Key takeaways

• Most growing B2B companies work with more marketing vendors than they realize, including web developers, designers, photographers, video crews, event suppliers, and printers.

• Each vendor usually reports to a different person inside the company, which is a big reason assets stop matching.

• Coordinating vendors takes a different skill set from doing the creative work.

• Vendor coordination is often the first job companies hand to a fractional marketing partner.

Try this. Count every outside vendor who touches your marketing.

Your web developer, your designer, the photographer from your last headshot day, the video crew from last year's conference, your printer, and the company that built your trade show booth.

Probably your IT provider too, because they have the website login.

The number is usually higher than people expect.

How many vendors does a typical B2B company use for marketing?

More than most owners would guess.

Even companies with no marketing staff tend to have a web developer, a designer, a photographer or video crew, event suppliers, and a printer.

Each one is usually hired for a separate project by a different person.

Why does having this many vendors cause problems?

Each vendor reports to whoever hired them.

• Your developer hears from your office manager.

• Your printer hears from your BD lead.

• Your event supplier hears from whoever's running the conference this year.

Nobody's comparing notes, so nobody notices when the new website and the new booth look like distant cousins.

Who should be managing all of these vendors?

One person who briefs every vendor from the same brand standards, reviews the work before it goes out, and can send it back when it's off.

Your vendors keep doing the specialized work.

That person's job is knowing what your brand should look like and holding every vendor to it.

What does good vendor coordination look like week to week?

It's pretty unglamorous work. When I coordinate vendors for a client, my week usually includes:

• Briefing each vendor from the same standards guide before they start

• Reviewing drafts and proofs before anything goes out

• Asking for a second round when something's off

• Keeping one shared folder of logos, fonts, and photos that every vendor actually uses

The payoff is that your buyers see one company everywhere they look, and your team stops fixing vendor work at the last minute.

FAQ

Does every B2B company need this many vendors?

Most growing companies end up with several, even if they never planned to. What matters is having one person coordinating them.

Can one of our vendors handle the coordination?

I wouldn't recommend it. A vendor managing other vendors will naturally focus on their own piece, and you need someone looking at the whole picture.

Does a fractional marketing partner replace our vendors?

Usually not. Your vendors keep doing what they're good at. I brief them, hold them to your standards, and review what comes back before it goes out.

If you've lost track of who's briefing your vendors, or every project comes back looking a little different, let's talk. I'll help you get every vendor working from the same standards. Book a 25-minute call.