Great question! I get asked this all the time. It really all depends on your background, but I would urge you to familiarize yourself with marketing terminology like funnel stages, mqls, lead scoring, conversion rates, etc. I would also review your existing skills to see what would be transferable. Perhaps you are a strong writer, or tech savvy, or someone that is very organized and can project manage. These are all transferable skills. Sign up for free online courses through Hubspot or get certified in the latest automation tools. Find out who in your network has a demand gen role that you can interview. Lastly, whenever you are transitioning from one field to another, it's perfectly acceptable to apply for an entry-level position. Companies don't expect you to know everything, they will train you as long as you have a desire to learn.

I personally started my career as an entry level contractor at Salesforce, where I worked for 17 years and had 12 different roles. By the time I left, I was a Senior Vice President overseeing a large department that consisted of multiple functions and business units. My high level advice for anyone is to stay curious and slightly uncomfortable – because that will keep you learning and engaged. For recent graduates looking to start a career in Demand Generation, the key is to embrace continuous learning and adaptability. Demand Generation is a multifaceted field that touches many areas of marketing—paid media, content, email, field marketing, and analytics—offering exposure to a wide range of skills. This variety makes it an excellent starting point for those eager to develop a well-rounded marketing foundation. Early in your career, be open to taking on tasks beyond your immediate job description. In an entry-level role, saying yes to new challenges—whether it’s campaign execution, data analysis, or content development—can accelerate your growth. The more you immerse yourself in different aspects of Demand Generation, the more career pathways you create for the future. Since Demand Generation is both strategic and executional, building both soft and hard skills is crucial. Develop analytical skills to understand campaign performance, but also refine communication and collaboration skills to work cross-functionally. Being proactive, resourceful, and willing to experiment will set you apart. Finally, seek mentorship and stay curious. Follow industry trends, ask questions, and leverage every opportunity to learn from experienced marketers. Over time, this broad experience will help you identify your strengths and areas of interest, positioning you for long-term success in marketing. By staying open-minded, taking initiative, and continuously learning, you’ll set yourself up for a thriving career in Demand Generation and beyond.

Start with understanding what the business cares about most. All Demand Gen teams are expected to help drive pipeline and bookings, but you should try to get as much context on both as possible. For example, is the business trying to move upmarket? If so, over what timeline? To what extent do your current-state investments support that objective? Are you hiring new reps? If so, in what segments/markets? The closer you can align your Demand Generation strategy to business objectives, the easier it will be to establish appropriate metrics for the team. For example, in the hypothetical above (i.e., business moving upmarket over X quarters), you will need to establish goals tied to growth within the Enterprise or Mid-Market segments instead of setting holistic lead, pipeline, and marketing-originating bookings goals.

Congrats! This is an exciting role, and it’s definitely an addictive one because you’ll have the chance to build everything from the ground up. I’d start by focusing on MQLs as your north star—quality leads that either support sales or, in a self-serve model, drive free trials. The definition isn’t set in stone; it’s a work in progress. You’ll need to find the right balance, possibly through lead scoring, to determine what qualifies as a perfect MQL. It’s also helpful to consider metrics like Leads or Marketing Engaged Leads to gauge how many inbound leads you’re able to support. Demand Gen typically owns conversions, so those are key KPIs you can commit to as the business scales. Think of it as tracking the journey from eyeballs (page views, impressions) to leads, then leads to MQLs, and finally MQLs to SQLs/opportunities. Every quarter your efforts should be able to improve these conversion rates.

I look at historical conversion rates or make an educated assumption on conversion rates, and then I look at my demand generation budget and back into the expected performance from that budget. I then compare that to the total sales or business Target for the year. I socialize that percentage as the marketing generated revenue number. If the company wants me to contribute a higher percentage to the total revenue then I need more budget. And that's really clear based on the model

Conflict results when trust has been broken. As leaders, part of our job is to pioneer change and drive culture forward, often stepping into roles where historical conflict has been present. However, being present doesn't mean the conflict has to be constant. Resolution is a path, not a switch, and most cross-team conflicts resolve when trust is re-established. To regain that trust, you need to eliminate silos as much as possible, starting in the planning cycle. Involve people in this process. One of my personal philosophies is "no surprises." None of your stakeholders should be shocked when a program is launched or an event is secured. If you plan together, you carry the accountability bag together. You win together. To improve a historically tense relationship between functions, establish regular, structured communication forums such as joint meetings, cross-functional workshops, or team-building activities. This helps break down barriers and fosters open dialogue. Align both functions around shared objectives, clearly articulating how each contributes to the organization's overall success, emphasizing mutual benefits. Ensure that leaders from both functions are committed to resolving tensions and modeling collaborative behavior. Their buy-in is crucial for driving cultural change. Conduct a thorough analysis to understand the underlying issues causing the tension, possibly involving confidential surveys, interviews, or facilitated discussions. Encourage team members to understand each other's roles, challenges, and pressures through job shadowing or role-swapping, which can build empathy. Implement clear, agreed-upon processes and workflows to reduce misunderstandings and conflicts, documenting roles, responsibilities, and expectations to clarify ambiguities. Acknowledge and reward collaborative efforts publicly, as recognizing successes can motivate continued cooperation and reinforce positive behavior. Equip team members with conflict resolution and communication skills, empowering them to handle disagreements constructively and professionally. Create channels for continuous feedback and improvement, regularly soliciting input on what's working and what needs adjustment to keep the relationship on track. If tensions are particularly high, consider bringing in a neutral third party to facilitate discussions and mediate conflicts, helping to reach fair and unbiased resolutions. By taking these steps, you can transform a historically tense relationship into a productive and collaborative partnership, ultimately enhancing overall organizational performance.

