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Once a year the demand generation ‘glitterati’ – i.e., the major thought leaders, the vendors and the packs of in-the-trenches B2B marketing and sales practitioners … a lot of them – all descend upon Scottsdale, Arizona, to talk B2B demand generation for two-and-a-half days.
The catalyst? The annual SiriusDecisions Summit, put on by an analyst firm that has emerged as a leader when it comes to covering strategic and technological innovation in the B2B marketing and sales arena.
There are definitely other firms doing great work around the broader marketing arena. One of those is Forrester, whose Forrester Marketing Forum is an event I attended about a month ago in San Francisco, and whose new analyst covering the B2B marketing space, Jeff Ernst (Twitter: @JeffErnst), is one smart guy. Richard Fouts (Twitter: @Richard_Fouts) at Gartner also has some tremendous insights around the evolution of marketing strategy. And Aberdeen has produced some thoughtful research around B2B lead management over the past two years.
But if you have any question about who’s leading when it comes specifically to B2B demand generation research and benchmarking in the marketplace today, 800+ attendees at SiriusDecisions Summit 2011 – a number that is easily 2X the number of 2010 Summit attendees – can’t be wrong.
So anticipating some great insights, I joined the ‘consumer-not-spoken-here’ crowd out in the desert, May 4-6, and what follows are my major B2B demand generation takeaways from the event.
“Forging a New Alliance” Between B2B Marketing and Sales
The SiriusDecisions team turned this year to the issue of what it takes to achieve truly integrated B2B demand generation – i.e., the issue of how marketing and sales can operate as one, aligned unit in driving holistic demand generation. Their theme was “B-to-B Sales and Marketing: Forging a New Alliance,” and all of their subsequent analyst presentations and practitioner case study examples mapped in some way, shape or form back to this core theme.
In his opening remarks, SiriusDecisions co-founder Richard Eldh framed the theme by asking the question, “Why is it we as organizations want to even focus on sales and marketing alignment?” He explained, his team has found “[o]rganizations … [that are] tightly coupled outperformed in both revenue growth and in profitability.” He also highlighted that measurement is a key ingredient of this ‘coupling’; is critical to having buyer-level visibility; and is critical to aligning the joint efforts of marketing and sales towards demand generation objectives.
Eldh cited research by his team that shows that throughout 2009 and 2010, organizations with ‘Poor Measurement’ – i.e., those with ‘worst-in-class’ practices for connecting the dots between marketing and sales efforts – grew revenues an average of 1.4% over a two-year period (including an economic environment in 2009 that was particularly challenging). Comparatively, organizations with true ‘Closed Loop’ – i.e., those with ‘best-in-class practices – grew revenues an average of 7.5% over the same period.
Clearly Closed Loop organizations perform better from a revenue-growth perspective than Poor Measurement organizations, but as Eldh highlighted, the story is even more dramatic from a profit perspective. Eldh’s team found that Poor Measurement organizations saw an average of -23.4% profit growth throughout 2009 and 2010, whereas Closed Loop organizations saw an average of 146.3% profit growth over the same two-year period – quite a difference and one that supports his point. In fact, almost as an understatement, Eldh commented, “We see significant impact … post putting in some measurement systems.” Clearly.
For Eldh and the SiriusDecisions team, this is ultimately about measuring how marketing and sales efforts contribute in a coordinated fashion toward business outcomes – i.e., revenue outcomes. “High performance companies care about business outcomes,” said Eldh, and he explained that aligned organizations are more successful at achieving these business outcomes.
Eldh wrapped up his opening presentation by asking, “What are the four or five elements that drive organizations that have this high performance — this tight alignment?”
He used this segue to introduce SiriusDecisions’ ‘four pillars’ of alignment, which are:
One final point that Eldh made and that really resonated with me: He called out that there is an undeniable link between alignment and commitment – i.e., when marketing and sales organizations are in alignment, they also tend to share a common commitment toward joint outcomes and toward delivering on what each needs from the other. That’s why “[m]ore organizations are signing up for service level agreements between sales and marketing than ever before,” explained Eldh.
