My recommendation is to apply and not be discouraged. Learn as much as you can on the subject. If you are able to have a good understanding conceptually, you will stand out among the other candidates that may not gone the extra mile. Be open to any entry level role in Marketing that even remotely works closely with the demand gen team. Sometimes these roles won't have a demand generation title. Marketing analyst, sales development rep, digital marketing specialist, or marketing coordinator are all paths that lead into Demand Generation. When there is an opportunity to work on a cross functional project that interfaces with the DG team - jump on it and show them how helpful you are.

I believe the top traits across demand generation candidates are as follows: * Sense of urgency * Attention to detail * Curiosity * Have a point of view but hold it lightly * Growth mindset, willingness to learn continuously * Solution-oriented thinking

When I think about measurement gone wrong, my first question is typically about the marketer, not the KPI. All KPIs can be useful, assuming your measurement is scalable (i.e., it doesn’t take a week to do the analysis) and you are using them appropriately (i.e., context is everything). That said, here are some metrics that I generally find less material to understanding the health of the business: 1. Impressions/Followers/Engagement: In a world overrun by bots, ad impressions, social media followers, and engagement metrics have become less relevant. You’d be surprised how many companies with massive social media followings built their audiences by purchasing cheap likes from engagement farms. 2. Frontend Email Metrics: Between email preview panes skewing results and well-documented issues stemming from privacy updates introduced in iOS 15, open rates have become far less relevant in recent years and are no longer sufficient to understand if your message is resonating. 3. CPL & Raw Lead Metrics Without Context: Lots of marketers fall into the trap of driving down CPL at the expense of lead quality. There's no faster way to lose the trust of your sales colleagues than flooding them with low-quality leads & expecting them to convert.

CMOs come up from two paths typically - Demand Gen and Product Marketing. Demand Generation is ultimately about driving revenue growth for the organization. Having experience in collaborating with sales, nurturing prospects, triaging conversion issues and expanding within current logos etc. demonstrates your ability to contribute directly to the company's bottom line, a key responsibility of a CMO.

Your demand generation and account-based marketing strategies should complement each other, not compete. If they feel at odds, it’s worth reassessing your goals. Demand generation builds broad awareness and fills the funnel, while ABM focuses on high-value accounts with tailored engagement. To balance both: * Define shared objectives – Ensure both teams align on pipeline and revenue goals, not just lead volume. * Segment your efforts – Use demand gen to drive volume and ABM to nurture key accounts differently. * Leverage intent data – Identify which leads from demand gen show strong buying signals and move them into ABM tactics. * Personalize at scale – Use automation to tailor messaging while keeping efficiency. * Align sales and marketing – Both teams should agree on lead qualification and follow-up strategies to maximize impact. By integrating both approaches, you create a strategy that captures interest widely while converting high-value opportunities more effectively.

Growth marketing is a field which requires one to be constantly on their feet. So the biggest quality in someone should be adaptability to change and ability to react quickly to the market. A lot of the work involves analytics, SEO, so having those skills will give you an edge. But what makes you truly successful is to understand the requirements of the company and then using those skills to achieve your goals.

It’s crucial for Demand Generation professionals to see how their contributions align with larger company goals and strategy. This fosters a sense of purpose and keeps them invested in the organization’s success. Given the cross-functional nature of the role, offer senior team members the opportunity to lead strategic workstreams rather than being limited to tactical execution. This not only increases their impact but also enhances their leadership skills and long-term career prospects. To retain top Demand Generation talent, provide a clear career path with opportunities for growth. Ensure they are continuously challenged with stretch projects that expand their skill set and keep them engaged. While empowerment is key, leadership must also offer necessary support and “air cover” to help them navigate obstacles effectively. By fostering growth, empowerment, and strategic involvement, you create an environment where top talent feels valued and motivated to stay.

Paid search Paid social Content syndication Sponsored events Partner co-marketing SEO

Smaller companies have less budget, and therefore marketers must be scrappier. They need to find ways to build awareness for the company overall, in parallel with supporting short-term revenue targets. Larger companies have more budget, and marketers can focus more on channel optimization to drive leads in support of short-term revenue targets. The larger reach of campaigns, thanks to their budget, helps to keep an awareness drumbeat in the market.

It depends a bit on whether you're using a PLG or Sales-Led model. PLG: Usually, the first sign is that trial leads aren't activating, or not enough inbound leads (demos, trials) are turning into paid customers. These are your red flags. Sales-Led: Conversions are important here too, but it's trickier. Sometimes it's just the season, sometimes it's lead quality, sometimes it's the process. The best thing is to talk to sales and SDRs. What's happening with the leads? Are they totally wrong for us? Are they just not interested? Listening to sales calls, or gathering notes from tool such as Gong, can help you surface lead/ICP misalignments. Regarding optimizing for lead conversion: Basically, you have to ask yourself: * What kind of leads do we want more of? How do we get them? What content and channels work best? * What's the best way to get them to convert? Is pushing everyone into a free trial the answer? * You have to be careful and maintain a critical mindset. You'll always get some bad leads, and the bad leads tend to be more visible than the very good ones. You don't want to stop a campaign just because you have a handful of visible bad leads, you might loose the good one as well.