Demand generation โ ads promoting ungated content, random webinars and product content. To avoid random acts of marketing we need a demand gen calendar.
Here is how we create it.
1/ DEFINE CORE DEMAND GEN PILLARS.
Define core awareness, demand gen and demand capturing programs.
If you don't have a mature function, select 1-2 programs per pillar and run them until you excel at them.
2/ DEFINE DAILY ACTIVITIES.
We do:
- Thought leadership
- Engaging with our target accounts, clients and peers
- Engaging in our Trenches - B2B marketing community
3/ DEFINE WEEKLY ACTIVITIES.
Questions that resonate with our ICP we cover in-depth on weekly Full-Funnel Live and our newsletter.
4/ DEFINE MONTHLY ACTIVITIES.
We either host live workshop, deep dives, or webinars where we explain a specific concept or work on a specific challenge.
---
We'll host 2 live workshops on launching a pilot ABM program 30.09 in Amsterdam and 3.10 in London.
If you're interested in attending, leave a comment - I'll share details.
----
Once a month we also aim to release a new practical case study with our clients either in the format of an interview or a written case study.
5/ DEFINE QUARTER ACTIVITIES.
Depending on market trends and demand we either host a live bootcamp, record a new on-demand course or create a free email course to maximize nurturing of our market on broader pillars of full-funnel B2B marketing:
- GTM strategy
- Demand generation
- ABM
- Thought leadership and social selling on LinkedIn
6/ DEFINE ANNUAL ACTIVITIES.
Once a year we run two major programs: Full-funnel summit and The State of Full-Funnel B2B marketing research.
These programs help us to engage with a broader community and amplify brand awareness.
----
A lot of B2B teams complain they don't have time, stack, budget or resourses. But I think the root reason is lack of prioritization and proper planning.
You don't need 15 different programs.
You need 3-5 programs which are split between daily, weekly, monthly, quarter and annual activities that you excel at.
Here is how we create it.
1/ DEFINE CORE DEMAND GEN PILLARS.
Define core awareness, demand gen and demand capturing programs.
If you don't have a mature function, select 1-2 programs per pillar and run them until you excel at them.
2/ DEFINE DAILY ACTIVITIES.
We do:
- Thought leadership
- Engaging with our target accounts, clients and peers
- Engaging in our Trenches - B2B marketing community
3/ DEFINE WEEKLY ACTIVITIES.
Questions that resonate with our ICP we cover in-depth on weekly Full-Funnel Live and our newsletter.
4/ DEFINE MONTHLY ACTIVITIES.
We either host live workshop, deep dives, or webinars where we explain a specific concept or work on a specific challenge.
---
We'll host 2 live workshops on launching a pilot ABM program 30.09 in Amsterdam and 3.10 in London.
If you're interested in attending, leave a comment - I'll share details.
----
Once a month we also aim to release a new practical case study with our clients either in the format of an interview or a written case study.
5/ DEFINE QUARTER ACTIVITIES.
Depending on market trends and demand we either host a live bootcamp, record a new on-demand course or create a free email course to maximize nurturing of our market on broader pillars of full-funnel B2B marketing:
- GTM strategy
- Demand generation
- ABM
- Thought leadership and social selling on LinkedIn
6/ DEFINE ANNUAL ACTIVITIES.
Once a year we run two major programs: Full-funnel summit and The State of Full-Funnel B2B marketing research.
These programs help us to engage with a broader community and amplify brand awareness.
----
A lot of B2B teams complain they don't have time, stack, budget or resourses. But I think the root reason is lack of prioritization and proper planning.
You don't need 15 different programs.
You need 3-5 programs which are split between daily, weekly, monthly, quarter and annual activities that you excel at.
