Finding the right agency is a crucial decision for any business. Investing time and effort in making the decision, with the right people, will more often than not lead to positive, tangible results for the company.
That said, choosing an agency based on the wrong reasons can not only be a complete waste of time and resource, but also have a detrimental effect creative output, campaign success and ultimately, the businesses bottom line.
After a year of job losses, financial uncertainty and increased pressure to drive sales, it comes as no surprise that businesses are becoming more focused on finding suppliers that can add value, deliver solutions and most importantly, have a positive effect on the bottom line.
As such, B2B marketing agencies are under more pressure than ever to demonstrate their ability in getting the right message, to the right prospects, at the right time, through the right channel. Not such an easy task, in such a fragmented market place and with client demand evolving on a daily basis.
This means that finding the right B2B marketing agency is absolutely key to helping a business communicate appropriately with prospects, and effectively selling their product to the target market. Knowing what to look for and what questions to ask can play an important role in appointing the right one.
Ensure agencies know your arena
The first step is to ensure that all agencies involved full understand the space you work in, and the demographic you want to be talking to. All agencies have case studies of previous work, which will prove whether or not they can deliver in your marketplace. It is key that the agency understands the prospect base, and how and where to get to them. It may sound obvious, but any B2B marketing agency worth their salt should be able to demonstrate deep prospect insight, a solid understanding of purchasing habits and your business channels if they are to deliver on your objectives.
Reputation matters
The people factor is of paramount importance and you need to establish whether the team is experienced and senior enough to be taken seriously both internally, on the board, and by other agencies on your roster. The heritage of the agency is important – are they an original pioneer of B2B marketing with heavy weight strategic credentials, or are they are a new hot shop trying to extend their established background? Which-ever skill set you are after, you want to be confident that the agency you appoint is able to take a place at your top table, collaborate and stand their ground if needed. And whilst the senior management team of the agency is important, it’s worth enquiring about the agency’s staff turnover – contrary to popular belief clients do care if their agency team is happy where they work, feeling motivated and productive.
Businesses also need to take into consideration the strategic prowess of the agency; from their understanding of brands and channels, purchasing habits through to managing supplier relationships and procurement departments.
Bravery versus safety
Whilst strategic credentials are important, so too are creative strengths. Firstly, decide if you want brave and innovative or safe and pragmatic and then ask the agencies for examples of their own work, you can then gage how well the agency would fit with your business brand. You should also decipher whether the agency can deliver online as it grows in importance and effectiveness in establishing a business’ reputation and influencing prospect decision making.
It’s easy to be wowed with a great idea, but remember that this is only half the story. Your chosen agency needs to have a convincing operational delivery and implementation capability. You need to know how they operate in the B2B sector, and so it’s worth asking if they have any specific software or processes in their toolkit that can cater to your market.
The emphasis on businesses to get their marketing messages right has never been bigger, and the potential to get it horribly wrong is growing as channels such as social media emerge. Working with the right suppliers, and in particular the right agency, can help you take advantage of this by working with you and delivering at speed. You need to be able to ascertain if the agency can manage your business effectively, or will the scope of work outstrip their ability to resource your account. If so you need to know if they will they recruit or re-organise from within.
With the right agency, the right insight and the right creative, the results can be outstanding. Agencies want your business and will do all they can to impress you, but if you do your research on what agency can deliver for you, or alternatively work with an external consultant or service such as the MCCA’s Agency Selector to help guide you through the process.
