How to Assess B2B Demand Generation Services
Draft.dev
14 min read
b2b-marketing
loading...
There are two ways to generate interest in your business: doing it yourself, or partnering with a B2B demand generation service. The right third-party agency is worth its weight in gold. But while there are dozens on the market, only a few are any good.
This guide covers everything you should know about selecting and assessing B2B generation services. It also walks you through a checklist of features, warning signs, and red flags.
Already have a service in mind? We explain options to improve your vendor relationships. We also link out to resources and strategies so you feel fully in control of your final decision.
As mentioned earlier, B2B demand generation services are strategies designed to attract interest in your offering (and ultimately increase your revenue). The specific approach depends on your niche, but generally speaking, there are two main types.
The first is outbound demand generation, also referred to as ‘push’ or ‘drive’ marketing. This is any type of demand generation that ‘pushes’ people toward your brand — think cold calling, cold email, advertising, and similar tactics.
The second option is inbound demand generation, which ‘pulls’ or ‘attracts’ customers to learn more about your business. Content and SEO are two of the most popular strategies, followed by warm-market newsletters, social media, and more.
The best B2B demand agencies have deep experience in their verticals so you can easily move the needle forward. Just keep in mind the results you get will depend on the agencies, professionals, or freelancer you choose.
Let’s take a closer look.
You typically have three different options for service providers:
So which option do you choose for your growing business?
Freelancers make sense if you’re a bootstrapped startup and can’t afford new employees (or don’t have employees with that level of skill on your team). Although they can’t focus their attention completely on your brand, that may not be a problem at the beginning of your business journey.
In contrast, you might want to consider a third-party agency if you want to outsource to professionals with more resources than your average contractor. They usually have a higher budget for specific tools and platforms — although keep in mind this might be reflected in the price.
Finally, in-house professionals make sense for mature brands who need a highly-specific B2B demand generation process. You might spend more than you would with third-parties, but you will have a full-time resource that’s completely dedicated to your business and has a strong understanding of your demand gen goals.
Want more details around each option?
Each demand generation service is a little bit different. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t offer similar solutions.
The most effective B2B demand generation systems offer:
Most B2B businesses invest one third of their marketing budget into content — and it’s not hard to see why. The right content speaks directly to your audience, addresses pain points, and moves leads closer to conversion, even years after publication.
The best content creation agencies offer subject-matter experts, well-researched pieces, professional editing, and assets like blog posts and tutorials designed to convert your specific audience.
You’ll need a demand gen partner that knows more than just email (unless that’s a key strategy for your brand). You should also be able to ask questions about where content should go after publication — so you’re never stuck with assets that can’t be reused to maximize ROI.
Any demand gen agency worth its salt should offer detailed reporting with clear metrics, not just vanity numbers. You should expect regular updates showing performance benchmarks, lead tracking, attribution modeling, and/or ROI analysis.
A good demand gen service can give you a step-by-step startup guide. But a great demand gen agency can handle both the strategy and the setup.
This means they can build or connect the tech you need to support your funnel without requiring extra resources or pulling your team’s attention away from everyday tasks.
How do you pick the best B2B demand generation agency?
Here’s a quick checklist you can use to get started:
| What to Look For | |
| Has worked with tech B2B or adjacent sectors | ☐ |
| Clearly defines how leads are sourced, scored, and qualified | ☐ |
| No hidden fees, clear contract terms, and ROI projections | ☐ |
| Provides dashboards, KPIs, and regular performance reviews | ☐ |
| Offers a dedicated contact and consistent communication | ☐ |
| Customizes campaigns to match your brand voice and offer | ☐ |
| Can push campaigns through multiple channels (i.e., blogs, tutorials, landing pages, social media) | ☐ |
| Can share proven success stories with similar businesses | ☐ |
Now, let’s take a closer look at your assessment criteria:
This is a no-brainer, but worth discussing anyway. Because if a B2B gen provider doesn’t have experience in your niche, it probably shouldn’t be a provider to trust your brand with.
That’s especially relevant for technical brands, particularly those with a nuanced target market such as developers or CTOs. Your average demand gen approach won’t work on more sophisticated leads, and if that’s not something your B2B partner understands, you may want to search for an alternative.
A lead is a lead is a lead, sure — but not when you’re paying hundreds of dollars for demand generation. You should expect high-quality results in exchange for your investment. In other words, not just high numbers of leads who don’t end up converting to your brand.