Linkedin
Trenches - B2B marketing community | LinkedIn
Trenches - B2B marketing community | 2,320 followers on LinkedIn. Free community created by B2B marketers for B2B marketers who are in the trenches every day. | Trenches is a community created by B2B marketers for B2B marketers who are in the trenches everyโฆ
Here is an overview of a cohesive B2B demand generation and ABM function
(and 6 steps to develop it).
1. DEFINE CLEAR ICP CRITERIA.
- Firmographics/technographics
- Account qualification and disqualification
- Buying committee roles
2. DEFINE ACCOUNT PRIORITIZATION CRITERIA.
Develop an internal opportunity likelihood assessment: Which accounts can become sales opportunities this quarter?
- What tells us that this account is "vendor aware"?
- What information do we need to have to be able to create a personalized offer?
- What signals can tell us they have a need in our product?
- What is the revenue potential of accounts we want to focus on? Prioritize Tier 1 and Tier 2 accounts.
3. DEFINE SOURCES OF INTENT AND ENGAGEMENT DATA.
Prioritize:
- Social repetitive engagement
- Website intent
- Event sign ups
- Champions/power users joined a new company
- Content hubs
Define an engagement threshold to select accounts that are already aware of you.
4. SEGMENT ACCOUNTS INTO THREE LISTS.
Segment all accounts into 3 lists:
- Cluster ICP: vendor unaware, product need is not known.
Goals: make them vendor aware, get engagement from the buying committee members.
- Future pipeline: vendor aware, product need is not known.
Goals: collect information about account needs, build relationship with potential Champions.
- Active Focus: vendor aware, product need is known + strong buying signals.
Goals: create internal Champions, generate sales opportunities.
To create champions you need to generate enough credibility and set up a belief that you have the right solution to their challenge.
Spend 20% of marketing and sales activities on Future Pipeline and 80% - on Active Focus.
Cluster ICP (where accounts from territory planning should fall down) should be added to your demand gen program.
5. ACCOUNT MAPPING.
If you are targeting enterprise companies, you can easily end up with hundreds of people who have VP/ Chief / Head Of ..<your solution>.
Define the right buyers you need to engage with, understand their jobs-to-be-done, KPIs, roles in the strategic account initiatives.
Then, align them with the buying committee roles: champions, decision-makers, blockers, etc.
6. PLAN LIST ACTIVITIES.
Answer 3 questions:
- What content and activities should we run to create vendor awareness and generate demand for our product among cluster ICP?
- How can we build relationships with the buying committee of Future Pipeline accounts and validate their challenges?
- How can we nurture and accelerate buyer journey of Active Focus accounts to generate a sales opportunity?
---
Not all accounts that demonstrate high engagement are ready to buy.
Instead of siloed functions, we should focus on marketing across the whole funnel.
This model helps you create a cohesive loop to activate accounts that are ready to talk to you and stay top of the mind of the companies that are not ready to buy.
(and 6 steps to develop it).
1. DEFINE CLEAR ICP CRITERIA.
- Firmographics/technographics
- Account qualification and disqualification
- Buying committee roles
2. DEFINE ACCOUNT PRIORITIZATION CRITERIA.
Develop an internal opportunity likelihood assessment: Which accounts can become sales opportunities this quarter?
- What tells us that this account is "vendor aware"?
- What information do we need to have to be able to create a personalized offer?
- What signals can tell us they have a need in our product?
- What is the revenue potential of accounts we want to focus on? Prioritize Tier 1 and Tier 2 accounts.
3. DEFINE SOURCES OF INTENT AND ENGAGEMENT DATA.
Prioritize:
- Social repetitive engagement
- Website intent
- Event sign ups
- Champions/power users joined a new company
- Content hubs
Define an engagement threshold to select accounts that are already aware of you.
4. SEGMENT ACCOUNTS INTO THREE LISTS.
Segment all accounts into 3 lists:
- Cluster ICP: vendor unaware, product need is not known.
Goals: make them vendor aware, get engagement from the buying committee members.
- Future pipeline: vendor aware, product need is not known.
