Nearly 80% of marketers worldwide claim generating quality leads is their top marketing priority. Others focus on generating more web traffic, improving brand reputations, and enhancing customer engagement or loyalty. With help from a B2B marketing agency, you can accomplish any goal you’re trying to reach.
Not sure which B2B marketing company to hire this year? Here are a few tips that can help you narrow down your options.
Using these tips will ensure you find and hire the best possible agency based on your distinct goals.
Get ready to set your business up for lasting growth and success. Find a talented marketing agency with these tips today!
Gather Referrals
One of the best ways to streamline your search is to turn to other small business owners within your industry. Ask around and find out if anyone within your professional network works with a marketing branding agency. If they do, try to learn as much as possible based on their firsthand accounts.
Consider drafting a list of questions you want to ask beforehand. For example, you might want to ask:
- How long have you worked with the agency
- How long has the agency operated
- What services do they offer
- How have they helped your business
- Have you encountered any issues while with them
- How do they prove they’re benefiting your business
- How often do you speak with them
Speaking with other business owners could help you gather valuable insights. Their firsthand accounts might provide you with information that’s not available online.
If you can, try to speak with a business owner who works within your industry. You’ll feel more confident choosing an agency with experience working with businesses like yours.
If you’re unable to gather professional referrals, start searching online instead. Make a list of B2B marketing companies that offer a range of services. Make sure they offer both digital and traditional marketing services.
You’ll benefit more from finding a one-stop-shop (instead of hiring multiple agencies for different purposes). These agencies can help you develop an omnichannel marketing strategy. You can create a more cohesive buyer’s journey with your customers in mind.
Working with different agencies, on the other hand, might impact the buyer’s experience. Your marketing materials might not mesh well together, either.
Determine Your Needs
Before hiring a B2B marketing company, take a moment to define your goals and needs. Otherwise, you’ll make the mistake of hiring an agency incapable of accomplishing your goals. These agencies could waste your valuable time and money.
First, establish SMART goals with your company’s future in mind. These goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Driven, and Timely. Make sure your goals are in fact attainable.
Setting expectations that are beyond your reach could set your team up for failure.
When establishing your SMART goals, you might want to consider objectives involving:
- Generating brand awareness and recognition
- Boosting brand visibility on different platforms
- Creating an omnichannel experience for shoppers
- Generating website traffic
- Appealing to ideal customers
- Gaining social media followers
- Creating content
- Becoming an industry thought leader
- Improving your brand reputation
- Improving search engine rankings
- Generating leads and sales
- Improving your ROI
Then, determine what digital marketing services you’ll need to accomplish each goal.
For example, you can use content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) to become a thought leader. These strategies can also help you generate awareness, traffic, and leads.
Once you determine your goals and the services you need, you can find an agency that offers those services. In this case, you might want to hire a B2B content marketing agency.
Establish a key performance indicator (KPI) for each SMART goal. For example, you might track website visitors, leads, sales, or social media followers.
KPIs can help you track your progress. If you begin working with a B2B marketing company that fails to accomplish your goals, you’ll know to take your business elsewhere. Instead, you can focus on finding someone capable of accomplishing your goals to help your business grow.
Look for Years of Experience
As you start narrowing down your choices, try to find a B2-B marketing company with years of experience in the industry. New agencies might still need to get their footing. They might lack the experience and expertise you need, too.
Leveraging an agency’s experience and expertise will save you time, stress, and money. They can help you avoid making costly marketing mistakes. With their help, you can create an effective digital marketing strategy from the start.
If you can, find an agency that’s worked with businesses within your industry, too.
These agencies will have a better understanding of your business, customers, and competitors. Their prior experience could help you develop a strong campaign from the start.
Consider Their Services
Remember, you’ll want to find a B2B marketing agency that offers services that align with your distinct goals. Using multiple services can help you develop an omnichannel marketing strategy. Then, you can appeal to customers at multiple touchpoints for a cohesive buyer’s journey.
Here are a few marketing services you might want to consider during your search for an agency.
Brand Development
It can take over five impressions before consumers begin to remember your brand. You need to make sure your visual branding stands out. Otherwise, your business will look like any other within your industry.
Consumers could struggle to recall your business in the future as a result.
Your visual branding includes your:
- Logo
- Color palette
- Voice
- Tone
- Personality
- Mission statement
- Vision statement
- Values
- Font styles
An experienced B2B marketing agency can help you create your brand guidelines. Then, you can maintain brand consistency across all platforms. Consistently presented brands are 3.5 times more likely to enjoy positive brand visibility than others.
Look for an agency that offers brand development and graphic design services. They can help you create a distinctive, eye-catching brand.
Web Design and Development
About 38% of people will stop engaging with a poorly designed website. If they leave, your bounce rate will start to increase. A high bounce rate might hurt your search engine rankings.
