Marketing should accelerate growth, not feel like a never-ending game of trial and error. Yet, for many companies, that's exactly what happens—one paid campaign here, a webinar there, an SEO push, a flashy new lead magnet. A lot of motion, but not nearly enough momentum.
Leads slip away. Sales cycles stretch longer than they should. And figuring out what will actually generate demand? Good luck with that.
Demand generation agencies address this issue by helping you build systems that keep your pipeline full and moving. The challenge? Most agencies sound the same. And if you’ve ever worked with the wrong one, you know how easy it is to waste six months (and six figures) with nothing to show for it.
So how do you find the right demand gen partner that actually delivers? This guide breaks it down.
What is a demand generation agency?
A demand generation agency designs and executes multi-channel strategies that attract, nurture, and convert high-intent buyers. Unlike traditional marketing firms that focus on one-off campaigns, demand gen agencies operate with long-term pipeline growth in mind.
What sets the demand generation services of these agencies apart? Systems, not stunts. They integrate content, paid media, automation, and analytics to drive sustained interest rather than chasing short-term wins. Demand gen marketers know how to blend strategy with execution, ensuring your marketing efforts translate into real pipeline and revenue growth.
How to choose a demand generation agency
Hiring the wrong demand generation agency won’t just waste your budget—it can set your pipeline back months. Here’s everything you need to know about picking the best demand gen agency for your needs:
What to look for
Lead qualification expertise
Any agency can promise marketing qualified leads (MQLs)—but are they the right MQLs? A real demand gen partner generate qualified leads that will actually move toward becoming paying customers.
✅ What to ask: "How do you ensure lead quality over quantity? Can you show me an example where you improved pipeline efficiency rather than just volume?"
Strategic demand creation
Many agencies will happily take your budget and pour it into Google Ads, LinkedIn, or gated content—waiting for buyers to show up. But great agencies create demand before buyers even realize they have a need. This means educational content, social selling, strategic community engagement, and pre-purchase nurturing.
✅ What to ask: "How do you approach demand creation for a brand that isn’t well-known? Can you show me how you’ve built awareness and pipeline in a competitive space?"
Complex sales cycles experience
If you sell a high-ticket product or operate in B2B, your prospects probably don’t make decisions overnight. A strong agency understands that multi-touch, multi-month nurturing strategies are key and knows how to measure progress beyond just ‘Did they book a demo?’
✅ What to ask: "How do you approach demand gen for a business with a 6-12 month sales cycle? How do you measure success beyond immediate conversions?"
Marketing automation capabilities
A good demand gen agency won’t just help you buy tools like HubSpot, Marketo, or Pardot—they’ll make sure those tools are fine-tuned for segmentation, lead scoring, and multi-channel nurturing. Otherwise, you’ll be left with a bloated tech stack and no strategy to maximize it.
✅ What to ask: "How do you optimize automation workflows to drive engagement rate? Can you share an example where automation improved conversion rates?"
Multi-channel execution
The best agencies don’t force all their bets on a single channel. They blend paid media, organic content, social, email, and ABM into a well-coordinated B2B demand generation strategy. You should see evidence of them executing multi-channel efforts without wasting spend on unnecessary tactics
✅ What to ask: "How do you balance demand gen across organic, paid, and outbound? Can you show me a social media or Facebook campaign that successfully combined multiple channels?"
Red flags to avoid
Watch out for these red flags before signing a contract:
🚩 They pitch the same demand generation programs to everyone. If their proposal feels eerily similar to something your competitor might get, run. Demand gen should be customized, not copy-pasted.
🚩 They’re obsessed with vanity metrics. Demand gen should be measured by pipeline impact and relevant demand gen metrics. So, if they talk a lot about impressions, MQLs, or social engagement but can’t tie any of it back to revenue, that’s a red flag.
🚩 They can’t explain their own results. Transparency is non-negotiable. If they dodge questions about reporting, refuse to share raw data, or only provide surface-level insights, they might not have a strategy at all.
