How to choose a marketing agency for B2B SaaS?

You've burned through $30K with an agency that sent pretty dashboards but zero pipeline. Your CAC is creeping up. The sales team stopped opening marketing leads three months ago.

Sounds familiar?

Most B2B SaaS founders hire a saas marketing agency the same way they'd pick a designer - based on portfolio and vibes. Then they're surprised when the relationship tanks after month two. The problem isn't that agencies can't deliver. It's that most founders don't know what to filter for before signing a contract.

This guide gives you a selection framework built on unit economics, a scoring rubric you can actually use, and a checklist for your first call. By the end, you'll know exactly what separates agencies that understand B2B SaaS from those that just claim to.

Does the agency understand SaaS unit economics?

This is the filter question.

If an agency can't discuss CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), LTV (Lifetime Value), and pipeline funnel in the first call, walk away. B2B SaaS marketing is finance-driven. Agencies that optimize for vanity metrics without tying back to revenue are burning your runway.

What's their operating model (strategy + execution + reporting)?

You need clarity on three things:

1. Who does strategy? Is it a senior strategist or a junior account manager reading from a template?
2. Who executes? Are you getting the A-team or offshore contractors?
3. How do they report? Weekly dashboards? Monthly decks? What KPIs do they track, and how do they define attribution?

Good agencies separate strategy (workshops, positioning, planning) from execution (content, ads, SEO) and tie both to clear metrics.

In Apricot, we typically structure engagements as: positioning workshops → KPI ladder → execution sprints → weekly reporting. You know what we're building, why, and what it's driving.

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How do they handle positioning, messaging, and ICP depth?

SaaS marketing fails when messaging is generic.

The agency needs a method for extracting your positioning and ICP depth - not just asking "who's your target customer?" and writing blog posts.

Look for:

• Positioning workshops that define your category, competitive alternatives, and unique attributes
• Message house frameworks that cascade from strategic narrative → value props → proof points
• ICP research that goes beyond firmographics into buying committee roles, pain points, and objection patterns

If the agency skips this and jumps straight to "content calendar," you'll get fluff.

How do they collaborate with product and sales?

Your agency needs to understand how you sell.

PLG (Product-Led Growth) companies optimise for activation and self-serve conversion. Sales-led companies optimise for pipeline and deal velocity. Hybrid models need both.

Ask:

• "How would you support our sales team?" (enablement content, battle cards, case studies)
• "How do you integrate with product for launches?" (release marketing, feature adoption campaigns)
• "What does your relationship with our CRO look like?" (pipeline reviews, lead quality feedback loops)

Agencies that treat sales and product as separate planets create misalignment fast.

Founder checklist: questions to ask on the first call

Use this to pressure-test any agency:

1. Positioning method: What's your process for extracting positioning and messaging?
2. Execution quality: Can you show us examples of content/campaigns with clear conversion intent (not fluff)?
3. Distribution strategy: What channels do you recommend, and why? (Don't accept "we do everything")
4. Experiment cadence: How do you prioritize tests and build a learning loop?
5. Reporting: What KPIs do you track? How often?
6. Collaboration: How do you work with our sales and product teams?
7. Proof: Can you share 2-3 case studies with context, decisions, and outcomes?
8. Tooling: What tools do you need access to? (CRM, GA4, ad platforms)

If an agency stumbles on these questions, they're not ready for B2B SaaS.

What to look for when hiring a SaaS marketing agency?

Here's a founder-grade scoring rubric you can copy and use during your agency search.

A simple scoring rubric (0–5) to compare agencies

Score each criterion 0–5, multiply by weight, sum. Anything below 70/100 is a risk.

What scores mean

• 85+ = Strong fit. Move forward with a pilot or full engagement.
• 70-84 = Proceed cautiously. Clarify gaps before committing. Consider a pilot sprint.
• <70 = Fix gaps or keep searching. Major risks in execution or alignment.

Red flag examples

• No access to senior strategists. If the pitch team disappears after you sign, you'll get junior execution without strategic oversight.
• Vague KPIs. "We'll increase brand awareness" or "drive engagement" are not KPIs. Demand pipeline, revenue, or activation metrics.
• No collaboration with sales. If the agency doesn't ask about your CRM, sales process, or lead quality feedback, they're optimizing in a vacuum.

