As we mentioned in our previous post, Multi-channel marketing combines strategies like SEO, PPC, email, and content marketing to create a unified customer experience across touchpoints. This approach helps SME B2B businesses engage prospects at every stage of the buyer’s journey. In this blog, we explore how to craft a cohesive multi-channel strategy, make it work on a tight budget, and measure its success effectively.
The Challenge: The Multi-Agency Model
Joanne is a marketing manager in a mid-sized SME. The company focuses on B2B Lead Generation. Traditionally the company has done well through Sales professionals, but as the company has reached a certain size, the Senior Leadership Team have invested in a marketing department over the last few years.
The company has around 40 staff, 6 million turnover and Joanne has a marketing apprentice.
Her marketing budget for the year is a generous 5% of the company revenue. Let’s be more realistic here, shall we.
Joanne has been given 2%, had to beg for that and agree to some pretty high ROI targets, the budget also includes her apprentice at £24,570 per annum (Living Wage for 37.5 Hour Week in 2024/5 (non-london), because the company looks after its staff, even at Apprentice level.)
That leaves Joanne with a marketing budget of £95,430 for the year, but a target of doubling the company revenue.
At the moment, they have:
- Social Media Consultant – £750 per month – £9,000 per year
- SEO Freelancer – £1,200 per month – £14,400 per year
- Paid Advertising Agency – £1,500 per month – £18,000 per year
- Advertising Spend of £2,000 per month – £24,000 per year
- PR Consultant – £1,200 per month – £14,400 per year
- Website Hosting & Support – £600 per month – £7,200 per year
- Designer – £800 per month – £9,600 per year
That’s a total of £96,600 per year or £8,050 per month. That leaves Joanne with minus £1,170 she will need to adjust the paid media spend during quiet times to accommodate, or accept a bit of a discrepancy.
Now, lucky for us Joanne, is pretty good at the strategic side, but the reporting is a bit of a mess, she has to work with four lead generation agencies all claiming a win on the same metrics.
Other issues Joanne faces:
The Apprentice: Ambitious but under-supported, the apprentice focuses mainly on social media and content tasks. They work well with the Social Media Consultant but lack opportunities to expand their role.
The Paid Agency: Consistently claims campaigns are “limited by budget” and pushes to trial new channels like LinkedIn, Paid Social, and Bing.
The Social Media Consultant: Agrees with the Paid Agency on exploring Paid Social but requires a constant stream of content, including images and videos, to keep campaigns effective.
The SEO Freelancer: Regularly requests website changes for performance improvements but avoids coding tasks. The Hosting and Support provider charges extra for these changes, calling them “Out of Scope.”
The PR Consultant: Secures solid media coverage, but without backlinks. The SEO Freelancer argues this undermines SEO efforts but refuses to engage with journalists to avoid “stepping on toes.”
The Senior Leadership Team: Searches for specific keywords, comparing the company’s rankings to competitors, and sends weekly updates about missing ads or organic listings. Joanne explains that these keywords don’t match actual search behaviour but struggles to change perceptions.
Takeaway: While a multi-channel strategy can’t solve all challenges, it addresses many by improving alignment, streamlining efforts, and ensuring consistency across teams and campaigns.
The Solution: Multi-Channel Digital Agency Approach
Joanne decides to pivot to a multi-channel marketing strategy managed by two complementary agencies:
- A Lead Generation-Focused Digital Agency:
- Handles SEO, PPC, and Digital PR to align messaging and ensure channel integration.
- Includes technical website support as part of the retainer, eliminating out-of-scope charges from the hosting company.
- Social Media Consultant:
- Maintains the successful relationship with Joanne’s apprentice, focusing on social growth and engagement.
This integrated approach eliminates the fragmentation and creates a unified strategy:
- Aligned Campaigns: The SEO and PPC teams collaborate on shared goals, moving beyond bottom-of-funnel keywords to include brand awareness at the top of the funnel.
- Repurposed Content: Blog posts and PR campaigns feed into paid social campaigns, while social media videos enrich the blog and on-site content.
- Quarterly Campaigns: A structured calendar allows all activities—social, paid, and organic—to work cohesively toward clear objectives.
The SEO contract has also been negotiated to include Digital PR. They will also support with some Traditional Press Releases, when the company has news, but their focus is now on building links.
The PPC expert within the agency works closely with the SEO and PR team to create an Advertising approach.
They are able to expand the campaign to focus not just on the bottom of the funnel converting phrases, but actually work Brand Awareness and Engagement at the Top of the Funnel, which is so important for B2B Lead Generation.
Joanne stuck with the Social Media Consultant, because the apprentice works so well with them, and ultimately they supported the growth in a different way. The new agency is keen to work with the Social Side so that they can align campaign messaging.
The content calendar now has a quarterly campaign approach, with a focus on key service lines. Most importantly this approach has allowed for the use of assets across the full campaign.
- The advertising creative supports the social campaign.
- The content created supports the blog, the PR and the social campaigns.
- The social media videos are used within the blog content.
The Results: A Cost-Effective Strategy
Joanne’s new strategy reallocates the budget for better efficiency:
- Social Media Consultant: £750/month (£9,000/year)
- End-to-End Digital Agency: £4,000/month (£48,000/year), including:
- A 12-month strategy
- Analytics setup and ad conversion tracking
- Paid advertising across three platforms
- Technical SEO audits and implementation
- Content creation and digital PR
- Design and web development support
This streamlined model reduces her total fixed costs to £57,000/year, leaving £38,430 for advertising spend—a 60% increase in media budget compared to the multi-agency model.
Key Benefits:
- Simplified Coordination: Weekly check-ins with an account manager replace the complex web of meetings across multiple agencies.
- Improved ROI: Integrated campaigns maximise returns by eliminating siloed strategies.
- Enhanced Reporting: A single dashboard provides clear insights into all campaigns, enabling smarter decision-making.
Conclusion: A 2025 Strategy for Success
Multi-channel marketing isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a smarter, more cohesive way for SME B2B businesses to achieve their goals. By consolidating services, aligning messaging, and optimising budgets, Joanne’s business is not only meeting its revenue targets but also setting the stage for sustainable growth.
If your SME faces similar challenges, a unified multi-channel approach could be the solution. Whether you’re managing limited budgets or struggling to align campaigns, a strategic shift can transform your results and simplify your role as a marketing manager.
Ready to explore how this could work for your business? Contact us today.