Goals: collect information about account needs, build relationship with potential Champions.
- Active Focus: vendor aware, product need is known + strong buying signals.
Goals: create internal Champions, generate sales opportunities.
To create champions you need to generate enough credibility and set up a belief that you have the right solution to their challenge.
Spend 20% of marketing and sales activities on Future Pipeline and 80% - on Active Focus.
Cluster ICP (where accounts from territory planning should fall down) should be added to your demand gen program.
5. ACCOUNT MAPPING.
If you are targeting enterprise companies, you can easily end up with hundreds of people who have VP/ Chief / Head Of ..<your solution>.
Define the right buyers you need to engage with, understand their jobs-to-be-done, KPIs, roles in the strategic account initiatives.
Then, align them with the buying committee roles: champions, decision-makers, blockers, etc.
6. PLAN LIST ACTIVITIES.
Answer 3 questions:
- What content and activities should we run to create vendor awareness and generate demand for our product among cluster ICP?
- How can we build relationships with the buying committee of Future Pipeline accounts and validate their challenges?
- How can we nurture and accelerate buyer journey of Active Focus accounts to generate a sales opportunity?
---
Not all accounts that demonstrate high engagement are ready to buy.
Instead of siloed functions, we should focus on marketing across the whole funnel.
This model helps you create a cohesive loop to activate accounts that are ready to talk to you and stay top of the mind of the companies that are not ready to buy.
Every year B2B companies complain that sales cycles become longer. But they ignore 4 fundamental reasons that extend the buying process...
1. FRICTION POINTS ALONGSIDE BUYER JOURNEY.
When B2B buyers arrive at the vendor's website, they want to see WITHOUT talking to SDRs:
-How does your product work, and what makes it different?
-Industry use cases
-Price
-Product overview (sandbox or self-trial)
B2B companies hide this information because they assume competitors can steal it, price will scare the prospect or price requires a lot of customization.
As a consequence, they deal:
-No show-ups and ghosting leads
-Long sales cycles
2. LACK OF BUYER ENABLEMENT.
Despite the enthusiasm of your Champions for your product, they still need to secure budget approval and convince other members of the buying committee.
During the buying process, they will get dozens of questions about:
-Budget justification and ROI
-Vertical use cases
-Migration, security, and onboarding
If you are not armoring your Champion with the content to address these questions, the buying cycle extends.
3. LIMITED BRAND AWARENESS.
Again, even if your Champion is super excited, but other buying committee members have never heard about your product, the sales cycle extends.
Nobody wants to risk.
4. UNQUALIFIED SALES REPS.
B2B buyers want thorough answers to their questions when speaking with sales reps. They don't want to go through BANT qualification and a boring demo, followed by phone and email follow-ups from a junior SDR.
We are not in the "Wolf from Wall Street" movie. Sales reps are consultants first, sellers - second.
HOW TO INFLUENCE AND SHORTEN THE BUYING PROCESS
-Tailor your marketing message to your ICP
-Target the buying committee group with 4 demand programs:
*Paid content distribution
*Social engagement and thought leadership
*Events
*Content collaboration
-Join and engage with communities where your buyers ask for recommendations or learn about new products.
-Show product price or at least give an estimate (product calculators help)
-Create product tours or sandbox accounts
-Share detailed vertical use cases
-Prepare content your buyers need during the buying process
-Make sure everybody in your company who talks to customers knows your product well and understands ICP's jobs to be done.
---
Enterprise B2B companies will always deal with the long buying cycle due to the nature of their business. That being said, they can prevent it from getting elongated.
Reduce friction points from the buying process.
Interview your customers and understand what information they usually gather during the research, then - create the necessary content.
Become a well-known trusted brand.
Invest in the education of your sales reps and make sure they have an extensive product and market knowledge.
