As a growth-stage company, how do you balance time-to-market and flexibility with the Web 2.0 and operations sophistication required to build a modern demand generation program? Adam Needles, author of Balancing the Demand Equation, a leading demand generation strategy book, will explore the differences between demand generation strategies for larger companies in mature markets versus those for agile companies in growth-stage markets.

1. Balancing
Agility
with
Sophis2ca2on
In
Demand
Genera2on
Program
Design
#pardot2012
Adam
B.
Needles
Twi>er:
@abneedles
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

2. Defining
demand
genera2on
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

3. Defining
demand
genera2on
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

4. Defining
demand
genera2on
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

5. Everyone
is
overwhelmed
by
tac2cs
“Tech
marketers
are
juggling
too
many
tac2cal
balls.
A
full
75%
of
respondents
reported
they
were
using
15
of
the
26
techniques
we
surveyed.”
“The
reported
use
of
tac2cs
was
consistent
across
various
company
sizes,
from
small-­‐to-­‐medium
businesses
(SMBs)
to
large
enterprises.”
Source:
Forrester,
“2012
Tech
Marke2ng
Planning
Guidance,”
December
2011.

6. How
do
you
define
B2B
demand
genera4on?
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

7. Strategic
B2B
demand
genera2on
defini2on
• Perpetual
process
of
Engaging,
Nurturing
and
Conver2ng
…
• Both
new
prospects
and
exis2ng
customers
…
• To
influence
and
add
value
to
their
buying
processes
…
• Via
two-­‐way
buyer
educa2on
and
lead
qualifica2on
…
• In
a
way
that
is
op2mize-­‐able;
opera2onalize-­‐able
…
• Throughout
the
en2re
customer
lifecycle
…
• To
maximize
cash
flows
(i.e.,
revenue).
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

8. How
do
you
define
marke4ng
agility?
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

9. Marke2ng
agility
defini2on
• Business-­‐outcome
orienta2on
• Strong
grounding/ra2onaliza2on
in
buyer
insight,
needs
• Flexible
go-­‐to-­‐market
framework
• Rapid
decision-­‐making
• Data-­‐driven
decisions
• Con2nuous
itera2on
and
improvement
• “Pragma2c
innova2on”
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

10. Not
that
different
…
eh?
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

11. Staying
focused
in
modern
B2B
demand
genera4on
AND
remaining
agile
requires
framing
demand
genera4on
differently.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

12. The
key
is
a
strategic,
not
a
tac4cal
frame
…
sophis4ca4on,
not
complexity
…
and
not
confusing
the
two.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

13. Sophis2ca2on
is
the
key
…
especial
for
SMBs
“We
…
have
a
pre>y
sophis2cated
system
built
here
…
and
the
sophis2ca2on
is
what
enables
us
to
be
agile
…
and
automated.”
“Instead
of
slowing
us
down,
that
sophis2ca2on
is
what
lets
us
scale
and
stay
personal
at
the
same
2me.”
Source:
Phone
interview
with
Ezra
Fishman,
October
2012.

14. agility
=
func4on
(
sophis4ca4on
)
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

15. Taking
an
agile
+
sophis2cated
approach
Source:
Needles,
Balancing
the
Demand
Equa2on,
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

16. Agenda
• State
of
modern
B2B
demand
genera2on
• The
why
• A
new
(sophis2cated)
approach
(w/
SMB
case
studies)
• A
total
(sophis2cated)
framework
• Final
thoughts
Twi>er:
@abneedles

17. STATE
OF
MODERN
B2B
DEMAND
GENERATION
Twi>er:
@abneedles

18. Modern
B2B
demand
genera4on
is
failing.
Seriously.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

19. Not
genera2ng
the
right
type
of
leads
“On
average,
Sales
Reps
report
that
only
31%
of
all
leads
generated
fit
their
Ideal
Customer
Profile
(ICP).
Said
another
way,
Sales
Reps
believe
roughly
70%
of
the
leads
they
receive
have
a
low
probability
to
purchase.”
Source:
Vorsight
and
The
Bridge
Group,
“Sales
Speaks:
Percep2ons
and
Ponderings
on
Marke2ng
Leads,”
2011.

20. Yet
SMBs
show
stronger
results
…
40%
36%
30%
29%
20%
17%
10%
10%
0%
Fit
ICP
Fit
ICP
+
'Decision-­‐
maker'
or
'Strong
Influencer'
SMB
Enterprise
Source:
Vorsight
and
The
Bridge
Group,
“Sales
Speaks:
Percep2ons
and
Ponderings
on
Marke2ng
Leads,”
2011.

