The business landscape has dramatically transformed in recent years as the digital revolution has radically altered how we communicate, market, and sell. This has brought about a paradigm shift in how agencies generate new business.

But many agencies still believe that word-of-mouth, their work, and awards are enough to drive growth. However, the market is more competitive than ever, and the way buyers make purchasing decisions has changed fundamentally. Waiting for the phone to ring isn’t a viable growth strategy.

Therefore to land 6- and 7-figure opportunities and drive predictable growth, firms must shift their mindset and focus on relationship-making, which is the process of creating, building, and nurturing meaningful connections with prospects that leads to long-term and mutually beneficial business relationships.

The digital age has changed B2B marketing

1. Marketing’s massive shift

The marketing industry is rapidly transforming, with heightened competition and evolving client expectations reshaping the landscape.

Several factors contribute to these shifts, including budget cuts forcing companies to scrutinize fees and scale back on the scope of work, further adding pressure on agencies to manage margins effectively.

Additionally, the rise of in-house agencies presents a new challenge as clients seek transparency, cost savings, and control over customer data, pitting agencies against each other and their clients for work.

The trend of clients streamlining their agency rosters, and opting for fewer agencies, further intensifies competition and necessitates consolidation and integration of efforts.

Lastly, the growing preference for project-based work over traditional Agency of Record (AOR) relationships emphasizes the need for creative freedom, reduced dependence on retainers, and better cost management.

2. The evolving buyer’s journey

The modern B2B buyer’s journey has changed fundamentally due to the vast information available through digital channels, enabling buyers to self-educate and access an abundance of data. This non-linear process sees prospects independently researching across multiple platforms, fluidly moving in and out of each stage, often unbeknownst to business developers.

Due to thousands of agencies with similar capabilities, the agency selection process is cumbersome. Groups of decision-makers with different priorities are usually involved. The typical buying group for a B2B solution involves 6-10 decision-makers.

Agency services are not impulse purchases. The decision to purchase requires careful consideration and is often made by a group of stakeholders with different needs and priorities. Research indicates that only 3% of companies are actively seeking partners due to current needs at any given time.

B2B services often require customization to meet the buyer’s specific requirements, adding complexity and time to the decision-making process. Consequently, the length of B2B sales cycles can vary greatly, sometimes taking six or more months or even multiple years, depending on the product or service complexity, the size of the buying organization, and its decision-making process.

Understanding the buyer’s journey allows agencies to understand prospects’ wants and needs better, enhancing their experience, building trust, and influencing their purchasing decision. Nurturing prospects throughout the journey improves engagement, shortens sales cycles, and increases conversion likelihood.

3. Battling for attention in a noisy world

Traditional media sources are facing stiff competition from various platforms. Television networks contend with streaming services like Netflix, social media platforms like YouTube, and video game platforms like Twitch. Similarly, newspapers grapple with online news outlets such as BuzzFeed, social media platforms like Facebook, and search engines like Google.

The growing noise across marketing channels makes it increasingly difficult to capture attention. This challenge also extends to B2B marketing. More access to information and increased competition means agencies have had to adapt to changing preferences and behavior to remain relevant and competitive.

Most firms need to evolve their marketing channel strategy. Many still rely on ineffective channels or outdated ways to use them, or worse, solely on word-of-mouth.

Outbound prospecting was once an effective channel on its own for companies to create new business opportunities. However, as more companies adopted these tactics, prospects’ inboxes became inundated, prompting the implementation of more robust SPAM filters. Meanwhile, companies began cutting voicemail and killing the office desktop phone. And now, post-pandemic, with the prevalence of work-from-home and hybrid work, it’s become even more challenging to reach prospects by phone.

The industry adapted by introducing data providers like ZoomInfo and low-cost tools like Seamless.ai, which gave business development reps access to email addresses and direct phone numbers. Sales development platforms like Outreach and SalesLoft enabled customized emails to target prospects, while auto-dialing platforms increased call volume. In response, even stronger SPAM filters and call-blocking tools emerged, making prospects increasingly resistant to cold emails and calls.

The growing noise across marketing channels makes it increasingly difficult for agencies to capture the attention of their ideal prospects. Channels like outbound prospecting and its tactics must evolve to remain effective.

4. Inbound marketing’s diminishing return

Content saturation, which refers to the overwhelming abundance of information on specific topics or within certain industries, has become a significant hurdle for agencies striving to reach their ideal prospects.

The escalation in content production and dissemination, fueled by advancements in digital technology like Chat GPT, has made it increasingly arduous for businesses to stand out from the competition and engage their target audience effectively.

Consequently, content saturation has adversely impacted the efficacy of inbound marketing efforts in generating leads and driving sales. Small and mid-sized agencies, in particular, face considerable difficulty in producing sufficient high-quality content that can secure favorable search engine rankings.

