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What's your framework to prioritizing needs/deliverables when you're the first demand generation manager at a company establishing the function?

Liz Bernardo

Charted Head of Marketing • 3y

The prioritization should align with your business objectives. Those overarching goals decided by your sales and marketing leadership team should formulate a foundational...

2,018 Views

I'm sure there will be questions about the best KPIs to track, what are some of the worst KPIs to commit to achieving?

Natasha Dolginsky

Panorama Education Sr. Director of Demand Generation • 1y

My least favorite KPI is 'incremental ROI,' which I find almost impossible to calculate accurately. Even with tools and software it’s difficult to isolate the true increm...

1,027 Views

What are some KPIs that you find over-hyped and/or unimportant?

Sheena Sharma

JumpCloud Vice President, Revenue Marketing • 3y

Not necessarily over-hyped, but I think it is important to find the balance between being too focused on top-of-funnel (Traffic, leads, MQLs) and having targets that are...

2,542 Views

Do you believe a demand gen manager can be successful without budget for ads to pair with their strategy?

Mike Braund

Komodo Health VP Revenue Marketing • 1y

That would definitely make it more difficult, but there are ways I think you can make a path forward. For example if you're in an early growth stage demand gen may lean m...

842 Views

What's your process for figuring out what metrics to hold demand generation accountable for?

Ami Denman

Chime Sr. Director: Lifecycle & CRM | Formerly Atlassian, Walmart, Popchips, PlayStation • 10mo

Work backwards from revenue and then hold the team accountable for one to two steps from revenue and is still within their influence - likely SQLs or pipeline contributio...

458 Views

What is an important KPI that you see demand generation teams completely missing?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

From a product-led growth (PLG) perspective, I don’t see enough emphasis put on identifying and tracking toward an activation or “aha moment” KPI. What is the one action ...

510 Views

How do you recommend setting targets for KPIs?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

Setting targets for demand generation KPIs all starts with understanding the goals. All of the departmental and individual goals should roll up in support of the overall ...

676 Views

How does your team manage tracking KPIs and goals by channel?

Kady Srinivasan

You.com Chief Marketing Officer • 1y

We use a centralized dashboard that aggregates data from all our tools (e.g., CRM, marketing automation, analytics platforms). Each channel has its own set of KPIs that a...

1,812 Views

What areas do you see as the domain of a Demand Gen Team?

I'm just wondering in general what things a demand gen team do to drive demand? What's the most effective? What's less effective?

Jennifer King

Snowflake Head of Demand Generation • 2mo

A modern B2B demand gen team is responsible for creating awareness, capturing intent, accelerating pipeline, and influencing revenue across the full buyer journey. The ex...

473 Views

I’m the first Demand Generation hire in my company. What advice would you give to someone tasked with establishing this function in an existing business structure?

Venus Picart

Dovetail Head of Demand Generation • 1y

Congratulations on this exciting opportunity! What a wonderful opportunity and an exciting ride that you're about to embark upon. As someone who has been in a similar pos...

1,302 Views

What is your favorite Demand Generation interview question and the best answer you've heard?

Justin Carapinha

Salesforce Senior Director, Global SMB and Growth Campaigns • 10mo

So I actually end every interview with the same question, and for me it can be the most telling about someone's accomplishments and how much they value their work. The qu...

999 Views

What's a typical career path for a Demand Generation manager?

Katie Jane Parkes

Apollo.io Director of Social, Community & Customer Marketing | Formerly Shopify • 4mo

I think the "typical" career path for a demand gen manager is becoming less and less typical and I think that's a good thing.The traditional trajectory looks something li...

392 Views

How do you transition from sales to a demand generation role?

