Selection criteria and scorecard

Picking a B2B marketing partner in Africa requires practical filters, not wishlists. You want competence that maps to your sales model and the ability to operate across imperfect infrastructure. Below are the selection axes to actually use:

Core capabilities and specialization

Look for depth, not breadth. Specialization matters when your sale is complex.

• Demand generation vs ABM. One is volume and velocity, the other is relationship orchestration. Ask which they do daily.
• Content operations and SEO for long sales cycles. If your product needs education, content ops must include research, distribution, and rep enablement.
• Product marketing and GTM for launches. This needs positioning work, sales playbooks, and win/loss capture.
• Technical integrations and analytics. If you need accurate attribution, the vendor must handle tracking, tagging, and event mapping.

If they say they do everything well, probe for examples that show real rigor, not marketing-speak.

Industry vertical fit and use cases

Vertical knowledge shortens ramp time. Look for firms that have worked with similar procurement models, regulation, and buyer personas.

• Financial services, healthcare, and telecom need compliance-aware tactics.
• Enterprise software needs account-based plays and multi-stakeholder content.
• Channel sales require partner co-marketing programs and PRM integration.

Ask for two use cases from the same vertical: one for new logo acquisition, one for expansion or retention.

Case studies, metrics, proof requests

Case studies should include raw metrics, timeframes, and attribution method.

Ask for:

• Baseline to result numbers with dates and funnel steps.
• Access to sanitized dashboards or CSV exports.
• One reference you can call and one you can email.

If they refuse to share dashboards or anonymized data, that is a red flag.

Team structure, seniority, access level

Who will actually do the work? Vendors often sell senior strategy and deliver junior execution.

• Insist on a named lead, weekly access to that lead, and a clear escalation path.
• Check the ratio: one senior to five accounts is fine. One senior to 20 is not.
• Determine onshore presence for key meetings. Local timezone availability matters more than office location.

Technology, integrations, data ownership

This will make or break long-term value.

• They must allow your team and your CRM full access to campaign data and raw leads.
• Ask what they own: creative, tracking, customer lists. You should own everything you pay for.
• Confirm integrations they support via API, not just CSV drops.
• Get data retention and export terms in writing.

Pricing models and contract terms

Beware the “pay-per-lead” promise. It hides problems.

• Retainers buy stability. Performance models can incentivize short-term gaming.
• Ask for transparent line items: media, creative, platform fees, data costs.
• Contract length: expect a minimum pilot of 3 months and a meaningful scale phase of 6 to 12 months.

Red flags and deal‑breakers

Say no if any of these show up:

• Vague reporting or refusal to share dashboards.
• Guarantees of a specific number of closed deals with no sales involvement.
• No local references and zero on-the-ground presence for your key markets.
• Nonstandard data ownership clauses.

Example scoring weights (skills/fit/price/impact)

• Skills and capabilities: 30%
• Industry fit and references: 20%
• Team seniority and access: 15%
• Technology and data ownership: 15%
• Price and contract terms: 10%
• Red flags adjacency: 10%

Use 1 to 5 scoring per category and require a minimum composite score to proceed.

Services, deliverables, timelines

Typical B2B service bundles to expect

Vendors usually package into predictable bundles. Know what each one actually delivers.

• Foundational GTM: positioning, ICP, buyer journey, sales enablement.
• Demand and ABM: account selection, multichannel sequences, SDR playbooks.
• Content ops: research, production calendar, rep-ready assets.
• Analytics and growth engineering: tracking, dashboards, experimentation.

Ask vendors to map which bundle is required for your goal, not what they want to sell.

Concrete deliverables per engagement type

Don’t accept vague promises.

• ABM pilot: 200 target accounts, persona mapping, 3 tailored content assets per persona, 6-week outbound sequence, dashboard with account engagement signals.
• Demand gen campaign: landing page, three paid creatives, email nurture set, MQL to SQL conversion report.
• Product launch: positioning doc, launch timeline, internal enablement deck, first 90-day campaign plan.

Require delivery dates and acceptance criteria for each deliverable.

Standard timelines and milestone map

Realistic sequencing prevents disappointment.

• Discovery and setup: 2 to 4 weeks.
• Pilot execution: 3 months (shorter tests are noisy).
• Optimization and scale: 6 to 12 months.

Milestone map:

1. Kickoff and data handover
2. Tracking audit and tag implementation
3. Pilot launch
4. Mid-pilot review and adjustments
5. Scale plan and handoff

Roles & responsibility RACI

Keep this simple and enforceable.