Additionally, senior decision-makers at large enterprises tend to gravitate toward content from established organizations like prominent consulting firms or well-regarded industry publications rather than seeking out information from smaller agencies.

Even in cases where a potential client discovers a relevant ebook or whitepaper, gated content – once a reliable lead-generation strategy – has lost its potency in the era of content saturation. Consequently, prospects are less inclined to provide their email addresses to access such material.

Moreover, inbound marketing efforts frequently yield low-quality leads, with many containing fake email addresses. Genuine leads typically originate from small businesses, often lacking the desired qualifications for agencies seeking high-value prospects.

As the saying goes, “content is king, but distribution is queen, and she wears the pants.” Creating quality content is not enough. Agencies must have a plan and budget to ensure their content reaches their prospects, as it is unlikely to be discovered otherwise.

Why Relationship-Making is the Solution for Future Agency Growth

In an era where word-of-mouth, a firm’s work, and awards no longer suffice to fuel growth, agencies must adapt to the shifting landscape by adopting a new approach. Unlike traditional lead generation, which is short-term and transactional, relationship-making entails forging, cultivating, and nurturing connections with prospects to foster awareness and trust, ultimately leading to enduring and mutually beneficial business relationships.

As such, relationship-making requires demand creation and capture, representing two complementary aspects akin to yin and yang. Both are vital for propelling revenue and growth in today’s business environment. By proactively engaging in relationship-making, firms can build relationships with the C-Suite, bypass the arduous RFP process, outpace competitors, and secure long-term success.

Just as a healthy lifestyle requires both exercise and a healthy diet, a successful marketing strategy requires both demand creation and demand capture. By combining these elements effectively, agencies can generate interest in their services and convert that interest into clients, just as a healthy lifestyle requires a combination of exercise and a healthy diet to maintain optimal health.

Yin: Awareness & Demand Creation

Awareness and demand creation is the act of sparking curiosity and desire for a firm and its services where it previously may not have existed or was not recognized.

It aims to drive enthusiasm and interest through tactics such as advertising and public relations to start relationships with target prospects. Demand creation and awareness involve understanding the audiences’ needs, wants, and preferences.

The process involves several stages, including pinpointing prospects’ business challenges, identifying target audiences, creating thought-leadership content, and directly disseminating it to potential clients.

Once desire and interest have been created, the firm can focus on further developing the relationship and capturing the demand. Effective demand creation and awareness require a deep understanding of the target market, a provocative or differentiating point of view, and a well-executed marketing strategy.

Keys to Effective Awareness and Demand Creation

1. Start with a strong brand

A strong brand is vital for agencies, encompassing more than just the name and logo. It involves five key components: brand identity, purpose, messaging, differentiation, and experience.

A unique brand identity ensures recognition and memorability. A cohesive brand purpose, mission, and values convey the agency’s story. Consistent messaging across all channels maintains a unified brand voice. Differentiation highlights the agency’s unique selling proposition, making it stand out among competitors. Lastly, a positive brand experience fosters long-term client relationships and referrals.

A strong brand helps agencies build trust and credibility among prospects, search consultants, and clients by establishing a consistent reputation for quality, client service, and results. Continuously refining these elements is crucial for building a successful, lasting brand.

2. Have a point of view

Having a provocative or differentiated point of view is essential for agencies to build awareness and demand for their services.

A unique perspective creates a distinct value proposition, setting them apart in a competitive marketplace. A point of view rooted in the audience’s best interest is supported by persuasive evidence—data, experience, or emotion.

Embracing a provocative or differentiated point of view helps agencies become thought leaders, showcasing their expertise and offering valuable insights to prospects, clients, and stakeholders.

Moreover, it builds brand awareness and recognition by establishing a consistent brand identity and messaging that effectively communicates the agency’s values, vision, and mission, attracting more clients and fostering growth..

3. Advertise and market

Advertising and marketing enable agencies to reach a wider audience by leveraging various channels such as email, events, and digital and social media.

Interestingly, advertising and marketing agencies have historically shied away from advertising and marketing. But in today’s landscape, that must change.

Consistent and targeted advertising and marketing of your thought leadership and distinct point of view helps to build awareness by creating an emotional connection with prospects and establishing a strong brand identity.

Effective multichannel advertising and marketing campaigns can drive new business opportunities by targeting prospects with relevant and helpful content that generates demand and sets the stage for relationship-making.

Yang: Demand Capture & Nurture

Even with high-performing awareness and demand creation programs, most large enterprises won’t initiate contact with you. Proactively reaching out to them is necessary to seize the demand through strategic outbound prospecting centered on relationship-making.

