SBI Growth

JANUARY 26, 2013

You’re the newly minted marketing leader. Every marketing leader in similar circumstances asks themself these two questions: What do I need to accomplish in year 1? There are four fundamental steps to developing and executing your Year 1 marketing strategy: Develop a Lead Generation Strategy. Implement Demand Generation.

Ideal Customer Profile 300

Ideal Customer Profile Demand Generation Agencies Promotion Demand Generation 300

SBI Growth

JUNE 1, 2013

I recently had a conversation with a marketing VP of an equipment manufacturing firm. Her key objectives were: Generating demand at the top of the funnel & acquiring new customers. Justifying her marketing spend and showing an ROI on her initiatives. C-Suite Marketing Ignorance was her biggest impediment to success.

Top of Funnel 296

Top of Funnel Buyer Persona Marketing Sales Qualified Lead 296

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 5, 2013

As a marketing leader, the CEO is going to measure your 2014 success in three ways: Leads – Number of Sales Qualified Leads delivered to Sales. Opportunities – Percent contribution by Marketing to the Sales Funnel. Wins – Percent contribution by Marketing to Sales Revenue. The new buyer isn’t hanging out at trade shows.

Outsourcing Services 293

Outsourcing Services Top of Funnel Sales Qualified Lead Trade Show 293

SBI Growth

JANUARY 4, 2013

World Class marketing leaders approach Sales Kick-off as an engagement opportunity. Gone are the days of marketing’s participation limited to a marketing ‘timeslot’ presentation. Marketing leaders are active participants throughout the sales meetings. Identify gaps in the Buyer Process mapping to Sales Process.

Marketing 297

Marketing Buyer Persona Demand Generation Demand Generation Targets 297

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

The buzz around the water cooler is that marketing botched it from the get-go. As the marketing leader, you play a pivotal role in bringing the new offering to market. Unfortunately, most marketing leaders don’t know or under-estimate what’s involved. Are their new markets to enter? Target Buyer Persona Profiles.

Ideal Customer Profile 288

Ideal Customer Profile Demand Generation Agencies Marketing Demand Generation 288

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 30, 2012

If you run a $5B company, you need a strategic presence in your marketing organization. However, if you think you need a highly experienced marketing strategist to take your company from $50M to $100M, think again. CEOs of emerging growth companies need ‘doers’ leading marketing. .” – Peter Drucker. What Happened?

Lead Rank 331

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Hiring Leads 331

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 11, 2012

The biggest impact to acquiring new customers in 2013 will be Direct Content Marketing. This is the adoption of Content Marketing principles into outbound direct marketing. Direct Content Marketing is born. Content Marketing works. Demand Generation - Comprehensive View of Content Marketing.

Direct Mail 319

Direct Mail Marketing Demand Generation Demand Generation Targets 319

Zoominfo

OCTOBER 5, 2021

What’s the difference between demand generation and lead generation? Many B2B marketers recognize the value of both and incorporate them into the same campaigns. Definition: Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation The difference between demand generation and lead generation is simple.

Demand Generation Agencies 130

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Targets Demand Generation Lead Generation 130

SBI Growth

DECEMBER 30, 2012

Over the past year, there have been many great Marketing & Lead Generation blog posts. I offer you an executive summary of key takeaways from SBI’s marketing related posts. I have compiled the top 15 questions to evaluate your performance against best-in-class marketing operations. I created Buyer Personas ?

Marketing 297

Marketing Face-to-face Buyer Persona Lead Rank 297

SBI Growth

MAY 5, 2013

I recently had a cup of coffee with a good friend and marketing peer. She has helped build the company with superb demand generation efforts. I had recently read Hubspot’s newest release of the State of Inbound Marketing Report, and a key stat hit me. Kathy is the CMO of an emerging software company. Top Insights.

Cost per Lead 323

Cost per Lead Inbound Buyer Persona Cost per Acquisition 323

SBI Growth

MAY 14, 2013

That’s a question I often hear from marketing leaders. The one thing the best marketers are doing is Contextual Content Marketing. CONTEXTUAL CONTENT MARKETING. Enter Contextual Content Marketing. Most marketing departments are replete with content. The output is unprecedented knowledge of buyer behaviors.

Buyer Persona 314

Buyer Persona Lead Nurturing Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation 314

Zoominfo

NOVEMBER 1, 2018

B2B marketers have long since understood the benefits of social media—yet many still struggle to leverage its full potential as a demand generation tool. In fact, 49% of B2B marketers rank social media marketing as the most difficult lead generation tactic to execute ( source ). Don’t believe us?