Tony Jaros (Twitter: @tjaros), one of the firm’s leading analysts, expanded on this insight in his day-one presentation. He said, “There’s three things a great SLA is based upon:” 1.) definitions, 2.) responsibilities and 3.) rules. And he urged the audience, “You want to build your SLAs completely.”
Key B2B Demand Generation Takeaways
So beyond the high-level point that aligned organizations perform better, what were the major B2B demand generation takeaways I had from my time in the desert?
Let me say that SiriusDecisions Summit 2011 was a veritable fire hose of B2B demand generation insights, but to be clear, I mean this in nothing but the most positive of ways. Honestly, the quality and quantity of the insights were tremendous, and I have nothing but positive feedback.
Yet for me I challenged myself to boil down the two-and-a-half days into some of the top points that most resonated with me.
My top B2B demand generation takeaways were:
> B2B demand generation program design and investment strategy should be closely aligned with what you want to accomplish and where you are in your marketing/sales lifecycle … and different companies of different sizes at different stages in their growth should have different mixes of demand generation elements.
John Neeson, a co-founder of the firm, and Megan Heuer (Twitter: @megheuer), one of the firm’s service directors and a very visible member of the team, provided a great framework and commentary around the variability that should exist in B2B demand generation models, based on the objectives and environment facing a given company. Their session, “Marketing Investment: Driving Greater Alignment and Accountability,” very much conveyed 1.) the importance of adopting a portfolio mindset when designing a B2B demand generation program and 2.) that different companies need different portfolios.
“It’s not just about the broad market trends,” commented Heuer, “you need to know what’s going on with you and your goals.” Heuer also noted, “Marketing must invest according to realistic business requirements, and be held accountable for realistic outcomes.”
Neeson and Heuer provided a number of great examples of how the portfolio should be varied in various situations. What are the factors at the core of their different variations? They commented that there are four core elements to consider when establishing the right B2B demand generation mix for a company:
Neeson provided some commentary introducing these points, explaining that “[r]outes to market dictate marketing mix and investment priorities based on the demands of how you sell.” He continued, “Demand type impacts key ratios of demand creation to brand and awareness building, as well as content requirements.” And “[a] demand center strategy will be deployed differently at different stages of a company’s development.”
One data point I found interesting was the SiriusDecisions-benchmarked ratio of revenue to spending on marketing. For example, SiriusDecisions reported that for established markets, spending on marketing as a percent of revenue is typically in the 2-8% range. Conversely, for companies with a new paradigm or new concept, their spending on marketing may be 1.5-2X their revenues for their products/services.
> Inbound marketing is a critical and growing slice of the pie for successful B2B demand generation programs, yet our B2B demand generation efforts retain a legacy of outbound mindset – one that we must overcome.
With the caveat that B2B demand generation programs should be varied to the situation, one piece of advice was clear: Heuer commented on day one, “Online right now is your most important investment,” when it comes to the entire B2B demand generation mix. And this comment was backed by a slide that stated, “The best opportunity to influence decision makers is capturing their interest online when they look for answers.”
On day two, Jay Gaines (Twitter: @izjay), a new service director with the firm, delivered a session on Website conversion. He echoed in this session something that I’ve personally written and spoken quite a bit about over the last two years. “Buyers are more empowered. They’re deciding when to contact us. They’re doing their own research online.” Spot on.
The consideration from a B2B demand generation standpoint? “Around 60% of inquiries are coming in via inbound channels. … It speaks to buyer behavior,” said Gaines.
The problem though, per Gaines, is that “[m]ost of our Websites are not optimized to convert visitors.” The legacy of B2B Websites is one of their being largely developed in their own silo, disconnected from B2B demand generation planning; moreover, B2B demand generation tactics too often are focused on outbound and/or email activities. Thus – in a problem we often tackle with our clients at Left Brain – inbound is not being harnessed as a strategic component of 24/7, always-on B2B demand generation. Instead too many Websites are simply online brochures and/or catalogues.
