Blending Sales Enablement with Demand Generation, with Tabitha Adams

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:16.640 Conversations from the front lines and marketing. This is be tob growth, coming 2 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:21.559 to you from just outside Austin, Texas. I'm your host, Benj Block, 3 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:25.960 and joining me from Nashville, Tennessee our director of growth here at sweetfish, 4 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:30.399 Dan Sanchez, and from Louisville, Kentucky, our creative content lead, 5 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:35.920 Emily Brady. So here in ten minutes or so we are going to share 6 00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:43.079 a throwback episode, a conversation on blending sales enablement with the man generation with 7 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:48.600 Tabitha Adams. Before we get to that conversation, we are doing show and 8 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:53.159 tell. It's a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Dan, Emily and myself. 9 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:57.880 We bring something that we are seeing, something that intrigues us, and 10 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:00.479 today, Emily, it's your turn. Tell us what you're focused on and 11 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:04.000 what you want to bring today. Yeah, so today I'm bringing kind of 12 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:08.400 like a classic Linkedin influencer Post that you see multiple times of weeks. I 13 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:12.480 thought of you worth talking about, and he's talking about how he generates leads 14 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:17.239 on Linkedin and it's this breakdown of, like, you post so much on 15 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:22.799 Linkedin, you engage with other people on Linkedin and then, like he sends 16 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:26.120 so many like DM's every day and I was reading the comments. There were 17 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:30.280 a lot of comments and a lot of people are saying like, well, 18 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:33.560 how do you actually go about sending DM's? Because that feels uncomfortable, and 19 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.719 I totally get it, because I spend a lot of time creating content on 20 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:40.840 Linkedin and engaging with people in Linkedin, but I rarely ever send DM's because 21 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:45.640 it feels like unnatural to me. But we're, I mean even at swe 22 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:49.480 fish, we're trying to get better at engaging with our target accounts and having 23 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:53.159 conversations with them. So I thought it could be interesting to talk about, 24 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:57.760 like what is a good strategy for reaching out to someone on Linkedin, or 25 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.079 is there? Is there a good strategy? Is there a better way? 26 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:04.840 So I don't know, maybe I'll throw this one s a Dan, because 27 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:07.759 I feel like you do this a lot more than I do. So tell 28 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.599 us, tell us how you reach out to people in Linkedin' Dan, if 29 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:14.960 you have an ask or something. Well, I mean there's a few different 30 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:17.520 methods. The one I've used the most in the past is just making a 31 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:21.439 list of people I'd like to get to know and then dming all of them 32 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:25.520 to be on my podcast right, classic content based networking, and that's one 33 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:28.919 of the best thing easiest ways to just like shoot up a DM and you 34 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:30.520 can even copy and paste the DM big if, especially if they're all kind 35 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:32.879 of like the same line of work, they're all directors of marketing for BEDB 36 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:37.960 companies, and then you just send a three sentence message that says, Hey, 37 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.879 I'm interviewing directors of marketing at be tob companies and I'd love to interview 38 00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:46.000 you on our on our show bedb growth. Interested. Like it's as simple 39 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:47.479 as that. Copy paste, Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam Bam, 40 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:52.240 right, and then it comes with an invite request D m. Some of 41 00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:53.800 them respond back, some of them don't respond. If they don't respond, 42 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.199 I'll follow up and then if they don't follow up again, I might email 43 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:00.599 them. Right. So it's classic content based networking cadence right there. But 44 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:02.919 if you're not going to go that route, there's a few other ways. 45 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:09.120 Recently I've become obsessed with linkedin sales navigator and I'd had a subscription before, 46 00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:14.000 but Dang like, I'm never going back. I'd almost going to be like 47 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:15.960 anywhere I've ever work in the in the future or if it's for myself, 48 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:20.280 I'm going to have a linkedin sales navigator subscription and it's kind of Pricey at 49 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:24.360 seventy five, eighty bucks a month or something. But what it does