Why are there so many horror stories of B2B Marketing campaigns failing and marketing agencies under-performing?
If you ask around, you’ll find that almost every decision-maker has some kind of experience of being burned by a marketing agency.
So, as you can imagine, sometimes it’s challenging for great marketers to earn the trust of new prospects.
So the question is, where is this disconnect coming from?
And…
Why are there so many B2B Marketing horror stories?
An experienced marketer will have a really good idea of what the main issues are and how to avoid them. Let’s take a look at the most common issues:
1. Measuring incorrect metrics
This is a KEY failure point that is very common, particularly in B2B Marketing. If you have an under-performing campaign, chances are, this is why.
When you’re measuring poor metrics, you create poor marketing. Simple.
Repeat after me, “I will not focus my energy on improving followers, clicks, cost per click, or even leads.”
Yes, you read that correctly. No, that wasn’t a typo. You should NOT focus on followers, clicks, cost per click etc… and not even “leads”. You should be laser-focused on: sales, revenue, proposals or QUALIFIED leads at the bare minimum.
These are the metrics that actually move the needle in your business. When these are your benchmarks for success, you’ll know very clearly whether your marketing is working and what to focus your marketing on.
But take it even further – over time, when you’re measuring the right metrics, it naturally incentivises the best marketing strategies and removes those that aren’t creating REAL business impact.
So many marketing agencies are simply not aware of this because they have learned based on B2C Marketing campaigns, which are typically much simpler and don’t need to accommodate a long B2B sales cycle.
Plus – followers, clicks, cost per click and leads are very easy metrics to “hack”. So when you’re not measuring real business metrics, your marketing team will unconsciously optimise for hackable metrics that look good in that monthly management report – but create no impact on your P&L.
2. Inexperienced Account Managers
When you’ve got an Account Manager that isn’t experienced with producing real-world results with other similar clients, it’s a major issue.
That means they are learning on your job.
Simply put, they can’t see issues before they become problems. And they haven’t developed that “gut feel” that you need to be able to run and manage a B2B Marketing campaign effectively.
If your Account Manager responds to your questions with “I’ll check”, or is obviously making up answers to your questions on the fly, thinking you won’t notice …
It’s an issue.
Something else to note:
If your agency’s principals stop being involved in your campaign the moment it’s sold, that’s a real red flag. (…and surprisingly common in larger agencies)
3. Poor communication: from either the agency OR the client
When you engage the services of a B2B Marketing agency, you’re essentially asking them to help you build your business.
That’s not a simple service.
This means that all communication must be open and honest. It doesn’t work if either party isn’t being “real.
If the agency is telling you “half-truths”, concealing your access to data, or even just flat out lying to you, there is no way to build long term success as a partnership.
That being said… LISTEN UP, THE FOLLOWING IS KEY:
If you as the client aren’t being authentic, honest and open with your marketing agency, then the outcome will be the same. If you’re holding back communications, data, your concerns, or your thinking from your marketing agency, you are setting them – and thus yourself – up for failure. B2B Marketing campaigns are not easy. Open communications is a requirement.
4. Over-promising from the get-go
If the campaign goals are unrealistic, there will be issues from the moment you begin. But as marketing agency competition has evolved, it’s become a common practice to over-promise results that most likely can’t be achieved, while locking in clients to longer term contracts.
SO MUCH of the untrustworthiness of marketing agencies comes from agency salespeople promising results they know aren’t possible. Then backing them up with irrelevant case studies filled with skewed data. And then handballing the client on to their inexperienced delivery team who aren’t able to push back.
It’s much better to agree on realistic outcomes that you are confident you can actually achieve, and then scale from there.
5. Short term thinking
In B2B Marketing, BOTH sides need to be thinking long-term.
The fact is, many B2B Marketing campaigns just don’t work immediately.
Professional B2B campaigns are extremely complex and the tech, your audience, and your business evolves continually, the whole time the campaign runs.
In fact, B2B marketing provides additional benefits beyond lead generation that are often overlooked. Discover more about these second-order benefits here.
If you don’t give your agency the room they need to experiment, test and optimise your campaign for long enough, it will create problems.
That being said – almost all marketing campaigns DO work when they’re delivered with a long-term outlook. That means:
- You’re measuring success accurately
- You’re continually innovating and optimising
- You’re doubling down on what works and stopping what doesn’t
6. Incorrect advertising platforms
Each social media platform serves a different purpose and audience
Just because your service is B2B, it doesn’t necessarily mean that LinkedIn Ads are the best option for your particular organisation – they often aren’t.
So if you’re working with a marketing agency that can only produce results on one platform – that can be a very big issue.
If your campaign is better suited to a different platform, they wouldn’t know it – and when asked, they will most likely deny that it could work better on another platform they aren’t familiar with.
More commonly in modern B2B Marketing, multi-platform campaigns tend to be much more effective. This is because, when your campaign stretches across multiple platforms, your audience feels like you are “everywhere” and you can connect with more of them, in their preferred place of learning. That becomes critical when you’re looking to influence a buying committee to choose your proposal during a sales cycle that last 6 months or more.
One more thing you should know about marketing agencies…
At Visionary, we’re very well connected in the world of marketing agencies – both in Australia and all over the world. The thing is, most of the marketing agency owners we personally know are:
- Extraordinarily hard working – to the point that they don’t have lives outside of work
- Profoundly well read – marketing theory, psychology, self development, spirituality, fitness, macroeconomics, salesmanship, design, people, entrepreneurship, the list goes on…
* Marketers at the top of their game are very well-versed and knowledgeable in ALL of those areas. Barely any other profession demands that level of knowledge.
- More than willing to go over and above to do the right thing for the clients they serve
- Such a valuable resource for the future of their clients’ businesses
- Have a vision to bring insane levels of value into the world – much more than any other industry
The reputation of marketing agencies has been tarnished by a very small minority of agencies acting unscrupulously. When you find a great agency – and stick with them – they will change the trajectory of your business and your life.
Wrapping up…
Yes, there are plenty of B2B Marketing campaign “horror stories” you’ve heard about.
And you’d be right in thinking the marketing industry has its fair share of “cowboys” – selling low-quality “solutions”, producing low-quality results – basically out to make a quick buck.
(get it.. see what I did there?)
But hopefully this articlehas given you a little bit of a behind-the-scenes insight into how to avoid the most common pitfalls, so you can choose a marketing team that will make a profound impact on your vision.
