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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Demand Generation is challenging to begin with. This is especially true at larger B2B Brands where there is a myriad of ICPs, products, messages, CTAs, etc. to manage. In this week’s Buzz, I share some tips from lessons learned to manage scaled demand gen programs with excellence.
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IN THIS ISSUE
This Week's Topic: Demand Generation
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3 Keys to Orchestrate Demand Generation for Excellence
Larger demand generation programs require two things that at first may appear opposing: Rigor & Flexibility. But, in larger organizations, this is exactly the dichotomy you need for an effective scaled demand generation program.
The rigor creates the foundations to ensure brand, messaging, measurement, etc. consistency. And the flexibility, meanwhile, allows for the ebbs and flows of supporting complex markets, product portfolios, lines of businesses, and geographies. It is the balance of these opposing forces, that many larger B2B brands fail to manage correctly. This ends up either squelching creativity by being too rigorous. Or missing opportunities for compounding return on marketing investment by lacking consistency. Marketing is accretive.
Key #1: Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Many B2B go to market leaders - and other executive leaders for that matter - focus on the wrong metrics to understand the success of B2B go to market. The business outcome is Revenue. Full stop.
For demand generation, specifically, we need to use this metric as the business outcome. Not leads, not pipeline, but Revenue. So in our campaign optimization and program success measurement, we need to ensure that Revenue is center stage. But many firms report the success of demand generation in terms of tactics (e.g., pipeline, leads) and fail to truly determine the ROI of their demand generation programs. As I like to say, the “R” in ROI is Revenue.
Key #2: Everything is a Building Block
Demand Generation has almost too many moving parts, content, design, technology, data, and so much more. This is why I’m a big believer of using modular frameworks, templates, and systems for demand gen at scale. It enables the management of our Rigor & Flexibility dichotomy with excellence.
Let’s take a tactical example. Let’s start with a well-used demand gen tactic landing pages. A landing page has various components: design elements; messaging by ICP / Persona; messaging by product / brand; CTA by campaign objective; brand requirements; analytic and measurement needs; data requirements and so on. With a modular go to market framework, we can iimplement landing pages with ease. No longer is there a need for reinventing the wheel for each new landing page. And as you can see standing up a Landing Page Optimization Tool won’t solve the marketing challenge. In fact, setting up an LPO stack can only show how un-modularized your GTM really is. And is lacking the strategic flexibility to operate demand gen with Rigor & Flexibility Excellence.
Key #3: Visualize Your Strategy
Demand generation is a fast-paced implementation effort that requires Rigor to have excellence. One important way to convey strategic approaches is to develop visual frameworks that enable a team, at a quick glance, to implement that specific strategy. Take messaging, for example, it is very complex. The are brand stories; product stories; ICP need stories; and so on. And if your messaging is built correctly there is a giant matrix in your GTM strategy that explains that messaging framework.
But a matrix isn’t a functional visualization in the fast-paced world of demand gen. In the consulting side of my life, I use use messaging “pinwheels” to demonstrate that messaging framework (example above). These pinwheels then get turned into a playbook for your GTM. This one is by ICP, but there are others where the hub is your brand story; your product story; and so on. This “book” of pinwheels then gets shared and trained upon. The Book becomes the lexicon for company wide collaboration across the entire go to market engine.
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