Gaines urges that inbound is a critical element of getting to a point of “perpetual demand creation” – a.k.a. something I’ve referred to before as organic demand generation – which “creates a steadier stream of leads over time,” notes Gaines.
One major call-out from Gaines: He presented a great framework for how to move from an informational site to a ‘conversion-optimized’ site. The four critical elements of conversion optimization, per Gaines, are: 1.) content, 2.) Website ownership, 3.) technology and 4.) program integration.
Another major call-out from Gaines was the importance of having a company’s Website play an integral role in the lead qualification process. “On an optimized site, it’s a progressive approach where you’re learning a little more about your buyer over time,” commented Gaines.
Finally, in a day-three presentation, Gaines, noted that one implication for sales – and for marketing and sales alignment – is that sales teams must understand an be positioned to leverage inbound engagement. “One thing sales has got to do is make sure they’re ready to engage with better-informed buyers,” said Gaines.
> Content is strategic, not tactical, when it comes to modern B2B demand generation – particularly when it comes to leveraging inbound engagement as a strategic element of perpetual demand creation.
Okay, I admit, there is a little of my own commentary mixed in here. No one at SiriusDecisions actually said ‘content is strategic, not tactical.’ Rather, it’s a line right out of my own presentations, and my upcoming book, but it’s a point of synthesis that I really did hear coming from session after session at the event – particularly from Gaines, Heuer and Jaros – and I think it’s a point that was intended by the SiriusDecisions team.
“Your content is your currency,” commented Heuer on day one, and one of her presentation slides stated, “Quality content is the key to the kingdoms of awareness, influence, trust, participation and loyalty.”
In his day-two session, Gaines highlighted the importance of mapping content to the buyer journey, and he noted a key modern guiding principle for content is not creating content that does not have a clear role either in the buyer’s process or in a company’s conversion process.
Gaines urged in that afternoon session, “Focus on content. If you don’t have a solid content foundation, you’re going to struggle.”
Gaines also expanded on content marketing strategy in a day-three presentation, “Content: The Heart of Effective Demand Creation.”
First, he acknowledged that successful content is not easy. “Great content requires effort plus discipline plus hard work plus strategy,” commented Gaines.
Second, he highlighted four trends in content marketing, including:
Third, he highlighted the emerging need for leadership around content in B2B demand generation. “A new role we’ve seen emerge is that of a content strategist,” commented Gaines. And he helped justify this statement noting, “Companies should pay as much attention to their content quality as their product quality. … Many more people will be exposed to … the content … than the product.”
> Technology – by itself – cannot solve B2B demand generation problems. It requires evolution of people and processes that may substantially change the face of the B2B marketing organization.
“People are what fix marketing and sales problems, not technology,” commented Heuer in the closing panel on day three. Technology thus is not the B2B demand generation panacea, and much of the work that we have to do on getting to successful B2B demand generation has to do with people and processes. Technology is merely the catalyst for thinking and operating in a new mindset.
There is no question that technology adoption is growing in the B2B demand generation arena. One of the slides in Neeson and Heuer’s day-one presentation noted, “Fact: Average spend on technology in 2011 is 4% of marketing budgets, nearly double what it was in 2009.” This also was the starting place for Heuer in her day-two presentation, “B-to-B Marketing Technology: Blessing, Curse or a Bit of Both?” Heuer noted in that presentation that approximately 74% of the B2B organizations SiriusDecisions polled have adopted CRM technology, and 46% have adopted marketing automation technology.
Yet Heuer noted that organizations struggle with their marketing automation deployments and that one of the issues is that they haven’t deployed or integrated other assets, such as a marketing data warehouse and/or inbound marketing platform. She also noted that less than 20% of B2B marketing teams have sufficient skills training for their marketing technology environment.
This skills gap is a point that was also discussed in the final panel on day three. One SiriusDecisions analyst commented, “The skills that are needed today are very different than they were five years ago.” Heuer commented on that same panel that part of getting people and process right is imagining new organizational structures.
“Just because we put people into silos historically, doesn’t mean it’s the right way to plan,” commented Heuer. Her colleague, Jaros, agreed, saying, “You cannot realize new approaches in legacy models. There will be inherent friction.”