is 50 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:28.360 now, and I've only started this maybe, like we've done, started doing 51 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:30.400 this as a team right, as a bunch of us doing this, where 52 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:35.240 we've created a list of accounts we'd love to build relationships with. But instead 53 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.639 of doing it all through content based networking through the podcast, what you do 54 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:43.520 is you can define your accounts right, find all those people on, and 55 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:46.919 sales navigator makes this easy. You can go on, just identify, okay, 56 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:50.439 for this specific company, who's everyone that works in marketing? Okay, 57 00:03:50.439 --> 00:03:52.960 AD I'm for me, not everybody in our teams doing this, but I'm 58 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:55.479 adding the whole marking department to a quote unquote lead list, and then you 59 00:03:55.479 --> 00:04:00.680 can take your lead list and see all the posts that have come through that 60 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:02.560 lead list. Right. So it could be from multiple accounts, everyone who 61 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:06.840 works in marketing, or from certain titles within marketing, rights only directors and 62 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:11.520 VP's within marketing, whatever, whatever you're targeting, right, and then I 63 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.439 get to see every single post and then I try to comment on every single 64 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:18.639 I can comment on all the post coming from my lead list right. Some 65 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:20.800 of those, a lot of those people, you know, they see it. 66 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:25.920 I'm often the only comment on their post and if I'm leaving a substantial 67 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.519 comment, chances are they're like, Oh, who is this guy? You 68 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:31.240 know? So they click through and they check up my profile. Of course 69 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:34.839 they probably take a look at what I do. But if they reply back 70 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:40.360 and or if they like spend a few seconds looking at the comment and interacting 71 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.319 with it, maybe liking it, chances are they're probably going to see my 72 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.920 next post, right because they probably only have a few hundred connections, like 73 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:48.879 most people on Linkedin, and I'm probably going to be one of the few 74 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:54.199 people like posting the most of all the people they're engaging with. So they're 75 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:58.399 probably going to see me out out there and on their feed. So you 76 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.920 start doing this a mass and all of a sudden you're interacting with lots of 77 00:05:00.920 --> 00:05:04.240 people from one company and that you start to almost like activate a company, 78 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:08.639 like a company that wasn't seeing your content before is now seeing your content. 79 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.120 So that's kind of been the new approach I've had to engaging with linkedin. 80 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:15.519 No DMS, though that's a thing I haven't done as much of. That's 81 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.360 exactly where I wanted to go because I love that approach. I think there's 82 00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:23.240 so much value there. Clearly I have the benefit of like reaching out to 83 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.959 someone with be tob growth as like a pitch. So I've thought about like 84 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.000 what outside of that, because I'll say when I reach out, I reach 85 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:32.720 out as be to be growth. I don't reach out as sweet fish, 86 00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:36.079 and sometimes you end up in conversations where they're very aware that you have a 87 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:42.160 podcast and they're not so aware of that. We are to use internal language. 88 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:44.000 We we want to be the dentist, right, we want to be 89 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:46.000 the person that knows how to do the thing and does the thing and if 90 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:49.040 you have questions, you ask us, right. So if you have questions 91 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:53.199 on podcasting, Hey, come to me, come to Dan and come to 92 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:57.920 someone on our team that's thinking and doing podcasting day and day out. One 93 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:00.879 of the highest compliments that I feel like I can be paid is, after 94 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.040 I do an interview, someone saying like, Dang, I'm taking notes on 95 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:09.199 for our podcast or this thing that you guys did that we really want to 96 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:13.560 do right. So I love and I'll read his comment because he says first 97 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:16.399 I engage on their content, then I send a personalized connection request. When 98 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:19.720 they accept, it turns into a DM and then I send a message. 