5 Tough Questions to ask your B2B Marketing Agency

If you are looking for a checklist to evaluate your B2B marketing agency you should consider this excellent list from Hubspot. Hubspot make some of the world's most powerful marketing automation software to drive traffic to your site, actively convert them to leads and customers, plus a really strong marketing analytics offering. They rely on a global network of agencies to implement and deploy their software.

So they should know (in the spirit of full disclosure we are a Hubspot agency, so I guess that means we should also know!)

That said it's a really useful list and if nothing else emphasizes two key points.

1) B2B Marketing is about generating leads for sales....period.

This means implementing a clear process over time to CREATE MOMENTUM amongst your target audience. It is NOT a series of monthly or quarterly campaigns. Can your agency prove to you how many leads they are responsible for? They should. Ask them!

2) B2B marketing is evolving quickly as your B2B buyers spend serious time online researching their purchase decisions. You have to get yourselves found wherever they spend time online. This is called "inbound marketing." Those whose agency rely solely on "outbound marketing" using interuption based techniques like email, advertising and traditional PR are in serious danger of missing out on new leads altogether.  Does your agency have the B2B growth marketing expertise to connect strategy, content, campaigns and reporting? Ask how it chooses the right mix of channels for your buyers and business goals. 

Consider these 5 must-have characteristics when evaluating an agency partnership.

1. The Right Services
 A website redesign needs a clear plan for attracting the right visitors and converting their interest into enquiries. Ask how the agency connects website design with search, content and campaign activity. Our B2B content strategy guide explains how to shape content around your buyers and distribute it through relevant channels. 

2. A Clear Process
Content creation and social media experience matter, but ask how the agency brings those activities together into a clear B2B marketing strategy. It should explain how its approach supports your commercial goals, what happens at each stage and how marketing activity connects with sales follow-up.

3. An Emphasis on Measurement
Words like "metrics," "benchmarks," and "analytics" should be peppered throughout your prospective agency's pitch. Progress made toward your goals should to be measured at every step of the way, and a marketing agency worth its weight will be able to track all campaigns and report on performance regularly. You have goals. You are trying to meet those goals by hiring the agency. Therefore, it should be as focused as you are on charting success in an undeniable, data-driven way.

Ask the agency to explain how its activity contributes to qualified leads and sales opportunities. Our guide to calculating your marketing targets explains how conversion rates help connect marketing activity with revenue goals.

4. Strong Project Management Skills
B2B marketing is fueled by the creation of remarkable content aimed at your ideal prospects. In order to be successful, good marketing agencies will need to get inside your head to build that content and learn about that dream lead. Do the agency you're considering have the process and communication skills to make you think they will make reasonable and realistic requests of you and your team? Also, have they set clear expectations around what each B2B marketing component will require in terms of time and resources? Do you get the impression that they can manage campaigns with lots of moving parts? A good agency will make your life easier; not the opposite.

5. A Website Optimized for Inbound
Review how the agency applies its own advice. Does it publish useful content, explain its services clearly and give visitors an obvious next step? Check whether its website demonstrates sound landing page and form practices, rather than relying on appearance alone. Ask for relevant client examples and an explanation of how results were measured.

We would like to offer you a complementary copy of our eBook: The race for leads.

What do you think of our list? What other characteristics do you think are must-haves for an inbound marketing agency?