As a DG leader, you play a critical role in supporting Sales by driving the acquisition and conversion of prospects into leads and converting them into customers. Here are some hard and nice-to-have skills (the list isn't extensive) Hard skills: Vision and experience building a multi-channel demand gen strategy - Having a good understanding of the levers that are available to you is necessary to build out your plan. This includes understanding your target persona so you can address their pain points, behaviors, and the channels they like to consume content. Data driven decision-making - This skill has become very important as finance and executives are interested in ROI and the results of your programs, so being comfortable around metrics/numbers and the ability to have deep inspection of funnel conversions will help you diagnosis and evolve your strategies. Strong cross functional collaboration - In this role, you are often the go between with Sales, Product Marketing, and Content teams. Strong communicator - Getting buy-in and alignment are important, so if you are able to provide the strategy, successes, and challenges to executives, they will more likely support your requests for resources. Nice-to-haves: Deep technical proficiency with marketing tools - basic knowledge is adequate Advanced graphic design skills In-depth product knowledge Sales-specific skills as you won't be negotiating or closing deals.

Great question! Thanks for asking. I joined JumpCloud for five simple reasons (a framework I'll continue to use as I evaluate future roles): First, it's a great business with strong SAAS performance compared to industry benchmarks (especially in this day and age). Second, it's the right scale and complexity for me. Big and interesting enough to be a challenge for years to come...but familiar enough that I knew I could hit the ground running and begin to contribute right away. Third, and to the previous point, I joined JumpCloud because I thought I could help. They have problems to solve, I have the relevant skills and experiences. Fourth, it's a great product. You can validate that on the G2 grid - exceptional product satisfaction. As a Marketer, there is nothing worse than trying to sell a product that has poor market fit and does not provide customers with real value. Finally, the people are great. The C-suite is great. The Marketing team is great. The sales team is great. No politics, no bad apples, all good vibes and open minds.

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.

First, congratulations on your new role! I love this question because it suggests you have already come to the realization that there are significantly more things that you could establish as KPIs than things you should establish as KPIs. A good manager earlier in my career told me once that good goals are those you can a) directly influence and b) easily translate into detailed plans to achieve them. In other words, try to avoid “goals by wishful thinking,” which is often how early-stage companies approach setting Marketing objectives. If I was in your shoes, here’s where I’d start: 1. Understand the Sales Process: If you haven’t already, define the lead stages & what will happen at each. Is Marketing qualifying leads or is Sales? This will help you understand what your team is accountable for vs what you can/should hold Sales accountable for. (Typical KPIs: MQLs, SALs, SQLs) 2. Know How Much Pipe You Need: This is harder in early-stage companies where GTM processes are less mature and changing rapidly; however, you should be able to establish baselines for stage-to-stage CVR% and C/W%, which are critical to understanding how much pipeline you need to generate. (Typical KPIs: Marketing Contributed Pipeline (MCP), Marketing Originated Bookings (MOB). 3. Establish a North Star: Finally, start by asking what the business is trying to achieve and on what timeline. What % of growth is Marketing expected to drive? If this is a brand new company or nascent category, awareness might also be a challenge that you need to invest in solving. Regardless, starting with the big picture will help you understand where to allocate resources and whether your budgets are sufficient to generate what the business is expecting of you.

AI will complement Demand Generation. AI is only as bright as you train it to be, so smart marketers need to choose the right dimensions and factors for AI to leverage. Tools will only get you so far, but ultimately, without humans to spot-check efforts, you will see AI learn and optimize for the wrong things and then provide a poor customer experience. I’m excited about AI’s future in Demand Generation. I believe that if you create strong foundational elements like taxonomy, reporting infrastructure, CDPs, content management systems etc., and then you feed all your data into a single place, you can use AI models to serve the right offer to the right person in the right place across their buyer’s journey. But you must have the right people with the technology prowess and the creativity to alter offers to improve your results and truly create an omnichannel journey.