99 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:25.839 That is basically, and so I'll read this. He says thanks for accepting, 100 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.360 looking forward to connecting more. One sentence about what I do and if 101 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:32.759 you have if you ever have questions, reach out. I can say I 102 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:36.519 had that happen this week. Someone who's a video editor reached out to me 103 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:42.160 and said I make micro clips. I actually I liked the message. He 104 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:44.920 didn't try to over personalize and act like he knew me. He was a 105 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:48.040 saying hey, thanks for accepting my connector quest if you ever need a video, 106 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:51.319 let me know and if you would want or be interested in pricing, 107 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:55.240 like reach out. And he said that from the from the get cause, 108 00:06:55.319 --> 00:06:57.720 like I'll connect with you, and I actually told him I was like, 109 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.600 we're not looking for videos right now, but it is something I'm very aware 110 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.000 of. So like, send me your pricing so at least have it on 111 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:06.839 file for later and that's fair game. On linkedin to me. So here's 112 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:13.959 here's the shift in my brain is we've talked about personalized video if you feel 113 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.120 like you're at that point with someone and you could shoot them a video down 114 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:18.639 the road. I think that's great. But as a first time connect to 115 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.720 just go hey, if you ever have questions on podcasting, you're probably going 116 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:26.240 to see me posting a lot about it. I'm here to answer any questions 117 00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:30.600 you have. So like so grateful that we're now connected. I kind of 118 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:32.480 want to add that, so I'm not just reaching out from be tob growth, 119 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:36.240 but I'm also saying beyond just the show, this is the area of 120 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:40.959 expertise that I want to talk to you about, and I really liked how 121 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:44.279 he brought that up from a DM side of things. Yeah, that's really 122 00:07:44.279 --> 00:07:47.439 good. I totally agree with those are the messages that I'll respond to more 123 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:51.800 if they're just like hey, here's what I'm offering you. What do you 124 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:57.279 think, because then it's like it doesn't feel as shady, I guess, 125 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:01.319 just to be up front about those things. But I'm wondering, like what 126 00:08:01.399 --> 00:08:05.839 do you if you don't have a podcast? Like, what would your DM 127 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.199 look? You know, well, what do you? I like, let's 128 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:11.240 just brainstorm for you real quick. I'm only like, what's the thing that 129 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:16.480 you because I would say if I'm connected with you, I probably want to 130 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.199 know about how you're doing stuff on ticktock and I want to know about the 131 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:26.000 evangelist program and just even honestly, something I super admire about you is just 132 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:31.560 how much freaking content you can create. Like I cannot the amount of content 133 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:33.480 you can write is like mind blowing to me. So I'm like, if 134 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:37.240 I'm connecting with Emily, I want to learn how to do that. So 135 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:41.440 if you were to DM me and go hey, if you ever have questions 136 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:46.320 on creating content on anything like that side of things, I'm here to help 137 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:50.039 answer those questions. It's not quite a sales pitch, but he's different. 138 00:08:50.080 --> 00:08:56.000 The Post were reading is different because we're not truly trying to like close a 139 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:58.720 sale necessarily. We're trying to build awareness and we're just trying to have ongoing 140 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:05.720 call versation. So to me that's your kind of value prop it's like I 141 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:09.879 add, yeah, I don't know. Now that's very cool thinking in terms 142 00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:13.120 of, like we say, everything on Linkedin is to build a relationship, 143 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:16.399 right, so you're commenting on their stuff to build relationship. You're posting valuable 144 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.679 content to start conversations build relationships. So then, why do we think that 145 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:24.600 that ends with the DM? Like all right, now I can send a 146 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:26.320 message. That is the sales pitch. Know, that can still be the 147 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.440 relationship, that can be exactly what you just said, Benjie, which I 148 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:33.720 love, and we'll probably start trying now. Like, thanks for connecting. 149 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:35.440 Here are some things I know about. Let me know if you have any 150 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:39.759 questions about it. I'd love to know about this thing that you know about. 