How to Choose a Marketing Strategy Firm

Hiring a marketing firm can feel weirdly similar to modern dating.

There’s the thrill of possibility. The “maybe this is the one” optimism. The highlight reels (portfolios!). The flattering promises (“we can do anything!”). And, of course, the stomach-level fear that you’re about to go through yet another awkward dating phase only to end up with the wrong partner.

If you’ve been burned before, you’re not alone. Many B2B teams hire a firm hoping for momentum only to end up with more opinions and more confusion than they started with. Plus, the average agency relationship lasts seven years. That’s a long-term relationship if we’ve ever seen one, and it clearly demonstrates that the team you partner with now will continue shaping your brand for many, many quarters to come. You want to make the right choice. We’re here to make that choice easier.

At Liger, we believe the right partner will make you look and feel good, bringing your future into focus and making every task (and every hurdle) seem lighter. As a growth strategy and marketing firm, we help brands clarify positioning and lead foolproof go-to-market execution strategies. This blog is our practical guide to finding the right firm for your business: the one that fits your goals, your culture, your market, and your reality.

Why “fit” matters more than the portfolio

Portfolios are useful, but they’re also a little like dating profile photos: carefully curated and often missing the day-to-day reality.

In B2B, the day-to-day is the relationship. Things like how decisions get made and how you prioritize when everything seems urgent. We like the concept of a “match” because it reflects the cultural nature of how these relationships work.

Step 1: Know what you need before you swipe right on your next marketing partner

Before you evaluate firms, take 30 minutes to get honest about your situation. Remember: this isn’t your dream situation. This is the situation you’re in right here, right now.

A quick self-check:

1) What problem are we trying to solve?

2) What would success look like in 90 days?

3) What do we have capacity for internally?

4) What kind of support do we actually want?

This is how you avoid mismatches.

Because the truth is: a lot of “bad agency experiences” were actually “unclear expectations experiences.”

(And yes, agencies can absolutely be the problem too. We’ll get to that soon.)

Step 2: Green flags to look for in a marketing strategy firm

Think of these as the “green flags” you hope to see on the first few dates, signals that the relationship will be healthy long-term.

Green flag #1: They lead with clarity

A strong firm can explain:

What they do
Who it’s for
How they work
What success looks like
What they don’t do

In other words, they practice what they preach.

If everything sounds like a pitch deck full of shiny words, beware! You may feel a “spark,” but it’s just that, a spark. Remember, this is a long-term relationship, not a hot date.

Green flag #2: They ask better questions than you expected

A good firm is a curious firm. They’re not in a rush to understand you. They just genuinely care.

They ask about:

Your buying process
Your buyer roles (and their real objections)
Your long sales cycle reality
Your competitive landscape
Your internal politics (gently, but truthfully)
Your current content

You should feel like, “Oh. They’re seeing the big picture.”

Green flag #3: They have a real process

One of the biggest differences between a firm that helps and a firm that drains you is process.

A strong process includes:

Clear phases
Clear owners
Clear decision points
Clear feedback rules
Clear results

Look for partners who can describe their workflow in plain language and give you a simple timeline.

Green flag #4: They protect your team from chaos

We can’t emphasize this enough: chaos (or lack thereof) is all about culture, and culture is so, so important.

The right partner:

reduces decision fatigue
turns opinions into criteria
prevents endless rewrites
creates guardrails so your team isn’t reinventing messaging on a regular basis

This is why agency search guidelines often emphasize structure and fit. A clear process protects everyone involved.

Green flag #5: They have proof that matches your reality

You want something better than results. You want relevant results.

Look for proof that matches:

your market complexity
your sales cycle length
your internal constraints
your maturity stage

The best case study is the one that feels like, “That’s us, just two steps ahead.”

Step 3: Red flags to watch for (swipe left)

You don’t need to be cynical. You just need to be clear-eyed.

Red flag #1: “We can do everything”

Specialists are honest. Healthy firms have boundaries.