1. FRICTION POINTS ALONGSIDE BUYER JOURNEY.
When B2B buyers arrive at the vendor's website, they want to see WITHOUT talking to SDRs:
-How does your product work, and what makes it different?
-Industry use cases
-Price
-Product overview (sandbox or self-trial)
B2B companies hide this information because they assume competitors can steal it, price will scare the prospect or price requires a lot of customization.
As a consequence, they deal:
-No show-ups and ghosting leads
-Long sales cycles
2. LACK OF BUYER ENABLEMENT.
Despite the enthusiasm of your Champions for your product, they still need to secure budget approval and convince other members of the buying committee.
During the buying process, they will get dozens of questions about:
-Budget justification and ROI
-Vertical use cases
-Migration, security, and onboarding
If you are not armoring your Champion with the content to address these questions, the buying cycle extends.
3. LIMITED BRAND AWARENESS.
Again, even if your Champion is super excited, but other buying committee members have never heard about your product, the sales cycle extends.
Nobody wants to risk.
4. UNQUALIFIED SALES REPS.
B2B buyers want thorough answers to their questions when speaking with sales reps. They don't want to go through BANT qualification and a boring demo, followed by phone and email follow-ups from a junior SDR.
We are not in the "Wolf from Wall Street" movie. Sales reps are consultants first, sellers - second.
HOW TO INFLUENCE AND SHORTEN THE BUYING PROCESS
-Tailor your marketing message to your ICP
-Target the buying committee group with 4 demand programs:
*Paid content distribution
*Social engagement and thought leadership
*Events
*Content collaboration
-Join and engage with communities where your buyers ask for recommendations or learn about new products.
-Show product price or at least give an estimate (product calculators help)
-Create product tours or sandbox accounts
-Share detailed vertical use cases
-Prepare content your buyers need during the buying process
-Make sure everybody in your company who talks to customers knows your product well and understands ICP's jobs to be done.
---
Enterprise B2B companies will always deal with the long buying cycle due to the nature of their business. That being said, they can prevent it from getting elongated.
Reduce friction points from the buying process.
Interview your customers and understand what information they usually gather during the research, then - create the necessary content.
Become a well-known trusted brand.
Invest in the education of your sales reps and make sure they have an extensive product and market knowledge.
There are clear signals that tell you need to change your marketing and sales programs ASAP.
1. REPETITIVE GTM challenge that you can't resolve despite applying best practices.
Often, the problem lies in solving the wrong problem instead of fixing the root reason.
Challenge: Decreasing outbound pipeline.
Wrong solution: Changing SDR or hiring lead gen coach instead of fixing the obsolete lead gen playbook that is completely misaligned with how customers are buying.
2. Lack of DATA and INFORMATION to define the right solution to your GTM challenge.
Standard example: lack of customer research. Instead of asking customers about their buyer journey, companies make a hypothesis about how customers buy ending up with the "fantasy funnels".
3. Constantly SWITCHING from one playbook to another.
Experimentation and innovation should be a part of your marketing plan, but you need to allocate only 20% of your resources to it.
Without established core marketing and sales programs, your GTM team plays lottery.
4. Current programs STOPPED working.
You can clearly see it by:
- a declining pipeline and revenue curve
- increasing sales cycle length
- decreasing win rates
5. RAISING disagreements with sales.
The more often fingerpointing and blaming happens between marketing and sales, the faster your team should sit down at the table and recreate GTM approach from scratch.
6. NO CONFIDENCE in the new ideas and solutions.
This is a consequence of the #2 challenge - Lack of DATA and INFORMATION to define the right solution to your GTM challenge.
Your team is likely to play the marketing lottery and do random acts of marketing.
7. DO MORE with limited resources.
Revenue targets are higher, budgets and resources are smaller.
You have no choice but to develop cross-functional collaboration with sales, client success, subject-matter experts, and product marketing.
We have a detailed guide on it. If you're interested, just leave a comment, and I'll share it.