151 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:43.320 Like that's genuine. That's, you know, perpetuating that mission of building 152 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:50.039 relationships and then obviously, like hopefully you you land a sale that way in 153 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.480 the end, but like that's not the goal, right, that's just like 154 00:09:52.720 --> 00:09:56.440 the perk of it. So I, like you literally just blew my mind 155 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:00.879 because I was like, man, I always think of DM's as like pitches, 156 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.279 but they don't have to be. They're just continued conversation. Yep, 157 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:07.879 and if it's so interesting, because we all like being able to say what 158 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:13.279 you do to someone can feel scary at first, but with repetition, just 159 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:16.519 going, I know this is how I can add value, even just in 160 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:18.759 like a conversation and not a way like are you going to hire me, 161 00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:22.399 but just like this is what I've learned in the process. I really admire 162 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.480 those people. I've ended up on a number of zoom calls since I came 163 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:31.919 to sweet fish, where there's no yil involved. It was just like US 164 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:35.399 throwing questions back and forth at each other. That helps shape the way that 165 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:37.879 I do the thing that I do, and I'm sure it helped them as 166 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:43.000 well, and I do think. I mean we talked about the amount of 167 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:48.159 numbers from our Linkedin evangelist program that we saw in sales that we can attribute 168 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:52.879 to Linkedin. We know that that is possible. This is just another phase 169 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:56.559 of that. In my mind, like let's just let people know what we 170 00:10:56.679 --> 00:11:01.399 are good at. This conversation so good. It's brought an idea to me, 171 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:05.519 because I'm like, one what the poster worked, referencing that will freaking 172 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:09.039 work for sure. And on my yes, in my mind I'm like that 173 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:11.320 it's just it's just going to work. You just send up enough DM's. 174 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:16.440 It's not cringey and it's straightforward. You will get business from it, for 175 00:11:16.600 --> 00:11:20.960 sure. One other tweak that you can make to it if you're not desperate 176 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.799 for money now, but you can hold back a little bit and you'll get 177 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.559 more money later. I think from doing this is, instead of offering a 178 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:33.639 paid service, offer a free service. I mean something really simple that's easy 179 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:37.080 for you to execute, or content or a subscrict newsletter. But essentially you 180 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:39.799 can use the same tactic to grow an audience. Like I can see myself 181 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:45.759 sending people like personalized videos or even just the same video and like hey, 182 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:50.080 thanks for accepting my connection request. I love helping people start podcast, personal 183 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:52.600 or business ones, and I if you. If you're not starting one, 184 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:56.799 no problem, but if any time you are, I want to be there 185 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:01.320 to help. Ask Me Anything, and then they know I'm the podcast guy. 186 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.440 Now, if they are in the market for a podcast, then then 187 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:07.480 they're probably going to call me anyway right or ask me some questions. But 188 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:13.879 at the same time I'm cementing my position in their minds and they're probably a 189 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:18.240 little bit more interested in checking out content right and subscribing to what I have 190 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:20.879 gone on, especially if I have a call to action, being like hey, 191 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:22.120 check out this guy that I made. I think it might be helpful 192 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:26.519 if you're looking for it right, and if they go and read the guy 193 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:30.960 now they're consuming your content. Become taking first steps to becoming an audience member 194 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:35.879 and that's that's scalable, at least on Linkedin. Well, you can only 195 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.120 do so much on send so many DM's on linkedin before they ban you. 196 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.639 So you're going to say if you have a paid account on Linkedin, I 197 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:46.080 don't know what the number is, but you get way more. It's interesting 198 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:50.559 because when we talk about we've obviously we talked about podcasting a lot, but 199 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:54.600 I was thinking about how I reach out for be to be growth. There 200 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:58.159 is an element of like it's pretty cool that you get to come on this 201 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:03.039 awesome marketing podcast, and so I'm adding value to you by creating content with 202 00:13:03.080 --> 00:13:09.000 you. But you're also asking of them like their