• Responsible: Vendor campaign manager, Vendor marketing ops.
• Accountable: Your head of marketing.
• Consulted: Sales leadership, Legal, IT.
• Informed: Product and executive team.

Put names next to roles for the first 90 days.

RFP and interview checklist

Must‑include RFP sections and templates

RFP is a contract draft, not PR fluff.

• Executive summary of objectives and KPIs.
• Required deliverables and acceptance criteria.
• Data and integration requirements.
• Reporting cadence and sample report.
• Legal terms around IP and data ownership.
• References and proof deliverables clause.

Include a nonnegotiable clause: provide sandbox access to one past campaign.

High‑value questions for shortlist conversations

Ask questions that reveal process, not slides.

• What conversion rates did you see from MQL to SQL in a comparable client?
• How do you handle attribution disagreements with clients?
• Show the escalation path and timeline for a tech failure that blocks campaigns.
• How would you speed up results in our market within 90 days?

Watch how they answer. Hesitation on specifics is a bad sign.

Sample deliverables, sandbox, and references request

Demand a short list of artifacts up front.

• One anonymized campaign dashboard export.
• Two sample creative assets aligned to a buyer persona.
• Contact for a client in the same vertical who will discuss KPIs.

Simple vendor scoring rubric

• Capability fit: 25
• Proof and metrics: 20
• Team and access: 20
• Tech compatibility: 15
• Commercials: 10
• Risk factors: 10

Score out of 100 and rank vendors. Eliminate anyone under 60.

Onboarding and integration plan

30/60/90 day kickoff checklist

Concrete tasks, no fluff.

• 0 to 30 days: kickoff, mapping ICP, CRM field mapping, tracking audit, initial pilot plan.
• 31 to 60 days: pilot launch, weekly review, baseline metric capture, refine creative.
• 61 to 90 days: performance review, scale decision, handover docs, enablement sessions.

Require a written acceptance at day 90 to continue.

CRM, analytics, and martech integration steps

Integration is tedious but critical.

• Agree event taxonomy, field mappings, and lead status definitions.
• Implement tracking: UTM policy, server side events where needed, API handoffs.
• QA: test lead flows, duplicates, and SLA for lead delivery.

Get a rollback plan for any change that breaks the sales flow.

Reporting cadence, governance, and SLAs

Set expectations up front.

• Weekly tactical call with dashboards.
• Monthly strategic review with pipeline impact and planned experiments.
• SLAs: lead delivery within 24 hours, critical incident response within 4 hours.

Put these in the statement of work.

Knowledge transfer and internal enablement

Make sure the vendor teaches, not hoards.

• Deliver a playbook with operating procedures, templates, and campaign summaries.
• Run two enablement sessions for sales and one for product.
• Shadowed work: vendor runs first two handoffs, then your team takes over with vendor support.

Timebox the vendor support taper.

Measuring ROI and optimization

Core KPIs and lead quality metrics

Stop obsessing over raw volume.

• Pipeline created, pipeline velocity, win rate, and cost per won contract.
• Lead scoring calibration, time-to-first-contact, and sales accepted lead rate.
• Cohort CAC and first 90-day revenue per cohort.

Measure quality over quantity.

Attribution approaches and model choice

Pick what you can operationalize.

• Use pragmatic multi-touch models for channel credit.
• Supplement with experimental holdouts or geo tests for causal inference.
• Avoid relying solely on last touch; it hides upstream investment.

Document the chosen model and stick with it for at least a quarter.

Dashboard templates and reporting cadence

Dashboards should answer three questions: Are we creating pipeline? Are leads improving? Are experiments working?

• Funnel view with conversion rates by source.
• Cohort LTV and CAC.
• Experiment tracker with results, confidence, and next steps.

Review weekly, deep dive monthly.

Optimization experiments and budget shifts

Run small, time-boxed experiments.

• Test creative, offer, audience, and channel order independently.
• Use 10 to 20 percent of budget for experiments.
• If an experiment wins, pull the allocation quickly and document the playbook.

Treat losers as learning, not failure.

Regional considerations for Africa

Market dynamics and buying cycles

Procurement can be slow and relationship-driven. Public sector buys are calendar and compliance heavy. Private enterprise often uses consortiums or panels. Plan longer windows and budget contingency.

Localization, language, and compliance notes

Local language matters beyond translation. Use local idioms and proof points. Data sovereignty is not optional for many countries. Ask about local hosting and compliance certifications early.

Talent availability and cost implications

Senior B2B marketers are scarce. Many firms use mixed models: local strategists plus remote specialists. Expect higher hourly rates for senior local talent and plan for training budgets to build long-term capability.