----
We often neglect GTM challenges and react to them late when the problem becomes critical:
- Missed revenue targets
- Missed investment round
- Dissatisfaction and pressure from key stakeholders
But if we can stay alert and pay attention to the signals that clearly tell us it's time to change, we can stay ahead.
1. REPETITIVE GTM challenge that you can't resolve despite applying best practices.
Often, the problem lies in solving the wrong problem instead of fixing the root reason.
Challenge: Decreasing outbound pipeline.
Wrong solution: Changing SDR or hiring lead gen coach instead of fixing the obsolete lead gen playbook that is completely misaligned with how customers are buying.
2. Lack of DATA and INFORMATION to define the right solution to your GTM challenge.
Standard example: lack of customer research. Instead of asking customers about their buyer journey, companies make a hypothesis about how customers buy ending up with the "fantasy funnels".
3. Constantly SWITCHING from one playbook to another.
Experimentation and innovation should be a part of your marketing plan, but you need to allocate only 20% of your resources to it.
Without established core marketing and sales programs, your GTM team plays lottery.
4. Current programs STOPPED working.
You can clearly see it by:
- a declining pipeline and revenue curve
- increasing sales cycle length
- decreasing win rates
5. RAISING disagreements with sales.
The more often fingerpointing and blaming happens between marketing and sales, the faster your team should sit down at the table and recreate GTM approach from scratch.
6. NO CONFIDENCE in the new ideas and solutions.
This is a consequence of the #2 challenge - Lack of DATA and INFORMATION to define the right solution to your GTM challenge.
Your team is likely to play the marketing lottery and do random acts of marketing.
7. DO MORE with limited resources.
Revenue targets are higher, budgets and resources are smaller.
You have no choice but to develop cross-functional collaboration with sales, client success, subject-matter experts, and product marketing.
We have a detailed guide on it. If you're interested, just leave a comment, and I'll share it.
----
We often neglect GTM challenges and react to them late when the problem becomes critical:
- Missed revenue targets
- Missed investment round
- Dissatisfaction and pressure from key stakeholders
But if we can stay alert and pay attention to the signals that clearly tell us it's time to change, we can stay ahead.
How to plan long-term marketing and sales programs
(and get executive buy-in).
1. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐.
Sprints include detailed tasks, metrics, outcomes, and responsibilities. They are capacity- and priority-based, not based on wishes.
2. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ 3 ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐:
- Positive signals that prove that the program works (e.g. engagement from target accounts)
- Leading indicators: actions the marketing team will do regularly (e.g. posting 3x weekly on LinkedIn)
- Lagging indicators: sales pipeline velocity and revenue metrics.
3. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ.
Connect the dots and explain how the planned activities will impact pipeline velocity and revenue and help to achieve the goals.
4. ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐.
You might need to involve multiple team members. Make sure they have enough time to execute specific tasks and that they will own them. Avoid multi-ownership and where possible the dependencies.
5. ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐.
Break down leading indicators into weekly pillars: actions everybody involved in the program should perform.
Plan in the calendar 30-60 minutes meetings to review the pillars, define and remove bottlenecks, and cross-share the results.
6. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ.
Not every program should be measured the same way. Running thought leadership programs and demand-capturing ads would have a completely different set of metrics.
Develop the reports accordingly, but make sure that you have an ultimate revenue report that shows marketing-sourced revenue and pipeline, revenue metrics, and sales pipeline velocity.
---
One of the most common reasons why long-term marketing initiatives don't get support from stakeholders and sales is a lack of clarity, not because they don't get marketing.
Vague presentations full of marketing slang like:
"We are going to run a demand gen program, ungate all content, and deliver value consistently on social"
are often shut down, because executives:
-don't understand what exactly the marketing team will do
-how it helps to achieve the GTM goals and hit the revenue targets
Avoid ambiguity and flip your marketing planning.
Present the goals and outcomes you want to achieve.