As someone with a wealth of experience in marketing and sales, from strategic to operational, what advice would you have for someone looking to transition from a sales role to demand generation? I love being involved in this pillar of the company and no longer in a front-facing sales position. What steps do you recommend I take to make this move successfully

Katie Jane Parkes

Apollo.io Director of Social, Community & Customer Marketing | Formerly Shopify • 4mo

I think you know this, but just to be crystal clear... I didn't come from sales, so I'm going to answer this from a slightly different angle than you might expect.I came ...

391 Views

What is the difference between demand generation and growth marketing?

Laura Lewis

Lexia Learning Director, Demand Generation & ABM | Formerly Addigy, Qualia, Progress • 2y

This is one of my favorite topics! Usually, the answer is no difference at all. The term "Demand Generation" came first, and over time has evolved into "Growth Marketin...

981 Views

What's the most effective way to scale a Demand Generation team beyond the first Demand Generation manager?

Monica Myers

Demand Generation Consultant and Fractional Leader | Formerly Gusto, Qualia, AdRoll • 3y

My number one tip when building or scaling a Demand Gen function and team is to ensure that there is a clear path to measureable outcomes and impact across the DG team. W...

4,660 Views

What's your best demand generation 30-60-90 day plan to make a big impact at a new company?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

I recommend structuring a 30-60-90 day plan with clear timelines and goals. This will look different at an established org versus a start-up. This may also look different...

3,006 Views

What is your 30-60-90 day plan when you go into an org with the intention of setting up a demand generation function for the first time?

Helana Zhang

Vercel Head of Field & Partner Marketing | Formerly Zuora, Optimizely, Cisco Meraki • 1y

These are the 3 things I would consider doing, in parallel with each other:(1) listening tour with all key stakeholders on marketing, sales, customer success, and product...

1,747 Views

As a hiring manager, what do the best demand generation candidates have in common?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

The best demand generation candidates have curiosity in common. The demand gen space is constantly evolving. If you are not curious, it’s difficult to keep up. How do yo...

677 Views

How do you retain good talent, especially when Demand Generation roles are in such high demand across the industry?

Jennifer King

Snowflake Head of Demand Generation • 1y

Employee retention is almost always top of mind for me. I think as a people leader, it is very important to communicate the company goals and tie it back to that individu...

1,118 Views

Setting KPIs can often feel arbitrary, especially when entering new markets. How do you get past this uncertainty to set realistic goals?

Mike Braund

Komodo Health VP Revenue Marketing • 1y

I know that feeling for sure. I still think it's important to do. Establishing a baseline is important to give us feedback and future efforts to tell us if they're helpin...

626 Views

What KPIs and metrics can you recommend to use to measure the demand generation function + content marketing function?

Justin Carapinha

Salesforce Senior Director, Global SMB and Growth Campaigns • 1y

Typically a content marketing function is measured on the engagement with the associated content put into market via paid, owned, earned tactics (i.e. content/asset downl...

1,344 Views

What factors did you consider when you decided to join a company as their first marketer? What were your non-negotiables about the company, team, manager/leadership, etc.?

Sruthi Kumar

Rei Notionライフハック2万部突破！ Account-Based Marketing - Lead | Formerly Navan(TripActions), Sendoso • 1y

Transparently, I got lucky. I joined because the team was sharp, down-to-earth, and genuinely fun to build with. The product was exciting, and I saw a ton of room to grow...

903 Views

How do you think ChatGPT will impact how you do demand generation?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

I believe everyone in demand generation should be testing ChatGPT. The main way I see it impacting how I do demand gen is by serving as an assistant. It helps me be more ...

226 Views

How do you break down responsibilities and KPIs between demand generation and product marketing?

Tamara Niesen

WooCommerce CMO | Formerly Shopify, D2L, BlackBerry • 1y

Demand Gen and Product Marketing need to work in lockstep, but their responsibilities should be clearly defined so there are no gaps. I see Product Marketing as the strat...

430 Views

How do you communicate demand generation updates and activities to the rest of the company?