Effective demand capture involves identifying prospects demonstrating buying intent, reaching out through personalized one-to-one communications, and providing value to kick-start a relationship.

However, capturing demand doesn’t guarantee a sale during the initial interaction; it’s not a singular occurrence. Enterprise sales can require 6, 12, 18 months, or longer to materialize. Capturing demand is a continuous process of reinforcing and nurturing the relationship. Eventually, as the timing aligns with the prospect’s buying journey, it will lead to new business.

Keys to Effective Demand Capture and Nurturing

1. Awareness & Demand Creation

To optimize demand capture and nurturing, agencies must start with awareness and demand creation. As previously outlined, this involves sparking interest in a firm’s services, understanding audience preferences, and initiating relationships through tactics like advertising and public relations.

Many companies attempt to skip these vital steps and dive into demand capture through channels such as outbound prospecting, leading to subpar results. Consequently, they may mistakenly deem prospecting ineffective or blame those responsible when, in reality, inadequate awareness and demand are the culprits.

Agencies can effectively develop relationships and capture demand by identifying business problems, targeting audiences, and crafting thought-leadership content.

2. NextGen outbound prospecting

Outbound prospecting involves business development professionals actively seeking and engaging prospects through channels such as email, cold calls, social media, and direct mail, aiming to convert them into clients.

However, large enterprises usually do not approach small or medium-sized agencies, even when effective awareness and demand generation strategies are in place. Agencies must take the lead, but with limited resources, they must be strategic in their prospecting efforts.

Many agency leaders have established a network of LinkedIn connections but often neglect to maintain these relationships actively. These connections, who may move to new companies or decision-making roles, represent an untapped source of potential opportunities. Systematic outreach to these warm contacts can significantly enhance prospecting results and should be the starting point for outbound initiatives.

Although existing network contacts tend to have the highest conversion rates, networks are inherently limited. The subsequent focus should be on prospects exhibiting intent. In this case, agencies assess prospects’ behavior, actions, and engagement with marketing and sales materials to recognize buying signals, such as multiple visits to essential website pages, demo requests, or social media engagement. By tracking these indicators, agencies can prioritize their prospecting efforts towards those most likely to convert.

Like our networks, the pool of prospects showing intent will also be limited. Agencies need to compile a targeted list of companies in strategic growth areas. Also known as cold outbound prospecting, this generally provides the most extensive range of companies, but the prospects convert at different rates.

Regardless of how the prospect was identified, merely reaching out and asking for a 15-minute capabilities call is no longer effective. NextGen outbound prospecting necessitates personalized messaging that adds value to prospects by offering insights, inspiration, publicity, or connections.

NextGen outbound prospecting requires well-crafted awareness and demand generation programs, smart prospect list building, and delivering value through personalized outreach. Integrating these elements will yield 2-4 times better results, making it an essential go-to-market channel that enables agencies to fill their sales pipeline and guarantees a consistent flow of opportunities.

3. Prospect Nurturing

B2B sales is not an impulse purchase. Sales cycles can span 6, 12, 18 months, or more. Consequently, even with effective awareness, demand creation, and demand capture through outbound prospecting, potential clients might not be ready to buy immediately. Hence, agencies must have a strategy in place to nurture these prospects.

Prospect nurturing helps build trust and strengthen relationships with potential clients, increasing the likelihood of a purchase. Research indicates that companies excelling in lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost.

Effective prospect nurturing begins with identifying which leads have the highest potential to become clients, enabling agencies to focus their resources on those leads instead of expending time and money on less promising ones. Prospect nurturing includes personalized communications, sharing valuable content, consistency, and rapport building, whether virtually or in person.

By consistently offering valuable content and engaging with potential customers, prospect nurturing helps increase and maintain brand awareness, establishes your business as a thought leader, and ensures you remain top of mind with prospects.

Conclusion

The rapidly evolving landscape of B2B marketing demands a multifaceted approach for agencies to attract and retain clients successfully.

As traditional methods of new business development become less effective, agencies need to embrace the holistic strategy of relationship-making. This approach encompasses awareness and demand creation, demand capture through NextGen outbound prospecting, and consistent prospect nurturing. To implement relationship-making, agencies need a well-defined go-to-market strategy outlining the path from their current position to their desired future state.

By understanding this new paradigm’s unique challenges and opportunities, agencies can leverage targeted business development efforts and personalized outreach to foster meaningful connections with potential clients. Relationship-making bolsters brand awareness and establishes long-term, mutually beneficial business partnerships.

Ultimately, agencies that excel in cultivating and nurturing relationships will stay ahead of the competition and secure sustainable growth in an increasingly noisy and competitive marketing environment. By embracing this comprehensive approach, agencies can confidently navigate the ever-changing landscape and achieve predictable, long-term growth.