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Demand Generation

 

This section highlight automation  and enablement tools, features, functionality, tactics and strategies to optimize demand generation.

 

BtoB Insiders Weigh In On U.S. Implications Of New European Tracking Regulations

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In the wake of recently proposed “Do Not Track” legislation in the U.S., new European privacy regulations have gone into effect May 26, 2011. Under an added amendment to the EU privacy directive, organizations conducting online marketing campaigns in the member states must receive explicit permission, or opt-in consent, to track individuals’ actions online. Industry insiders say there could be implications for U.S. Marketers from the EU regulations, while others point out the new rules are an opportunity to take standardized approach to privacy around the globe.

“Permission-based marketing is now more important than ever,” said Reinhard Janning, CEO of DemandGen International, Europe. “Without an explicit opt-in you cannot communicate or track your prospects. This means that your communication needs to be targeted and relevant in order to get permission to market to these prospects. In addition, you will need to make it easy for prospects to opt-in to your communications and engage in a virtual dialogue.”

Survey Shows Marketers Not Optimizing The Full Use Of Automation Systems

Most companies have received a passing grade when it comes to the basic curriculum for marketing automation deployment, but the advanced classes of the technology are proving to be difficult. A new survey by DemandGen Report found a wide majority are successfully utilizing email marketing, web forms and landing page tools, but are struggling to successfully deploy more advanced tools such as lead nurturing and lead scoring are taking more time to master.

The Marketing Automation Growth Curve survey, conducted in March and April of this year, targeted firms that have already deployed a marketing automation system. The survey found most marketers are starting with the basic tools and then graduating over time to more sophisticated functionality, such as lead nurturing and lead scoring.

DemandCon Event Offers Successful Models, New Approaches To Demand Gen Strategies

DemandGen_Video_SCThe sales and marketing funnel had three days in the spotlight during the inaugural DemandCon event, May 18-20 in San Francisco. Bringing together more than 60 industry speakers and approximately 300 attendees, the event featured blueprints of successful rollouts of integrated demand generation programs, and challenged the conventional thinking on the structure of the funnel.

In the opening keynote address, Jeff Ernst, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, serving CMO and Marketing Leadership Professionals, took a somewhat controversial stand by encouraging sales and marketing executives to “bury the funnel.” Ernst said it was a myth that the funnel represents buyer behavior and suggested that rather than aligning marketing and sales, organizations must focus on alignment with the buyer.

Kicking B2B marketing insights into action

Source: MathMarketing.com

Hugh Macfarlane, Founder & CEO of MathMarketing, writes...

At the end of day 2 at DemandCon, B2B marketing attendees should have all the advice you need to create a truly excellent Funnel Plan. The trick will be applying what you have learnt when you return to your B2B marketing company, and you are faced with the same problems that were there when you left for the conference. Whether its resource-shortages, process faults or a lack of alignment, your team will only be as strong as the processes that underlie it. You need to be confident that these processes are in order, and that the whole team understands them. So how do you turn all the good advice from DemandCon into an actionable plan?

For starters, attending the final session ‘Turning Funnel Insights Into Action’ on day 2 of DemandCon. The express aim of this session is to “provide a summary of key takeaways as well as prescriptive action items attendees can take home and apply to their businesses immediately.” The format of the presentation will be a panel of three experts who will provide ‘real-world’ examples of how to do this.

DemandGen International CEO Shares Insights Into Changing Use Cases For Marketing Automation

dl-1At the recent SiriusDecisions conference in Arizon, DemandGen Report sat down with David Lewis, founder and CEO of DemandGen International, one of the leading automation and consultancies in the industry. A pioneer in the space, Lewis was one of the early adopters of marketing automation during his days as a marketing executive, and has helped guide the successful rollout of these tools and processes and a number of large enterprises.


During the discussion, Lewis shared insights into the changing use cases for marketing automation, as companies are now going deeper into lead management to track marketing performance and the “cold to close” impact of marketing on revenue and closed business.  Tune in to this 7-minute discussion for keen insights into the changing landscape of marketing operations and lead management from one of the top thought leaders in the industry.

SiriusDecisions Summit Highlights ROI of Sales and Marketing Alignment; Introduces New Frameworks for Lead Nurturing, Sales Enablement


SUMMIT_2011_US_Logo500pxThe annual SiriusDecisions Summit has become the bellwether event to track the progress and maturation of demand generation practices in the BtoB sector. And based on the presentations from this year’s event, held last week in Scottsdale, AZ, major BtoB companies are now realizing significant payoffs from their investments in sales and marketing alignment and lead management tools and processes. 

The event provided three days of best practices, benchmarks, case studies and proof points, all demonstrating how Bb-to-B b companies that have made investments in integrated lead development, demand management and measurement are outperforming their competitors.

Survey Shows Virtual-Hybrid Events Emerging As ‘New Normal’ in Marketing, Training & Collaboration


The majority of marketers are increasingly turning to virtual and hybrid events as part of an overall marketing strategy, according to Unisfair, an InterCall company and provider of virtual events and business environments. The company recently announced new research that shows virtual engagement are emerging as “the new normal” in marketing, training and collaboration.

Based on responses from more than 550 marketers nationwide, the second annual Unisfair survey reveals 60% of respondents plan to increase spending of virtual events and environments this year.

Forrester Introduces New Marketing Models To Help Companies “ADAPT” To The Next Digital Decade

As marketers prepare to address the “next digital decade,” many are finding themselves lacking when it comes to strategies, tools and tactics to connect with customers across emerging mediums such as social media and mobile. This skills and strategy gap was explored in several sessions at the 2011 Forrester Marketing Forum in San Francisco.

Illustrating this gap, Forrester Research recently found that:

  • 84% of CMOs say they have inadequate budgets for experimentation;
  • 74% said they inadequate executive support and
  • 67% pointed to inadequate marketing technology.

 “CMOs are in a crisis of confidence,” pointed out Chris Stutzman, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research.

More Articles...

  1. Changing Dynamics: The Rise of A New BtoB Marketing Funnel
  2. Increase Sales Via Virtual Events: 3 Steps To Maximize Virtual Sales Magic
  3. Making the Case for Marketing Automation and CRM: Data Needs More Than Just a Home
  4. Author Ann Handley Shares Insights On Content’s Connection To Demand Generation Success