Talmage Egan

Being the first demand generation hire is incredibly exciting. You’re in a position with endless opportunities 🌊, but that also means you’ll need to balance owning many KPIs with focusing on the ones that truly matter. Here’s how I would approach it: 1. Own All KPIs, But Prioritize What You Report 🎯: * As the first hire, you’ll naturally be responsible for tracking a wide range of metrics. You’ll care about things like blog performance (e.g., low bounce rates 📉 or high engagement 📊) because these help you understand what’s driving traffic and conversions. However, not every KPI needs to be reported to stakeholders. * Your job is to filter the noise. Stakeholders like the CEO or leadership team will only care about KPIs that directly move the needle 📈. 2. Track These Key Metrics for Stakeholders 🔑: * Opportunities Generated * Demo Requests * MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads) * Total Leads * Closed-Won Opportunities from Marketing Efforts 💼 3. Stay Informed on Supporting Metrics 🧩: * While stakeholders may not care about metrics like blog bounce rates or webinar attendance on a granular level, these are crucial for your strategy. Use them to inform decisions about content creation, conversion paths, and campaign optimization. 4. Be Patient With Big Wins ⏳: * Early on, wins might feel small and less frequent. That’s normal. Over time, as you refine your processes and track your progress, those wins will compound, creating a powerful growth story 🚀. By focusing on KPIs that matter to leadership while using supporting metrics to refine your strategy, you’ll build a strong foundation for demand generation success—and create impressive results to showcase on your resume 🌟.

The ideal OKRs for demand generation depend on your organization’s specific goals, but they should always align closely with tangible business outcomes, particularly financial targets 💰. Demand generation operates closer to revenue than many other marketing functions, so the focus should be on metrics that directly support the growth and financial health of the business 📈. For example, OKRs shouldn’t primarily center on surface-level metrics like content downloads 📄 or website clicks 🔗. While these are helpful indicators, they’re not the end goal. Instead, demand gen OKRs should emphasize: 1. Pipeline Generation 🚀: * How many Sales Qualified Opportunities (SQOs) are being created? * Are you generating enough pipeline to meet the company’s growth targets? 2. Channel Growth and Optimization 🌟: * Set measurable goals for expanding high-performing channels, e.g., "Increase pipeline from paid search by 10% quarter over quarter." 3. Cross-Functional Partnerships 🤝: * Demand generation often works across multiple business areas, so include OKRs that enhance collaboration. For example, "Improve alignment with sales to increase the conversion rate of SQOs by 5%." By focusing on these areas—pipeline generation 🚀, channel growth 🌟, and collaboration 🤝—you’ll ensure your OKRs are meaningful, impactful, and aligned with broader business objectives.

Yes, I believe they can ✅. Managing existing demand is just as important as generating new demand 🔄. Even without a budget for ads, you likely still have pipeline activity and leads coming in from various sources that need to be effectively managed and optimized. In such a scenario, I would focus on maximizing the impact of the current pipeline. This includes: 1. Analyzing Opportunities 🔍: Take a detailed look at the opportunities coming through and identify trends and gaps. 2. Collaborating with Sales 🤝: Work closely with the sales team to understand how leads are being managed and uncover areas for improvement. 3. Leveraging Existing Sources 🌟: Ensure you’re fully capitalizing on the current sources of pipeline generation. The key is to identify what’s working ✅ and what’s not ❌. By doing so, you can build a data-driven case to share with leadership, sales partners, and other stakeholders 📊. If the pipeline isn’t performing as needed, you can pinpoint the gaps. If it is performing well, you can advocate for doubling down on what’s working 🚀. Ultimately, while growth will eventually require identifying new sources and investments 🌱, proving the value of your existing efforts is the first step toward building a sustainable strategy 🛠️. So yes, I believe a demand gen manager can be successful without a budget—success comes down to effectively managing and optimizing what you have 🌟.

