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Digital agency for controllable demand and performance in B2B

Building and steering digital demand systematically

Digital initiatives are everywhere today.
Controllable digital demand is not.

Many B2B companies invest heavily in digital marketing, performance channels, platforms, and tools—yet lose oversight of priorities, impact, and the actual relevance of individual measures for market, pipeline, and sales.

As a digital agency, we work where digital activities must not be optimized in isolation, but understood as a controllable marketing and demand system. We combine strategic clarity with operational execution—and make digital demand manageable where complexity is highest: in B2B, across international markets, and under high decision pressure.

Your contact

In an initial conversation, we clarify where digital demand is currently generated, where it reaches its limits, and whether our approach is right for your organization.
No preparation. No pitch. No obligation.

Schedule a meeting

Steffen Ruess

Steffen Ruess

Managing Partner
Ruess Group

Success stories

Digital agency

Composable Commerce
Wolff & Müller / Construction Group

Online shop in composable architecture for B2B and B2C target groups.

ABB Group / Technology Group
ABB Group / Technology Group

Web magazine “Destination Future” for greater brand visibility.

Schubert Group Homepage in Macbook
Schubert / Packaging Machines

Website in composable architecture for international sales success.

The image shows a smartphone being held in hand, displaying an ad created for a digital campaign for Manz AG.
Manz / Production Facilities

Multichannel campaign for greater visibility in the automotive industry.

All cases
All cases

Why digital demand is no longer controllable

The problem space

Digital demand rarely fails because of a lack of activity.
It fails because of a lack of structure.

In many organizations, digital marketing has grown organically over years: new channels, new platforms, new agencies, new tools. Online marketing, performance marketing, and digital media planning are often organized by channel—resulting in increasing activity while impact becomes harder to explain.

Typical symptoms:

  • Rising media and production costs
  • Many leads, but low usability for sales
  • Lack of transparency around impact and priorities
  • International activities without a comparable steering logic

What’s missing is not more activity, but an overarching impact and steering logic:

  • Which demand do we want to build in which markets?
  • Which initiatives actually contribute to pipeline and business development?
  • And what can we deliberately choose not to do?

Online media planning and online marketing are necessary operational tools—but on their own, they don’t solve the problem. Without clear objectives, prioritization, and systemic integration, they remain tactical and interchangeable.

Our role as a digital agency

The gap we close

We don’t see ourselves as a classic digital agency. And we’re not a management or IT consultancy either.
Our role sits between these worlds.

Management consultancies deliver strategic models, but often remain too abstract for the operational realities of digital markets. Traditional agencies execute measures without taking responsibility for the overarching logic of impact.

We close this gap.

As a digital agency, we translate strategic questions around markets, growth, and efficiency into concrete, controllable digital demand and marketing systems—and implement them operationally. Our focus is not on individual channels or tools, but on how digital demand can be structured, prioritized, and steered.

We do not take on sales responsibility and do not replace internal organizations. What we do provide is the foundation on which marketing and sales can work together effectively: with clearly defined target groups, sales-ready leads, transparent performance, and reliable decision-making bases.

Thinking demand, performance, and steering together

Why digital is part of a broader impact framework

Digital demand does not arise by chance.
It is the result of deliberate decisions.

In B2B, demand means more than reach or visibility. It emerges where target groups recognize a concrete problem, expect a solution, and develop trust in a provider’s capabilities. Digital initiatives can support this process—but they cannot replace it.

Many organizations still view performance in isolation. Channels are optimized, budgets adjusted, and measures compared without addressing the fundamental question of what kind of demand should be built in the first place—and how individual activities contribute to it. This may create local efficiency gains, but rarely leads to controllable impact overall.

Our work therefore follows a clear impact logic. We structure our service portfolio along four areas of impact that address different business questions: growth and market access, demand and performance, brand and experience, and strategy and reputation.

For us, the digital agency is not a standalone playing field. It is part of the impact area Demand, Performance & Marketing Steering. This is where the need arises not only to generate digital demand, but to prioritize it, make it comparable, and actively steer it.

Steering in this context is not control for its own sake. It creates orientation. It helps allocate resources deliberately, make decisions transparent, and assess impact across markets, audiences, and timeframes. Only when demand, performance, and steering are considered together does a solid basis for marketing decisions emerge.

Anyone who wants to understand our work in the digital context will find an overview of all impact areas and their positioning on the Services page.

Services
Digital Consultants Bettina und Christoph im Gespräch mit Geschäftsführer Rafael Rahn
Why digital is part of a broader impact framework

How controllable demand is created in B2B

Our digital impact logic

Controllable digital demand does not follow a standard formula.
It is built on a clear understanding of markets, audiences, and priorities.

Everything starts with the relevant markets and target groups. Which demand is strategically meaningful? Where does real potential exist? And which topics are truly decision-relevant for each audience?

On this basis, we structure demand along concrete touchpoints. Digital touchpoints are not viewed in isolation, but in their interaction. Online marketing, performance marketing, and digital media planning serve as operational instruments to deliberately build and make demand visible.