time and your you are 203 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:13.919 like, from the very first connection, request you are you're asking them something, 204 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.720 versus in this approach, you I can't do this every time, right, 205 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:20.159 because I still am like looking at people and wanting them to be guess 206 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.600 on the show, but if I was using this, it's almost just like 207 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:26.440 hey, I'm so glad we're connected and like, if you ever need this 208 00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:31.519 type of value add, here I'm in. I'm the one waiting to like 209 00:13:31.159 --> 00:13:35.960 add value to you, and so I can see how this is really it's 210 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:41.519 just an attitude of being helpful. It comes across a lot different than other 211 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:46.600 approaches. So Emily, final thoughts here before we wrap this this fascinating conversation 212 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:50.519 up. I mean, I think we've covered everything and even gone a little 213 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:54.120 over time, but this is really valuable and I feel like for me, 214 00:13:54.440 --> 00:14:00.200 you guys have inspired me to send more messages. That's what I'm going to 215 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.320 end. It's hard to send more messages. That's about it, all right? 216 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:09.519 Well, on that note, let's jump into today's throwback episode, how 217 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:15.480 to blend sales enablement with demand generation, with Tabitha Adams. Enjoyed this conversation 218 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.080 and have a great weekend everybody. Welcome back to be to be growth. 219 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:24.120 I'm Leslie Cruz with Sweet Fish Media, and today we will be continuing our 220 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.600 deep dive into demand generation. Joining me today is tabit the Adams, the 221 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:31.559 senior demand marketing manager over at in a great Tabitha, thank you so much 222 00:14:31.559 --> 00:14:35.600 for joining me day. Yeah, thank you for having me. Absolutely and, 223 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:41.120 for those listening, in a grate is the leader in precision demand marketing, 224 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:45.519 which is a new emerging category to help be tob marketers develop and deliver 225 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:52.559 an Omni Channel Demand Strategy, convert leads to revenue and drive marketing Roi Tabitha, 226 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:54.279 do you mind sharing just a little bit about your role at in a 227 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:58.919 grate and kind of what your daytoday looks like, and also how your role 228 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:03.320 has evolved over time? Him Yeah, sure, I'll start more with the 229 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:07.000 history, I think, especially with the more demand context. What is happening 230 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:11.679 in demand generation? It's an interesting seeing how my role is kind of evolved 231 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:16.480 over time. When I first started coming out of college, it was more 232 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:20.000 focused on demand generation. In terms of lead generation, what are you doing 233 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:24.039 to bring in more volume? How are you increasing your companies awareness as a 234 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:28.840 marketer? Then how are you finding more leads, leads being the keyword there 235 00:15:28.879 --> 00:15:33.559 for your sales team today, in agree, I think it's really evolved more 236 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:37.279 into how do we connect with their buyers. So, as a senior manager 237 00:15:37.320 --> 00:15:41.360 for demand, it's more focused on how do I create new conversations with the 238 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:45.399 prospects for targeting and how do I make sure that our marketing efforts are across 239 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.480 the channels that matter most to buyers, which has been really interesting, especially 240 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:52.840 with our precision demand marketing launched, because we're thinking more about how do we 241 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:56.200 aligned that buyers process. I'm sure you've seen a lot of other articles are 242 00:15:56.279 --> 00:16:00.559 research, but I think there's there's this bigger idea that buyers are more and 243 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:04.159 more digitally focused. So making sure that our efforts are around the channels they 244 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.159 want to engage with us in and we're giving them the right content has really 245 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.080 been key to how my role is evolved here at integrate. To how does 246 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:17.720 demand generation change with your view of precision demand marketing? Are they one in 247 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:21.639 the same? Do you feel like Demandin as a subset of that? I 248 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:26.120 think demand generation is more of our internal kind of engine to support precision demand 249 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:30.240 marketing. So one thing I'm thinking about more is my role evolves and I 250 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.120 support this messaging. For our company it's more about how do I engage with 251 00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:40.519 not only individual buyers or again that volume piece of demand generation, but also 252 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:45.200 attract the right accounts and meet with the right demand units within each account. 