21. Not
sa2sfying
our
sales
teams’
needs
Source: Bulldog Solutions/Frost & Sullivan, "The Executive Benchmark Assessment,” 2010.

22. SMBs
=
more
marke2ng
automa2on
success
“49%
of
current
users
say
that
they
are
able
to
be>er
manage
their
sales
leads.”
“46%
have
seen
an
improvement
in
demand
genera2on.”
“42%
have
improved
their
marke2ng
ROI.”
Source:
Techaisle
(via
PR
Newswire),
"36
Percent
of
US
SMBs
Are
Planning
to
Use
Marke2ng
Automa2on;
More
Than
Double
of
Current
Adop2on,"
July
2012.

23. B2B
best-­‐in-­‐class
vs.
worst-­‐in-­‐class
200%
Best-in-class
“In Progress” 157%
150%
111%
Worst-in-class
100%
57%
50%
2009
Profit
Growth
0%
146%
2010
Profit
Growth
48%
135%
-­‐23%
-­‐14%
-­‐50%
2
YR
Profit
Growth
Avg
-­‐100%
-­‐104%
-­‐150%
Source: SiriusDecisions, “B-to-B Sales and Marketing: Forging a New Alliance,” 2011

24. Fixing
demand
genera4on
requires
some
root
cause
analysis
…
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

25. THE
WHY
Twi>er:
@abneedles

26. #1
-­‐
We’re
not
really
connec4ng
with
buyers,
or
suppor4ng
their
buying
process,
in
a
value-­‐added
fashion.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

27. Not
engaging
our
B2B
buyer
…
“86%
of
the
'unique
benefits'
touted
by
vendors
were
not
perceived
as
unique
or
having
enough
impact
to
create
preference.”
Source:
Tim
Riesterer,
"Three
B2B
Value-­‐Proposi2on
Rules
That
Create
Preference,
Not
Just
Parity,”
2010.

28. Not
suppor2ng
our
B2B
buyer’s
journey
"Half
of
the
marketers
create
and
use
content
that
educates
buyers
on
their
issues
and
problems,
but
only
14%
align
compelling
content
with
buyer
journeys
in
a
way
that
tells
a
story."
Source:
Forrester
(J.
Ernst),
“The
State
Of
B2B
Demand
Genera2on:
Disjointed,”
2011

29. “[Y]our
customers
are
living
in
a
different
world,
and
you
need
to
adapt.”
Source:
Salesforce.com
execu2ve,
Dreamforce,
2010.

30. Buyer
2.0
is
disintermedia2ng
Sales
Source:
Enquiro/Media2ve,
“Integrated
Persuasion:
Online
and
Offline,”
2010.

31. Yet
we
do
more
of
the
same,
with
declining
returns.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

32. Digital
banner
ad
click-­‐through
rates
1990s
vs.
today
78%
3%
5%
Average
click-­‐through
rates
for
‘Promoted
Tweets.’
0.2%
Sources:
TechCrunch
(Suster,
M.),
“The
Future
of
Adver2sing
Will
be
Integrated,”
2011;
BusinessWeek
(Stone,
B.),
“Idiot
Proof,
2012.

33. 2.90%
3.00%
Average
email
click-­‐through
rates
2.00%
1.60%
MailerMailer
1.20%
1.16%
Oceanos
1.00%
0.00%
5%
2007
2009
2010
2011
Forrester:
B2B
marketers
who
cite
enewslekers
and
email
as
“highly
effec4ve”
top-­‐of-­‐funnel
tac4cs.
Sources:
MailerMailer,
“Email
Marke2ng
Metrics
Report,
Click
Rates,
July
2010
Edi2on”;
Oceanos,
“The
List
Intelligence
Report,
Spring
&
Summer
2011”;
Forrester
(L.
Wizdo),
2012
Tech
Marke2ng
Planning
Guidance
-­‐
With
Prolifera2ng
Tac2cs
and
constrained
budgets,
Targe2ng
and
Focus
are
a
Mandate,
2011.

34. #2
-­‐
We’re
not
really
building
a
founda4on
for
a
con4nuous
and
long-­‐
term
rela4onship
with
buyers.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

35. Technology
focused
at
the
top
of
funnel
Among
adopters
of
marke2ng
automa2on
technology,
“fewer
than
10%
of
them
are
deploying
those
tools
to
address
programs
later
in
the
buying
cycle.”
Source: Heuer, Email Interview re: SiriusDecisions Sea Change Data, 2010.

