1. Better B2B Marketing Series
MARKETING PLANS WEBSITE DESIGN LEAD GENERATION CONTENT RESOURCES BLOG 386 Huron Street
Toronto, ON M5S 2G6
416.900.3310
Finding top marketing agencies for B2B and then selecting the right agency to work with is a challenging assignment.
This post takes a look at how to search for Top Marketing Agencies and provides a B2B Marketing Agency RFP
example that you can use to gather information during the process. And if you are looking for a B2B marketing agency
offering lead generation and nurturing services be sure to check out Brainrider’s pricing and project packages.
Finding top marketing agencies for B2B
A quick search for marketing or advertising agencies returns tens of thousands of
agency listings. Even when you limit your search to B2B marketing agencies the
number of options can be overwhelming. And while B2B trade publications
sometimes publish lists of award winning top marketing agencies for B2B they are
often paid content, out of date or limited in scope.
Here are three tips to for finding top marketing agencies for
B2B:
1. Define the agency capabilities that you are looking for. The phrase top b2b marketing agency is not very
descriptive in practice. There are a huge range of potential capabilities that meet that description. A more
focused look at key capability areas including brand strategy & design, offline advertising, online advertising,
content marketing or lead generation & nurturing will narrow your results and improve their relevance. And
prioritizing the capabilities that you are looking for will result in a better match between agency skills and your
needs.
2. Look for practical B2B experience. While Madison Ave. advertising agencies are famous for their TV and print
work, they generally hate working on complex B2B projects. Developing millions of dollars of branding, TV
commercials, and glossy print ads for big budget brands like IBM, Accenture, or SAP rarely qualifies them for
complex sale B2B marketing, lead generation and nurturing, or B2B website development.
But while smaller agencies will be more responsive based on your budgets make sure they are experienced
with B2B marketing campaigns and comfortable learning about and understanding the complexity of your
business, targets, messages, and products.
Look for agencies showcasing campaigns similar to what you need. Check their blog, website, and resources
for points of view about email nurturing, lead generation, forms, landing pages, content development, and more
to be sure their thinking backs up their hype.
A great search is to combine “B2B marketing agency” + the capability you are looking for + blog, for example
“Top marketing agency for B2B website design blog ” or “Top marketing agency for B2B marketing automation
blog “.
3. Agencies tend to have a main competency, for example creative design, ad creation, videos, branding, strategy,
digital or lead generation. While they often list multiple services they will emphasize and showcase their main
focus. A quick scan of their home page, blog, and client projects will let you identify what they love doing. If
they don’t love what you need don’t put them on your list.

2. Better B2B Marketing Series
MARKETING PLANS WEBSITE DESIGN LEAD GENERATION CONTENT RESOURCES BLOG 386 Huron Street
Toronto, ON M5S 2G6
416.900.3310
Top Marketing Agencies: Selecting The Right Partner
Once you have a list of top marketing agencies the key is selecting the right partner. Depending on how long your list
is you can issue a formal RFP or just contact each agency, share your requirements, and informally request a proposal.
In theory a formal, structured RFP process does a better job of delivering apples to apples comparisons of different
agencies. In practice the RFP process is about as helpful as the resume when recruiting employees. (for a great
perspective ask your sales team how effective they think the RFP process is when your customers are looking for the
right partner) In other words it rarely gives a good picture of the real candidate.
But if you keep your RFP short and limit it to gathering relevant information and providing details about your
requirements it can be an efficient tool when managing 4 or more agencies on your comparison list.
Top Marketing Agencies: Request for Proposal Example
Here is an RFP example including key sections and questions. Agencies can write and you don’t want your selection
process to include reading long essays. So be sure to ask submitting agencies to keep their answers to less than 400
words each and the RFP submission to 4 pages or less.
Section 1: Background & Statement of Work
 Purpose of the RFP
 Objectives of the assignment
 Scope of the assignment
 RFP Stages & dates
 Your contact information
Section 2: Agency Information
 Agency Contact information
 Agency size and years in business
 Agency leadership team with short bios
 Agency capabilities ranked by experience
 Top 10 agency clients ranked by project size
 Client references
 Agency methodology
Section 3: Agency Proposal
 Recommendations
 Deliverables
 Performance metrics
 Budget
 Critical path
Section 4: Agency Fit
 Describe how this assignment and the plan your
are recommending match that of another customer
you have worked with.
 Detail how the recommendations, deliverables,
and metrics you are proposing fit the objectives of
the assignment.
 Identify the critical success factors for this
assignment.
 Explain how will you involve our marketing team,
management team, sales team, and subject
matter experts in your process.
 Outline how you approach project management
and client management