1) BE CLOSE TO THE NUMBERS. I cannot stress this enough. I was once told that this was my weakest spot–being metric driven. I quickly tried to rectify this and what I realized is that numbers could be my best friend. Once I got closer to the numbers, I was able to reframe them to tell the story I wanted to tell. (This is the hard skill I leaned into when I wanted to transition from field marketing to demand gen). 2) Be comfortable with writing. Sometimes on your teams, you won't always be the one producing content, but I do believe demand gen should be strong writers. This is the team that knows how to get people to sign up for a webinar and download a piece of content. If you are not close to your solution/product, team up with your PMM team and refer to messaging briefs to be able to write the content that are going to convert people into leads! Some of the strongest demand gen people I know all have different strengths, so nothing is a nice to have. It's just what makes them special. I know folks who are really strong writers, very creative, and very savvy with marketing tech. Lean into your strength and it will BECOME the hard skill the CMO/VP of Marketing interviewing you NEEDs on their team.

I have one question that I love to ask in all of my in-depth interviews: "What is the challenge you are looking for at your next opportunity to help you grow to the next level in your career?" The best answers are those that sound intentional, thoughtful and deliberate. "I want to grow in my ability to do (x), and through this role, I'll be able to take on challenge (y) to help me get to the next step on my career path to (z)."

There is no other way. If you’re not going to invest in intent data, then don’t try to do ABM, you’ll waste money and employee calories. I’ve heard companies say “oh we will just focus our efforts on our ICP” Yes, of course, knowing what accounts have the most propensity to buy is critical. But where they are in their journey is just as critical. Intent data in your Account-Based Marketing (ABM) model is like having a crystal ball that helps you see which potential customers are genuinely interested in what you offer. Here's why it's important * Relevance: It helps you find and focus on businesses that are actively looking for products or solutions like yours. So, you're not wasting your time on those who aren't interested. This is why I love tools like 6Sense and Qualified. * Personalization and customization: Customize for your audiences! With intent data, you can customize your messages and content to fit exactly what these companies are looking for. It's giving them exactly what they want. Messaging for emails, ads, Outreach snippets, landing pages, all of it. * Priority: It lets you know which businesses are most likely to buy soon, so you can put your energy into them first. * The words that matter: It guides you on what to write and talk about. You create content that speaks to their needs and questions, making them more likely to choose you. * Timing: It tells you when they're most ready to hear from you, increasing your chances of making a sale. * Smart Decisions: You're not just guessing; you're using data to make your ABM strategy better, helping you make your marketing and sales work even smarter and work better together. In simple terms, intent data is the best kept secret that shouldn't be a secret in ABM, helping you find the right customers, talk to them in a way they like, and make your business grow faster.

This is a great question! I can't tell you the number of times I've created content because someone in the C-suite thought it would be a good idea, or because a sales reply simply couldn't close a deal with a highly customized 1-pager. The truth is - content should be created with a purpose. Here are the questions I like to ask when conducting a content audit: * Does this content answer questions our customers are asking? Does it help our customers & prospects accomplish their goals? * How does the reader feel after consuming this piece of content? Does that feeling align with what our goal was when we created the piece? * What is the purpose of this piece of content? Is it still serving that purpose? * How often is this piece of content used, by who, and in what capacity? * When was the last time this content was refreshed? Is this something we want to be a staple in our library? * In what other forms does this content exist (blog, podcast, short video, webinar, etc)? If the answer is none, should it be created in smaller, more digestible snippets? 