🚩 They lack technical chops. B2B Demand generation at scale requires automation, integrations, and data tracking. If they don’t understand your CRM workflows or attribution models, they won’t be able to execute effectively.
Key questions to ask before hiring
Before you sign on the dotted line, ask the prospective agencies these questions to test their expertise:
- How do you define and measure demand generation success? (Hint: the right answer isn’t “MQLs.”)
- Can you walk me through a campaign you’ve built from awareness to revenue?
- What marketing automation platforms do you specialize in?
- How do you attribute pipeline growth to different demand gen efforts?
- How do you adjust strategies for businesses with long sales cycles?
- Tell me about a campaign that underperformed—how did you pivot?
Top 6 demand generation agencies to consider
1. MarketerHire
💡 Best for: Companies that need demand generation experts without the baggage of a full-service agency.
Hiring for demand generation is tricky—you need specialists who can drive real results, but full-time hires or agencies often come with unnecessary overhead. MarketerHire connects you with fractional demand gen marketers and experts in fields like paid media, SEO, content marketing, and conversion optimization. Instead of a long-term commitment, you get proven professionals you can plug in where needed, whether it's testing a new acquisition channel or fine-tuning an inbound strategy. If flexibility and expertise matter more than rigid agency contracts, this is the way to go.
When to choose MarketerHire: You need on-demand demand generation experts to support campaign execution, lead acquisition, and performance optimization without the lengthy retainers.
2. Digital Reach Agency
💡 Best for: B2B tech companies that want a demand gen partner with deep marketing automation expertise.
For B2B SaaS and tech companies, Digital Reach Agency is a reliable name in full-funnel demand generation. They don’t just set up campaigns—they build sophisticated marketing automation systems using HubSpot, Marketo, and Pardot to keep prospects engaged at every stage. Whether you’re rolling out an ABM strategy or optimizing intent-based targeting, their data-driven approach helps turn prospects into pipeline. If automation and scalable demand generation are high on your list, this demand generation agency is a good choice.
When to choose Digital Reach Agency: You need a data-centric team that knows how to integrate automation and keep your sales pipeline running at peak efficiency.
3. Ironpaper
💡Best for: B2B companies that want demand generation to feel like an extension of their sales team.
Ironpaper focuses on sales-ready leads. Their approach revolves around high-intent inbound marketing, strategic content, and paid media, all backed by a lead qualification framework that prioritizes conversion. They cut through the usual marketing-sales friction by integrating directly with CRM systems and refining lead handoff processes. Consequently, there's a better chance for your marketing efforts to contribute to actual revenue.
When to choose Ironpaper: You need a partner who can shorten sales cycles and turn marketing into a revenue engine.
4. New Breed
💡Best for: Growth-focused companies that want to maximize HubSpot’s potential for demand generation.
The New Breed team are HubSpot power users specializing in building seamless acquisition systems. From inbound marketing and paid media to conversion rate optimization and sales enablement, they design lead funnels that attract prospects all while moving them efficiently through the pipeline. As a HubSpot Elite Partner, they help companies fine-tune automation and scale their marketing with precision.
When to choose New Breed: You want a demand generation agency who knows HubSpot inside and out and can build high-converting, automated lead flows.
5. Refine Labs
💡Best for: Companies that want to rethink demand generation with modern, content-driven strategies.
Refine Labs isn’t here to play by the old demand-gen rules. They don’t do gated content or obsess over MQLs. Instead, they focus on creating real demand—using organic brand-building, social media, and community engagement to attract the right buyers. Their playbook includes LinkedIn thought leadership, podcasts, video marketing, and data-driven insights that measure impact beyond vanity metrics.
When to choose Refine Labs: You want to build long-term, inbound demand through modern marketing strategies.
6. Belkins
💡 Best for: Companies focused on outbound demand generation and appointment setting.
Belkins specializes in outbound sales acceleration, helping you land high-value appointments through targeted outreach. Their proprietary lead research process includes deep research, personalization, and refinement. Their team also optimizes email conversion rates, fine-tunes messaging, and ensures every lead fits your ICP. The result? A predictable, high-performing outbound engine that keeps your sales pipeline full.
