Episode 97: How to launch a demand generation program at B2B company with high ACV with Andrei Zinkevich & Vladimir Blagojević

Full-Funnel B2B Marketing Show

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In this episode we present with Vladimir Blagojevic:
- 6 stages of launching and scaling B2B demand gen program
- How to use customer research to amplify demand gen programs
- How to refine demand capture
- How to operationalize and scale B2B demand gen
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EPISODE SUMMARY
10 steps to build a demand generation function at a B2B company.
1. DEVELOP A DEMAND GEN STRATEGY.
Demand gen is not a bunch of organic and paid tactics. Make sure you have:
- Clear ICP
- Marketing message
- Goals and resources
2. CUSTOMER RESEARCH.
Run customer interviews and analyze the digital behavior of your buyers to understand:
- What channels do your buyers use for education and research?
- What are the questions and topics they are interested in?
- What are their KPIs, “jobs to be done” and the typical challenges?
- Who do they follow and trust?
- What communities/associations do they engage with?
3. TOPICS CATEGORIZATION.
Categorize demand topics and put them into 4 buckets.
1. Business triggers that push your buyers to start looking for solutions like yours.
2. Demand triggers: what can attract their interest and motivate them to learn more about the problem or an opportunity?
3. Discovering and evaluation.
4. Decision-making: what can influence their decision?
4. PRIORITIZE CAMPAIGNS.
Map out all demand campaigns you believe make sense to launch.
Prioritize by:
- scope
- budget
- resources
- easiness of launching
- potential impact.
5. DEVELOP OR REFINE DEMAND CAPTURING.
Before launching a pilot demand gen campaign:
- Reduce friction points (long forms, pricing unavailable, etc.)
- Define one process of demand capturing (retargeting of engaged accounts, intent data, etc.)
6. SELECT AND LAUNCH PILOT CAMPAIGNS.
Don’t push all of your resources into the pilot campaign. Instead:
- Define the goals and align them with sales and execs.
- Define a small pilot team (2 people max). Reduce KPIs/reallocate revenue targets.
- Select only one channel and one program. Don’t do multiple things in parallel.
- Create a clear timeline and leading metrics to track progress.
7 .OPERATIONALIZE PILOT CAMPAIGNS.
After your campaign gets traction, document the process and onboard or hire a team member to maintain the campaign.
8. CREATE A DEMAND GEN REPORT.
Add a mix of self- and digital attribution (digital analytics + How did you hear about our product?) to show the impact of marketing on revenue.
9. GROWING FUNCTION.
Gradually launch and document new demand generation and demand capturing campaigns.
10. BUILD A DEMAND GEN TEAM.
Don’t hire for the process that doesn’t exist in the beginning. Bring people to maintain the existing campaigns, refine them and give some space for experimentation.
One caveat:
Don’t get too excited about launching 20+ programs.
In reality, 6-8 programs and 2-3 channels where you excel will be more than enough to grow your brand presence, generate demand, and marketing-sourced revenue.
Vladimir on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimirblagojevic/
Andrei on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azinkevich/