Prioritization is key. Not every initiative contributes equally to impact. Controllability emerges where performance becomes comparable and decisions can be made transparently—across channels, content, budgets, and markets.

Systems and data play a supporting role in this process. Analytics foundations, existing platforms, marketing automation, and CRM structures create transparency and provide decision support—but they do not replace strategic judgment.

Ultimately, it comes down to usability. Digital demand only creates value when organizations can act on it. This requires clear handovers, understandable metrics, and close alignment between marketing and sales—without overriding existing structures.

Our digital impact logic connects these elements into a coherent system. It creates order, reduces complexity, and enables steering where digital activities have previously remained fragmented and opaque.

How we turn demand into operational impact

Digital service clusters

Our digital work does not follow a discipline-based logic.
It follows one central question: how demand can be effectively built and made controllable in B2B.

To achieve this, we bundle our services into clearly defined digital service clusters. They do not describe what we technically implement, but what contribution individual measures make to the development, prioritization, and steering of demand. This creates orientation without masking complexity.

  • Performance & demand generation

    We do not understand performance marketing as channel optimization, but as a tool for the targeted development of demand. What matters is not where reach is generated, but which measures actually deliver impact and can be meaningfully compared.

    Online marketing, performance marketing, and digital media planning are therefore always used in context. Budgets, channels, and content are prioritized against clear objectives. The goal is not maximum activity, but focused demand that can be evaluated and actively steered.

  • Digital B2B lead generation

    Leads are only valuable if organizations can act on them. In B2B, lead generation means addressing target groups precisely, setting the right topics, and structuring demand in a way that remains usable beyond first contact.

    We design digital lead architectures that connect marketing and sales in a meaningful way. The focus is not on volume, but on traceable quality, clear handovers, and transparency of impact along the pipeline.

  • Marketing automation, CRM & steering

    Marketing automation and CRM systems are not ends in themselves. They form the infrastructural foundation for structuring, prioritizing, and operationalizing demand.

    We work with existing systems and data sources to create transparency and improve decision-making. Analytics serves steering—not reporting. New data architectures are only introduced where they clearly contribute to impact.

  • Websites & platforms as the foundation of impact

    In B2B, websites are more than digital business cards. They are central platforms for visibility, relevance, and demand. Especially in international contexts, they play a key role in market development and audience building.

    We design websites and platforms as integral components of digital demand architectures. Content, structure, and conversion logic are aligned to support performance, lead generation, and brand perception equally.

    Website agencyWeb magazinesWeb design agency

  • E-commerce & digital sales in B2B

    E-commerce in B2B goes far beyond operating an online shop. It includes digital offer, ordering, and service processes that meaningfully complement and relieve sales and marketing. Particularly for complex products, international markets, or multi-stage decision processes, this creates new requirements for structure, content, and user experience.

    We see e-commerce as part of an integrated demand and sales logic. Digital commerce solutions must fit the specific market situation, connect to existing sales processes, and be assessed realistically. Not every organization needs a classic shop—hybrid models are often more effective.

These service clusters form the operational core of our digital agency. They can be deployed individually, but deliver their full impact when combined—creating a digital system that generates not just activity, but controllable demand.

Where digital demand must become actionable

Connecting marketing and sales meaningfully

Digital demand does not create value within marketing alone.
It creates value where organizations can act on it.

In B2B, marketing does not end with the last click or lead handover—and sales does not start from zero. Impact emerges only when demand is clearly structured, transparently prioritized, and organizationally usable.

Many companies experience a disconnect here. Marketing generates activity, while sales faces unclear quality, missing context, or insufficient transparency. At the same time, marketing often lacks feedback on which demand is actually relevant and where real impact occurs.

This is exactly where our work begins. We understand digital demand as the connecting element between marketing and sales—not as sales consulting, but as structured preparation. The goal is to build and qualify demand so that organizations can work with it.

This includes clear definitions of target groups and topics, transparent quality criteria, and a traceable handover along the pipeline. Systems, processes, and KPIs are not instruments of control, but of orientation. They create a shared understanding of where marketing and sales should focus.

We do not replace sales structures or interfere with operational sales processes. But we create the foundation on which collaboration works—where digital demand is not only generated, but understood and carried forward.

Marketing consulting

When our approach fits—and when it doesn’t

Who this digital agency is right for

Our work is not designed for every organization.
It is effective where digital demand is more than an operational task.

We primarily work with B2B companies operating in complex markets that no longer want to view digital activities in isolation. Typical environments include multiple target groups, markets, or business units—where demand must be built, prioritized, and actively steered.

Our approach is particularly suitable for companies that:

  • want to develop digital demand strategically
  • need to make performance and impact comparable
  • want to better connect marketing and sales without restructuring existing organizations
  • operate under decision-making and justification pressure

Our way of working is less suitable for organizations looking to optimize individual measures in the short term or seeking purely operational execution without a strategic framework. Pure tool implementations or isolated campaign projects also fall outside our approach.