I am fortunate to be a part of a journey where both the span and the scope of what a Demand generation team does have evolved over time. In my experience, the role of what a Demand gen team does will and should change as the organization matures. In the early days, in most orgs, Demand gen manages all things that touch a buyer - SEO, Website, Performance marketing, and Content marketing. As the org evolves, the role gets elevated in a few areas but leaner in others. For example, the concept of Integrated Campaigns/storytelling gets introduced, which becomes the primary driver of marketing-sourced revenue. At the same time, the organization hires experts to lead Website experience & strategy, and this role could move out and live under a separate team (product management or brand marketing). Two good ways to approach these decisions: 1. Be aware of your place under the sun: It is important to know where your organization is (what's working and not; how is marketing perceived internally; what should change) and map this intelligence to your current role and how it needs to evolve so you are able to add more value to the organization while still being in the same role 2. Do not negotiate on 'positions': The standard method of approaching these discussions is usually based on a 'position' that you and the other team choose to take. The more extreme these positions, the longer the time and effort it will take to discover whether an agreement is possible. It could also put your relationship in danger. What's worked for me in the past is to insist on a 'common criteria' that defines success for the business. Let's say you define the 'common criteria' as improving website conversion by X% and engagement by Y%. Which is a better team to own this initiative, and has the bandwidth, the better team structure, and capable and experienced resources?

Yes, I've introduced many MarTech solutions throughout my career! As with any business case for new technology, it will require buy-in from leadership and cross-functional teams. Where possible, I highly recommend finding a peer-level champion at the company to help make the case with you. It usually requires a succinct executive summary + 2-3ish page doc, lots of repetitive conversations about "why" this is necessary to gain buy-in from your manager, and an internal roadshow to other key stakeholders. You'll need to paint the vision & succinctly answer: * Why now? (e.g. internal/external factors, opportunity at stake, challenges). * What goals will this software allow us to accomplish? Include quantifiable metrics and realistic ROI. * Why this solution & not a competitor, or even build it ourselves? * How will you measure success? Over what time frame? * Can you have a conversation with a customer that's not on their advisory board? * Does this need to pass a security review? Is there an "out-clause"? * What does the onboarding process look like? * What milestones will be part of a Crawl, Walk, Run implementation plan

As a first demand generation hire at a startup, some KPIs that you could own are: 1. Lead generation: This KPI measures the number of leads generated through marketing campaigns, events, or other channels. Depending on your market and industry, you may want to consider measuring results from your target account list. 2. Conversion rates: This KPI measures how many leads are converted into paying customers, or at different stages of the funnel. 3. Cost per lead: This KPI measures the cost of acquiring each lead, which helps you optimize your marketing spend and allocate resources more efficiently. 4. Website traffic: This KPI measures the number of visitors to your website and can indicate the effectiveness of your SEO, content marketing, and other inbound marketing efforts. 5. Social media engagement: This KPI measures the level of engagement on your social media platforms, including likes, comments, and shares. Remember that the specific KPIs you own may vary depending on your company's goals and the resources available to you. 

The main OKR for demand gen will always be growing qualified pipeline and revenue so we know going into any given quarter what our targets are. To connect targets to campaigns or tactics we go through a lead forecasting process. We have historical benchmarks on how marketing channels or tactics perform and can estimate based on the marketing mix planned in a quarter if we are on track to hit our number or if we need to bulk up our campaigns. If any one of those tactics doesn’t perform as expected we are able to adjust.

Demand gen is responsible for every stage of the funnel but accountable for stages where they have ~50%+ of the influence on that stage compared to sales. For example, Demand generation at the awareness stage is 100% responsible for delivering that message to the masses by driving the DG machine to those target accounts. Demand gen can support leads that come in by educating them through email and display even while sales reps work that lead. Demand gen also supports leads down to stage 2-3 SFDC by displaying social proof campaigns, and email campaigns about social proof, and even host events to invite prospects and clients to close big deals. Every stage after that is beyond demand gen in my opinion. There are ad hoc cases where custom landing pages, custom sales decks, and custom ROI packages are created and delivered but that's a tight partnership with sales so both marketing & sales are accountable for that. 

It’s critical to understand what autonomy looks like for you before the interview. Once you have clarity on your definition of autonomy, consider the following types of questions. Questions for your potential manager: * What does leadership look like to you? * How do you typically manage workflows, reviews/approvals, and other processes that I would have in this role? * How do you like your direct reports to communicate with you? Depending on the role, your skill set, and who you are interviewing with in the organization, you’ll have to personalize these questions for you. Approach these questions from different lenses. Oftentimes you may find you have to ask related questions to get a better gauge on what you are trying to understand.