Megan Bowen’s Post

Chris Walker may get mad at me for this move, but I don't care You can get 15% off all Vault individual and team annual plans powered by DemandGPT using the promo code "Chris15" at checkout Offer valid until May 15, 2024 #leadgen #buynow https://lnkd.in/e9PAcpJ2

5 Common Mistakes Leaders Make When Under Pressure to Hit Revenue Targets 1. Advocating for realistic growth goals too late It’s hard to push back on a board, the CEO or CFO when building future financial projections but doing the hard work at this stage to align on an achievable plan is crucial to set yourself up for success. Leverage historical data and reasonable assumptions of how performance can be improved.  2. Not identifying the root cause of missing growth targets It’s often the case that the real reason you are missing your growth goals is due to more fundamental business issues: Is your product a need to have or nice to have? Is your total addressable market large enough? Are you churning customers faster than you can acquire them because you can’t deliver on the desired result? 3. Assuming short term tactics will yield results despite clear data showing the opposite It can be tempting to stand up a campaign that may make you feel like you are doing what you can to grow but if the data shows certain things don’t work, don’t think it will work for you for some reason this time 4. Playing the Blame Game Marketing blaming sales, sales blaming marketing – blaming each other is not helpful or productive. Focus on figuring out what the real issue is and working as a team towards shared goals. 5. Deferring implementing the right strategy due to perceived time to impact I know we should be investing in FILL IN THE BLANK strategy but it will take too long to see results. The hard truth is the longer you wait to focus on the right strategies and tactics that are effective in today’s market, the longer it will take to see the results. #marketing #sales #b2b

Buyer behavior has changed and you have two choices: pivot with it, or fall behind. The balance of power has tipped towards the customer. Today's buyers seek information on their own terms. They do their own research and resist intrusive sales tactics. To successfully adapt to this shift in buyer behavior, businesses and marketing teams must make the transition from lead gen to demand gen. If you analyze your historical data it will become clear that not all leads are created equal and that high intent pipeline sources (for example a demo request) convert at a much higher rate than a low intent pipeline source (for example, gated content download). The transformation to adopt a demand gen strategy requires challenging almost every aspect of how marketing used to be executed and measured You need to break down your demand strategy into the following: - CAPTURE: How are you capturing existing demand on channels like paid search, SEO and retargeting campaigns - CONVERT: How are you effectively converting website traffic into sales conversations to build pipeline - CREATE: How are you driving awareness and consideration on social media and events to create new demand with the large percentage of your market who is not ready to buy today A new measurement model – Hybrid Attribution – is needed to measure the success of this new approach. Software-based attribution is heavily skewed toward demand capture (paid search, retargeting, SEO, CRO, direct mail). Meanwhile, demand creation(podcasts, events, organic social, word-of-mouth, PR) is significantly under-reported by current “best practices”, resulting in marketers not investing appropriately in demand creation strategies. By collecting, analyzing, and aggregating qualitative customer insights as an input, you can leverage self-reported and software-based attribution together for a more holistic view of demand gen program effectiveness. Undertaking this transformation will result in: - Efficiency and a strong ROI on paid search / demand capture programs  - Increased website traffic of qualified buyers - More website “Demo Requests” or “Contact Sales” form submissions - More Qualified Opportunities & Revenue I'll be speaking on this topic on Wednesday May 1st at 12:30 pm EST at the Demand Conf 2024 by Skale Register here to join my session: https://lnkd.in/e6qbsDwS #marketing #b2b #demandgeneration

A primary goal of marketing is to get your key messages in front of your target audience The most cost efficient way is to create compelling and relevant content for your market and distribute that content organically where they spend their time (aka social media) The biggest challenge with this approach is ensuring targeted and comprehensive DISTRIBUTION - if you are not already connected to your audience on social channels then you can have the best content in the world but your prospects will never see it and it won’t be effective This is why it takes time for this strategy to be effective and also why this should be prioritized so you can develop this strategy over a period of time to drive inbound demand Alternatively, you can pay to guarantee distribution through advertising - this guarantees distribution but the CONTENT QUALITY becomes paramount for this to be effective and stand out from all the noise The companies who are winning today are investing in and deploying BOTH strategies #marketing #b2b #demandgeneration

There are 2 types of leaders 1. Those who freely trust someone right from the beginning 2. And those who make people earn their trust over time I’ve worked for both types Here was my experience with each: (acknowledging that I played a role in how I responded) For those who made me earn it: - I felt insecure and undervalued - I constantly needed to prove myself and was unsure whether I ever earned it - I didn’t feel like I was able to fail or make a mistake - I did what I thought they wanted me to do - I learned how to cater to them above all else For those who gave it away: - I felt empowered and confident - I was extremely motivated to prove they made the right choice trusting me - I made bold decisions knowing a mistake or failure was ok - I did what I knew was right - I learned so much I choose to give away my trust It is a worthwhile risk every time Inevitably, you will get burned but most of the time people will rise to the occasion When someone breaks my trust, I'm very careful with that person but try not to let that impact my ability to openly trust a new person who enters my life #leadership #personaldevelopment #talentdestination

