Monthly Archives: August 2022

You have the vision, expected results, tools, resources everything in place to roll out that killer Demand Generation campaign. Now the big question is – Which steps do you need to strategize the actual campaign for best results? If you are at a similar junction wondering about how to create the best possible plan for your demand generation campaign so that you get the desired results, this blog is for you!

Turning your vision into action will activate your path towards results. Here are a few things you can do to get those results in Demand Generation-

Focus on Revenue-

The best way to work at times is to work backwards, that is focus on the end result. Revenue generation is one goal that is common to all the campaigns that are designed with different marketing techniques. Make sure everyone in the team and across relevant functions are focusing on the revenue model and that they are clear about the goals. Let each resource understand and assume responsibility on their part and their roles at different stages in the funnel.

When you work on the revenue-based plan for generating demand, you have better clarity on roles, the stages of the funnel, content requirement in each funnel, and in case one part of the funnel fails to deliver, you can always be prepared to compensate through the other parts of the funnel.

Set strategic goals-

• Use your account based knowledge and methodologies to execute Demand Generation plans
•  Know the prospects well, have as much knowledge as you can about these prospects or targets and then make the plan
• Select the best of leads and accounts to increase the probability of lead conversion
• Create customized messaging and email marketing campaigns to engage them for results
• Let sales and marketing be on the same page and hence work towards collaborating both the teams
• Analyze results each time

Monitor and analyze results-

After all the planning and execution, it’s important that you monitor and analyze results. This is not only to evaluate the strategy but also to know the performance metrics and where you can improvise. Results from reach campaign must be analyzed.

Conclusion-

Demand Generation is a complicated B2B process and it takes time before you see the results. Hence strategic planning and execution is critical to succeed in Demand Generation. You can focus on knowing the customer well, work with Account-based approach and evaluate results to improvise each time.

ABM (Account-based Marketing) can be a game-changer when it comes to B2B sales and marketing. It can give you long-term business outcomes with consistent revenue and strong customer relationships. If you want more results out of your existing accounts or if you are aiming at getting new accounts, you must review, analyze and fine-tune your strategy with some useful techniques.

ABM can help you sail into 2023 with high-value accounts and more conversions. However, poor alignment between sales and marketing is one of the top challenges of ABM in B2B. As per the Demand Gen Report; lack of resources could be the reason for this problem. While increasing your dollar-spend to hire more resources could resolve the issue; there are other solutions that marketers can try out in order to optimize ABM.

Here are some of the top techniques that you can use to make the best use of ABM for sales and marketing returns-

Intent-

Today Intent data can be the guiding light to B2B marketers as it can be a great tool to prepare and create insights for building solid strategies. Intent data can be used to fine-tune your existing or new ABM strategies. Monitor online intent signals and map the customer journey with the help of intent so that you can narrow down your focus on high-value accounts to succeed at ABM.

Tread new territories-

Most often than not sales and marketing teams may fail to experiment or explore new target audiences. This may stop them from exploring new markets; new audience and one might lose out on new sales opportunities of high value ABM accounts.

Another tip is to avoid repeating the same ways or methods to create new opportunities. For example you need not always go by the same old geographical territories. Sales teams must explore other avenues such as companies in different markets, industries etc.

It’s about breaking your comfort zone when it comes to targeting high value accounts and increasing your chances at success. So be open to new markets and find out if your existing market can be widened or may be it is time to break out of the primary market and explore more.

Review existing ABM accounts-

Sometimes you do not have to go too far to learn, all the learning material and education you need might be right there with you. All you have to do is simply review and analyze your existing accounts and you will know what’s working right for you. Use those insights to leverage and optimize new accounts and create innovative strategies to narrow down on your audience.

Conclusion-

You can stay ahead of the curve in the dynamic B2B market by being constantly aware of the changes in the market and grasping new techniques. For successful ABM, you should invest more time and efforts in research, keep learning new trends, review the existing accounts and make use of intent data.

Lead generation challenges can cost B2B marketers a lot of time and resources. These challenges also mean a loss of revenue and sales opportunities. While B2B companies are working in extremely complex structure and ambience, marketers are now shifting towards data-centric lead generation, Omni-channel marketing, ABM and intent data. These techniques can reduce the challenges of B2B marketers today.

