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?

There is definitely not a single path for demand gen. I personally transitioned into demand gen from field marketing. I can't say there is a single path that makes more sense than the next, but I can say there were a few things that helped me make the seamless transition.  1) All the events I ran had a quantative goal along with a qualitative goal. All programs had success metrics attached to them so we could look back and understand was it sucessful or not.  2) The other was that I always had b ...Read More

Personally, I don't think there is a one single path for Demand Generation. I came into the role by surprise. I was interviewing for a Marketing Manager role at a company, almost 10 years ago and during the interview we were whiteboarding out pipeline funnels. I was talking through waterfall metrics and which type of assets I would place at each stage in the funnel. Then we went on to discuss global digital strategies and then lastly, my favorite, events and the campaigns that surround them. I h ...Read More

There is definitely not a single career path for demand gen. Everyone must carve their own path based on the existing skills they have today, and being honest about what they really want to do in the future. I began my career with a heavy focus on developing my skills with marketing tech and operations, and invested heavily in enterprise marketing skills - such as developing a total addressable market and go-to-market strategy, account-based marketing and paid media management. A good overall ba ...Read More

There isn't a single, linear career path to landing a senior demand generation leadership role. The field of demand generation is multifaceted and draws on various disciplines within marketing and beyond (including pretty much any GTM role). That said, I think there are a couple of commonalities: Some folks start in an entry level Demand Generation role (coordinator), and move straight up the ladder (specialist, manager, director). Moving into these mid-career roles involves focusing specificall ...Read More

I don't think there's a single path. I've seen plenty of people transfer their skills into different parts of the organization by clearly showing the impact they can make and how their experience can help solve a challenge the team is facing. When you frame your skillset around real business problems, those transitions tend to happen more naturally.Some common paths include: Sales or SDR roles, where you learn customer conversations and deal cycles Field or regional marketing, which is closely t ...Read More

I don't think there is a single career path for demand gen. I have members across team who have come up via martech, digital marketing, sales, product marketing, field marketing, content, sales strategy. You name it! Regardless of the path, I think it's the ability to focus on understanding the customer and their behaviors. Own representing the voice of the customer and be the expert who can create the plan to share with them the right message, at the right time, on the right channel. Keep an ey ...Read More

There is no single path. In fact, many great demand gen leaders come from different entry points. Common entry points are for those that have strong skillset in these areas: Paid media/performance marketing - analytical rigor and optimization habits. Marketing operations/revops - measurement and funnel design background. Campaigns and integrated marketing - orchestration across channels and teams. Lifecycle/email and growth - conversion and customer journey experience. Product marketing or conte ...Read More

No, I believe there are several career paths for demand gen. I’ve also interviewed candidates for demand gen roles from a variety of backgrounds. The space is so vast; different perspectives only enhance a strategy. Career paths that can lead to a demand generation leadership role include branding and brand awareness, SEM, SEO, ABM, growth marketing, field marketing, and product marketing, to name a few. I personally believe an SEM and SEO background can be an incredibly impactful blend of skill ...Read More