Investors and senior leaders from other functions often have a view that marketing should be primarily focused on demand generation. “Leads and sales pipeline are the only things that really matter.” But in my experience the myopic focus on demand generation changes quickly when…
- When we aren’t ranked in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant or Forrester’s Wave…then analyst relations is really critical.
- When the competition gets great coverage in a Wall Street Journal article that everyone is talking about…then Public Relations is also important.
- When we cannot differentiate ourselves from the competition in a big deal that we are about to lose…then the messaging and positioning is top priority
- When we need an ROI model to demonstrate business benefits to our clients…then new sales tools (and pricing) take on the greatest urgency.
- When the CTO at a major prospect has never heard of us and wants to go with Microsoft…then brand awareness needs to be a bigger investment area.
The reality is that all of the activities performed by marketing organizations impact lead generation and sales success – either directly or indirectly. Leads don’t just come from:
- Sending LinkedIn outreach by BDR teams
- Big budget Google Ad campaigns
- Ranking atop organic search results
- Content downloads on landing pages
Prospects gather 60% of the information they need to make a purchasing decision before they are even willing to speak with a vendor’s sales representatives. Therefore, it should not be surprising that some of your best opportunities might come from:
- An analyst recommends that a prospect seeking a vendor speak to you
- A customer reads one of your press releases online
- A prospect listening to one of your presentations at a trade show
- A consultant reads reads one of your blogs and recommends you to a client
- An influencer who listens to one of your podcasts