Next, present sprints with clear tasks and task owners.
Then, present the key leading indicators, positive signals, and reports.
Explain how these sprints will impact the revenue and GTM goals.
Your marketing plan should be data-driven, not vanity-driven. Then, you get all the support and buy-in.
----
A detailed guide and marketing plan template are here:
https://fullfunnel.substack.com/p/marketing-plan-wtemplate
(and get executive buy-in).
1. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐.
Sprints include detailed tasks, metrics, outcomes, and responsibilities. They are capacity- and priority-based, not based on wishes.
2. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ 3 ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐:
- Positive signals that prove that the program works (e.g. engagement from target accounts)
- Leading indicators: actions the marketing team will do regularly (e.g. posting 3x weekly on LinkedIn)
- Lagging indicators: sales pipeline velocity and revenue metrics.
3. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ.
Connect the dots and explain how the planned activities will impact pipeline velocity and revenue and help to achieve the goals.
4. ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐.
You might need to involve multiple team members. Make sure they have enough time to execute specific tasks and that they will own them. Avoid multi-ownership and where possible the dependencies.
5. ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐.
Break down leading indicators into weekly pillars: actions everybody involved in the program should perform.
Plan in the calendar 30-60 minutes meetings to review the pillars, define and remove bottlenecks, and cross-share the results.
6. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ.
Not every program should be measured the same way. Running thought leadership programs and demand-capturing ads would have a completely different set of metrics.
Develop the reports accordingly, but make sure that you have an ultimate revenue report that shows marketing-sourced revenue and pipeline, revenue metrics, and sales pipeline velocity.
---
One of the most common reasons why long-term marketing initiatives don't get support from stakeholders and sales is a lack of clarity, not because they don't get marketing.
Vague presentations full of marketing slang like:
"We are going to run a demand gen program, ungate all content, and deliver value consistently on social"
are often shut down, because executives:
-don't understand what exactly the marketing team will do
-how it helps to achieve the GTM goals and hit the revenue targets
Avoid ambiguity and flip your marketing planning.
Present the goals and outcomes you want to achieve.
Next, present sprints with clear tasks and task owners.
Then, present the key leading indicators, positive signals, and reports.
Explain how these sprints will impact the revenue and GTM goals.
Your marketing plan should be data-driven, not vanity-driven. Then, you get all the support and buy-in.
----
A detailed guide and marketing plan template are here:
https://fullfunnel.substack.com/p/marketing-plan-wtemplate
Substack
B2B Marketing planning (w/template)
How to plan B2B marketing including long-term programs and experiments with a new template.
โค1
Every year we do a holistic overview of full-funnel marketing strategy and key marketing and sales operations using this template.
It includes:
GOALS & CHALLENGES.
- Business goals: How are they defined?
- Business challenges
- Marketing goals
- Marketing challenges
- Sales challenges
NEW INITIATIVES
What do you want to achieve with the new initiative?
Where do you need help?
What skills do you need to launch it?
TEAM
What skills do we have in our team?
Do we have an internal alignment?
Are the jobs-to-be-done and responsibilities defined properly?
Do we have clear SOPs and workflows for every program we are running?
Do we need to upskill our team?
STACK.
What technology do we have?
Are we using it to a whole potential?
Who regularly uses it?
GTM Strategy
- Target markets and segments
- ICP
- Positioning and value proposition
- Buyer journey + channels
- Marketing plan
- Partnerships
- Role of marketing
- 3 main competitors
- How competitors beat us?
- Where do we overcome competitors?
- Collaboration with sales (1-5). What can be done better?
- Reporting: key reports and metrics
- Budgeting
AWARENESS AND DEMAND GENERATION
- Content creation worfklow with SME
- Content calendar
- Content distribution plan
- Demand gen ads
- Thought leadership
- Social engagement
- Podcast
- Webinars
- Field events
- Newsletter
DEMAND CAPTURING
- Retargeting
- Content hubs & buyer enablement
- Intent data tracking
- Playbooks with sales algined with the intent level
SALES
- Territory planning and account prioritization
- Product knowledge by sales
- Prospecting routine
- Bottlenecks and dropoffs in the sales process
- Social selling
- Collaboration with marketing (1-5).
