B2B marketing insights for
those targeting a niche
Insights, learnings and stories from the world of B2B marketing and communications, direct from Velo’s B2B agency team
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
Choosing a B2B agency can feel high stakes. Marketers are trying to find a partner that understands their sector, works in a way that suits their team and can deliver more than a polished pitch. The challenge is separating genuine fit, capability and chemistry from generic agency promises.
That means learning about briefing, agency evaluation, specialist expertise, processes, chemistry meetings, scopes of work, pricing models, onboarding and what to look for in a long-term agency relationship.
Our insight articles share advice, guidance and practical thinking to help marketers choose an agency with more confidence and build a relationship that is productive from the outset.
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
What skills do you need to future-proof your B2B marketing career?
AI is changing what marketing teams produce, and how fast they produce it. But it isn’t replacing the need for skilled people, if anything it’s sharpening exactly which skills matter. The marketers who will thrive are not the ones using the most tools, they are the ones who think more clearly, make better decisions, and bring genuine human judgement to complex problems. Based […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
When is the right time to wrap an agency around your in-house team?
In many B2B organisations today, the question is no longer whether to use an agency. It’s if and followed by when. In-house teams are close to customers, more embedded in the business, and increasingly capable across strategy, execution and performance. In-house teams bring clear advantages, but they also come with trade-offs that are easy to miss when you’re in the middle of it. On the one hand, they’re more cost-effective, but […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
Why choosing a B2B agency should come with a guarantee
Choosing a B2B agency is still, in most cases, a leap of faith. You review credentials, assess chemistry and compare proposals, but ultimately you are making a decision based on limited information and a degree of trust. That would be fine if the stakes were low. But they are not. Marketing is expected to drive growth, influence revenue and stand up to […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
When the heat is on, does your agency rise to the occasion? Are they there when it actually matters?
Choosing an agency is rarely a capability problem. Most can show impressive work, strong credentials and a confident pitch team. The real question is simpler: when the pressure is on, or when a larger client becomes demanding, will you matter? That’s where agency relationships are genuinely tested. And it’s worth finding out before you sign anything. The size paradox Agency size cuts […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
Why the recommended choice is never a shortcut. It is a quality standard.
When marketers describe how they select an agency, the process sounds structured. Long lists. Formal briefs. Credentials reviewed. Pitches compared. In practice, the journey usually begins somewhere much simpler – with the agencies people have already heard of. A recommendation from a peer. An agency someone used in a previous role. At first glance, this looks like a shortcut. It isn’t. It’s how complex purchasing […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
Future-proof or already obsolete? How to assess an agency’s shelf life
Appointing an agency is meant to make your life easier. You bring in expertise, fresh thinking and additional capacity. Someone who understands your market, challenges your assumptions and helps move things forward. Yet many agency relationships quietly drift into something else entirely. Instead of shaping strategy, they wait for instructions. Instead of anticipating change, they react to it. Instead of driving results, they produce assets. When […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection, B2B Marketing in manufacturing, B2B Marketing in Professional Services, B2B Marketing in Technology
Why use a pitch when selecting an agency? It puts too much pressure on a client’s brief.
When looking for a new agency, common practice is to invite selected agencies to generate initial ideas, explain their approach, and share relevant experience around the problem you’re seeking to solve. Typically, most pitches involve an initial brief. This brief is crucial for the agency, as it provides the basis for deciding whether to participate […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
How should B2B marketers select a new agency that targets a niche? A comparison scorecard
When you’re considering appointing an agency, a bit of preplanning will make it much easier to select the right partner. For B2B marketers who target a niche, this is a harder process than it looks. Similar case studies are hard to find or rarely celebrated (when was the last time you saw a true niche […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection, B2B Sales Enablement
Why is it called “winning” a new client when a good client-agency relationship is a partnership?
The vocab is just wrong. If someone wins, someone else loses. To apply this vocab to starting a new business partnership exemplifies how the pitch process is broken. Most clients talk about appointing a new agency. Never winning a new agency. Why? In day-to-day life, you rarely speak this way. You don’t “win” a new member of […]
B2B Marketing Agency Selection
Is well-being in an agency the responsibility of the company or the individual?
Working in an agency can be hard, particularly at specific times of the year. We do our best to manage workloads and timelines at an organisational level, but with varied and challenging work, there is always room for improvement. Everyone has different needs and tolerances. Operating in a world where change is a constant simplifies […]
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