Data-driven techniques or intent data can drive lead generation and demand generation and can lead to better engagement, more conversions and more revenue.

Let us see some common challenges of lead generation and their remedies-

Using data effectively-

Almost all B2B marketers go through the data drill and are aware of how important data is for B2B. But many people are still not aware of how to use or implement data for B2B sales. With the overwhelming amount of data being produced or being made available to marketers, processing it and breaking down its complexity is a big challenge for B2B companies. It’s a difficult task to collate data from different sources, verify it, cleanse it and use it for the benefit of sales.

The solution to this is the use of intent data. Intent data is information that is collected about a prospect’s interest, websites they have visited and which products or services they are currently in the market for.  Targeting prospects using the specific intent data, allows a company to reach their best prospects, shorten the sales cycle and increase ROI.

Validated and in ready to use form; if you know how to implement it, intent data can be your power-house tool. Data with great insights into buyer persona, buyer behaviour is what marketers need today. This can help them draw a strong demand generation strategy that is sustainable.

Need for quality MQLs:

Here’s another potential element of sales- MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead). This is an important component of the funnel and can decide the future of your B2B sales and revenue. However, identifying the right MQL is a challenge for many marketers. And once you identify the right MQL, you can then transform them into SQLs.

Again, the solution here is intent data. Working with the right intent data vendor can reduce your MQL challenges. Select the right vendor who understands the value of data and how intent data can be put to use. The vendor should also be able to provide the right data as per the requirement. This data should be aligned with the goals and objectives of sales and marketing and lead generation. This will help you to find the right MQLs that are high potential and can easily convert into SQLs and into business.

Conclusion-

The information that one collects about a prospect and his interests such as mapping his digital footprints, websites they have visited, the products or services they are currently in the market for is called as Intent data.  Using specific intent for targeting prospects can allow a company to reach their best prospects, shorten the sales cycle and also increase ROI.

Intent data can be great solution to many B2B challenges today. As a B2B marketer of 2022, you must also know the buyer well, know the buyer’s journey and have the right insights that can help you to create a strong demand generation and lead generation strategy.

If you want to invest in ABM (Account-based marketing); you must stop thinking of ‘engagement’ as the objective or end-goal. ABM can bring value through strong relationship building and communication. This new-age technique is a clever tool that can get you value for money. Through ABM, you can influence and build relationships with high-value targeted accounts or organizations. Tailored content and exclusive strategies for these high-value accounts can bring great results.

Many marketers have already embraced ABM and yet it needs to be fully explored for maximum benefits. Let us discover some simple steps to enhance ABM results through this blog.

Here are some steps that can help you to unlock the true potential of ABM-

Identify high-value accounts-

While you aim at ABM as a mainstream marketing activity, the types of accounts you select matters a lot.  It involves communicating with the customers and analyzing if their present and future needs are aligned with your business proposition.

ABM is also for existing accounts. You can determine the scope of growth of the current accounts that you have and identify them as high-value accounts. You can then plan exclusive strategies that can focus on long term relationship building and revenue generation.

ABM can be for existing accounts but it is also for new revenue generation. You can focus on relationship building and management, and target new ABM accounts for more business.

Know these accounts thoroughly-

Your selection should be based on deep insights that you need to gather about the accounts or organizations you want to target. And once you have made your selection of particular accounts, you need to find out more about them and get more insights about these accounts for successful implementation of ABM strategies.

How to collect insights for the accounts you want to target?

• Conduct primary and secondary research to know deep insights for relationship building
• Interview account directors and other stake holders to identify the right accounts
• Use intent data to gather intelligent data and action-oriented insights to for successful implementation

Focus on content and messaging-

Once you have done the ground-work, it is time to communicate your value proposition. This is the most critical part for both conversions and relationship building. What you say and how you say it will stay with the prospects or people involved in the target accounts. Make sure your messages are specially crafted for these high-value accounts. Include empathy and demonstrate it through your exclusive messaging that addresses their challenges while offering customized solutions.

Conclusion-

There can be more number of ways to build a smart and workable ABM strategy, but for success you need to do the ground work well. Therefore, the accounts that you select, the knowledge that you gather about these accounts and the tailor-made messaging you select can determine the success of ABM accounts in today’s B2B market.