What are the biggest frustrations you have as a Demand Generation manager?

My biggest frustration is the fact that sometimes programs work really well and then two months later, that same program will just not work. It's tough when you forecast a certain volume of new names or registrants coming in and it doesn't hit. There are some factors that influence this like seasonality (summer time or holiday months can influence the effectiveness of a program) or world events like a pandemic.  While this is a frustration, it is the reason why demand gen leaders should have a g ...Read More

It can be incredibly frustrating when other teams lack respect for the time and effort it takes to execute a demand gen program. Sales teams and others can sometimes take the effort for granted and expect opportunities to flow in. And when things aren't going as expected, they are quick to blame the team without understanding the underlying factors at play or the work that happens daily. Your friend here is to educate your teammates and departments on your work and how it ultimately impacts the ...Read More

I have so many feelings about this. The biggest one is the brand ROI debate and honestly I'm exhausted by it. Brand is the new demand (I genuinely believe that) but try telling that to a room full of people who only trust last-click attribution. The frustrating reality is that some of the most important work we do is the hardest to put a number on. The video that went viral in a customer's Slack channel. The community post that made someone feel so seen they signed up that day. The influencer's ...Read More

Some of the top frustrations are around expectations and timelines. E.g. Being asked to generate leads immediately in the same month/quarter for enterprise customers, being asked to only connect with CXOs, being held responsible for an opportunity pipeline – without the supporting infrastructure – are all challenges and frustrations of a typical demand gen leader. What sets you apart is in how you educate the larger organization on the value that you can add to the business. As you continue to e ...Read More

I believe one of the biggest frustrations in demand generation is that sometimes you can’t provide a crisp definitive answer for performance. I spend lots of time in reporting and analysis, but sometimes you just land on a hypothesis. One could argue the constant change in demand gen is one of the benefits, but there could be cons to this too. Have you ever spent so much time digging into the data that at some point you have to call it and move on based on what you’ve identified to date? It’s cr ...Read More