253 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:48.240 A lot of this has been driven by our marketing leadership. I love the 254 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:51.639 idea. We talk a lot about the buyers journey and it's not just this 255 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:56.080 methodical framework or a theory, but it's more put into our practice with our 256 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:00.120 demand team as we think about what are we doing from awareness all the way 257 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:03.519 through to deal acceleration, and how do we use that buyers drain to make 258 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:07.160 sure we're staying focused on the buyer again and not thinking about demand in terms 259 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:11.559 of volume or just a number of leads or engagement we're having at the top 260 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:15.200 of the funnel. That's really interesting and that kind of brings me to my 261 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:21.079 next question actually, because a few years ago you presented something called marketing beyond 262 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:25.680 marketers, blending sales enablement with demand generation. To anyone listening, this is 263 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:29.880 a really insightful presentation. You can find over on Tabith is Linkedin, but 264 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.960 I would love for you to share more about this presentation and more specifically where 265 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:37.799 you talked about that. People First, outcome second, and also solution based 266 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.039 marketings. Do you mind diving into that? Yeah, let me start with 267 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.599 more where that presentation came from. I think that really come out of the 268 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:49.720 fact that I was starting with more of a startup organization within D length, 269 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.480 the company I worked with at the time, and one thing we are trying 270 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:56.160 to figure out is how do we ramp up our marketing efforts with a really 271 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:59.440 small team, so I was one of two or three people on the marketing 272 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:03.359 side. We add myself, leading demand content marketer, and partner marketing, 273 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.559 and then we had about four or five SDRs. So it was really more 274 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:11.680 to how do we equip the sales team to help us with our marketing efforts 275 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:15.440 and this realization that it's not really about our marketing goals or sales full but 276 00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:18.400 really we're trying to reach the same people and gage more interest from the same 277 00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:22.240 buyers. So how do we work together and kind of equip each other for 278 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:26.480 that conversation? So one thing that really came out of that was more thinking 279 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:32.240 beyond marketing goals, marketing objectives and putting the buyer first, which is where 280 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:37.680 more of that people first, outcome second came from. So starting more internally, 281 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:41.880 how do I equip the sales team with the right tools and processes to 282 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:47.000 generate interests with their buyers and making sure they can see what topics are most 283 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:49.599 interesting to their buyers, what channels they need to kind of focus on to 284 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:53.200 engage with them, and then how do they measure that based off the people 285 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:57.880 they're talking to, not just number of activities or number of form fills? 286 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:02.880 We were seeing on the back end. Yeah, switching gears a little bit 287 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:07.440 here. Why do you think that demand generation is so widely criticized? You 288 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:11.279 know, I see a lot of people who are talking about, Oh, 289 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:15.960 demand Jen is just just marketing, it's not anything, and I think that's 290 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:21.720 you know, it's always criticized by people who follow the ABM approach specifically. 291 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:23.440 So I do you think that is? Yeah, I think there's two things 292 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:30.920 happening here. First is that demand has become synonymous with lead generation instead of 293 00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:34.319 thinking of demand generation more holistically. I think the second part is because of 294 00:19:34.359 --> 00:19:38.680 the account based marketing approach. We see that there are marketers that think of 295 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.920 ABM is the way to connect more with their sales team and generate more of 296 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:49.279 those conversion programs, versus demand being more of this top level acquisition focus, 297 00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:56.200 when really demand should include both awareness, conversion and even the expansion pieces. 