Andy Ramirez ✪

GitLab Head of Growth Marketing • 3y

There is a phrase my team will tell you they're tired of hearing: "You have to market the marketing"The purpose of this isn't just recognition of the work the team does, ...

616 Views

What are the key processes you'd set up when expanding the demand generation team from 1 to multiple people?

Laura Lewis

Lexia Learning Director, Demand Generation & ABM | Formerly Addigy, Qualia, Progress • 1y

Key processes you should implement when expanding a marketing team mostly align around good project management:Creating a marketing calendar. You want to ensure that you ...

469 Views

How important is it in your opinion to partner with other departments to run successful Demand Gen campaigns? Sales, CS, Operations?

Tamara Niesen

WooCommerce CMO | Formerly Shopify, D2L, BlackBerry • 1y

It’s not just important—it’s non-negotiable. Demand Gen doesn’t operate in a silo. Without strong cross-functional alignment, we’d just be a lead factory dumping names in...

465 Views

From your perspective, who is the most critical piece on a demand-gen team?

Why?

Abhishek GP

Atlan VP, Growth • 1y

The most critical element of a demand generation team isn't a single role but the deliberate pairing of content creators ("fuel") with distribution specialists ("engine")...

532 Views

What's the earliest stage a startup should consider hiring a demand generation manager?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

The earliest stage I typically recommend hiring a demand generation manager is when you have established product market fit and a solid understanding of your ideal custom...

644 Views

How does demand generation differ between a small and large company?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

Demand generation differs between small and large companies significantly. There are more differences than similarities. From my experience of working at everything from ...

267 Views

What are the biggest surprises when going from a company where demand generation was established to one where you have to establish demand generation?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

From my experience, the approach and expectations vary greatly in these two scenarios. The biggest surprises tend to be infrastructure so think tracking and reporting and...

856 Views

What are the core roles you consider essential on a best-in-class demand gen team?

Kanchan Belavadi

Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 2y

A demand gen team in today’s world cannot exist without a content creator and a digital/SEO lead. These form the core and other functions can be build around them. So if ...

728 Views

How do you recommend socializing KPIs (before the work starts and when it's done)?

Kanchan Belavadi

Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 2y

There are 2 sets of KPIs that you need to keep at hand. One is for internal marketing consumption and the other is what you share with the business. The business will be ...

495 Views

I'm working at a start-up, and a first demand generation hire; what KPIs should I own and not own?

Kady Srinivasan

You.com Chief Marketing Officer • 1y

Own:Lead volume and quality (MQLs, SQLs).Campaign performance (CTR, conversion rates).Pipeline contribution and ROI of demand gen efforts.Don’t Own:Pure revenue metrics (...

757 Views

What are good OKRs for Demand Generation?

Mike Braund

Komodo Health VP Revenue Marketing • 1y

This is going to vary by every company and where that demand gen team within the company is at in their maturity. O in OKR is "Objective" which align up to company strate...

693 Views

How do you develop quarterly/annual demand gen OKRs and tie those to individual projects?

Sheena Sharma

JumpCloud Vice President, Revenue Marketing • 3y

Quarterly/annual OKRs: In an ideal world, you have a joint financial planning process between demand gen + Sales that outlines the sales bookings targets you need to hi...

2,221 Views

How do demand generation KPIs change with a self-serve product?

Fanette Jobard

Adyen Senior Marketing Manager | Formerly JFrog, Algolia, Docker • 1y

You could just rename MQL to PQL (product qualified lead) and, voilà! Just kidding. Many teams treat sales-led and self-serve as entirely separate models, but in my view,...

1,360 Views

What is your methodology for identifying the right company targets in an ABM strategy?

Sheridan Gaenger

Salesforce Senior Director of Field Marketing, Platform • 2y

Leveraging intent data, like what companies such as 6Sense, Qualified, and Demandbase offer, provides several key advantages to identifying the right company targets and ...

1,596 Views

For a lean startup with limited resources (1-2 marketers), but healthy budgets. How would you approach demand gen strategy and effectively develop campaigns that move the needle? What are the big questions to ask yourself?