If a firm claims to be perfect at:

brand strategy
demand gen
SEO
paid media
web development
PR
video
ABM
social
email
events
sales enablement

be wary. A “jack of all trades” firm may be sacrificing quality and expertise in key areas your brand needs support in. Honesty is the best policy, and we think firms who admit where they’re strongest (and where they still have room to grow) are the ones worth trusting.

Red flag #2: They promise fast outcomes in a long-cycle world

If you’re in B2B with a complex buyer journey, real results take time.

You can build momentum quickly, but “we’ll triple your pipeline in 30 days” is highly suspicious. This is also a great opportunity to ask the firm if they can relay their take on your buyer journey and purchase cycle. If they’re way off, they’re likely not a good match.

Red flag #3: Their metrics don’t match your business goals

If they obsess over vanity metrics and upper-funnel success but can’t talk about:

qualified leads
sales enablement
conversion quality
buyer clarity
deal velocity
retention
trust indicators

you’ll feel busy and still stuck.

Red flag #4: The proposal is vague

Vague proposals create vague results.

If you can’t tell:

what they’re actually doing
what you’re getting
how decisions will be made
who owns what
how often you’ll meet
what success looks like

and if they can’t produce an example deliverable, case study, or testimonial that substantiates the activities in their outline, press pause, press pause.

Red flag #5: You only meet salespeople

Chemistry matters, but chemistry with the sales team doesn’t tell you what it’s like to work together.

Ask to meet the people who will actually run the account. Agencies love to run this play: the sales guy is a strategist, and the A-team wins the business. Then the sales/strategy guy disappears, and you’re charged A-team prices for B-team executors. Don’t let it happen to you!

Step 4: The questions that reveal real compatibility

Here are 10 simple questions that will tell you almost everything you need to know.

How do you define a successful engagement?
What does your process look like in the first 30 days?
Who will we work with day-to-day, and what are their roles?
How do you handle feedback when stakeholders disagree?
What do you need from us to move fast (and stay sane)?
How do you help teams stay consistent after you deliver the work?
What do you not do, and when do you recommend a different partner?
How do you measure progress in a long B2B sales cycle?
Can you show an example of a “before and after” messaging shift you led?
What’s a common reason engagements fail, and how do you prevent it?

You’re listening for clarity, honesty, and strategy.

Step 5: Run a “first date” project before you commit

If you’ve been burned before, don’t jump into a year-long retainer. Start with a focused project that reveals how it feels to work together.

A good “first date” project is:

time-boxed (2–6 weeks)
high leverage (clarity work, messaging, a high-level roadmap, website foundation)
revealing (you’ll see their process, pace, and communication style)

For instance, at Liger, we conduct discovery sessions, content audits, and light brand refreshes, initial projects that all bring clarity to brand positioning and offer opportunities for future growth and improvement. We also offer new clients a paid strategy engagement up front with no commitment to a long-term retainer. Why? So they can see our team in action and have ample time to decide if we’re a good fit. We’re seeking true partnerships, and you should be, too.

We understand that creative talent is only half of the equation. You need clear roles and healthy working norms.

The bottom line: choose a relationship that lasts

The right marketing strategy firm will feel like a sigh of relief. Forget vibes and definitely forget taking the easy route. You’ll still have challenges, but your team will finally have guardrails to work with, and you’ll find that all the energy you used to put into guesswork can now be put into executing a strategy that matches your story and delivers results.

That’s what “match” really means.

Liger Partners: A Firm for B2B Growth Strategy & Execution

If you want a clearer way to talk about what you do (and a marketing system your team can actually sustain) start with our Brand Identity Workbook. It’s designed to help B2B teams clarify positioning, align internal language, and build a foundation that makes every marketing decision easier.

(Then, if you want a partner to take it further, you’ll know exactly what to look for.)

(And if what you’re looking for turns out to be growth or go-to-market strategy execution, or you work in a regulated industry with complex purchase cycles, don’t be afraid to swipe right on Liger).

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