36. Engagement
focused
at
bo>om
of
funnel
“Buyers
have
higher
expecta4ons
for
in4macy.
…
We
have
built
in2macy
into
the
later
stages
of
the
buying
process.
…
But
at
the
front
end,
our
tradi2onal
tac2cs
are
star2ng
to
come
off
with
all
the
warmth
and
sincerity
of
an
English
royal.”
Source:
Chris
Koch,
“Why
you
need
to
turn
your
customers
into
stalkers,”
2011.

37. We
do
not
op2mize
buyer
interac2on
To
what
extent
do
you
use
data
on
past
performance
to
build
models
that
enable
the
predic2on
of
future
buying
behavior?
%
of
Respondents
(N=85)
Nearly
all
the
2me
15%
Not
at
all
or
very
rarely
34%
Some2mes
51%
Source:
ITSMA,
“B2B
Services
and
Solu2ons,
Lead
Management
Benchmarks,”
2011.

38. We
do
not
organize
around
an
L2R
process
"Fewer
than
one-­‐fourth
of
[B2B
organiza4ons]
have
defined
a
lead-­‐
to-­‐revenue
management
process
that
their
marke2ng
and
sales
teams
follow.
Included
in
that
number
are
only
5%
who
claim
that
every
prospect
interac4on
is
orchestrated."
Source: Forrester (J. Ernst), “The State Of B2B Demand Generation: Disjointed,” 2011

39. ‘You
can’t
get
there
from
here
…’
‘Awareness’
+
automated
(tac2cal)
lead
gen
?
Sales
Enable-­‐
ment
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

40. We
have
a
middle-­‐of-­‐the-­‐funnel
problem.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

41. A
NEW
(SOPHISTICATED)
APPROACH
Twi>er:
@abneedles

42. Finding
the
balance
Source:
Needles,
Balancing
the
Demand
Equa2on,
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

43. #1
-­‐
Focusing
on
the
buyer
…
so
we
can
‘stop
selling,
start
educa4ng’
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

44. Focusing
on
the
buyer
Source:
Needles,
Balancing
the
Demand
Equa2on,
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

45. Organizing
around
a
dialogue
thread
Buying
Process
w/
Buyer’s
Informa4on
Requirement
(IR)
Stages
IR1
IR2
IR3
IR4
IR5
IR6
IR7
IR8
IR9
Marke4ng
Content
Offers
Sales
Educa4on
CO1
CO2
CO3
CO4
CO5
CO5
SE1
SE2
SE3
SE4
QL
SAL
Source:
Needles,
“Process
Stewardship,”
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

46. Nurturing
that
is
buyer-­‐driven
Buying Process w/ Buyer’s Information Requirement (IR) Stages
IR1 IR2 IR3 IR4 IR5
Marketing Content Offers
Engagement Nurturing
Content Offers Content Offers
E-­‐CO1
N-­‐CO2A
N-­‐CO3A
N-­‐CO4A
N-­‐CO5A
E-­‐CO1
N-­‐CO2B
N-­‐CO3B
N-­‐CO4B
Re-Engagement
RE-­‐CO5
Content Offers
E-­‐CO1
N-­‐CO2C
N-­‐CO3C
(Recycle Loops)
RE-­‐CO4
E-­‐CO1
N-­‐CO2D
RE-­‐CO3
E-­‐CO1
RE-­‐CO2
Drip Content Offers
D-­‐CO2
D-­‐CO3
D-­‐CO4
D-­‐CO5
(Recycle Loops)

47. Case
Study:
Wis2a
• Challenge
– Alterna2ve
to
YouTube
for
SMB
marke2ng
– "We're
preaching
a
different
way
to
think
about
video.
…
[T]he
big
win
for
us
is
ge{ng
more
and
more
people
to
think
about
video
marke2ng,
'in
the
Wis2a
way.’”
• Approach
– "We
make
lots
of
content.
…
That's
a
lot
of
our
lead-­‐gen,
through
the
content.”
– Segment
Nurtures
based
on
topics,
common
paths,
how
they
found
Wis2a
– Offer
a
'freemium'
account
– "We're
looking
at
that
data
to
op2mize
the
experience
…
[t]hat's
looking
a
lot
at
the
path
people
take
and
the
content
they
consume
along
the
way."
– "We
are
looking
pre>y
much
on
a
daily
basis
at
…
conversion
rates
…
."
• Results
– "It
is
really
one
con2nuum
for
us
…
there's
not
this
separate
marke2ng
team
who
passes
to
a
sales
team
who
pass
to
a
support
team."
– 95%
of
customers
purchase
through
ecommerce
without
any
live,
pre-­‐sales
support
Source:
Phone
interview
with
Ezra
Fishman,
October
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