Nicolette Konkol

Morningstar SVP, Corporate Marketing | Formerly Ariba, Taleo, Showpad • 3y

The best questions you can ask yourself as a marketer are always: who is my target audience? what do they care about? where do they spend time? Make sure you have a de...

1,195 Views

What does your demand generation team org structure look like?

Laura Lewis

Lexia Learning Director, Demand Generation & ABM | Formerly Addigy, Qualia, Progress • 1y

Today, we have 2 people on our team: one dedicated to new business and one dedicated to customers. In the past, I have structured Demand Generation in other ways - from r...

496 Views

If your demand generation team has only 1 or 2 people responsible for covering multiple products with complex features, how would you recommend dividing the workload in the short-term so as best to support long-term growth and expansion of the team?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

It’s common to have demand generation teams that are lean. Don’t let this overwhelm you. Essentially, it comes down to being really crisp on the goals and aligning your e...

254 Views

Do you have any advice for a junior who is a first demand generation hire?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

My advice for someone who is more junior and/or a first demand generation hire is: 1) Be curious, and 2) Be humble.You are going to learn a lot, but also need to be humbl...

206 Views

What is your advice for creating and/or improving the demand generation process when joining a small but growing team?

Particularly for a small company with no or little structure?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

Creating and/or improving the demand generation process all starts with getting a current lay of the land. Assess where the team currently is and identify areas of opport...

279 Views

How do you determine the campaign types for demand gen?

What campaign types should take priority and how to structure them with metrics/kpis for success

Laura Lewis

Lexia Learning Director, Demand Generation & ABM | Formerly Addigy, Qualia, Progress • 1y

Selecting campaign types and their associated channels will depend first on your goals and what you want to achieve. The best campaigns use a mix of channels. Here are a ...

695 Views

How do you achieve consistent demand gen as a B2C and B2B startup with little marketing budget and self-funded from the revenue it currently generates? How do we make do with the resources we have now to reach more people who need our products?

Laura Lewis

Lexia Learning Director, Demand Generation & ABM | Formerly Addigy, Qualia, Progress • 1y

This is the million dollar question... literally!I've found that there are two types of Demand Generation professionals, and finding one who has both skills is more diffi...

748 Views

I’m the first Demand Generation hire in my company. What advice would you give to someone tasked with establishing this function in an existing business structure?

Kayla Rockwell

Databricks Senior Group Manager, Demand Generation • 4y

A team of one has the opportunity to lay the foundation for a solid demand generation function. That being said, it's important to ensure a thoughtful and scalable approa...

2,312 Views

Sometimes it seems like everyone has an opinion on marketing and messaging, so how do you balance integrating team members' feedback with delivering high volumes of content?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

Balancing team members' feedback with delivering high volumes of content can be challenging, but it is a crucial skill. You want to maintain a collaborative environment w...

225 Views

How do you track the effectiveness of your marketing activities and ensure the reporting is actionable and accurate?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

The first step to tracking the effectiveness of your marketing activities is to have an inventory of what is available from a tracking perspective and determine the neces...

212 Views

What do you find are the fastest paths to product adoption growth? Messaging, positioning, competitive comparisons, education/training, longer format ebooks vs. short-form social posts and blog posts, customer evidence?

Andy Ramirez ✪

GitLab Head of Growth Marketing • 3y

For existing customers one of the fastest paths to growth I've seen is creating virality. Find a way to get other users into the product and getting some value. Many B2B ...

1,410 Views

How do you quickly convert new technologies and product capabilities into messages that resonate with your audiences?

Erika Barbosa

Counterpart Marketing Lead | Formerly Issuu, OpenText, Webroot • 3y

You should start by thinking at a strategic level: What is your goal? How can you test the concept? The key is to truly meet your customers where they are and speak their...

203 Views

Demand Generation Team