The best Demand Generation candidates possess a unique blend of strategic thinking, creativity, and executional excellence. They deeply understand the product, messaging, and audience, enabling them to craft compelling go-to-market strategies. Creativity is key—they generate innovative ideas to activate campaigns and drive engagement. I was once tasked with building a campaign for a software product we were selling in the Retail space. To activate this beyond the run of the mill webinar and content, we decided to take over a luxury retail store in SoHo during fashion week. We hosted top customers for an exclusive shopping experience and a live interview with the famous designer that we also streamed online and amplified on social media. Because this was such a unique and memorable activation, we were able to close business and also drive awareness. In addition, a strong grasp of channel strategy and optimization is essential. These candidates know how to leverage paid media, content, email, events, and other channels effectively, continuously testing and iterating for performance improvement. They are resourceful and scrappy, thriving in fast-paced environments where they must do more with less. Beyond tactical execution, top candidates are natural leaders who can align cross-functional teams, collaborating seamlessly with product marketing, creative, field marketing, and sales. Their high emotional intelligence (EQ) allows them to navigate pressure with composure, influence stakeholders, and drive alignment across departments. Being data-driven is non-negotiable. The best candidates don’t just execute campaigns—they analyze performance metrics, extract insights, and refine strategies based on data. They understand pipeline impact, revenue contribution, and how to optimize for business outcomes. Ultimately, the strongest Demand Generation professionals balance analytical rigor with creativity, strategic vision with hands-on execution, and leadership with adaptability. Their ability to connect the dots between messaging, channels, data, and cross-functional collaboration makes them invaluable assets to any marketing team.

Employee retention is almost always top of mind for me. I think as a people leader, it is very important to communicate the company goals and tie it back to that individual no matter what role or level. Everyone's contributions matter and being able to translate that back to what they are doing gives the individual 1) a sense of belonging and purpose and 2) motivation that their impact connects to a bigger picture. There are factors that drive people to look for new roles, maybe it's the pay, or career advancement, or they just want to solve new problems. I have had some incredible people leave my team due to various reasons. I was sad to see them go but supportive nonetheless and happy for them.

Short answer: Yes, it's one of the very best paths to CMO at a growth stage startup. Medium answer: I could be wrong but my experience tells me that growth stage startup C level roles (the only space I know) come from one of two backgrounds: PMM or Demand Generation. They are going to hire to solve the problems they are facing. It's usually driving predictable demand first, with a measure of brand building second. Worth thinking as you navigate your path forward. Longer answer: Please see my answer to "Is there a single career path for demand gen? Or what are some good career paths that can lead to a demand generation leadership role like yours?" I go into more detail there!

You're right this is hard to do, and I'm sure you'd get different answers from different Demand Gen leaders. When you lack historical data for a given region to inform goal setting, the two most useful inputs are a) business objectives and b) comps from other regions where you are marketing to similar buyers. Business objectives should inform your investment level, mix, and funnel metrics. For example, if you need to generate $1M in incremental bookings from the region by the end of your first year in that market and your typical sales cycle is 90-180 days, you know that you need to set MQL and pipeline targets in the first two quarters that provide sufficient coverage. Comps from other regions can also be useful in forecasting CPL and setting appropriate goals by channel. For example, if you are running SEM campaigns in North America, you likely already have a sense of the average cost per acquisition from paid search. You can then use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, etc. to determine which of your campaigns will translate to the new markets you are entering based on search volume, estimated CPC, etc.

Nand generation is going out into the market and generating interest in your product. Growth marketing is a process in which you develop a hypothesis, test that hypothesis through AB testing, measure the results, continuously iterate.

