AMA: Snowflake Head of Demand Generation, Jennifer King on Marketing Ops / Demand Gen Alignment

Marketing Ops and Demand Gen should first align on the metrics that are important for the business. What levers and conversion rates are delivering. Having a set cadence where the teams review specific KPIs for the business is essential. This gives the team the ability to draw insights into what is working and moving the needle. If engagement is declining

Being transparent on resource capacity is the first step in working collaboratively between teams. Having OKRs that are aligned to the top level goals of the company are critical in helping to prioritize the projects for each quarter. There are often trade offs that need to be made so agreeing on what projects that drive maximum impact helps set the team up for success. Stack ranking P1s and 2s will make this process easy as not every roadmap item is equal.

Sales alignment is key to building a strong ABM program.

Having a targeted account list with ICP is the first step, then leaning on data to help with account tiering.

Based on the account tiering critieria a mix of programs will help further engage the accounts.

Having sales enablement and an established joint operating rhythm will help determine what metrics to review and SLAs.

Quarterly business reviews with sales and marketing to evaluate account performance and refine plays as needed.

This gets a bit tricky especially when marketing likes to try new things. I would like to think that both teams want to optimize and find efficiencies so keeping an open mind when new ideas are proposed is essential. There needs to be a balance of the gains vs efforts. I always start with a problem statement when bringing up a new idea to the marketing operations team. Together we brainstorm and agree to test before truly operationalizing a new process.

Both teams need to lean on data to tell us what is working and what is not. Trust needs to go both ways. Mops trusts demand gen to know what content will keep the prospects engaged during each stage. Demand gen trusts that Mops will help make the necessary updates when things aren’t working as planned. There’s a mutual respect for each team’s subject matter expertise. At the end of the day, let the data tell you what is moving the needle.

Marketing Ops enables Demand Gen success by providing the data, systems, and processes that power campaigns. They ensure clean list targeting, efficient execution, and accurate measurement by managing tech integrations, lead routing, automation, and reporting—so Demand Gen can focus on strategy, messaging, and driving pipeline.