Why I love working in a B2B marketing agency
Graduating university in 2022, and not knowing very much about B2B marketing, Junior Creative Fahima Patel has since gained a lot of great experience and had a huge amount of personal development over the last two years at B2B marketing agency Upp.
It’s been a whirlwind introduction to the world of B2B, and Fahima has been involved in a variety of work and projects collaborating with well known global brands such as DHL, Informa and CHEP, whilst also experiencing the real world pressures of agency life and everyday client demands.
We asked Fahima 5 short questions to understand why she chose a career in a B2B agency, and what advice she can offer to other graduates looking to follow a similar career path.
There is often a misconception that B2B marketing lacks a sense of flair and creativity and is extremely corporate. However, there are many projects that I have had the pleasure of working on at Upp B2B, that have allowed me to advance my skills in both print and digital, as well as executing beautiful pieces of creative.
Lots of agencies claim to broadly know what B2B brands need to do to be successful. But it’s knowing exactly how to do it that separates effective B2B marketing agencies from the crowd. Our established processes ensures we always know what we need to do, how we’re going to do it and why it’s going to work by ensuring that we develop meaningful insights to understand the B2B buyers we are talking to.
B2B is shorthand for ‘Business to Business’ which is a category applied to businesses who sell products and services to other businesses rather than direct to the end consumer.
As a result B2B often operates in the space of ‘considered purchases’ where there may be multiple people involved in making purchase decisions due to the cost of investment or the high level of risk involved in making the wrong decision. So, for example buying a new expensive piece of business machinery costing £250k will need a lot more thinking about and discussion by a business than me buying a new shampoo to try for £5 or a new hijab which takes my fancy online.
I love getting my head around a B2B brief to solve a business challenge or to help promote a brand in a distinct way. The fact that other businesses will see my work gives me a real buzz. For example, the recent work I did for our international events client Vitafoods Europe – helping them to brand their 2024 annual conference. I know that thousands of people that attend this industry-leading event each year will get to see my video and animation work.
This really blows my mind as a junior creative! And knowing my work could influence people to work with that company gives me an additional sense of job satisfaction.
The importance of genuine B2B experience can be underestimated – understanding the B2B audience and how they think and buy – the rules of the game are different in B2B to B2C. Working with a team of B2B subject matter experts with years of successful delivery experience who each bring different elements of expertise is amazing to be a part of.
The team here at Upp really knows the b2b space so well which I believe sets us apart from agencies with less B2B exposure. We know B2B audiences and understand their mindset in terms of what pushes them along their buying journey .This can bring real value to a project.
I don’t really have a specific go-to source to get b2b inspiration. For me, the key to my development since leaving university has been everyday experiences, working on live briefs and learning from other creatives and client feedback on my work. Nothing beats the level of frontline hands-on experience I’ve been lucky to experience since joining Upp B2B and the variety of project briefs I have worked on to hone my skills.
B2B is a fast-paced place to be right now with the influence of emerging new technologies like Figma, generative AI and the possibilities for motion graphics offered by HTML5.
Do your research and understand the latest trends in B2B marketing thinking. Check out some award winning B2B campaigns to understand what great looks like too. The B2B Marketing Awards are the industry’s Oscars and The Drum B2B awards are also worth checking out.
The B2B creative world is constantly changing so keeping yourself in the loop and educating yourself on the latest thinking will help you when making applications to B2B specialist marketing agencies. Great B2B marketing isn’t about having the most cutting-edge product or marketing campaigns. It’s about finding a unique angle that engages people and provides value at the same time. Ultimately, it’s about enabling your audience to reach higher goals and delivering great results!