298 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.480 And that's where I feel like you see more of EBM becoming a tactic within 299 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:03.680 your demand tool belt instead of them being contrasted or, like you're saying, 300 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:08.160 these debates that are happening where ABM is kind of put head to head with 301 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:12.519 demand and they're being separated. Really they should be both used together to create 302 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:17.799 more of that personalized experience and again focusing more on the buyer. Instead of 303 00:20:18.160 --> 00:20:23.440 US an account based marketing approach, or is us a demand approach? Hey 304 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.599 be to be gross listeners. We want to hear from you. In fact, 305 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:32.039 we will pay you for it. Just head over to BDB growth podcom 306 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:36.000 and complete a short survey about the show to enter for a chance to win 307 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:40.319 two hundred and fifty dollars. Plus. The first fifty participants will receive twenty 308 00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.880 five dollars as our way of saying thank you so much one more time. 309 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:52.119 That's BB growth podcom, letter B number two, letter be growth podcom. 310 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.119 One entry per person must be an active listener of the show to enter. 311 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:03.400 I look forward to hearing from you. So do you think that the reason 312 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:10.759 it is so widely criticized is because it's kind of tied to how demand and 313 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:15.839 ABM are presented in the overall funnel? Yeah, I think, going back 314 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.440 to what kind of what I was saying before, sometimes demand gets equated with 315 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:22.880 just that top level awareness when you're thinking of your funnel, it's that first 316 00:21:22.039 --> 00:21:27.079 entry point of are we targeting our ideal customer profile and are we getting enough 317 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:32.759 volume in terms of engagement versus ABM has often been equated to how are we 318 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:37.759 further supporting sales or that more conversion part of the funnel, when really what 319 00:21:37.799 --> 00:21:41.119 I think is happening now is that the two things shouldn't be silo. Both 320 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:45.119 of them are used to create more of that personalized experience and demand now is 321 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:49.519 more about solving that pain point of reaching buyers based off their role or based 322 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:53.400 off the channels they're engaging across. It's not that volume play. So I 323 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:59.640 think if we can kind of move past demand being synonymous with awareness, we'd 324 00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:03.319 see more of the similarities between account based marketing and demand and it being more 325 00:22:03.359 --> 00:22:07.920 one focused on the buyer versus ones focused on your accounts or your demand unit. 326 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:15.039 What do you see changing in how people are modernizing their demand approach? 327 00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:17.799 I think the big one. I think we've seen this a few different ways, 328 00:22:17.799 --> 00:22:19.519 but it's been more about that funnel. I feel like we're seeing less 329 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:23.359 of the standard, Oh Gosh, I wish we had like a slide for 330 00:22:23.400 --> 00:22:27.160 this, but you're wider at the top narrow at the bottom funnel. And 331 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:32.400 then with ABM we had reverse sing it being more focus on a very small 332 00:22:32.440 --> 00:22:36.279 amount of target accounts, while now I feel like we're moving more to what 333 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:41.079 I was saying about integrate this journey framework or being less about volume, converting 334 00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:45.640 to your ideal prospects at the bottom to hey, let's think about what we're 335 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:49.119 doing across the journey. Volume aside, are we seeing engagements from the people 336 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:53.000 that we want to talk to, from those that are interested in our product, 337 00:22:53.039 --> 00:22:57.799 and are we surrounding our complete addressful market by using things like intent or 338 00:22:57.839 --> 00:23:03.400 having more of that multi channel to the Golden Buzz Word Omnichannel experience for our 339 00:23:03.400 --> 00:23:08.480 buyers? Yeah, and going off of that, do you have any best 340 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:14.119 or maybe favorite demandion practices that you want to share and you know, feel 341 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:17.240 free to share some examples that you've worked on in the past as well. 342 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:19.880 I think one of them has been this idea, again, of blending account 343 00:23:19.880 --> 00:23:23.839 based marketing with demand so when you're building out your program instead of thinking about 344 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:27.839 segmentation first, think more about the goal of the outcome you want your buyer 345 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:33.920 to take. This has been more, I guess, a mindset change versus 346 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:37.119 a programmatic change, but it has allowed myself, and I know some of 347 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:41.720 my teammates to also think through what are we doing? That's very focus on 348 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.680 our ICP and our key personas, and then how does that lead to an 349 00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:51.319 ABM strategy or a strategy by channel? That way you make sure you don't 350 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:56.160 have siloed efforts, for email versus social or even versus some of your content 351 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:00.839 pieces like Webinars, but instead each of those are holistically at about based off 352 00:24:00.839 --> 00:24:06.160 one goal or outcome for your buyers. How do you measure that success? 