Matt Hummel

Walk me through your favorite campaign. I love this question but it's pretty open-ended and can reveal a lot about the way in which a candidate thinks. Did they understand their audience? Did they design their program in a way to achieve the goals? Did it even have established goals? Was in creative in the sense that it ultimately achieved what it set out to achieve? It enables a candidate to demonstrate how they think about strategy, planning, and execution without leading the witness!

To a degree this remains trial and error / a bit fluid. However, we are seeing that not over-relying on one form vs. another is the best approach. For example, webinars used to print pipeline, as did on-demand webinars. Post COVID, webinars became everything and eventually it caught up as companies were seeing less pipeline. However, webinars can still be a great way to engage and deliver meaningful content. You have to think about the audience and purpose though, and then make sure you are using it across different channels. We're also seeing virtual events such as user groups perform well, but just on a smaller scale. With that said though, they tend to be very engaged audiences, and something that can really be a value-add for both the customers/prospects involved (think peer-to-peer learning), but also provide tons of great insights for your organization. Last (but not least!), in-person events are more-or-less back. Admittedly I've been hearing that for a couple years now, but I'm still not sure they are back to pre-COVID days. However, we've seen some success with in person events (in terms of attendance and also engagement, pipeline, etc.), and we're starting to see numbers pick back up for some of our larger tradeshows, too. I think it's still a matter of time before companies can really figure out the right investment to put towards in-person events, though I would contend this has forced a lot of companies who didn't have a great process of measuring ROI (aka "we have to be at this event because everyone else is") to take a deeper look at whether this is the right approach, particularly in these macro-economic conditions. To sum it up ... there is no one-size-fits-all answer or approach. Talk to your customers and prospects. Test things out. Don't be afraid to go big, but just make sure you put the right focus and strategy when you do!

I'll provide a high-level framework I've used at a few companies, which is not totally unique to me, but has proven very helpful: First 30 Days: LEARN!!! Products (sit on demos, sales calls, web training), people (primarily your team/relevant stakeholders), process (helpful to know how to get stuff done, plus there are likely areas you'll want to improve at some point BUT don't do that immediately - be patient!), culture, and systems. Next 30 Days: start to formulate your initial learnings into insights / action plans. Test this out with relevant stakeholders to course-correct and/or get alignment. So important to do this! Last 30 Days: GO! Ensure alignment of plan with your manager, and jump in with both feet! Whatever you do, don't try to boil the ocean (trust me, I've tried multiple times) - but do find quick wins - and friends. Find your people - your advocates. Someone you can confide in, someone who has your back, and someone who can continue to help mentor you! Ultimately every situation is unique, so apply this with a grain of salt. But I've found that you really have a small window where no question is a dumb question - so take advantage of it, and set yourself up for long-term success. I've seen too many folks have a short-term view and want to fix everything or prove themselves too fast and too much without having a true picture of what matters most to an organization. One last tip - start with the end in mind. Write down a few questions you want to be able to answer at the end of each 30 days, and that will give some focus to how you approach your time.

I've been in both situations, and you really do need the same talent to be successful, it's just how you prioritize and ultimately staff that can be different. For example, you'll often see at small companies a sole digital marketer driving demand which unfortunately is mostly through top-of-funnel lead gen activities. Of course you can do more full-funnel with digital, but you're missing so much opportunity if that's your only skill set. In a small company, if you have someone who knows tech (e.g., SFDC and Marketo), plus knows how to work with sales and create campaigns - then you can work with that plus an agency to provide some additional support. That scenario works the same even without the technical skills - you would just need to augment with likely either external agency support or sometimes you can find that type of expertise within Sales Ops. When your team gets larger, you can start to create more nuanced skills - SEO, paid media, campaign strategists, campaign planners, marketing ops, CRO/web, ABM (though this should really be an inherent skill of any good DG marketer) ... the list could go on. Always start by understanding your buyers and then determine what your needs are - with a smaller team your focus should be on setting up some repeatable demand levers (think content syndication, LinkedIn, paid search) where you can partner with some folks to establish strong full-funnel evergreen content that can buy you some time to grow revenue and ultimately grow and scale your team.

