How do you measure your own success in your role? How much have those performance indicators evolved as you grew within your role?

My role evolved as the organization grew from $100 mil ARR to ~4X the size today. In earlier days, our GTM motion was primarily PLG. I was measured on Qualified Traffic as a leading KPI, and Trial volume and Sales CVR% as the lag KPIs. Today, we have a twin GTM engine - PLG & Direct Sales model. My role and success parameters have evolved accordingly. I'm measured on Marketing sourced and influenced pipeline. The leading metrics are Trial volume and # of accounts displaying category intent and engagement in a given period.

In the Demand Generation world, KPI's are ever-evolving but one always remains consistent - "to drive marketing pipeline for the business."

When starting out your career in DG, KPI's will be decided by your MLT team and assigned dependent on the annual, bi-annual or quarterly goals. Some of the most common may be dependent on:

- a low performing product line needing a boost

- a regional team needing pipeline assistance

- or a channel needing support

As you grow into DG leadership, additional KPI's come into play around driving better ROIs on campaigns, driving down business costs, while delivering additional pipeline, as well as employee development for your team.

In terms of defining success, more top line KPIs are aligned to the targets set for pipeline and ACV (annual contract value) and my team's marketing contribution.

Since my team focuses on building new C-Suite relationships for a set global list of top accounts, we're able to measure and hold ourselves accountable to the ability to drive new C-Suite relationships and expand our footprint within the top accounts.

Qualitatively I also check in with my key stakeholders to ensure my teams are aligned to their top priorities.

I measure my own success in my role in two ways:

1. The impact I have on my internal team: culture, processes, stakeholder management, leadership, creativity, and team health.

2. The impact my teams work has on the bottom line of the business: how much revenue is our work contributing to, are we influencing repeat business, are we getting good feedback from clients/customers, are we pushing creative boundaries in our discipline, etc.

These performance indicators/categories have stayed relatively the same throughout every role I've had. The only difference has been being an individual contributor vs. a lead as I grew in my career. I simply shifted the focus of how I calculated my impact from "I" to "my team" over the years as I've moved into positions of leadership.

Success in Demand Generation is the same as business success - revenue. DG is, however, in a position to track and influence the results of many different leading indicators that come before revenue. Things like:

• New contacts engaging with the brand

• Hot leads / people who want to talk to sales

• Sales meetings scheduled

• Sales opportunities opened

A while back, it was more common for DG to be measured only on top-of-the-funnel metrics, such as leads. However, just because someone is a lead does not mean they actually want to buy your product or are qualified to buy your product. It has become more important over time for DG to be measured on the same things that sales is.

Depending on the organization, pipeline/opportunities created is also a good measurement for DG. This is easily influenced by the number and quality of leads and the early sales/marketing handover process, while Revenue relies a lot more on the sales process and product/market fit.

I measure my success in a role in a few different ways. First, am I hitting my targets? KPIs, goals, etc as aligned and agreed upon by the business. Think of these as quarterly or yearly metrics that you build plans against, execute, and deliver results. If I’m not hitting my targets this is where I spend the bulk of my energy. 

Second, am I building relationships and cultivating a company culture and set of values that I can be proud of? The how of getting work done is so important and it can set employees apart from each other especially when leadership looks at opportunities for advancement among employees with the same caliber of performance. Being thoughtful about investments in these areas, not only makes work more enjoyable; you’ll also come to value and look for these traits in future opportunities. 

Third, where are my gaps and how am I going to work on addressing them? Getting regular feedback on performance and areas of opportunity is essential to measuring your success in your role and the difference between the next level up if you're eyeing a promotion. It’s important to have regular conversations with your manager about where you want to improve and what projects, tasks, presentations, etc will help stretch you to build those skill sets.

This has varied for me from role to role and based on my responsibilities. As I grew in my career and managed a team, my KPIs also evolved. Think about the difference between getting to 1 million ARR compared to 100 million ARR, as an example.

In terms of measuring my own success in my role outside of company KPIs, it’s largely focused on helping others, growing my knowledge and growing from a career perspective.

I reflect on how much I have helped my team grow as individuals and ensure I help elevate them.

I reflect on how I have leveled up my own knowledge.

I reflect on the trajectory of my career.

My reflections also ladder up to the company goals, it’s just while the company KPIs evolve, so do my own measures of how I upgrade my contributions.