Demand Gen Best Practices Still In Early Growth Stage, According To Expert Panel
- Written by By Jim Osterman, Contributing Editor
- Published in Feature Articles
The discipline of demand generation is gradually becoming more mainstream and important to those businesses seeking a competitive edge, but decision makers inside companies need to more fully educate themselves on the methodology and benefits to fully harness its potential.
Moderated by Jeff Pedowitz, principal of The Pedowitz Group, the panel titled “Best Practices in Demand Generation,” featured Jim Williams of Eloqua, Lisa Cramer of First Wave, Geoff Rego of Market2Lead, Jon Miller of Marketo and Sarah Lander of Silverpop/VTrenz.
Although the panelists agreed that the practice of demand generation is growing at a rapid rate, “best practices” are still elusive due to the specialized nature of the demand generation discipline and the willingness of companies to completely embrace it on a broad scale.
“Demand generation is still in its infancy,” Rego said. “The benefits are a no-brainer and we have collectively been trying to share that in the market.” Rego pointed out that right now the total number of companies across the country embracing true demand generation methodology is in the “three digits” but he predicted that will grow substantially in the next five years.
EARLY WINS
One factor that will help demand generation’s expansion will be pointing to the success of the companies that have been willing to adopt a new way to reach out to their customers. Those companies have seen the positive effects of embracing demand generation and making it an integral part of their marketing/sales arsenal.
“Companies that are innovative in their thinking and willing to be early adopters [of demand generation] have had success,” said Silverpop’s Landers. “They have seen its benefits. It has opened opportunities for marketing-influenced revenue.”
Part of the gradual growth of demand generation can be traced to corporate marketing and sales executives, who may not yet fully grasp how the practice can help their companies grow. “It has to do with how you are with [managing] change,” said Marketo’s Miller. “Sales is about the next quarter – marketing takes a longer-term view.”
“We see two types of prospects,” Cramer added. “Those who know they have an issue and know that some sort of automation and expertise can fix it. The other type understands they have a problem, but they are not sure how to solve it.”
ALIGNMENT ADVOCATES
One way to mitigate the reticence to embrace the practice of demand generation is by tearing down the wall between sales and marketing, the panelists agreed, compelling the troops on both sides to see how to join forces for success.
“I think what you are seeing right now [from companies not adopting demand generation]
is that they are really comfortable with the way things are right now,” said Williams. “If you put too much change in front of them they are going to want to see some specific proof that there is something better out there.”
“There are hundreds of thousands of companies currently doing just lead generation,” Rego explained. “Demand generation is all about the alignment of the sales and marketing funnel to ensure greater throughput. This involves having the right mix of people, process and technology, with the right commitment to making it happen.”
“I think the risk is less when you have one person who oversees sales and marketing,” Cramer said. “And I think people will change and see the benefits of mixing sales and marketing”
An external factor affecting demand generation – and sales and marketing efforts, regardless of their discipline – is the audience. The evolution of the BtoB marketing skill set is having a significant impact in the ways companies try and take the buyer from interested party to qualified prospect to paying customer.
“We’re seeing that the customer is more in control of the [selling and buying] process than ever before,” Miller said.
“The best way to sell,” Rego added, “is to educate your customer how to buy and that engages them in all stages of the cycle.”
“You have to do something that creates value for your prospect,” Lander said. “And [demand generation] can accomplish that in a myriad number of ways.”
TAKING MEASURES
In addition to creating value for prospects, the panelists also pointed out how critical it is for organizations to have measurements in place to track the success of their demand generation investments. “There are three key performance indicators,” Rego said. “Marketing qualified leads, sales accepted leads and sales qualified opportunities. These can, for the most part, be measured and once you can measure them you can manage them.”
“This varies based on the level of sophistication of the company,” Cramer said. “Accountability needs to move from the number of clicks into substantial metrics that affect sales. One would be the number of qualified leads passed to sales. Another would be to increase the return on investment on lead generation dollars.”
One thing the panelists all agreed on and stressed – demand generation does not represent a shortcut or quick fix. “The innovative [companies] understand the formula and know that you cannot get there by hitting ‘The Easy Button’,” Rego concluded.