Demand Generation Agencies 130

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Targets Demand Generation Social Media 130

Zoominfo

OCTOBER 5, 2021

These are just a few pillars that define demand generation. Learn more about how a successful demand generation strategy can help to nurture the long-term relationship between your brand and customers. What is Demand Generation? Demand generation is programmatic.

Demand Generation Agencies 130

Demand Generation Agencies Demand Generation Targets Demand Generation Paid Content 130

SBI Growth

JANUARY 31, 2013

Pinpointing exactly how to communicate your brand message to a target audience can be one of the most perplexing challenges in marketing. Pre-Internet, marketing communications is where messaging mattered most. We are trying to find out what is on the minds of our buyers.

Buyer Persona 330

Buyer Persona Customer Demand Generation Agencies Scale 330

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 29, 2012

Marketing leaders can gain a competitive advantage by executing a high value exercise Develop a Persona Ecosystem. For marketing leaders tasked with acquiring new customers this is the most valuable exercise you will perform all year. Dive in head first to enhance your 2013 Marketing Plan. What is a Persona Ecosystem?

Exercises 310

Exercises Lead Rank Lead Scoring Marketing 310

SBI Growth

APRIL 26, 2013

Yes… we better know our customer”, was the response from the head of marketing. So I asked the next logical question: “ Tell me about your buyer research; How do you do it? ” The burden of “selling when a rep isn’t present” has shifted to the marketing department. Buyers are self-educating more than ever.

Customer 316

Customer Buyer Persona Survey Demand Generation 316

Corporate Visions

NOVEMBER 7, 2019

The post Are Buyer Personas Sabotaging Your Sales? One of the most popular “best practices” in B2B sales and marketing is to create buyer personas. Typical buyer personas include a character sheet full of your prospects’ demographics, challenges, goals, and KPIs. Here’s why.

Buyer Persona 100

Buyer Persona Buyer Decision Maker Demand Generation Agencies 100

Zoominfo

AUGUST 4, 2020

There has been an ongoing debate in B2B marketing circles: Is the Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) an antiquated, vanity metric? You can file this argument under similarly counterproductive debates, such as: Inbound vs Outbound and Demand Generation vs Account-based Marketing. Say you’re in a market for a new car.

Lead Rank 246

Lead Rank Marketing Qualified Lead Lead Scoring Lead Generation 246

Zoominfo

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Did you know 60-70% of marketers say they don’t truly understand their buyers ( source )? The only way to join the 30-40% of people who do understand their buyers is to create buyer personas. Today we teach you how to construct an effective B2B buyer persona profile—keep reading. Let that sink in.

Buyer Persona 100

Buyer Persona Buyer B2B Company 100

Zoominfo

JUNE 6, 2019

Although buyer personas are typically considered marketing territory, they’re also critical to the sales prospecting process. Consider the following statistics ( source ): Companies who exceed lead and revenue goals are 4 times as likely to use personas for demand generation compared to those who missed lead and revenue goals.

B2B 212

B2B Buyer Persona Top of Funnel Prospecting 212

Zoominfo

AUGUST 4, 2020

There has been an ongoing debate in B2B marketing circles: Is the Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) an antiquated, vanity metric? You can file this argument under similarly counterproductive debates, such as: Inbound vs Outbound and Demand Generation vs Account-based Marketing. Say you’re in a market for a new car.

Lead Rank 195

Lead Rank Marketing Qualified Lead Lead Scoring Lead Generation 195

Zoominfo

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

What is lead generation, and why is it a source of contention for sales and marketing teams? What is Lead Generation? Lead generation is by and large a more focused effort toward familiarizing potential customers with a company’s value proposition with the end goal being conversion. What is a Lead? Pretty simple, right?

Lead Generation 240

Lead Generation Lead Rank Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Lead 240

Zoominfo

JUNE 15, 2022

Profiling prospective customers is vital to ensuring that a marketing campaign is targeting the right people with the right message. With better profiles, demand generation teams can craft stronger advertising campaigns. Marketers can attract and retain prospective customers more effectively.

Ideal Customer Profile 130

Ideal Customer Profile Marketing Customer Demand Generation Agencies 130

Zoominfo

FEBRUARY 23, 2021

Learn what sales prospecting is, and how business development professionals can go to market using outreach strategies that deliver business results. Recent digital transformation has shifted the B2B landscape by ushering in the era of buyer empowerment. 56% of companies have created higher quality leads using buyer personas.

Prospecting 208

Prospecting Ideal Customer Profile Top of Funnel Strategy 208

SBI Growth

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

Marketing / Demand Generation Campaigns / Lead Management. Buyer Personas & Buying Process Maps. But it’s your role to provide input into essential content. Here are 7 categories to get you started: Internal Systems and Admin. Product Knowledge. Competition / Differentiation. Technology and Tools.

