Creativity, commerciality, consultancy: The new holy trinity for B2B agencies

But today, most B2B organizations are themselves becoming tech firms. The pre-eminence of data and digital technologies, the rise in measurement and lead attribution, and the evolution of partner and ecosystem business models, all mean that marketing is now central to everything.

For global B2B brands, marketing is now the place where departments converge, from sales to product and beyond. B2B chief marketing officers (CMOs) are the epicenter of customer data and hold the most accurate, up-to-date view of challenges and needs. As such, the role of the CMO has also evolved. In a recent LinkedIn survey, 47% of B2B leaders said that the CMO role has gained a more direct bearing on revenue and growth. CMOs are now expected to demonstrate an impact on the bottom line.

With this new elevated position comes great power. With great power comes great responsibility, and even greater expectations.

As such, B2B CMOs are rightly expecting (and demanding) more from their agency partners. B2B agencies need to adapt and evolve to meet these changing expectations – or face the consequences.

Evolve or face extinction

Historically, agencies were ‘deliverers’, providing increased, external capacity to support internal marketing teams and deliver creative, content, and activation resource to execute defined marketing programs. They were an extension of B2B firms’ very own ‘PowerPoint departments’, if you will.

But then brands increasingly sought a ‘collaborative partner’ approach, based on shared experience, expertise, and close alignment on outcomes. This was a better place for everybody, but still not quite the holy grail.

Today, B2B brands need more than ‘marketing’, and certainly more than ‘execution’. The ever-increasingly complex world of global B2B markets requires a convergence of three core disciplines. B2B marketing agencies are perfectly placed to capitalize on this new holy trinity.

1. Creative marketing

Today’s B2B CMOs require expert consultancy, strategic guidance, creativity, and execution across brand and demand activity.

An ideal partner will understand the combined power of brand and demand, holding that expertise to execute through direct and indirect sales, spanning all marketing channels, and across multiple geographies concurrently. They’d do this while adapting the proposition, messaging, creative and approach to meet the needs of differing audiences.

2. Commerciality

A step beyond ‘creativity’, today’s leading B2B marketing agencies must be global business consultants. They have to be able to advise on market opportunities, go-to-market strategies, and understand the reality of evolving business models like partner ecosystems.

Mix in an appreciation of wider business challenges, including talent acquisition and retention, supply chain management, ESG and sustainability topics, an understanding of global corporate structures, risk and compliance, and an appreciation of the intricacies of investor relations

Layer on top a deep understanding of global industries and the nuances of specific industry verticals and you’re on to a winner.

3. Consultancy

It’s not about being able to ‘handle’ automation platforms like Eloqua. Nor is it about recommending Salesforce over HubSpot, or vice versa. Today’s CMO requires more technology know-how and consultancy from global B2B agency partners than ever.

The list is long: web builds, web hosting, redirects, technical SEO audits, data cleansing and data strategy, privacy and consent management, CRM and martech integrations, digital asset management solutions, talent acquisition platforms, employee advocacy solutions, social, media and brand tracking solutions, global marketing reporting dashboards.

An agency that can assess all stakeholder needs, see the wood for the trees, make a practical recommendation, and then make it happen: that agency will be worth its weight in gold.

The agency of the future exists at the intersection of these three growth drivers, driven by the elevated standing of ‘marketing’ within B2B organizations.

Agencies can’t afford to only be executors. Failure to evolve and keep pace with an ever-changing B2B world makes agencies dangerously replaceable. CMOs will quickly realize that they can achieve similar results internally and, without nurtured relationships with leaders across the business, agencies will have little recourse to salvage the work.