We are convinced that digital demand only becomes effective where there is clarity around goals, priorities, and roles. Where these prerequisites exist—or are consciously being established—our digital agency is the right partner.

B2B marketing agency
Who this digital agency is right for
Who this digital agency is right for
Who this digital agency is right for

Why companies choose us in complex digital contexts

Experience and trust

Digital demand cannot be developed in a laboratory.
It emerges under real market conditions.

Our experience is shaped by working with international B2B companies and leading mid-sized organizations operating in demanding environments. These contexts often involve grown structures, diverse target groups, multiple countries or business units, and a high need for coordination between marketing, sales, and management.

In such settings, operational excellence alone is not enough. What’s required is an understanding of interdependencies, priorities, and decision logics. This is where our strength lies. We combine strategic thinking with operational execution and work closely with internal teams—rather than replacing structures from the outside.

For us, trust is built not through promises, but through the way we work: clear communication, transparent decisions, and the ability to structure complexity without oversimplifying it. Many of our engagements are long-term, because digital demand is not a project—it is an ongoing leadership task.

This experience defines our standards as a digital agency. It enables us to provide orientation even in complex situations and to develop viable solutions together with our clients.

How we approach the start of a collaboration

Conversation instead of actionism

Digital demand cannot be meaningfully clarified in a pitch.
Nor can it be improved through quick fixes.

That’s why our collaboration does not start with a concept or a measure, but with a shared understanding of the current situation, goals, and constraints. We clarify where digital demand is currently generated, where it loses momentum, and where steering is missing. Only on this basis can meaningful decisions be made about next steps—and about what not to do.

This conversation is not about presenting services, but about putting questions into context. It’s about making complexity visible, identifying priorities, and realistically assessing the role digital initiatives can play—for both sides.

We deliberately avoid predefined packages or standardized models. Every organization comes with its own goals, structures, and challenges. A viable approach can only emerge when these differences are taken seriously.

If you want to stop optimizing digital demand in isolation and instead build and steer it systematically, an initial conversation is worthwhile—not as a sales format, but as a joint assessment of where you stand.

Contact

If you want to move beyond isolated optimization and build and steer digital demand in a structured way, we would be happy to speak with you.

We’ll discuss your current situation and clarify whether—and how—a collaboration makes sense.

Schedule a meeting

Steffen Ruess

Steffen Ruess

Managing Partner
Ruess Group

FAQs

Frequently asked questions
about our digital agency

  • Traditional online marketing agencies usually focus on individual channels or measures. The emphasis is on campaigns, reach, or short-term performance.

    Our approach starts earlier. We see digital demand as a system that needs to be built, prioritized, and actively steered. Online marketing and performance marketing are important operational tools—but they are not the goal in themselves. What matters is their contribution to demand development, pipeline relevance, and decision-making capability in marketing.

  • Yes. Performance marketing and digital media planning are integral parts of our work. However, we never apply them in isolation, but always within a broader impact logic.

    Budgets, channels, and content are not optimized purely against efficiency metrics, but prioritized according to clear strategic objectives. The goal is not maximum activity, but traceable impact and controllability across markets, target groups, and timeframes.

  • We work in digital marketing, but do not see ourselves as a classic online or digital marketing agency in an operational sense. Our focus is not on executing individual disciplines, but on how digital marketing activities interact meaningfully.

    Many of our engagements arise where companies already run online marketing but realize that impact, prioritization, or usability for the organization is lacking. This is exactly where we come in.

  • For us, data and analytics are tools for orientation—not ends in themselves. They help make impact visible, support decisions, and set priorities.

    We work with existing systems, platforms, and data sources. Marketing automation and CRM serve as the infrastructural basis for steering and handovers. New data architectures or systems are introduced only where they clearly contribute to impact.

  • No. We do not assume sales responsibility and do not advise on operational sales processes.

    Our role lies in the structured preparation of demand. We ensure that digital demand is usable, clearly qualified, and remains actionable for the organization. This creates the foundation for effective collaboration between marketing and sales—without altering existing sales structures.

  • Our approach is primarily suited to B2B companies with complex market and organizational structures. Typical characteristics include multiple target groups, international markets, or a high need for coordination between marketing, sales, and management.

    Our way of working is less suitable for companies looking to optimize short-term individual measures or seeking purely operational execution without a strategic framework.

  • Yes. A large part of our work takes place in international contexts. Digital demand rarely develops uniformly across international markets. Differences in target groups, topics, channels, and maturity levels must be taken into account.

    We help companies make international digital activities comparable—while still steering them in a market-specific way.

  • We do not see ourselves as a replacement for internal teams, but as a complement. Our work aims to clarify structures, sharpen priorities, and create reliable decision-making foundations.

    Execution is carried out in close coordination with internal stakeholders. The goal is to build knowledge, create transparency, and enable organizations to act independently in the long term.

  • Collaboration always starts with a conversation. In this discussion, we clarify the starting point, objectives, and context. It’s not about solutions, but about understanding.

    Only once it is clear where digital demand is currently generated, where it reaches its limits, and which expectations are realistic do we jointly decide on the next steps.