Navigating the pivot from collaboration and ideation to execution and accountability requires structure, project planning, swimlanes and clear communication. Simple frameworks will be your lifeline in this process. Here are some things to take into account and the seven checkboxes I have on my desk when beginning a new project: 1. Establish Clear Frameworks: Implement a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) or DACI (Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed) model to define roles and responsibilities. This clarity helps everyone understand their specific duties and the expectations placed on them as the project moves towards execution. Don’t move forward with a project without one. Full stop. 2. Create and Share a Project Plan: Develop a detailed project plan outlining tasks, deadlines, and responsible parties. Regularly update and share this plan with all team members (via email and Slack, some people love one while others not so much) to ensure everyone is aligned and aware of their responsibilities and timelines. 3. Don’t run a meeting with an agenda: For each meeting, prepare and distribute a clear agenda in advance. Include a pre-read when possible to ensure everyone is informed and ready to contribute. This helps keep meetings focused and productive, especially as you transition to the execution phase. If you are the driver, DRIVE these and be the voice commanding the room. 4. Maintain Engagement: During meetings, keep the room engaged and on point. Stick to the agenda and avoid deviations to ensure that discussions remain relevant and time is used efficiently. Encourage active participation and address any concerns promptly to maintain momentum. 5. Shift Focus to Execution: As deadlines approach, explicitly communicate the shift from brainstorming to execution. Up the communication cadence. Reinforce the importance of meeting deadlines and the need for accountability. Emphasize the specific tasks and milestones that need to be achieved and the impact of timely execution on the overall project success. 6. Monitor Progress and Accountability: Regularly review progress against the project plan. Hold team members accountable for their deliverables through check-ins and status updates. Use the RACI or DACI framework to ensure everyone understands their role in meeting deadlines. 7. Adapt and Stay Flexible: Trains can derail. Be prepared to adapt the plan as necessary while keeping the team focused on the end goals. Address any roadblocks or issues promptly and reassign tasks if needed to keep the project on track. By following these strategies, you can smoothly transition from brainstorming together to getting things done efficiently. This way, your team stays focused, responsible, and productive as deadlines get closer.

The events team funds the overall structure and footprint of our event. However we partner heavily with the field marketing teams who have supplemental budget to fund ancillary events and the content and programming needed. Having clear tracking and reporting put into place to be able to measure each sub event and also qualitative attendee feedback can help over time to see how each sub event is performing within the broader even to make optimizations.

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.

I hesitate to use the word "worst" because, in most cases, KPIs aren’t inherently bad—they’re often just "less optimal" depending on the context, goals, and how they’re used. That said, there are definitely KPIs that can lead you astray if you're not thoughtful about their relevance to your objectives or the limitations of your organization. Here's some KPIs I would be wary of: 1. "Big Swing" KPIs These are ambitious, high-reaching goals that aim to inspire teams and generate excitement—think "double our pipeline in one quarter" or "grow MQLs by 200%." While pushing boundaries is essential for growth, these KPIs my not always be grounded in the reality of your current resources, processes, or market conditions. t's good to stretch strategically, but don't goals that might derail morale if they’re unattainable. 2. Vanity Metrics Vanity metrics, like website traffic or raw follower counts, can look great in a report, but their value diminishes if they aren't tied to business outcomes like revenue, pipeline, or customer retention. For example, having thousands of monthly website visitors means little if those visitors don’t convert into meaningful leads or qualified opportunities. 3. Email Deliverability and Open Rates At face value, email deliverability and open rates seem critical, but they’re becoming less reliable due to external factors. For instance, IT teams at large enterprises often auto-open emails for security scanning purposes, inflating open rate numbers. Additionally, modern privacy features, like Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, further muddy the waters. Instead, focus on downstream email metrics like click-through rates (CTR) or conversions that better reflect actual engagement and interest. 4. Social Media Engagement Without Pipeline Attribution Social metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and even follower growth can boost your visibility and brand perception, but they don’t always translate into relevant demand generation indicators. Without tying social activity to pipeline contribution or conversion rates, you risk investing heavily in social platforms and campaigns that drive awareness but fail to generate demand. In general, avoid KPIs that prioritize activity over impact. Focus on KPIs that align with your organization’s broader revenue and growth objectives, and always maintain a clear line of sight to the business outcomes they support. And if you have to commit to the "worst" KPIs, know that delivering great results are table stakes, though they may not necessarily bring actual value.