Here’s what no one tells you about running a B2B Marketing/GTM/Demand Gen/ABM agency:
- You’re going to pick up marketing and sales skills, fast
When you’re working with multiple clients, handling multiple projects, and acting as their fractional CMOs for this long, you’re going to pick up skills very fast. Running and managing an agency is the fastest way to pick up skills as a marketer.
2. You’re not going to call yourself a marketer
I run a marketing agency, and I don’t call myself a marketer anymore. Well, let me rephrase: I identify less and less as a marketer in the traditional sense. The marketing game has changed completely over the years, and right now, Revenue Operations is the way to go for B2B organizations.
The lines between sales, marketing, and customer success are blurred in B2B, which means looking at Revenue holistically is your best bet. So, I just call myself a revenue or a GTM (go-to-market) person now.
3. 50% of your success doesn’t come from strategy or execution
Managing the best people takes time and effort, and that is a skill set you cannot replace. Sure, not everything is a gamble, but marketing isn’t a safe game, so without experimentation, it is all meaningless.
Working with clients that are hungry for growth and open to ideas is ideal. A mediocre product can win with the help of a great team that consists of risk-takers and go-getters, people that have high agency and accountability, and can own their shit.
4. ABM = GTM = Revenue
B2B is ABM. More and more, we see B2B companies shifting to the ABM approach where specific accounts are in focus. The intensity of the focus depends on your ACV, the higher the ACV, the more laser-focused your approach (and consequently less volume).
2 years ago, I was sold on ABM, but now I realize that ABM is just a fraction of the big picture. Focusing on the entire GTM game is the way to go (as outlined in #2)
5. Mass cold outreach is dead
Before I started this agency, I was on the fence about mass cold outreach. But now that I’ve seen it work less and less, I’m convinced that it needs to stop. It’s doing more harm than good with your brand’s reputation on the line. And let’s not even get started about the bridges you’re burning forever because of an overtly aggressive approach!