When to choose Belkins: You need a team to elevate cold outreach, leading to improved response rates and more meetings with key decision-makers.
When a demand generation agency is the right choice (vs. in-house or general marketing agency)
Wondering if a specialized demand generation agency is the right choice for you? It is if:
You need the right leads
If your sales team is drowning in low-quality leads or struggling to hit pipeline targets, a demand generation agency can fine-tune your strategy. Expect them to attract and nurture the right audience and hand off prospects actually ready to buy.
Your marketing team Is stretched thin
Maybe you have a small but scrappy marketing team that’s already juggling too much. Or you’re great at brand and content but lack the in-house expertise to optimize ABM or intent-based targeting. Instead of overloading your team (or hiring a fleet of specialists), an agency can take over and handle the heavy lifting.
You need advanced tech
Successful B2B demand generation relies on automation, attribution, and cross-channel integration. In addition to experience, agencies come equipped with the latest tools and proven playbooks—saving you the time and cost of figuring it all out yourself.
You have aggressive growth targets
Suppose you’re under pressure to ramp up revenue fast. In that case, hiring an agency can provide the speed and expertise to execute a high-impact demand strategy without the trial-and-error of building an in-house team from scratch.
Comparison table
What’s the best route: in-house, generalist agency, or a demand gen specialist?
The right choice depends on your priorities:
- An in-house demand generation team gives you control and deep institutional knowledge but requires heavy investment in hiring, training, and tooling. Scaling quickly can be a challenge.
- A general marketing agency may be cost-effective for broad needs, but if demand gen is your main focus, they might lack the depth you need.
- A demand generation specialist agency means you’re getting a team that lives and breathes demand gen. While costs might be higher upfront, their targeted expertise often delivers better ROI, especially for companies in rapid growth mode.
When an agency isn’t the right fit
At the end of the day, the decision comes down to your internal capabilities, budget, and growth goals. If you already have a seasoned marketing team with strong demand gen capabilities and the necessary tech stack, keeping things in-house might be the smarter move. Likewise, if your primary goal is brand awareness rather than pipeline acceleration, a generalist agency or content marketing firm might be a better fit.
Why traditional lead gen approaches fail modern B2B companies
If your demand generation and lead generation strategy still relies on mass email blasts and generic outreach, it’s probably not delivering the results you need. The way B2B buyers research and make decisions has changed, but many companies are still stuck using outdated tactics that don’t align with modern expectations.
These old methods waste time and money. Casting a wide net with non-targeted outreach means most of your leads aren’t actually a good fit. Your sales team is left to chase contacts who were never going to convert in the first place. On top of that, traditional approaches fail to track what’s working, leaving your marketing team guessing when it comes to budget allocation.
In contrast, companies that have embraced a smarter, data-driven approach are seeing a massive difference. For instance, RocheMartin revamped its digital presence with Digital Litmus and saw a 602% pipeline boost and a 133% jump in sales-qualified opportunities. Likewise, when Pinpoint tapped a MarketerHire expert, they pivoted to targeted outbound emails—boosting demo calls by 400% month-over-month while slashing costs by 98%.
The bottom line? B2B lead generation today isn’t about chasing random contacts—it’s about precision, personalization, and making every marketing dollar count. If your approach isn’t keeping up, your competitors will be the ones winning the deals.
💡 If you want to learn how B2B lead generation and demand generation work together, check out this guide. For insights on structuring an effective demand generation team, explore this blueprint, and discover the top demand gen metrics used by experts here.
Where to go for the best fractional demand generation hires
If you need expert demand gen help without the cost and commitment of a full-service agency, MarketerHire is the smarter choice. It connects you with proven specialists on demand—whether you’re scaling paid media, improving automation, or launching an ABM strategy. No long hiring processes, no agency retainers—just pre-vetted experts ready to deliver results.
The best part? You stay in control always. MarketerHire offers the speed and flexibility to scale efforts up or down as needed—without the overhead. Get in touch with our team and start working with the best marketing talent.