Four critical questions when choosing a new B2B content agency

Choosing a new content marketing agency is a big decision. Will they deliver what you need? Will they ‘get’ your organisation, industry and how you like to work? Will they be a good fit for you?

They may have been recommended to you, or their initial pitch may have been impressive but, when it comes down to it, will they walk the walk as well as they talk the talk?

After you’ve seen examples of their work, it’s sensible to scope out how they’ll work with you. Here are the top four questions to ask:

1. What steps will you take to get to know our business?

An effective agency should be proactive about asking questions around the topics below and suggest an onboarding meeting to learn what makes your organisation tick.

Topics to cover should include:

• your organisation’s objectives and wider business goals
• current industry challenges and trends
• key competitors to check out
• a big-picture summary of your target audiences
• your ways of working and how you’d like them to fit in with these
• your expectations of the agency and your priorities.

It’ll be important to share your past marketing collateral, brand guidelines and any strategy documentation before this meeting so your agency can review and ask any questions.

2. What experience can you bring to our partnership?

The experience an agency brings to the table is a significant asset – if it’s used to your benefit.

Ask them how they’ll use this in your work together.

Specifics to look for include:  

• insight based on previous experience in your sector and/or with your target audiences
• an approach that views your business with a fresh pair of eyes
• an understanding of the working practices of global organisations’ marketing departments and the likely pressures you’ll be under
• practical suggestions about how they can become a genuinely helpful virtual team member.

3. How will you communicate with us?  

Every organisation recognises clear communication as a vital part of any business relationship but what you need to pin down here is how this will work in practice. How will the agency go about building a collaborative partnership, particularly via a remote working setup?

An agency genuinely committed to collaboration should suggest:

• regular check-in calls for project updates and to report progress on hitting project milestones
• delivering regular budget updates
• a named project manager who will be the main point of contact and regularly available during working hours for quick questions or more extended consultations
• a willingness to act as a sounding board to help campaign development, sharing experience gained from cross-industry working.

4. How will you tailor your services to our requirements?

Your business is unique, and it requires content marketing that caters for your specific requirements. A marketing agency worth choosing will recognise the value of tailored content and be ready to deliver it.

Find out their approach to:

• customising their standard approaches to different content types to your organisation’s style and preferences
• considering your target audiences’ preferences, and crafting content to these
• pulling together content mixes in collaboration with you to better meet your objectives
• adapting in-life campaigns to emerging trends or industry issues to increase relevance and impact.

How we fit the bill

We pride ourselves on the outstanding quality of our work, our responsiveness, our ability to work to tight timescales, our transparency over progress and costings and our down-to-earth way of working.

But, above all, our clients talk about our friendliness, team spirit, can-do attitude and how well we collaborate as a virtual part of their marketing departments.

We’re always happy to chat about how we could support you and make your working life easier, so get in touch to find out more.