Some Closing Thoughts on Building B2B Demand Generation Programs
Clearly some great insights and lots of learning at this year’s event.
In fact, the greatest benefit of the SiriusDecisions Summit each year – in my honest opinion – is that it gets me thinking about the state of ‘best practice’ in B2B demand generation. As head of strategy for Left Brain, which is a B2B demand generation agency, this is obviously top of mind. I want to make sure that the counsel and programs we provide to our clients will help them get ahead of the pack, and so understanding the state of the art in both technology and process innovation is critical.
Along this vein, I’ve had some time to reflect on what I learned this year in the two weeks since the Summit wrapped, and two thoughts have emerged in my mind – points that aren’t really so much feedback or criticism of the great insights from the SiriusDecisions team as they are some ‘nuances’ that come to mind when I think about going from theory to practice in building B2B demand generation programs.
> Nuance #1 — Don’t over-centralize your demand center: One of the ideas that SiriusDecisions talks a lot about is the concept of a ‘demand center.’ I agree that it makes a lot of sense to have your organization mirror the type of Closed Loop B2B demand generation program you want to run. This means centralizing your systems and your marketing operations teams.
But when it comes to the details – particularly the content – for complex, buyer-centric B2B demand generation programs, this is something it’s hard to centralize. Specifically, I think it’s impossible for one, centralized organization to run effective B2B demand generation programs for a large enterprise, across multiple segments, products/services and geographies, supporting diverse sales teams. Salient and effective, one-to-one, buyer-centric demand generation programs require content and front-line knowledge, which requires subject-matter and audience-facing experts. This is tough to centralize.
So I think in practice this means that you should have two key teams, partnering to execute programs – an internal marketing operations group — that is centralized — and then a myriad of external marketing programs and/or field marketing groups — that are not centralized — architecting and building buyer-facing programs.
> Nuance #2 — There is not a ‘one-step’ nurture to take leads from Inquiry to MQL: The SiriusDecisions waterfall has a single qualification step going from Inquiry to Marketing Qualified Lead. And listening to Tony Jaros talk about nurturing, he had lots of great ideas for nurturing post-MQL, but he treated the pre-MQL nurturing, again, almost as a single step. Not sure I agree with this point-of-view.
The obvious call-out – as someone who spends a lot of time at the pre-MQL stage with clients – is that in effective B2B demand generation programs there is a lot that happens before MQL – both in terms of qualification, and in terms of nurturing. Both Gaines and Heuer talked a lot about the engagement that occurs with buyers upstream and inbound before they ever get in front of a sales-team member. And I counsel clients that this is a prime opportunity to get engaged with buyers earlier on in their process by helping to structure and facilitate the myriad of interactions that occur before they become an MQL. This is a time period when there is much to learn about a buyer and much that you can share without the pressure of direct sales contact.
So I think that in practice this means that when it comes to building programs in an enterprise environment it’s necessary to put some thought into a more granular set of qualification stages and nurturing steps between Inquiry and MQL. Your nurtures should take a buyer as far along in his/her buying process as possible, and you should qualify buyers for response, demographic qualification and behaviors that are indicative of being in an active buying sequence … all before a buyer is truly at an MQL level.
So that’s a wrap on another successful Summit.
Again, a great event overall, and I want to say thanks to the team at SiriusDecisions for putting on such a thoughtful SiriusDecisions Summit 2011. I’ll be looking forward to what the team will come up with in 2012.
Thanks for the thorough and useful review of the conference Adam. I wish I could have been there.
I’m curious, did anyone mention buyer personas as a way to capture the relevant buyer insights and align the various sales, field and centralized marketing teams around the buyer’s expectations?
You’ll see from my website URL that this is a methodology I’m very interested in, and always tracking the state of awareness with my target market. So I’m wondering if it came up.
You might want to have a look at the ebook I just published — The Buyer Persona Manifesto — available for free (no registration) at http://www.buyerpersona.com/persona-marketing-ebook.
Comment by Adele Revella — June 22, 2011 @ 2:03 am
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