AMA: Demandbase Head of Digital Marketing, Matt Hummel on Demand Generation 30 / 60 / 90 Day Plan

Alignment with sales. A good mentor of mine encouraged me to "break bread" with sales - not just leadership, but with reps also. I also can't underestimate the importance of sitting in on some sales calls, but also speaking to several clients - and if possible, visiting them in person. It's easy, and not necessarily a bad thing, to focus on the quick wins like tightening your programs, improving your digital programs, etc. - but the best thing you can is build confidence in the organization that you are focused on the right things.

This is a key part of your discovery process and can also work to improve collaboration, identify near-term wins, and demonstrate both humility but also servant-minded leadership as you step into your role. It takes the emphasis off of you having to come in and fix everything and seeks the insights (whether you ultimately agree or not) with those who have been there and will be working alongside of on a regular basis. What do you believe are the top priorities we're focused on right now? Do you agree with these priorities? What do you believe are our (broader collective team) top challenges? What is holding us back from growth and why? What do you think we should be doing that we aren't, and why are we not doing it? How could I / my team make your job easier? What has been working with my team? What do you see are the top opportunities for my team / myself? If you were just hired into my role, what would you be initially focused on?

To a degree this remains trial and error / a bit fluid. However, we are seeing that not over-relying on one form vs. another is the best approach. For example, webinars used to print pipeline, as did on-demand webinars. Post COVID, webinars became everything and eventually it caught up as companies were seeing less pipeline. However, webinars can still be a great way to engage and deliver meaningful content. You have to think about the audience and purpose though, and then make sure you are using it across different channels. We're also seeing virtual events such as user groups perform well, but just on a smaller scale. With that said though, they tend to be very engaged audiences, and something that can really be a value-add for both the customers/prospects involved (think peer-to-peer learning), but also provide tons of great insights for your organization. Last (but not least!), in-person events are more-or-less back. Admittedly I've been hearing that for a couple years now, but I'm still not sure they are back to pre-COVID days. However, we've seen some success with in person events (in terms of attendance and also engagement, pipeline, etc.), and we're starting to see numbers pick back up for some of our larger tradeshows, too. I think it's still a matter of time before companies can really figure out the right investment to put towards in-person events, though I would contend this has forced a lot of companies who didn't have a great process of measuring ROI (aka "we have to be at this event because everyone else is") to take a deeper look at whether this is the right approach, particularly in these macro-economic conditions. To sum it up ... there is no one-size-fits-all answer or approach. Talk to your customers and prospects. Test things out. Don't be afraid to go big, but just make sure you put the right focus and strategy when you do!

Scaling beyond your first DG Manager is both an exciting time but also one that can bring about a lot of uncertainty - there are so many directions you could go! With that said, it's likely that you are still in high-growth mode and I would strongly recommend considering bringing on a paid media specialist. Someone who knows systems like LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Ads, and if you're lucky you can find someone who has that experience plus some web experience such as CRO and even SEO. Your best bet is to continue focusing on growth which can fuel both the revenue and credibility to continue scaling your function!

I always start with a comprehensive audit, focusing generally on the following areas. I evaluate a combination of qualitative and quantitative factors which allows me to have a clear understanding of the maturity of the function. The key is knowing what good looks like / being able to know where you want to get to. Because this audit should then turn into a roadmap towards building a proper demand center. * Sales & Marketing alignment * Demand funnel * Lead scoring * Lead nurturing * Content * Buyer personas * Planning and strategy * Process * Data management * Measurement * Systems * ABM * Campaign data and orchestration * Business acumen