Get answers from demand generation leaders
Abhishek GP
Freshworks Inbound Growth • December 1
I believe that all integrated campaigns should exist to drive pipeline & revenue (there is an exception though: when this is not true is when you are creating a category). The biggest difference between these two goals is the volume and the type of buyers you choose to ignore or add to your campaign strategy. For example, an integrated campaign strategy that is focused on meeting pipe goals (assuming limited funds) is focused (more) on two buyer stages - Consideration & Intent. It therefore already assumes that the majority of buyers are aware of the product category and the existence of possible solutions in the market. * Your biggest leverage point here is to make yourself known in specific buying situations (eg. 'we are an affordable alternative to XYZ', 'we are easier to use compared to ABC'). Think of these as inputs to your ad creatives, content assets, etc. * You contain these seemingly disparate buying situations into a 'Campaign theme', a singular go-to-market messaging that focuses the collective energy of all GTM teams in your organization * You now create the right mix of offers that get your buyers to self-select themselves into the demand funnel. What is the type and number of webinars, owned vs 3rd party events, content assets, Demos, Free Trials, Free for forever plan, etc? * You develop a media plan that lays out these offers in a certain sequence, and the time period and is promoted using specific tactics. Since your focus is pipe-gen, it's important to have an educated pov on gated vs ungated content strategy. This, usually, is not as big a concern area in a Brand marketing campaign.
...Read More2559 Views
Upcoming AMAs
Jessica Gilmartin
Calendly Chief Marketing Officer • August 18
The most important thing around influence is clearly identifying and communicating how your work is contributing to sales success and ultimately having a positive impact on the business. Early on in my career, I learned that the most effective marketers are deeply committed to designing their goals around metrics sales teams actually care about. This essential insight is what inspired me to shift away from measuring leads to measuring marketing-generated pipeline. Changing metrics may be daunting at first but it’s ok to be uncomfortable. In my experience, it’s the best way to move away from a dynamic where marketing and sales blame other teams for standing in the way of their success. If you see this dynamic bubble up, consider it an invitation to reframe your work in the context of finding shared metrics that ladder up to a larger company goal. By measuring your success with metrics both stakeholders actually care about, you’re laying the foundation for a trusted partnership that has the potential to drive tremendous growth for your business. When you have that trusted partnership, the sales team should feel really excited about your roadmap and be asking how they can get more support because they find your work so valuable to them. This is a great opportunity for you to jointly present for additional resources - having sales and marketing both make the same budget or headcount request is much more powerful than marketing doing it alone.
...Read More3893 Views
Sierra Summers
Albertsons Companies Director of B2B Marketing • January 18
I don't think ABM at its core is all that different from landing net new vs cross/upsell/expansion. If you boil it down, you are taking a set of channels and tactics and deploying campaigns to get your prospects or customers to take a desired action or behavior. I will argue that you have more room for error when going into new prospects or markets where you might not have as much data or evidence to support your messaging, positioning and campaign strategy. When marketing to current customers, you better know what you're talking about. There is nothing worse that being an existing customer of a brand and receiving messaging and campaigns as if you had never worked with that brand in your life. With cross/upsell/expansion, you not only have to know your customer, but you better make sure you let your customer know you know them. For example, if you're already in at Amazon and looking to upsell, you better be able to discuss pain points that came up at prior QBRs, understand their org chart, tech stack, and review how you can help them achieve their goals,
...Read More1073 Views
Eric Martin
Stack Overflow Vice President, Demand Generation • September 7
I wish I had a rosier outlook, but I think demand gen is actually going to get gradually more challenging as time goes on. I think that the profession itself is going to need to move away from things like PII exchange through gated forms, and focus more on value delivery to the viewer/reader/consumer. Global digital privacy regulation is more likely to expand than contract at this point. I think the way companies measure demand generation is going to need to evolve as well - with broader full-funnel attribution being more socialized, accepted and understood at the highest levels in the company. One area where many demand gen leaders underinvest is strengthening finance and marketing alignment. Everyone talks about sales and marketing alignment - that's just a must to have a functional revenue team. How to strengthen that bond with finance? Educate them on marketing's broader contribution, and demonstrate that you have the respect and feel the responsibility for what is usually a large portion of variable company spend.
