Picking the right B2B SaaS marketing agency: 4 things to look out for

First of all, let’s make one thing very, very clear: 

B2B marketing is not the same as B2C marketing. Sure, some of the more fundamental marketing principles apply to both. But successfully running Meta ads to sell shoes to consumers isn’t the same as selling €100K+ software to a complex decision-making unit. 

If you’re going to hire a B2B SaaS marketing agency to help you out with marketing, you’re going to want to pick one that is battle-tested in that specific field. Your run-of-the-mill B2C marketing agency isn’t going to cut it. B2C marketers simply won’t have the right: 

• Context 
• Skillset 
• Expertise  

To help you pick the right marketing agency for your B2B SaaS business, we’re listing 5 things to look out for, including an explanation as to why, below. 

TL;DR: You should check out the people working at your shortlisted agency, find out if they actually worked in B2B SaaS before, what their skills are, and what they post about, personally. Do your due diligence: check case studies for B2B SaaS business types and reach out to current and previous clients.

1. Check for actual B2B SaaS marketing expertise

There are quite a few agencies out there that claim B2B SaaS marketing expertise. But when you dig a little deeper, it turns out their employees spent most of their careers running Instagram ads for e-commerce businesses. Not ideal. 

And we get it! Proper B2B SaaS marketing experience is scarce. It’s simply considered more glamorous to do marketing for consumer brands your friends and family all know. 

Still: if you’re trying to pick your next B2B SaaS marketing agency, check the resumes of the people they employ. LinkedIn is your friend here. Simply:

• Go to the agency’s LinkedIn company page
• Navigate to the ‘People’ tab  
• Check out individual profiles
• Scan past roles for B2B Saas expertise

It’s a simple process, but it’ll show you which agency holds relevant expertise, and which ones are simply playing the part. 

2. Examine the agency's case studies for business type

What goes for the B2B SaaS agency’s employees, also applies to their case studies. Some agencies will claim they specialize in B2B marketing. But when you have a look at the case studies on their website, these paint a different picture.

If the businesses mentioned in this case studies section are predominantly non-B2B, this should be a major red flag. So check these logos and Google them to figure out the business type.

Additionally, the content of the case study itself should teach you a lot about how the agency perceives marketing in general. 

Ask yourself: does their vision on marketing align with yours?

3. Reach out to current / past customers for referrals

This is due diligence in a nutshell, really. Nothing like learning from the experiences of current or past customers. You could reach out to these people on LinkedIn, send them a DM, and ask for feedback on the agency you’re considering.

This could teach you quite a bit about the business. And there’s a smaller risk of bias, unlike some of the things you’ll discover online or using AI search. 

4. Find out what type of skillsets the agency employs

Let’s get back to researching the employees working at the agency. Sure, some marketing agencies will list the services they provide in their header navigation. We wouldn’t suggest always taking this list of services at face value, however.

It’s often a simple SEO strategy to create these pages for marketing services like LinkedIn advertising, content marketing, etc. Oldest trick in the book.

Instead, why don’t you:

• Go back to LinkedIn
• Navigate to the ‘People’ tab again
• Check out the current roles of individual employees
• Visit their profiles and read their ‘About’ sections

This will give you a way better understanding of the type of skills the agency employs. Why is this so important when picking a B2B SaaS marketing agency?

Simple.

The skills needed to do well at B2B SaaS marketing change rapidly. Usually, marketing agencies are better at responding to these changes in the industry than more established B2B SaaS businesses themselves.

Examples:

Short-form video content marketing for B2B SaaS was virtually non-existent not too long ago. Now, it’s absolutely essential. 

And how about prompt engineering or vibe-coding? AI-based skills are becoming an increasingly important marker of future-thinking organizations.  

5. Research the team's LinkedIn activity: what do they post?

A marketing agency should set the right example. To figure out whether the consultants working at your next prospective B2B SaaS agency partner, check out what their employees have to say. If they’re as knowledgeable as they claim they are, their LinkedIn posts will give you a great indication of what they have to offer.

Go check out some of their latest posts and answer the following questions:

• What topics do these posts discuss?
• Are these topics in line with modern B2B marketing theory?
• Do these people come across as experts in their fields?
• Are their replies in the comment section equally insightful?

An agency’s behavior on a professional social media platform like LinkedIn is a perfect barometer for in-house B2B SaaS marketing proficiency.

Added benefit: you get a sneak peek into life at the agency itself this way. While reading those posts, ask yourself this final, maybe most important question: is there a culture fit? Do you see yourself working with these people, long-term? 

If the answer is no, you probably need to keep looking. 

Pro-tip: in case of doubt, reach out to us here at Unmuted

Still not sure whether your current shortlist of agency candidates fit the bill? We challenge you to follow the 5 points above and apply them to our marketing agency. 

Unmuted is the only marketing agency specialized in B2B SaaS that employs the full spectrum of disciplines and languages needed to generate demand for your product throughout Europe (all employees are seasoned B2B SaaS experts) without needing to make any full-time hires or work with freelancers.

And we’re pretty nice to work with, too.