B2B Agency Report Card – What We Are Hearing

Many of our clients come to us after being disappointed by traditional or conventional PR and marketing agencies. They ask us to either fix the damage done or get quick results to get them back on the right path.

To try to get an understanding of where are clients are at in their marketing and communications we ask about previous experience. Here are some of the comments we’ve heard in the last few months.

• “Our last agency talked a lot but didn’t produce anything”

– One of the biggest concerns were that clients were being pitched “Big Ideas” that everyone in the room seemed to know were never going to be actually used. Demonstrating creativity trumped delivery and execution

• “They didn’t listen. In meetings everyone shouted, ‘Agree’ over and over but never took notes or wrote anything down.”

– As journalists know, if you write everything down you will find new angles and opportunities and better serve the client with the ideas that fit their business ambitions

• “The agency didn’t understand what we do. Tech expertise is a loose term”

-Tech expertise in PR once meant knowing the right journalists. In integrated or content marketing that means having a depth of understanding of the industry that the client is in or at least knowing the right questions to ask

• “Every idea seemed to be consumer-focused even though we’re B2B. They tried to shoehorn a consumer approach into a small high-value B2B segment”

-Consumer and B2B take two different approaches. A consumer approach to social media, for example, will help you hit targets but probably won’t help the business to grow or to sell more

• “These guys couldn’t write for who I’m trying to sell to”

-Clear, concise writing tailored for a specific audience is what the client needs. If they can’t match the tone or context they aren’t reaching your audience they are alienating them

• “Everything they offered us seemed to be what they wanted to sell us not what we needed”

-The more rigid the agency’s silos (social media, digital, PR) the less likely they will be to produce a solution rather than just a tactic

• “We worked with a large agency because that gave us reach then the London office told us they couldn’t talk to a journalist in New York because that wasn’t their territory”

- The structure of the agency’s business was dictating how the client was supposed to behave. It should be the other way around with the agency flexing to the clients needs

• “All meetings were attended by 6-8 people who seemed to be there only because we were being billed by the hour”

-Everyone should be demonstrating value if they are attending meetings and ensuring that a true service is delivered.

If any of these things sound familiar, get in touch and let us tell you how Ilex is different and how we focus on getting biggest return on investment in marketing and communications.

Email me: matthew@ilexcontent.com or give me a call: +44 7824 425 729