The document discusses the impact of COVID-19 on demand generation and marketing strategies, highlighting significant changes in lead flow and engagement. It outlines predictions for 2021, emphasizing a shift towards relationship-based marketing, the importance of understanding buyer intent, and the rise of micro-campaigns. The speaker, Michael Madden, focuses on controlling what is possible in a digital marketing landscape marked by uncertainty and tight budgets.

1. The New Age of Marketing: Predicting,
Planning, and Prepping for 2021
Michael Madden | Director of Commercial Demand
Generation,Adobe Experience Cloud

2. ©2020 Adobe. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Agenda
1. Quick introduction
2. How COVID-19 disrupted demand gen in 2020
3. Four marketing predictions for 2021
4. Questions
2

3. ©2020 Adobe. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
About me (Michael Madden)
Background
• Started at Marketo in June 2015
• Lived through two acquisitions—Vista and Adobe
• Marketo Certified Solutions Architect
• Running Americas Demand Gen for Adobe Experience Cloud
Five things I’ve learned sinceWFH
1. There is a point where hats cannot contain my hair.
2. Buy Home Depot stock—I’m contributing to most of
their revenue.
3. You CAN have Oreos for lunch.
4. Puppies make everything better.
5. I’m ready for HGTV.
3

4. How COVID-19 disrupted
demand gen in 2020

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How COVID-19 changed demand gen in 2020
5
• Hundreds of physical
events canceled
across Adobe DX,
including Summit
• Event teams quickly
pivoted to virtual
events and webinars
Events
• AQL volume began to
mimic economic
indexes
• Meeting cancellation
rates hit 50%–60%
• Demand bottomed out
around March 23
Lead flow
• WFH changed how we
can (and cannot) target
our prospects
• The shift to digital also
shifted our dollars and
technology
investments
Technology
• The ways in which
prospects engaged
with
us changed
• Messaging/content
pivoted to lead with
empathy, focused on
being there for people
rather than selling
our products
Engagement
• COVID-19 crushed our
Q2 plans and created
an environment where
much of what we had
planned for would
never have worked
• The focus needed to
shift to what we can
control
Focus

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Where 2020 leaves us
1. Still uncertain
2. Budgets will be tight
3. Revenue targets will go up like
any other year
4. Headcount might be flat or down
5. No more physical events
6. “Business critical” has a
stronger meaning
6

7. Focus on what we can control

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Shifting the focus from “what we do” to “what we control”
Pre-COVID
Normal distribution of spend across
various digital channels like content
syndication, paid social, sponsored
emails, etc.
In-person events aimed to accelerate
open pipeline as well as create
pipeline within key sales accounts.
A healthy program mix of free
programs like lead nurturing, batch
emails,
and webinars.
Post-COVID
Less risk-taking on new vendors or
vendors that haven’t fulfilled
expectations in 2020. Marketers
expected to double down on what
works even if that means a less
diversified channel spend.
Virtual events will continue to engage
audiences, from early- and mid- to
late-stage buyers.
Dollars don’t necessarily mean impact.
Marketers will optimize their websites,
A/B test everything, and be available for
the longer team needs to drive the
business forward.
A
marketer’s
sphere of
influence
More free,
less paid
Virtual
events, new
technology
Focused
investments
on proven
impact
Free
program mix
Pipeline
acceleration
Diversify
spend
8

9. B2B buyers will expect
B2C experiences

10. ©2020 Adobe. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Intent
Predictive
account
score
High
behavior
score
Key web
activity
Right
account,
right industry
Closed lost
opportunity
Decision
maker
Competitive
technology
installed
SalesMarketing
Who you thought your buyers were
Sales
qualified
lead
10

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Who your buyers really are
Identity
• Parents
• Alumni
• Athletes
• Pet owners
• Volunteers
Interests
• Theater
• Cooking
• DIY home
projects
• Hiking
• Exercise
Personal
values
• Hedonism
• Loyalty
• Patience
• Family
• Motivations
11

12. ©2020 Adobe. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Leads will become people, marketing will be more relationship-based
• For some, 2020 reminded us who we are,
what makes us “us,” what drives our
happiness.
• We won’t just be marketing to leads, but to
real people with real
values/interests/beliefs.
• If we want to connect and form strong
relationships, it’ll require us to go beyond
their demographics and firmographics.
• Marketers will succeed if they can find the
human element in B2B marketing.
12

13. Welcome marketing-
assisted outbound

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What is marketing-assisted outbound?
Using third-party data signals, marketing can surface leads/accounts that are
currently in the market to buy products and services but have yet to
perform the necessary behaviors to qualify as inbound leads.
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Lead priority SLA
P1
P2
P3
P4
Marketing
inbound
Marketing
outbound
Lead priorities and coverage across sales
Hand raisers
Engaged
Known intent
Unknown intent
Category Criteria Qualification
Demo & contact me
Behavior & account score
threshold
Active lead & account surge
Account surge without lead
30 minutes
4 hours
48 hours
48 hours
15

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Predictive account scoring and why it works
16
High predictive account fit
Your customer list
• Who are your best
customers? Who are not?
• What characteristics make
them sticky?
• Core ICP accounts
Technology installed
• Competitive technology
• Minimum technology
requirements
• Complementary technology
Firmographics
• Annual revenue
• Employee size
• Industry
• Location
• Hiring, funding, social
media activity, website
details, etc.

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Understand existing technology installed
17
Additional filters for greater targeting
• Closed lost opp dates
• Recent last engagement dates
• Recent behavior score change
• Recent job title change
• Funding event
• Recent pricing page or “contact us” page
visit
• Chatbot interaction
• Intent
Competitive
technology
installed
Competitive
technology
added
Install dataComplementar
y technology
Datanyze

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Using intent signals to capture online body language
18
Intent data completes
the data picture beyond
what you can track on
your web properties and
assets.
Identify which accounts
are researching:
• Topics related to your
products or services
• Your company
• Your competitors
Review sites like G2 Crowd
that pass over account-level
behavior data as a service
– Example: accounts
comparing Marketo
Engage vs. competitive
marketing automation
technology
First-party intent data
• Data gathered from
publisher networks to
understand what
companies are
researching and at what
level of activity
• If an account is
researching topics related
to your products/services
and it’s at a high activity,
data is captured and
passed into CRM on
account object
Third-party intent data

19. Shift from macro-campaigns
to micro-moments

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Marketers are storytellers
The traditional marketing story
The linear buyer’s journey
20
Sponsored
program
Email
nurture
Webinar Direct mail Opp
Purchas
e
Buyer
Who has a challenge
Products exist to
address the challenge
Intro our product
Why our
product is better

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Welcome micro-campaigns
• Marketers will shift from macro-campaigns to micro-campaigns, which are automated
campaigns where we listen for a buyer’s behaviors and respond with relevant content.
• For example, buyers consume content on your website. Do you follow up with the next relevant
piece of content in real time, or do you wait?
• Why are micro-campaigns with automated emails better?
21
higher open rates
261%
higher click-to-open
rates
157%
higher click-through
rates
833%
more efficient at
generating a sales
opportunity
7,675%

22. ©2020 Adobe. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Summing it up
1. Marketers will focus on what they can
control.
2. B2B buyers will expect B2C experiences.
3. Marketing assisted outbound will become
critical to the business.
4. Micro-campaigns will rule.
22

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Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe Experience Cloud, and Marketo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries.