It’s no secret that marketing in B2B is undervalued – particularly in terms of digital marketing. I still come across countless industrial companies that have a franken-site that looks like it was built in the late nineties. 

So, when an industrial company that’s historically shied away from the world of digital makes the leap to enlist help from some B2B marketing experts, they sometimes get stuck thinking that all we do is websites. 

Websites are, of course, a large part of your online presence. It’s where all of your other digital marketing activities will lead traffic to hopefully convert into prospects. But they are from the be-all and end-all when it comes to digital marketing. 

When hiring B2B marketing experts, your expectations should be far higher than creating a “pretty” website. They should be there to guide you through marketing strategy and planning, advertising options, campaign development, content creation, and so much more. 

Take ActiveConversion as an example, our team is made up of digital marketing experts, content writers, designers, and of course, web developers. If you limit your view of marketing to just your website – you’re missing out an array of other channels you could be using to drive business. 

So, what exactly should B2B marketing experts be doing for your company?

• Creating plans and strategies to help you meet your goals

This is particularly important when you first start working with a new marketing provider. The B2B marketing experts should have a clear understanding of your company, your products and services, your current marketing activities, and your goals for the future.

Once they understand these aspects of your business, they can work with you to tailor a marketing plan that works with both your goals and your budget. A clear plan will also help to manage your expectations from the marketing provider.

You should also periodically meet with the marketing experts that you’re working with to discuss changes to your company and shifts in your strategic direction. A marketing plan should be somewhat fluid and adapt to the moving needs of your business. 

• Identifying areas of improvement that would enhance your marketing and sales

From content suggestions to SEO to conversion optimization, a B2B marketing team should be able to provide countless suggestions to improve your marketing & sales activities. You hired marketing experts because of the knowledge they have that you may not. You should be able to rely on them to provide advice on how to be most successful in the B2B sales and marketing environment.

• Implementing strategic initiatives by providing services

Of course, just giving you ideas isn’t going to be particularly helpful if you don’t have the resources to implement them. The marketing provider you work with on your strategy should also be able to execute their ideas. Whether they’re writing articles for you, managing your pay-per-click campaigns, or designing your website – the team you work with should have the skills and knowledge to excel in everything sales and marketing related.

Do they ever do anything else? 

Depending on the company, they may have additional offerings to enhance your sales and marketing processes. For example; ActiveConversion offers conversion software that monitors your campaign success and tracks lead activity as they travel through the sales pipeline.  

Ask the company you work with about their full array of offerings to make sure you’re taking advantage of all they have to offer.