Hiring 202

Hiring How To Buyer Persona Demand Generation 202

The Pipeline

MAY 13, 2011

What you should do: Nothing new here — keep your crew well-trained in professionalism, product, and market. Buyers want to have an intelligent two-way conversation, and this won’t happen with some over-cologned “closer.” However, I have some other recommendations: Have you read all the marketing blogosphere stuff on buyer personas?

Report 244

Report Pipeline Top of Funnel Webinar Metrics 244

Zoominfo

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

This month we focus on the marketing technology stack, the power of direct dials, productivity myths, SEO, and more! Investing In Marketing Technology: 7 Key Considerations. The marketing landscape changes constantly as new trends emerge and innovative tactics catch on as effective marketing strategies. Let’s get into it.

B2B 124

B2B B2C Marketing Demand Generation Agencies 124

Zoominfo

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

What is lead generation, and why is it a source of contention for sales and marketing teams? What Is Lead Generation? Lead generation is by and large a more focused effort toward familiarizing potential customers with a company’s value proposition with the end goal being conversion. What is a Lead? Pretty simple, right?

Lead Generation 177

Lead Generation Lead Rank Lead Scoring Sales Qualified Lead 177

Autoklose

JANUARY 15, 2024

Crafting an ideal customer profile (ICP) and buyer personas is a fundamental step for any business aiming to connect more effectively with its audience. And yet, even though those two concepts are marketing staples, some business professionals tend to mix the two up and use them interchangeably.

Ideal Customer Profile 52

Ideal Customer Profile Buyer Persona Buyer Lead Rank 52

Seismic - Sales Effectiveness

MAY 24, 2019

When organizations think of sales and marketing alignment, they often focus on demand generation. Because buyers are savvier and more educated, they expect salespeople to present them with content that is relevant to them in their buying journey. Like demand generation, content won’t be successful without alignment.

Marketing 90

Marketing Demand Generation Agencies Lead Rank Lead Scoring 90

The ROI Guy

MARCH 24, 2014

According to Gartner, left unresolved, the Value Gap can place much of your marketing and demand generation activities at risk. Without an evolution in your content marketing and sales enablement – “growing market share and expanding your brands influence becomes that much more difficult.

Buyer Persona 104

Buyer Persona Demand Generation Agencies Decision Maker Demand Generation 104

Gong.io

JANUARY 1, 2021

Now that you know which accounts to (and not to) target, it’s time to identify the individual buyers within those accounts — buyer personas/profiles. Buyer profile: the second step in any rock solid sales strategy. What questions to ask : Will vary by persona. Demand generation: Getting leads in the pipeline.

Buyer Persona 118

Buyer Persona Strategy Ideal Customer Profile Hiring 118

Zoominfo

MARCH 8, 2022

Your go-to-market actions are only as good as the data they run on. You can hire the best sales and marketing talent and outfit them with state-of-the-art CRM and automation tools , but without high-quality data, their efforts will fall short of your targets. What is the impact of bad data on sales and marketing?

Data 130

Data Outsourcing Services Churn Buyer Persona 130

Zoominfo

JUNE 6, 2019

Although buyer personas are typically considered marketing territory, they’re also critical to the prospecting process. Consider the following statistics ( source ): Companies who exceed lead and revenue goals are 4 times as likely to use personas for demand generation compared to those who missed lead and revenue goals.

B2B 100

B2B Top of Funnel Buyer Persona Prospecting 100

InsightSquared

OCTOBER 22, 2018

One of the key elements of any successful relationship is communication — and that happens to be a huge factor in successful sales and marketing interactions, too. Sales and marketing usually want to be friends. When there isn’t a communication cadence in place between sales and marketing, a lot can get lost in translation.

Marketing 87

Marketing Analytics Lead Rank Lead Scoring 87

Zoominfo

AUGUST 4, 2020

There has been an ongoing debate in B2B marketing circles: Is the Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL ) an antiquated, vanity metric? You can file this argument under similarly counterproductive debates, such as: Inbound vs Outbound and Demand Generation vs Account-based Marketing. Say you’re in the market for a new car.

Lead Rank 100

Lead Rank Marketing Qualified Lead Lead Scoring Lead Generation 100

Zoominfo

AUGUST 22, 2022

Ask any seasoned marketer and they’ll tell you that strong segmentation is the key ingredient to efficient, successful campaigns. Like other things in marketing, the answer can be found by focusing on your customer. For example, let’s say you sell marketing automation software. Let’s break it down.

Segment 130

Segment Ideal Customer Profile Account Based Marketing B2B 130