...Read More2393 Views
Jordan Hwang
OpenPhone VP of Marketing • April 20
For me, the best demand generation candidates are growth-oriented, have customer empathy, and have a strong quantitative bent. For growth-oriented, this means that they likely have some combination of the following: * Natural curiosity - What's working/not working? Why? What can I do differently? * Self-awareness - What could I/we have done differently? * Drive - A desire to make their numbers, regardless of the circumstances For customer empathy, this means that they understand who the customer is, and what their circumstances are. Demand generation is much more impactful if one can meet the customer where they are, both physically, mentally, and psychologically. Out of the three, nailing this produces the most outsized returns. I left the strong quantitative bent as the lowest priority because it's generally something that most candidates have, so it's the least differentiating. However, there's an aspect of this that's important, which is not only a comfort in working with numbers, but being able to meld the numbers with an understanding of what's happening. The cherry on top is experience. It's always great if they have it, on top of the above. However, I've generally found that folks who possess the above three qualities will be able to quickly make up any experience gaps versus someone who doesn't possess the above.
...Read More1338 Views
Bhavisha Oza
Gong Performance Marketing Lead | Formerly Genesys, Instapage, Red Hat • January 26
It is important to recognize that the B2B buying cycle is not linear. Various buyers can be in different stages of the buying cycle and the best way to address this is to have: 1. Always-on tactics such as paid search, paid social, and email nurture. These are by nature evergreen campaigns and must be optimized quarterly or based on performance 2. Time-sensitive tactics such as webinars, tradeshows and in-person and online BOF events such as executive round tables That said, it is important to have the MOF/BOF tactics such as email nurture and SDR outreach sequences live before you launch paid media campaigns. This will ensure the right follow-ups are triggered the moment the first content lead or the first demo lead or the first event lead hits the CRM.
...Read More1073 Views
Sheridan Gaenger
Own VP of Growth Marketing • October 24
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.
...Read More1288 Views
Liz Bernardo
SquareWorks Consulting Head of Marketing • February 28
5 things I would consider quick wins within 90 days are: 1. Understanding challenges in the market and what differentiates your product in solving them. 2. A solid grasp of average deal sizes, time to close, and past 3 years of sales metrics and goals. 3. Completing a detailed analysis of past Demand Generation campaigns for successes, failures and most profitable ROI. 4. Received feedback on previous campaigns from cross-functional stakeholders and took a "needs assessment" to help them be more successful. 5. And lastly, and probably the most obvious, begin generating a pipeline with a solid 6-month plan.
...Read More968 Views
Pamela King
YouTube Marketing Lead for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV | Formerly Google Cloud • July 27
I think the relationship with Sales should be seen as a Partnership where both sides have insights to deliver to one another (not just a one-way relatinoship where Marketing delivers Leads). This partnership should be built on trust and understanding. I was lucky to have done a Field Marketing role prior to leading Global Campaigns when I was at Google, and what I learned during that initial role is that Sales knows the field better than anyone. They understand what content resonates with prospects/customers, what competitors are doing to appease these audiences and what our brand's key differentiators can be, and what a target audiences' true painpoints are. Some best practices I found in striking a strong relationship with Sales are: * Have common goals: At the end of the day, Marketing and Sales all have the same goal -- increase revenue for the company. How each team goes about that is where we differ. Ensuring there's a strong handoff from Marketing Qualified Lead to a Sales Accepted Lead is critical. Also making sure Marketing is providing the right tools for Sales to take that Lead to the finish line is where the Marketing/Sales partnership can either fall flat or succeed. * Educate them & Make them a co-partner in your work: I co-created a Sales Council that met monthly where it was a two-fold experience: 1) educating Sales on what Marketing did so they understood we did more than just Events and 2) gathering their feedback on messaging, upcoming campaigns, and more. * Lean on their expertise to improve meessaging: I was charged with building Sales scripts for Inside Sales teams as a first touch for a Marketing Qualified Lead. I was the expert in the campaign but not necessarily the expert in the ideal length of a LinkedIn InMail or a first-touch email. So I often went to Sales colleagues I had a strong relationship with and would ask for them to review the messaging and gather tips on how to improve it. * Keep them in the loop: I would often meet with Sales Directors and other Sales Specialists to share campaign reporting and where we were looking to pilot or optimize the flow. Often times, Sales does not fully understand the Marketing funnel or how it works. So it's great to educate them on general reporting and areas that need improvement. Sometimes I would find myself brainstorming tactics with them that we employed in the campaign as a pilot and they would show success.
...Read More1628 Views
Sruthi Kumar
Notion Account-Based Marketing - Lead | Formerly Sendoso • August 9
Tactical: - Be close to the metrics - Strong writer - Problem solver - Solid speaker (this helps when you are presenting to sales all hands or even internally to your own marketing team) Intangible: - Think about campaigns/programs with an integrated lense - Strong cross-communication skills with different teams - Understanding the strengths from others and your team
...Read More1723 Views