Here are three key approaches I use to build successful partnerships: 1. Stay Open-Minded and Humble: You can take your work seriously without always taking yourself too seriously. At Own, this is one of our core values. We spend over 40 hours a week at our desks, grinding, performing, and striving for outcomes – and it's hard work. Acknowledging that "work is hard!" is okay. Bringing humility and laughter to your work and your partnerships can foster successful relationships. While dedication and commitment to your professional responsibilities are crucial, maintaining a sense of humor and not being overly serious helps you stay grounded, approachable, and resilient. It promotes a positive work environment, encourages creativity, and prevents burnout by reminding you to enjoy the journey and not be overly critical of yourself or your teammates. 2. Adopt a One-Team Mentality: To drive successful and lucrative partnerships and advance your career, you need people in your court. Align your efforts with the broader mission and vision of your organization, maintain open and transparent communication, and share accountability for outcomes. This creates a sense of ownership and responsibility. Mutual respect and support enable leveraging diverse skills to innovate and solve problems together. Flexibility and adaptability ensure that the team can meet objectives in changing circumstances. Fostering a positive work environment built on trust, encouragement, and recognition keeps everyone motivated to contribute their best. 3. Embrace the Golden Thread Principle: Adopting and living by the golden thread principle (my personal philosophy!) means embracing a unified approach to work. It starts with a shared vision and goals, where everyone understands the "why" behind their tasks and how they contribute to overall success. Open communication ensures that regular updates, challenges, and decisions are shared, keeping everyone connected. As we scale and develop new programs, we document our processes to maintain operational rigor. A customer-first focus drives everyone to deliver maximum value. Departmental alignment ensures that cross-functional teams work towards common goals with no surprises. Lastly, accountability and ROI are crucial—if we can’t measure an initiative and determine its impact, we won’t pursue it. By incorporating these approaches, you can build stronger partnerships, drive success, and create a positive and productive work environment.

* Net Promoter Score (NPS): While it’s a decent pulse check for customer sentiment, it doesn’t always correlate with growth or revenue. * Bounce Rate: Taken in isolation, it’s rarely actionable and often misunderstood. * Click-Through Rate (CTR) Alone: CTR without downstream metrics like conversion rate or cost-per-lead is incomplete. * Time on Page: Without context, this doesn’t tell you if the time spent was valuable.

Depending on your business model and offering, I recommend first and foremost partnering with your cross-functional stakeholders and building trust. For example, in a traditional B2B sales led go-to-market motion, you should make it a point to become best friends with your sales leadership team and understanding what is most important to them. If you're not aligned with what is important to sales, it'll be very difficult to see success. If you're part of a self-service SaaS go-to-market motion, partnering with Product leadership will be critical so you can work together to understand product dependencies that lead to successful customer acquisition while decreasing product barriers for customers.

Sharing in a central wiki or company repository (we use Notion at Sentry), at the same time as other teams to give them the same level of attention. I am a big fan of async communication. Connecting ahead of time with other business stakeholder to see how these KPIs fit in their pictures and serve their need. Connecting ahead of time with the Demand Gen DRIs for each KPIs to request their feedback and how they would prioritize these differently. On a regular basis, organizing weekly pipeline meetings to track trends and collect feedback on these KPIs.

I would prioritize paid search and co-marketing. Here's why: 1. While paid search can get very expensive, you can learn a lot from this channel that can then help you optimize other channels. I love paid because it's very easy to measure performance. I can see what prospects are clicking on, how many are converting to leads, and then what the overall CAC is (spend divided by customer sign ups). In addition to this, I can learn a lot about how to optimize my funnel. Ad copy can be optimized, landing page design can be optimized, even form fields can be optimized. Best thing is all of this CRO improvement will raise the performance of the other channels I've invested in. 2. The reason why I like co-marketing is because it's the opposite of paid advertising: it's cheap! Co-marketing is a fantastic way to generate net new leads cost effectively. Co-host a webinar with a company that serves your target customer. Then in exchange for you promoting it to your mailing list, ask them to promote it to theirs. After the event, agree to share the registration and attendee lists. You will have a lot of net new leads to nurture and work.