The metrics you hold demand generation accountable for will vary depending on the stage of your business and the maturity of your analytics 🔍. A startup, for instance, will need to focus on different metrics than an established brand. Similarly, how well you understand your full funnel will dictate whether you prioritize testing new strategies or doubling down on proven tactics. Here’s my (made-up-on-the-spot) step-by-step process for determining the right metrics: 1. Understand Your Funnel 🧩: * Map out your conversion metrics. * Identify key touchpoints: How many leads do you need to create an opportunity? What are your conversion rates from MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) to SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) to SQO (Sales Qualified Opportunity) to closed-won deals? * This foundational understanding helps you pinpoint where to focus and what success looks like. 2. Define Accountability Metrics 🎯: * Early-stage companies might track activity-level metrics such as MQLs, meetings booked, or demos requested. * Later-stage companies often hold demand gen accountable for broader outcomes like top-of-funnel pipeline or pipeline contribution to revenue. 3. Start Small If Needed 🛠️: * If your analytics aren’t fully mature, focus on individual activities, such as evaluating the ROI of specific trade shows, ad campaigns, or events. This micro-level analysis can guide initial accountability until you develop a clearer picture of your funnel dynamics. 4. Align Metrics With Budget and Scale 💵: * Your available budget and organizational size will influence what you measure. For instance, a smaller budget might prioritize fewer, high-impact activities, while a larger one allows for broader experimentation. By following this process, you’ll set demand generation up for success with metrics that are actionable, aligned with your stage of growth, and directly tied to business outcomes 🚀.

An often-overlooked KPI for demand generation teams is your company’s brand strength 🌟. It’s easy for demand generation professionals to focus solely on bottom-of-funnel activities—tracking last-touch actions like demo requests 📩 or understanding immediate drivers of pipeline growth 📈. However, this can lead to neglecting the critical role that branding plays in long-term success. Your brand is one of the strongest sources of inbound leads. The number of people actively seeking out your company is a direct reflection of how strong your brand is 🏆. While demand gen teams typically prioritize short-term wins, it’s essential to think bigger and invest in building brand equity over time. Here’s how to address this: 1. For Smaller Organizations 🏗️: Focus on meaningful, targeted ways to build your brand within your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). Engage in activities that resonate with your audience and increase awareness. 2. For Larger Organizations 🌐: Collaborate closely with teams like social media 📲, creative 🎨, and branding 💡 to ensure your demand gen efforts contribute to strengthening the company’s overall brand presence. By integrating branding into your demand gen strategy, you’ll create a more reliable and scalable source of inbound leads. Strong brands are what drive sustainable growth, making brand strength a KPI no demand generation team should overlook 🔑.

Demand generation and content marketing are truly a match made in heaven 🌟. Together, they create a powerful blend of long-term brand building and short-term pipeline generation—a partnership that strengthens your marketing strategy from every angle. Here’s how I would measure their combined impact: 1. Content Marketing Metrics 📝: * Audience Growth: Track how much your database is growing 📈. How many people are you bringing into your funnel through content? * Long-Term Conversions: Measure the lifecycle of leads generated through content. For example, someone downloading a white paper today might convert to an opportunity or closed-won deal years later ⏳. * Engagement Metrics: Identify which content pieces are resonating (e.g., time on page, bounce rate, social shares) to refine your strategy. 2. Demand Generation Metrics 🚀: * Pipeline Contribution: How much of the pipeline originates from demand gen efforts? * Revenue Impact: Tie leads and opportunities from content marketing to closed-won deals 💰. * Channel Effectiveness: Evaluate how content marketing enhances other demand gen activities, such as email marketing, paid social, and retargeting. 3. The Combined Impact 🔗: * Customer Journey Tracking: Use tools to follow leads from their first content interaction through to pipeline creation and revenue. This showcases how content influences and supports the entire funnel. * Cross-Channel Amplification: Recognize how content marketing boosts other efforts: * Email Marketing: A strong database built through content drives higher engagement 📬. * Paid Social: Retargeting thrives when fueled by a robust audience familiar with your brand 🎯. * Website Traffic: Consistently valuable content makes your website a trusted destination for prospects 🏡. 4. Consistency Is Key 📆: * Content marketing is a long-term play. You need to act like a consistent publisher 📰—the industry “watering hole” where prospects return for trusted information. The more consistent and strategic you are, the stronger your demand gen and content synergy will become. By pairing the audience-building power of content marketing with the revenue-focused metrics of demand generation, you’ll create a holistic view of success and set your strategy up for sustained growth 🚀.