No matter what industry you are in, it’s important to know the value of good marketing. For starters, its role goes way beyond, “Hey, buy from me!”. Marketing helps your business grow by increasing brand awareness, driving profit and growth, enhancing engagement, and helping you acquire and retain customers. However, though the benefits are evident, the path to scaling up your marketing is not always straightforward.
Business owners face multiple challenges with marketing. Finding the right people is difficult and training them can be time-consuming. Choosing and sticking to a budget is fraught with uncertainty, especially if you are new to marketing and don’t know how to reach your KPIs within budget and time constraints. Marketing is constantly evolving, and keeping up with the new tools and resources needed to run a professional campaign is a lot to take on.
But what if you could jump straight to the part where your marketing strategy and team are amazing and you sit back and enjoy the benefits? The answer for scaling up your marketing could be partnering with an agency. Let’s have a look at how an external team can turn your marketing vision into reality.
Key benefits of partnering with a b2b marketing agency
1. Cost-effectiveness compared to hiring in-house teams
It may seem surprising, but working with an agency costs less than hiring an employee. This is despite most people believing the opposite to be true. Hiring an employee means paying for benefits, holidays, sick days, and professional development. It also means spending time and resources onboarding, training, and physically setting up your new employee in your office.
When you work with an agency, you can immediately work with a pro, ready to deliver, at a lower rate than hiring an entry-level person. Plus, you don’t need to get them an ID, desk, or computer.
As a result, you also end up saving time. No putting out an ad and interviewing to find the right person. You just work with proven professionals whose knowledge and skillset are good enough to cut it at an agency level.
Sounds good, right? Now, imagine what happens when you can experience these benefits from multiple professionals.
2. Access to specialised skills and resources
While you could hire an in-house marketing team, the more efficient choice is to partner with an agency and gain access to numerous specialists and their resources.
With an agency, you suddenly have access to proficient skills in writing, design, SEO, brand, strategy, and data analytics – all the possible skills and knowledge for whatever marketing tasks you wish to take on.
In addition, instead of shouldering the costs of one internal marketer, for less money, you gain a cohesive team, familiar with each other, and experienced in producing high-quality results. You also get access to the agency’s network, adding opportunities and resources for more impactful marketing.
Another plus is the broad perspective an agency can provide. An in-house marketer works only on your company, while an agency works with a diverse clientele and brings added clarity and creativity to your tasks, giving you fresh and effective marketing strategies.
3. Focus on core business activities and stakeholder management while the experts handle marketing
As well as helping to scale up your marketing efforts, teaming up with an agency allows you to concentrate on tasks you would rather do.
It’s in the name – marketing agencies are dedicated to marketing proficiency and won’t be distracted by the various other activities in your company or be pulled away to do something else. Conversely, your in-house marketer will tend to take on several responsibilities in addition to marketing, leading to potentially scattered and lower-quality work.
You can save time and get better results with an agency. Instead of having to do laborious onboarding and management, you can leave your marketing to experts while you can focus on what you do best.
4. Achieve goals in less time
Value your time? Engaging an agency means you hit the ground running and waste no time. Every member of the team is already at the start line, primed to deliver their part, so you gain faster implementation and results from your marketing strategies.
An agency will also be adept at tracking and measuring their performance, able to adapt and pivot their strategy nimbly according to what works best. Thus, an agency’s experience means that you reach your goals and achieve your KPIs sooner.
5. Generate new opportunities from existing assets
A customer-centric agency is open and collaborative, allowing your team to gain knowledge from the agency members.
Through the process of partnering with an agency, your team can expand their marketing knowledge based on the strategies they see implemented. This means that the agency’s work will be better implemented by your business and that your own existing staff will grow their skillsets and value.
6. Fill in your strategic planning gaps
Marketing without strategy is a recipe for inefficiency. It’s too common to see businesses jump straight to doing a website revamp or spending big on social media and ads, without knowing if that is the best way to use their marketing budget.
When you are flat-out working in the business, a strategic marketing agency can map a detailed and purposeful course so you can scale up your marketing effectively. They will start with a solid plan based on research and reason so you are much more likely to achieve your revenue goals and business objectives – and do it all within budget.
Agencies also have a solid grasp on how long things take because they’re 100% accountable for their time and results. This means they’ll be realistic about what you can get done with what budget and resources. A strong strategist will get to know your data and identify quick-win opportunities, as well as more long-term initiatives.
If the idea of working with an agency sounds pretty attractive right now, it’s time to look at finding the right one for you.
How to choose the right b2b marketing agency
1. Assess their expertise and track record
An agency can have a fantastic team and resources, but they need to be able to show that they can apply them to achieve results. To earn your trust, they will make it easy for you to check out references and work samples, ideally related to your needs.
Be sure to review the agency’s portfolio and understand the process they use to achieve those results. In addition, consider the size and resources of the agency. Both large and small agencies have advantages – it all depends on what you are looking for.
2. Measure their compatibility with your business goals and values
Like any partnership, a good fit is essential. No agency can be everything to everyone, and neither should you settle for an agency that doesn’t feel right. Talk to the agency leaders and check that they share your values and that they feel like an extension of your team. Are they honest and upfront about their processes and team? Do they set clear expectations and meet them? Do they listen to your goals and preferences? How do they agree or disagree with you?
All these important interactions develop trust and ensure you have alignment between expectations and capacities.
3. Communication and collaboration processes
The right agency will truly be experts in communication, beyond marketing. A multi-person team is great, unless it leads to confusion or your messages becoming diluted or misconstrued. Make sure the agency you’re considering sets a high standard in the clarity and consistency of their messages with you and that it stays that way once you start paying for their services.
4. Budget considerations and return on investment
According to Deloitte, marketing budgets made up 13.6% of a company’s budget in 2023. This is not to say that this is the right percentage for you, but it is a good idea to see what others in your industry are spending on marketing.
Before you begin working with an agency, review your financial situation and what you can comfortably afford. Prioritise marketing tactics that will give you the most return on investment, at least to begin with, as your marketing should be an investment that gives you returns above your expenses.
Scale up your marketing, scale up your business
Part of being business-savvy is knowing where your strengths lie. It can be tempting to keep everything in-house, but what seems like efficiency can in fact be holding you back.
When you choose the right b2b agency that aligns with your values, preferred work style, budget, and expectations, you can leverage the many benefits of marketing for your business.
Save time and money by choosing external experts who can deliver at a high standard straight away. Achieve KPIs by taking advantage of the agency’s extensive resources and connections while you focus on your core business activities. By working with an agency, your marketing efforts will be strategically guided and held up to the high standards of a professional marketing team.
Interested to find out more about how Brand chemistry can help scale your marketing and b2b brand? Give us a call today.
Brand chemistry is a b2b marketing agency winning your customers' hearts and minds through inbound, brand, content, lead generation and digital strategy. Our marketing specialists achieve stellar results with the latest lead generation techniques.