Look for a B2B demand gen service offering ways to vet your leads for quality, whether that’s by checking them on the back-end or by generating quality content that attracts only a very specific segment of the market. It might help to discuss this directly with prospective services. For example, you might ask each sales rep about their lead quality standards, or if they have safeguards in place to prevent watering down quality for numbers.
B2B demand generation services usually follow one of three pricing structures: pay per lead, pay per project, or a monthly retainer.
Pay per lead is exactly what it sounds like: you pay a fee for each lead that shows up in your inbox. Per project is usually a payment by article, campaign, outcome goal (like a three-month advertising push). Finally, monthly retainers cost a set fee each month so you can receive specific services depending on your contract.
The best pricing structure on this list is the one that fits your ROI goals. For example, you may get a better return on per-lead pricing, or it may be cheaper to pay a flat rate per article and receive a consistent inbound funnel of leads.
You should also keep your eyes peeled for hidden fees. Case in point, some providers charge a finder’s fee for successful leads, or hourly costs on top of per-word pricing for B2B content.
This can make ROI fairly tricky to calculate — something 32% of B2Bs say is one of their biggest barriers to scaling.
That’s why the trick is to receive everything in writing first. If you can skim over a contract with your lawyer or a business partner, you can quickly suss out any mismatching pricing structures or expensive fees.
💡Related: Maximizing Your Content Marketing ROI
You can’t manage what you can’t measure, as the saying goes. That’s where detailed reporting makes all the difference. A reputable demand gen service should offer clear performance metrics and not just vanity stats, such as tracking lead sources, conversion rates, cost per acquisition, and more.
You might want to ask the provider(s) in question about how they report on success and how often you’ll receive updates. Bonus points if they offer dashboards or tools you can access in real-time.
If their reports are vague or overly complicated, it could be a red flag (which we’ll cover later on).
You shouldn’t have to navigate B2B gen on your own. And if you’re investing in an agency, you should have access to a dedicated account manager. This person should proactively send updates, respond quickly to emails, and become a true partner in optimizing your campaigns over time.
Not having an account manager isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker, but it could certainly be frustrating if you’re working with a larger agency. Be sure you understand what’s expected of you (and the agency) long before signing on the dotted line.
For demand generation, how you write something is just as important as what you write. Poorly written copy, even if it seems to carry your message up front, could still tank performance if it isn’t perceived well by your audience.
To combat this, ask for samples showcasing past content and ask how the agency approaches brand voice and messaging. Especially in regulated or complex industries like finance or SaaS, you’ll want a team that understands how to balance clarity, compliance, and conversion.
Single-channel campaigns rarely move the needle anymore. Your ideal agency should offer support across multiple platforms (like content writing and tutorials with social media collateral) to meet leads wherever they’re most active.
You should also hunt for providers who know how to use each channel effectively. It’s not just about volume, after all — it’s also about strategy and depth of experience. Make sure your provider can connect the dots between the channels you need to deliver a cohesive experience for prospects.
A great demand gen provider should be proud of their work, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find evidence of measurable outcomes, client testimonials, and industry-specific wins.
But if the company doesn’t offer any case studies, or if they’re not willing to share hard numbers, it might be a red flag you can’t afford to miss.
Which leads directly to our next point.
Struggling to pick between two or more services? It may be easier to narrow your list for checking any ‘warning lights’ up front.
With this in mind, here are some red flags to look for in potential demand gen partners:
These pointers, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg.
Learn more about dealbreakers when working with a SaaS marketing agency.
Even after you’ve selected a B2B demand generation agency, you’ll want to put in the work to maintain a good rapport. Like any other relationship, you want to avoid resentment as much as possible. Just keep in mind it takes work, intentionality, and time.
Here are some tips for maintaining vendor relationship(s) from the get-go:
There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ B2B demand generation service — only a provider that best suits your needs. But there are a few agencies that stand out from the rest.
And for hundreds of companies, that’s Draft.dev.
Draft.dev has served hundreds of technical B2B brands with full-funnel technical content with demos, code samples, and social collateral. Our comprehensive campaign strategy allows us to dive deep into competitor research, carefully explore existing content, and then create downloadable assets with optimized landing page copy.
We make B2B demand generation easier to manage with a hands-off approach so you can scale without compromise. We also provide monthly analytics and reviews of our content effectiveness and average cost per lead. If you’re not 100% satisfied with your content, you don’t pay. Learn more about how Draft.dev works with clients.