In Apricot, we typically score highest on strategy + measurement + execution cadence by starting every engagement with positioning workshops, building a KPI ladder tied to pipeline, and running tight iteration loops with weekly reporting. We don't do vanity metrics.

Common mistakes founders make

• Hiring on portfolio alone. Great work for another company doesn't mean they understand your motion. Ask how they'd approach your ICP and competitive landscape.
• Skipping the pilot. Start with a 3-month pilot sprint before committing to a 12-month retainer. You'll learn if they can execute and collaborate.
• Not defining KPIs upfront. If you don't align on metrics in week 1, you'll argue about "success" in month 3.
• Treating the agency like a vendor. Good agencies are partners. Share context, give feedback, involve them in strategy. If you treat them like an order-taker, you'll get generic output.
• Ignoring internal time cost. Agencies need your time - for onboarding, approvals, feedback, enablement. Budget 5-10 hours/week from your team.

A 30-day pilot sprint that tells you more than a portfolio

Portfolios show what an agency did for someone else. A pilot sprint shows what they can do for you.

A good pilot includes:

• Week 1: Onboarding + baseline. Access to tools (CRM, GA4, ad platforms), ICP/competitor review, current funnel audit, KPI alignment
• Week 2-3: Strategy + 1-2 experiments. Positioning workshop or messaging audit, launch 1-2 tactical tests (landing page, ad campaign, email sequence), establish weekly reporting cadence
• Week 4: Results + plan. Review what worked, what didn't, why. Present 90-day roadmap with prioritized experiments and resource needs

Success criteria for the pilot

Track both leading and lagging indicators:

Leading indicators (weeks 1-3):

• Quality of strategic questions during onboarding
• Speed of execution (can they ship a landing page in 5 days?)
• Clarity of reporting (are you getting insights or just data dumps?)

Lagging indicators (week 4+):

• Did experiments move the needle? (Even negative results count if learnings are clear)
• Can they articulate what to do next based on pilot data?
• Do they understand your business better than they did on day one?

If the agency can't deliver a clean pilot, they can't deliver a clean year. This is your cheapest risk mitigation.

What founders should prepare before hiring an agency

Agencies can only move as fast as you enable them. Slow onboarding kills momentum.

Prepare these before your first agency call:

Access + inputs checklist:

• CRM access (HubSpot, Salesforce) with permission to view pipeline, deal stages, lead sources
• GA4 (Google Analytics 4) + attribution setup (or acknowledgment that it's broken)
• Ad account access (LinkedIn, Google Ads) if you're running paid
• Sales call notes, win/loss analysis, or recorded demos (context on objections, buying committee, deal velocity)
• Documented ICP (even if it's rough) - who converts best, who churns fastest, who pays most

Reality check on internal time:Agencies need 5-10 hours per week from your team - for strategy calls, content review, campaign feedback, and sales enablement coordination. If you can't commit that, you're not ready to hire an agency.

Conclusion

Choosing a saas marketing agency isn't about finding the prettiest deck or the longest client list. It's about finding operational fit around five things:

• Unit economics fluency - can they discuss CAC, LTV, and pipeline math without flinching?
• Strategic method - do they have a repeatable process for positioning, messaging, and ICP clarity?
• GTM alignment - do they understand your sales motion and how marketing supports it?
• Execution + reporting - can they ship fast, measure honestly, and iterate based on data?
• Collaboration model - do they act like a partner or a vendor?

Use the scoring rubric. Ask the first-call questions. Run a pilot sprint before committing to a long retainer.

An agency isn't always the answer. Sometimes you need a strategist, a freelancer, or just more time to figure out your positioning. But if you're ready to scale and need a team that knows B2B SaaS demand generation, the framework above will help you filter fast.

Ready to pressure-test your marketing strategy?

If you need help building a B2B marketing strategy that ties channels to pipeline, or you want to validate your positioning before hiring an agency, we can help.

At Apricot, we start every engagement with positioning workshops and a KPI ladder tied to revenue - not vanity metrics. Then we build execution sprints around what actually moves the needle for B2B SaaS companies.

Book a call to discuss your go-to-market plan, channel priorities, and whether an agency (or a different approach) makes sense for your stage.

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