation

Growth

How to Choose the Right B2B Marketing Agency

Written by
Matter Made

How to Choose the Right B2B Marketing Agency

B2B marketing is a different beast than B2C marketing and can be more challenging, even for experienced digital marketing teams. To build successful growth marketing strategies, working with a B2B marketing agency might be the most productive route to take. 

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With that said, it’s not a good idea to join efforts with the first agency that shows up on search engine result pages. 

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Finding the right agency that will meet a business's unique needs is easier said than done, and this article will discuss how to identify the right B2B marketing agency.

#1. Know Exactly What You Need

Even a rudimentary content marketing strategy (or any strategy, for that matter) requires a good understanding of goals and aims. It’s important that all objectives are made clear before a B2B marketing agency is approached.

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When a business knows exactly what they want to achieve, it will be much easier for the agency to develop an effective strategy. 

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This doesn’t mean a complete and fully developed digital marketing strategy or paid media campaign needs to be prepared, but the main ideas should already be identified. It’s also a good idea to already know the target market and potential strategic foundations that could work best. 

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Having already-planned brand messaging and a fleshed-out brand identity will help the agency better understand the business as well, making the marketing and sales team’s work easier. 

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#2. Ask the Agency For Examples of Their Work

Before deciding which marketing agency has made the cut, it’s a great idea to get an understanding of what they can do and how they go about meeting goals. Naturally, no marketing agency can show off all the work they've done, but they should have suitable examples and archives to display their skills and abilities.

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Keep in mind that finding the right agency isn’t necessarily about working with one that has done exactly what you need. 

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It is highly important that the agency has an understanding of appropriate industry trends (such as the PLG funnel), though. If the team is not up-to-date with what’s going on in your industry, the agency can easily miss the mark with its strategic planning.

#3. Read Their Websites Carefully 

Once you have compiled a list of reliable and interesting marketing agencies, it’s time to see how they created their own website. An easy way to see what a prospective agency is capable of is by taking a look at its own website.

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If an agency can’t show examples of how it satisfied existing customers (or previous customers), it might be best to move on to the next agency. Getting a glimpse of previous work allows for an understanding of how an agency can achieve the goals it’s given.

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At Matter Made, for example, we offer case studies from many brands — including Dropbox, Productboard, Calm, Loom, and more.

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The website should also highlight information such as pricing, customer reviews, and how the teams behind the agency’s success do the things they do. You’ll get an understanding of the agency’s workflow and how that can help with "speed to lead" strategies.

#4. Have a Meeting With Each Agency

Getting together with the marketing agencies and personally meeting every potential agency partner is essential. Although a lot can be learned from the agencies’ websites and brochures, etc, nothing compares to physically meeting the marketing and sales teams you'll be working with.

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Allowing a business’ in-house marketing team to meet with the agencies’ team members will help everyone involved to decide if they can work together. A successful digital marketing strategy depends on every person working on it, and if there isn’t harmony, the final results may be lackluster.

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Asking questions in person also gives a business the chance to gauge how the agency’s team responds and get a feel for what working with them will be like.

#5. Slowly Weigh Up Your Options As a Team 

When all potential agency partners have been looked at, it’s time to sit back and carefully compare them. It’s important to not rush the decision and think carefully, taking portfolios, track records, skills, and pricing into consideration.

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Taking enough time to make this decision can feel somewhat frustrating, but it’s important not to make an emotional or hurried choice. 

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Keep in mind your desired marketing campaign — will you use content marketing or social media marketing? How important is search engine optimization to you? Will the agencies be able to achieve the goals you have? How will they do that, and how long will it take them? How will their approach affect your revenue operations? The answers to these questions will help make the final decision easier.

Is Matter Made the Right B2B Marketing Agency For You?

Choosing a B2B marketing agency to work with is more complex than one might expect, and having everyone on the same page about goals and ambitions is important. 

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Although working with a good agency can make digital marketing easier, teaming up with the wrong one can cause frustration and waste money as well as time. 

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Matter Made’s team of experienced experts could be just what you’re looking for. Interested? 

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Let’s talk!

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Coming up next:

Blog Post

Demand Generation

The Best Demand Gen Strategies and How to Implement Them

5
min read
min watch

There are many effective demand gen strategies. But knowing which works best for B2B SaaS or your individual business isn't always straightforward.

In this blog post, we will explore the best demand generation strategies for B2B SaaS. We'll look at how to use them to meet your goals and how they'll inform your current or future marketing strategy.

What Are 9 Key Strategies for Demand Generation?

Before I talk strategy, I want to get one concept out in the open. We're going to look at 9 effective demand gen strategies that are very effective for B2B SaaS looking to grow their companies.

But I'm not suggesting you use one of these and run with it. These strategies are interconnected. Implementing each of these together amplifies your demand generation to not only generate more revenues.