One of the most challenging parts of a cross-functional role is managing a project with people across the organization who do not report directly to you or your function, but it is necessary. To be a good cross-functional leader you will need to provide clear direction and be a trusted business partner. Here are a few things I’d suggest in your work with other teams: * Leadership alignment: Ensure that the leaders in your organization and their organization are aligned on the strategic importance of the project you are working on together. The buy-in will be key. * Drive clarity: Create clear roles and responsibilities along with timelines to set expectations and, upfront, have them confirm they are bought in to be a part of the effort. * Understand their availability: Understand clearly what other priorities they may have and how this may impact their support of your project. This includes their own personal vacation schedule. Work this into your overall timeline. * Be a trusted business partner: Develop strong working relationships with them. Meet all your deliverables and timelines to show them you are someone they can depend on. * Hold a high standard for quality of work: Provide constructive feedback with a lens back to the project's original intent. Point back to the project's objective or best practices. This makes your feedback more impactful and aligned with what you are both trying to achieve. If needed, bring in other SMEs to back up your feedback so they understand it is coming from a place where you are all trying to deliver the highest-quality work. * Be open: Be willing to receive their feedback on your work and/or communication style.

Aligning digital marketing to the sales funnel stages is essential for driving growth and ensuring that marketing efforts effectively support revenue generation. It starts at the top of the funnel, the focus is on creating awareness and generating interest among potential customers. This is where digital marketing plays our most important role, by utilizing strategies like SEO, content marketing, social media campaigns, and paid ads to reach new audiences. At this stage, it's crucial to create valuable, educational content that addresses audience pain points and positions your brand as a solution, nurturing prospects into the consideration phase. As prospects move down the funnel into the middle and bottom stages, your marketing should shift towards nurturing and helping the rest of the buyer group evaluate solutions, this is VITAL, you have many stakeholders when your product is enterprise. For example, targeted content like case studies, comparison guides, or personalized emails can help guide prospects through evaluation. Additionally, given that B2B purchases often involve multiple decision-makers, it's important to create content that speaks not just to the primary contact but also to other influencers in the organization, such as IT, finance, or operations teams. This ensures that your messaging resonates with all stakeholders involved in the buying decision and moves them collectively towards conversion.

IMO there are a few key ingredients to influence others: 1. Credibility - show that you've done your homework and back it up with relevant experience and data. 2. Trust - toughest to earn, easiest to lose. It grows when you deliver consistently and respect their priorities, not just yours. 3. Patience - building the right relationships takes time and consistency. You’re playing a long game. The approach to drive influence will vary based on the company's operating principles, size, and the scope of your role. One tactic I love is mapping stakeholders with a power-interest matrix: * High power, high interest → Engage deeply. * High power, low interest → Keep informed and occasionally engage * Low power, high interest → Keep engaged, leverage as advocates. * Low power, low interest →Touch base as needed Take the time to connect with your stakeholders - both personally and professionally. Get to know their world: their experiences, pain points, and challenges. The more you understand, the better you can spot opportunities for win-win outcomes.

The way that Customer Marketing teams and functions should be staffed and organized will vary greatly from company to company, especially when looking at more traditional B2B or sales-led organizations vs Product-led organizations. In my experience, though, the best way to orient the team is around three core responsibilities: * Activation & Engagement: Measurement of activation metrics and time to activation, often in the form of lifecycle marketing. Driving customer education and programmatic communication that support enterprise onboarding, end-user training materials, and aircover to gain as much traction within paying accounts as possible. * Upsells & Expansion: Driven through targeted programs that aim to increase revenue from existing enterprise accounts through targeting new teams, referrals, and surfacing new MQLs to account managers. Can be done through Customer Advisory Boards, 1:1 Account Events, Customer Webinars, and account-based acquisition campaigns. * Advocacy: Measurement of output-based programs that develop champions and put your customers on a stage like case studies, referencable logos, and customer stories across channels (webinars, events, content). When first starting out or when you have a lean team, I've found starting with an account-based customer marketing approach is the best way to drive meaningful impact and quick wins for your CSMs and on your company's bottom-line. Identify the top renewals or any accounts at risk of churning and create targeted account plans to save and expand each. This will provide the frameworks and structures to scale as the team grows.