48. Sophis2ca2on
enables
focus,
agility
“It’s
work
se{ng
this
stuff
up
…
but
that’s
the
power
of
sophis2ca2on.
We
have
a
very
small
marke2ng
team,
but
we’re
able
to
spend
2me
teaching
people
the
Wis2a
way.”
Source:
Phone
interview
with
Ezra
Fishman,
October
2012.

49. #2
-­‐
Adop4ng
an
opera4ons
mindset
…
so
we
can
‘shiq
aken4on
to
middle-­‐of-­‐the-­‐funnel
dynamics’
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

50. Adop2ng
an
opera2ons
mindset
Source:
Needles,
Balancing
the
Demand
Equa2on,
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

51. Process
stewardship
Buying
Process
w/
Buyer’s
Informa4on
Requirements
IR1
IR2
IR3
IR4
IR5
IR6
IR7
IR8
IR9
Marke4ng
Content
Offers
Sales
Educa4on
CO1
CO2
CO3
CO4
CO5
CO5
SE1
SE2
SE3
SE4
Lead
Qualifica4on
Stages
Example
Pre-­‐
RESP
Pre-­‐QL1
Pre-­‐QL2
QL
SAL
SO1
SO
CR
Marke4ng
and
Sales
Demand
Genera4on
Process
Roles
Example
Demand
Lead
Dev
Genera4on
Demand
Genera4on
Team
+
Marke4ng
Ops
Sales
Ops
Inside
Sales
Outside
Sales
Team
Team
Source:
Needles,
“Process
Stewardship,”
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

52. Case
Study:
Cogmed
• Challenge
– Research-­‐based
methodology;
helps
ac2vate
“working
memory”
– Acquired
by
larger
company;
focused
on
scaling
programs
• Approach
– "We
do
a
lot
of
tes2ng."
– Define
stage-­‐based
indicators;
later
stages
get
higher
scores
– "They
have
to
have
certain
qualifica2ons
before
they
advance
through
our
system
to
become
a
hot
lead.”
– "If
they
don't
qualify,
they
s2ll
get
informa2on
…
they
get
in
a
segmented
list,
but
they
don't
move
to
the
next
step
of
talking
to
a
sales
person."
– "[W]e
do
know
our
targets
and
what
we're
trying
to
accomplish
with
it
-­‐-­‐
with
the
tes2ng
and
analy2cs.
We've
been
able
to
accomplish
a
lot."
• Results
– "We've
really
learned
a
lot
about
how
to
get
people
through,
…
how
to
grade
them,
…
what
we
need
to
accomplish
…
and
running
them
through
the
sales
team."
– Scaled
from
suppor2ng
two
sales
people
to
75+
Source:
Phone
interview
with
Chad
O’Neil,
October
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

53. A
TOTAL
(SOPHISTICATED)
FRAMEWORK
Twi>er:
@abneedles

54. A
total
framework
Source:
Needles,
Balancing
the
Demand
Equa2on,
2012.
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

55. FINAL
THOUGHTS
Twi>er:
@abneedles

56. Final
thoughts
• Do
strategic,
not
tac2cal
demand
genera2on
• Put
buyer
dialogue
at
the
center
of
your
planning
• Align
buyer
educa2on
with
lead
qualifica2on
• Organize
ac2vi2es
around
a
lead-­‐to-­‐revenue
demand
process
• Have
clear
demand
process
roles
and
SLAs
• All
of
the
above
will
enable
agility,
not
add
to
complexity
Copyright
2012
Adam
B.
Needles.
All
rights
reserved.

57. Thank
you
• Contact
info:
Adam
B.
Needles
• Phone:
617-­‐413-­‐6087
• Twi>er:
@abneedles
• Email:
aneedles@needlesnet.com
• Book
info:
Balancing
the
Demand
Equa2on
• Hardcover:
Amazon,
Barnes
&
Noble
• Electronic:
Google
Books,
iBook,
Kindle,
Nook