3 Key Directions for Tech Demand Success
Because 60% of marketers believe that demand generation budgets will increase (according to Activate’s State of Demand Gen 2019 survey), there has never been a better time to employ innovative strategies that will boost pipeline and improve ROI. Let’s discuss some demand-gen developments that we expect to play out based on Activate’s unique visibility into a diverse set of organizations and practices.
Direction #1: Align sales and marketing
Aligning sales and marketing is a surefire method to increase ROI and drive productivity. The most effective marketing divisions are ones that deliver high-quality leads while keeping in constant communication with sales, according to the State of Demand Gen Survey 2019. Here are some ways you can align sales and marketing:
- Have marketing attend sales calls
- Gain agreement on personas
- Use common vocabulary between sales and marketing
What this means for demand marketers:
Marketers will need to do their due diligence when it comes to keeping in touch with sales. The more fluid communication is between these teams, the better the output will be. Make time to grab some coffee to go over some persona frameworks to see if any modifications need to be made. Marketers, you should attend one sales call or meeting per month from the leads you are generating to identify prospect pain point(s) to further fine-tune your demand marketing.
Direction #2: ABM takes flight
Sales teams need marketing to connect the dots between buyers and influencers in a company, so they’re armed with as much intelligence as possible to convert customers they have identified as their best prospects. For each lead delivered, the requirement will go beyond individual data to include how that person plays in the broader organizational construct. Demand marketers foresee a significant uptick in ABM, according to our State of Demand Gen 2019 survey. Here are some quick tips and strategies for your account-based efforts:
- Define your targeted audience
- Have accurate, clean data by your side
- Surround your prospect via multichannel marketing
What this means for demand marketers:
The aggregation of account-level data will be critical to the success of marketers who rely on research and analysis to build the most comprehensive picture of leads possible. You are likely using third-party data acquisition/augmentation. Read our in-depth analysis of the best ABM practices for your company.
Direction #3: Lead quality is more important than ever
While lead quality grows in priority for sales and marketing leadership, the threshold for meeting expectations will continue to expand and include:
- Interaction across multiple channels (at least two among web, social, telephone)
- Engagement with various forms of content
- Clear visibility into who the hand-raisers are, especially buying timeframe, as well as willingness to get on the phone with sales in the near term
Sales teams want leads who are willing to speak now. It is safe to say that BANT-qualified leads are now the starting point for sales.
What this means for demand marketers:
Marketers will need to continue expanding their toolkits to build content and run campaigns optimized for multiple channels, influencers and purchase cycles. Marketers must achieve insight into the company’s buying timeframe so there is a substantial opportunity to reach a lead at the time they’re ready to speak to a salesperson. Remember, telequalification is an excellent barometer to measure the quality of a lead.
Once the two teams come into alignment, it’s time to focus on the practical aspects, such as improving your ABM approach and mining the best possible leads. While these marketing directions are unique in different ways, they all share the same destination: demand-generation success.