Build a demand playbook. This forces you to get under the hood on how demand is created at your organization. Map out the entire process from awareness to advocacy, and everything in between. This will help you understand if there are any gaps in the process - for example, is demand gen (or even the organization) only focused on new customer acquisition but doesn't have a process for expanding or retaining? Compare that with the data - digging into conversion rates throughout each stage. I call this "fixing the leaky bucket." I've created more revenue and profit through fixing leaks in the bucket than any cool new program created. Trust me, it's there - you just have to know where to look! Another benefit of the playbook is it aligns everyone around a common set of operating practices. This is so helpful as you create scale, but also as you onboard new employees or agencies into your mix.

I believe there are two keys to growing your career as a demand marketer: * Know your numbers * Own your numbers Now this isn't to say demand gen is all about pipeline. There's more to unpack here. Knowing your numbers means knowing what's required to achieve the plan, both from a marketing perspective but also from an overall sales and revenue perspective. Beyond that, it means understanding the different levers you can pull to achieve your numbers (hint, it's not just about volume!). Owning your numbers involves building a strong partnership with sales - not just sales leadership, but across the organization. You need to create an environment of transparency and accountability if you want to succeed and grow in your career. You will have some great quarters, and you will have some not so great quarters. The key is owning it - not just your part - but being part of the overall growth of the business - the overall number. Similar to a sales rep growing their career there is certainly accountability for hitting your targets, but beyond that, and arguable of equal if not greater importance, you must demonstrate an understanding of the business and demonstrate that alignment and shared accountability.

The best demand gen candidates bring a balance of art and science! Demand Gen is not just being a digital marketer, and it's not just being really creative. It's so much more, and the best candidates I've worked with bring an appreciation of the customer to the forefront of the discussion. They combine that with an approach that balances both art and science, creating compelling programs that ultimately serve the customer which in turn serves their own organization.

This is a great question, and like most questions, there isn't one perfect answer. It really depends on the organization (size, growth rate, etc.), but I'll share some key things I would certainly want to evaluate for most situations. * Available support: unless they are expecting you to do everything, it's important you understand what type of support resources you have. Will you have Marketing Ops, Sales Ops, paid media support, content marketing, etc. Some demand gen marketers can do all of that - and more power to you if you can, but organizations that invest in those areas, particularly in Marketing Operations, are likely to perform much higher from a demand gen perspective * Alignment: this doesn't have to be perfect, but there has to be a desire. Alignment first and foremost with sales, but then also with Product as well as with Finance. If it's a smaller company you're going to want further alignment including those who drive influence such as the CEO * Customer retention: the most frustrating thing for a demand gen marketer is if you are successful in your job (acquiring and even growing customers), but those customers are leaving as soon as they can. It makes your job that much more difficult, and ultimately it's a strong indicator of a larger organizational problem that you should at a minimum discuss during the interview process Beyond those, just make sure it's a product/solution you can get excited about. The best marketing comes from marketers who are passionate about the customers they are serving. You don't have to be an expert in that particular field, but you should believe in what you are doing as that will show in your work!

I always start with a comprehensive audit, focusing generally on the following areas. I evaluate a combination of qualitative and quantitative factors which allows me to have a clear understanding of the maturity of the function. The key is knowing what good looks like / being able to know where you want to get to. Because this audit should then turn into a roadmap towards building a proper demand center. * Sales & Marketing alignment * Demand funnel * Lead scoring * Lead nurturing * Content * Buyer personas * Planning and strategy * Process * Data management * Measurement * Systems * ABM * Campaign data and orchestration * Business acumen

Demand generation encompasses so many unique skills - both technical, but also business acumen. I'd contend there is no perfect singular answer to this question, as each company's situation will be unique and have some nuance around what skills would be most beneficial. With that said, there are some core fundamental skills you should develop: * Hard skills: SEO, CRO, digital advertising, data analytics, copywriting (super underrated!), nurture strategy (this one could differentiate you), and it wouldn't hurt to be dangerous with some of the common marketing automation platforms * Soft skills: creative, collaborative (you can't do this alone!), strong communication, disciplined and organized (this one is also highly underrated, but arguably when this one is lacking it can destroy all trust and credibility) These lists are by no means comprehensive, but certainly a great foundation that one should have entering into a DG Manager role and ones that will serve you well as you continue to progress in your career.