- Help they want to get from marketing
CLIENT SUCCESS
- Onboarding
- Customer interviews
- Expansion insights (how they collect)
- Case studies / testimonials (how they collect and create)
ABM
- Current stage and experience
- List building process (is list shared with marketing)
- Account qualification
- Account segmentation
- Account research
- Account development playbook
FRICTION POINTS
- Clear pricing or price estimate
- Simplified inquiry form
- Lead routing
- Product overview / Sandbox
- Buyer enablement
----
Due to lack of text, I missed a few part including SME interviews, revenue analysis, etc.
But the key point is:
Define the key areas of your GTM strategy and regularly evaluate them.
- What can be done better?
- What is missed?
- Where should we double down or focus more?
----
I'll share the template with a whole breakdown on Friday with our newsletter subsribers. Sign up here: https://fullfunnel.substack.com/
It includes:
GOALS & CHALLENGES.
- Business goals: How are they defined?
- Business challenges
- Marketing goals
- Marketing challenges
- Sales challenges
NEW INITIATIVES
What do you want to achieve with the new initiative?
Where do you need help?
What skills do you need to launch it?
TEAM
What skills do we have in our team?
Do we have an internal alignment?
Are the jobs-to-be-done and responsibilities defined properly?
Do we have clear SOPs and workflows for every program we are running?
Do we need to upskill our team?
STACK.
What technology do we have?
Are we using it to a whole potential?
Who regularly uses it?
GTM Strategy
- Target markets and segments
- ICP
- Positioning and value proposition
- Buyer journey + channels
- Marketing plan
- Partnerships
- Role of marketing
- 3 main competitors
- How competitors beat us?
- Where do we overcome competitors?
- Collaboration with sales (1-5). What can be done better?
- Reporting: key reports and metrics
- Budgeting
AWARENESS AND DEMAND GENERATION
- Content creation worfklow with SME
- Content calendar
- Content distribution plan
- Demand gen ads
- Thought leadership
- Social engagement
- Podcast
- Webinars
- Field events
- Newsletter
DEMAND CAPTURING
- Retargeting
- Content hubs & buyer enablement
- Intent data tracking
- Playbooks with sales algined with the intent level
SALES
- Territory planning and account prioritization
- Product knowledge by sales
- Prospecting routine
- Bottlenecks and dropoffs in the sales process
- Social selling
- Collaboration with marketing (1-5).
- Help they want to get from marketing
CLIENT SUCCESS
- Onboarding
- Customer interviews
- Expansion insights (how they collect)
- Case studies / testimonials (how they collect and create)
ABM
- Current stage and experience
- List building process (is list shared with marketing)
- Account qualification
- Account segmentation
- Account research
- Account development playbook
FRICTION POINTS
- Clear pricing or price estimate
- Simplified inquiry form
- Lead routing
- Product overview / Sandbox
- Buyer enablement
----
Due to lack of text, I missed a few part including SME interviews, revenue analysis, etc.
But the key point is:
Define the key areas of your GTM strategy and regularly evaluate them.
- What can be done better?
- What is missed?
- Where should we double down or focus more?
----
I'll share the template with a whole breakdown on Friday with our newsletter subsribers. Sign up here: https://fullfunnel.substack.com/
Substack
Full-Funnel B2B Marketing | Andrei Zinkevich | Substack
Every Friday we share practical insights about ABM, demand generation, full-funnel marketing and cover how to fix a broken B2B playbook to help you drive revenue and become a better B2B marketer. Click to read Full-Funnel B2B Marketing, a Substack publicationโฆ