And you can do it time- and cost-effectively to generate the positive cash flow you'll need to grow.

1. Define Your Audience for Better Targeting

Create data-backed buyer personas that represent your ideal customer. Use this demand gen tool to connect more efficiently with targeted messaging within these other demand generation strategies.

2. Focus on Full Funnel

Buyers go through three distinct stages of a buyer's journey.

  • Non-aware. They don't know they have a problem or how much it's impacting their productivity, business goals, customer relationships, etc.
  • You have the answer to this problem, but they don't know they have a problem yet.
  • To generate demand, research, plan, create, and publish content to expand awareness of the problem.
  • Use it to guide them into the next stage and capture the lead (email list, etc.) to improve your ability to nurture.
  • Problem-aware. They now know they have a problem. They want to learn everything they can about possible solutions.
  • Engage them with content that helps them explore the solutions.
  • Focus on benefits, not specific SaaS features, which will seem overwhelming right now.
  • Solution-aware. They now need to define and refine the solutions that will work best for them.
  • Allow them to experience the solution with a demo or free trial.

Map out the buyer's journey within your company to enhance the timing and relevance of your messages.

3. Be Omnichannel

According to McKinsey, 94% of survey marketing leader respondents said the move toward a more omnichannel experience has been good for businesses and customers. B2B customers regularly interact with brands across at least 10 channels.

These include various channels:

  • Organic social media and search
  • Paid social media and search
  • Influencers
  • Display ads on Google and Facebook partner websites
  • Remarketing
  • Email
  • Website
  • Apps

To implement an effective omnichannel experience, you must be consistent, targeted, and resourceful. This allows you to work within time and money constraints.

For example, deploying effective analytics, A/B testing, a robust content management system, and automation allows you to streamline content creation and related processes. Eliminate duplicate efforts to maximize ROI.

4. Build a Relationship

Demand generation gets much easier when B2B SaaS companies focus on solving real-world problems. You build authority, industry relevance, and a following of loyal fans/customers.

This becomes a magnetic force that amplifies demand generation.

To build a relationship, listen to your customers and prospects. Build your content messages around their needs, goals, and preferences.

Showcase your willingness to solve B2B problems and how others use your SaaS to meet their goals.

5. Publish High-Quality Content

High-quality content is the substance that turns "strategy" into tangible business results. Use it to communicate thought leadership, authority, relevance, and your unique value proposition (UVP).

Guide and influence by presenting the right kind of content at the right stage of the buyer's journey.

For example,

  1. Someone is not aware they have a problem. Social media posts, blog posts, and videos can help them learn about their problem.
  2. Guide them to the solutions. Leverage valuable content to capture demand through email list sign-up. Checklist, Guide, etc.
  3. Send them solution-focused content via email to nurture that interest into making a decision. Case studies Vs. Content, etc.
  4. Offer them a demo or free trial so they can experience the solution.
  5. Assign the lead to a sales rep. Follow-up with a Sales email sequence (email automation) that includes sales enablement content.
  6. Support and re-engage them to increase retention and CLV through retargeting, social media, email, customer support

6. Streamline Workflows with Automation

Identify repetitive and time-sensitive tasks. Use automation to enhance workflow and improve results.

For example, lead scoring automation tracks a lead's behaviors. It identifies when the MQL becomes a SQL. It can then assign that person to a sales rep to begin email sequences and sales outreach.

This is known as Speed the Lead.

According to Oracle research, lead quality increases by 80% when companies employ automation. And this is just one pivotal moment you can use it to enhance results.

7. Unify Marketing, Sales & Service

A unified marketing, sales & service team communicates one message and accomplishes perfectly timed hand-offs. Achieve consistently delightful customer experiences. People want to share these experiences online.

This sharing feeds the top of funnel. It generates more demand.

8. Target Key Accounts

Key accounts:

  • Are high ROI and CLV
  • Help you generate buzz and demand
  • Show that your SaaS works
  • Give you valuable feedback that helps you improve your product

They've also been working with you for a while, and it may be a name people know. Even better!

Identify key accounts to acquire and retain. While you never want to be too reliant on one account, these are critical for Demand Gen and growth.

9. Optimize with A/B Testing, Tracking, and Analytics

Track, test, and analyze to improve how you apply these strategies continually. Invest in tools to correctly attribute revenues across the buyer's journey—not just the last touch.

Track ROI of your various strategies, channels, and companies to determine which ones you should increase to grow.

This not only improves their effectiveness. It cuts costs to increase ROI.

How to Build a Successful Demand Gen Campaign?

Leverage these strategies to provide real value to customers. This builds credibility that attracts the right people and guides them through the buyer's journey.

Want to know more about how to implement demand gen for your B2B SaaS company? See how Dropbox increased targeted engagement by 6.5X.

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Ready to drive efficient demand?

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