“How long will it take for me to start to see meaningful results from your demand strategy?” I get asked this question on every call I have with a CMO or marketing leader Of course the answer is: “It depends.” In my experience over the last 4 years, observing our team implement our strategy at over 200 B2B companies, I’ve identified a set of criteria that really correlates to driving meaningful results within 6 months: 1. Achieved the $10MM+ ARR milestone = enough happy customers to validate that your total addressable market needs your solution 2. An existing and steady inbound flow of demo requests / contact sales requests = a great website that converts traffic to sales conversations 3. A compelling offer for a well defined target customer segment = strong positioning and validated messaging With these elements in place, overlaying our strategy and tactics will accelerate results quickly On the other side, if you are still validating things like your positioning, messaging, product-market fit, website, then our approach will still work but it will take more time (9-12+ months) Demand programs, specifically paid advertising can help test and validate / invalidate hypotheses to get to these answers more quickly But, there are also less expensive ways to solve for that including talking with customers, leveraging an organic social media strategy or leaning into events/podcast/community strategies to get in front of your market and gather real time feedback from your target customers Demand marketing, no matter how good the strategy, can’t compensate for key criteria that must be met to build a successful business #marketing #b2b #demandgeneration

As a marketer, one of the biggest challenges you have is convincing your company leadership to make a significant change to their marketing strategy Here are some ways you can consider to successfully make your case: 1. Historical analysis of all marketing programs relative to their impact on pipeline and revenue 2. Prepare a business case tailored to an executive audience to provide evidence that a change is needed 3. Consider proposing an experiment for 1 new program / channel as a way to establish proof internally that a new way of marketing can work if they are hesitant to commit to a full change in strategy Our latest installments of Stacking Growth Snacks with Ashley Lewin dive into this topic along with the mindset shift required to make this change, the new Demand Gen KPIs you should be looking at and leading indicators to gauge if your strategy change is working as intended #marketing #b2b #demandgeneration

More exciting announcements about The Vault by Refine Labs!! We have redesigned the user interface and experience based on feedback from our members - these updates will make it easier to navigate the product to locate the specific content you want. We have also integrated ChatGPT into a new CHAT function so you can ask any question and Maxwell will provide the answer and links to relevant Vault content assets. Options for accessing The Vault: 1. Access free B2B Marketing guided courses through our partnership with Aspireship, learn more and submit your information here: https://lnkd.in/eb6vw3Zr 2. You can purchase an individual plan for $149/ month (cancel anytime) or $1,599 / year 3. If you have 5 or more members on your team, purchase a Team Plan for $699 / month (cancel anytime) or $7,999 / year so your entire team can have access under a team account Click here to learn more and purchase your own access: https://lnkd.in/eGv6YNy7 Our vision at Refine Labs is to change the way all B2B companies measure and execute marketing The Vault is one way B2B companies can learn how to implement a modern demand strategy #marketing #b2b #demandgeneration

Ok, I’ll say the quiet part out loud We're all on LinkedIn to make money And….that is totally ok! People on this platform talk about how just adding value and building relationships will always translate to business outcomes In my experience, it definitely does help - but your LinkedIn strategy should be more clear and direct if you intend to leverage this platform to generate revenue Here are things I have been way more intentional about since the beginning of this year: 1. Clarify your strategic narrative - why is what you have to say relevant, compelling and important - what is the story that you are telling 2. Make your profile “sales-y” - Use your banner, headline, about and featured sections to clearly communicate your product / services (maybe that is YOURSELF when looking for a job or setting yourself up for success to be recruited) and include CTAs 3. Use a 3:1 ration of give:ask - You do need to provide value to position yourself as an expert, but you can layer in asks more regularly 4. The HOW you engage matters more than the WHY (to make money) - be genuine in your desire to help (please can tell when you fake it) and don’t be obnoxious in your cold outreach 5. Optimize your content strategy around your strategic narrative and your core offers - all content you post should map back to that if your primary goal is to generate revenue - remember, your strategic narrative must be valuable and position yourself as an expert to strike the right balance here What are the most effective strategies you use to make money on this platform? #marketing #b2b #demandgeneration

There is still a huge disconnect in B2B between the objective reality we are in and the strategies and tactics being used to grow revenue The first step in making a change is facing reality The reality is B2B buying has changed and new marketing and sales tactics are required to be successful today The second step is asking yourself tough questions about your company’s product and your go to market strategy Tough questions like: - Is your product a need to have or a nice to have? - What type of customer benefits the most from your product? - What is the relative value to your price and is your offer compelling for your target market? - Where do your customers spend their time and how do they like to learn about new products and services? If you are committing to a path to take your product to market and acquire customers - then you must deal with reality and develop a strategy that will be effective in driving customer acquisition and retention While many B2B leaders will agree in theory about the current state of B2B buying behavior, they are not taking the necessary steps to adjust their marketing and sales strategies to meet the new realities Change is required to win #marketing #b2b #sales