Lower rankings might make it increasingly difficult for future customers to find your business online.
Another 38.5% of consumers will judge your business based on the appearance of your website at a glance. An unappealing website might hurt your brand’s reputation. Consumers might struggle to trust your brand as a result.
Meanwhile, 40% of people will stop engaging with a slow site. Your conversion rate might drop by 20% for every extra second of load time.
A poor user experience (UX) can drive 50% of people to choose your competitors, too.
With that in mind, find a B2B marketing firm that offers web design and development services. Make sure they’re capable of improving the UX on your site as well. A positive UX will encourage visitors to explore, potentially leading to more conversions.
Content Creation
Help consumers learn more about your brand, offerings, and industry. Content creation services can help demonstrate your experience and expertise. Consumers might feel more inclined to trust your brand after reading your content.
Content creation can involve:
- Blog posts
- Articles
- eBooks
- Infographics
- Videos
- AR/VR content
- Polls
- Quizzes
- Listicles
Creating different forms of content can help you appeal to different consumers.
You can also reformat your content for different marketing strategies. For example, your content can help you create an email marketing lead magnet. You can share your content on social media or in newsletters, too.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) can help your website content rank higher on search engines like Google. Higher rankings could help you:
- Generate brand awareness and recognition
- Generate more website traffic
- Establish yourself as a thought leader
- Boost leads and sales
- Build brand trust and credibility
- Improve your ROI
About 68% of all activities online begin with a search engine. SEO can help you appear for searches relevant to your product, service, or industry.
Only 0.78% of searches check the second page of search results, though. If your website doesn’t appear on the first page, consumers might not find your business online. You’ll miss the chance to generate leads, sales, and fresh business as a result.
Determine if the B2B marketing agency offers different SEO services, including:
- Content creation and optimization
- Link-building (including guest blogging)
- On-page SEO
- Off-page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Local SEO
These services can boost your Domain Authority and organic rankings.
Make sure the B2B content marketing agency is up-to-date with SEO trends, too. For example, voice searches and image optimization are gaining popularity. Google’s Core Web Vitals can impact your website UX and rankings, too.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can also help you appeal to search engine users. Your PPC ads can appear on other websites or social media platforms, too.
PPC advertising is costly for businesses that lack experience, though. For example, you’ll have to learn how to use platforms like Google or Facebook Ads. With that in mind, it’s important to find an experienced B2B marketing firm.
An experienced firm won’t make mistakes while building your campaigns.
Instead, they’ll take the time to research your target audience to specify your targeting parameters. Precise targeting will save you money and help you appeal to ideal customers. It can also help you personalize your ad language to better appeal to consumers.
Look for agencies with experience creating remarketing ads, too. These ads will appear in front of people who previously visited your website. You can get a second chance to engage and attract those consumers.
Email Marketing
Remember, you can use content marketing to generate leads on your website. Then, you can nurture those leads with email marketing. Email marketing can help you remain top-of-mind with your audience.
Make sure the B2B marketing company will segment your email marketing lists.
Segmentation will help them personalize your emails. Personalization generates six times higher transaction rates.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing can help you engage consumers in real-time. For example, you can host live Q&A video sessions or create interactive content using Stories.
Make sure the B2B content marketing agency has experience using different social media platforms.
Review Their Portfolio
Every agency will try to convince you they’re the best in the business. Ask for proof by reviewing their portfolio. For example, you can review their graphic design projects, website work, or content.
Make sure the content they’ve produced for their previous clients meets your standards and expectations.
Gather more evidence of their abilities by asking for client reviews and case studies.
Reviews can help you learn about the business from business owners who were once in your shoes. Case studies can show you how the agency’s services helped those clients.
Consider Their Process
Talk to each agency about their process.
They shouldn’t rush to develop your digital marketing strategy without gathering research first. Otherwise, they might make assumptions about your target audience or business. They should look into your competitors, too.
Next, the agency should ask about your goals. Otherwise, they won’t choose the strategies most likely to help you accomplish those goals.
A talented, experienced team will have a strategy in place to streamline the entire process.
Plan to Communicate
Ask each agency how they plan on communicating with you moving forward.
If they don’t have a plan to communicate, you might not realize they’re wasting your money until it’s too late. Instead, the agency should provide you with routine updates. Their updates can help you track your KPIs and progress.
Compare Prices
Before choosing a B2B marketing agency, gather quotes from three different teams. Make sure to request an itemized list of their marketing services. Then, compare your options.
Requesting multiple quotes can help you determine the average price of marketing services.
If someone’s pricing is extraordinarily high, question why that is.
Hire a B2B Marketing Agency for Your Business Today
Don’t make the mistake of hiring the first B2B marketing agency you call. Instead, use these tips to find the best firm in the business. Vetting your options can help you feel more confident in your final choice.
Find the best agency around with these tips today.
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