353 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:11.359 How do you know if those campaigns are actually successful? So I know I 354 00:24:11.400 --> 00:24:15.359 mentioned at the beginning that leads shouldn't matter as much and demand is less about 355 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.720 volume, but leads are still a great indicator for your program success. I 356 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:22.720 just wouldn't say that should be your ultimate goal or KPI when you're thinking about 357 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:27.880 this birecentric program what I have found, especially when as you're leaning into a 358 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:33.319 new role or a new company as a demand marketer, make sure you emphasize 359 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:36.880 that you want to be aligned with business outcomes. So how are you driving 360 00:24:36.920 --> 00:24:41.880 pipeline or how are you driving revenue through your programs? This does involve some 361 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:45.559 kind of partnership or work with like your marketing offs team or salesops team. 362 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:49.559 To understand how are you attributing that information from marketing, but aligning there also 363 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.759 allows you to have a better partnership with sales, which I think is really 364 00:24:52.759 --> 00:24:56.839 the key indicator for success for demand marketers. If you can go to your 365 00:24:56.839 --> 00:25:00.920 sales team and they can tell you what programs are working well for them to 366 00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:04.759 connect with their prospects or to expand with their customers, and you know the 367 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:08.400 partnerships there so you can take that information use it for new programs, then 368 00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:11.759 you know that you're driving more success because sales sees the benefit of it, 369 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:15.359 not only from a volume perspective, but they see the kind of activity you're 370 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:19.240 driving for the accounts or contacts they care about. Yeah, one thing that 371 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:23.039 I love about, you know, this conversation I've been having with several people, 372 00:25:23.240 --> 00:25:27.480 is the sales and marketing connection and you know, I think that a 373 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:32.960 lot of times it's there to completely separate areas. It's like sales is way 374 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:37.039 over here and left field and then marketing is way over here and they kind 375 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:38.960 of but heads a little bit. But I think what's really interesting about demand 376 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:45.359 generation is that it involves that collaboration across both teams. Yeah, definitely I 377 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:48.880 think that's where a lot of this ABM versus demand debate has come from. 378 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:55.000 To is account based marketing has always been synonymous with a conversion based program where 379 00:25:55.000 --> 00:26:00.960 you're supporting sales and you're really prioritizing their sales target list. But that doesn't 380 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.839 have to be isolated to account based marketing efforts. You can take the sales 381 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:08.839 target list and incorporated into your general programs that you have that kind of surrounding 382 00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:14.279 the buyer experience in terms of what is sales care about? What accounts do 383 00:26:14.319 --> 00:26:18.359 we know are engaging based off in tent or even your internal reporting? And 384 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:19.960 then who do we know? We need a target based off our personas or 385 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:25.240 ICP. So then I think there's a lot marketers can do on that front. 386 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:29.720 With that immediately thinking I need to integrate a new strategy like ABM or 387 00:26:29.720 --> 00:26:33.240 slowly focus my dollars or my effort on an account based marketing strategy. Yeah, 388 00:26:33.319 --> 00:26:37.519 I completely agree. And would you do you have any examples of those? 389 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:41.599 Like what could marketers be doing there? You know, Leslie, think 390 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:44.640 that's a good question. I think one thing marketers can do to start that 391 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:49.559 is really understanding. Do we have enough program support across the buyers journey. 392 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:55.119 I think when you look at your programs and you see that your emails are 393 00:26:55.160 --> 00:26:57.839 generating a lot of engagement or MQLS, or you had a Webinar and it 394 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:02.720 generated five hundred new registrants but none of them are converting, then you can 395 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:06.039 start to map out maybe I'm focusing too much on awareness or I have a 396 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:07.720 lot up there in the front of the buyers journey, but that thing is 397 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:14.680 converting to pipeline or two conversations down funnel. So if you can start to 398 00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:18.279 map your programs across those Bire journey stages and understand do I have enough here 399 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:22.720 to surround the buyer, then you might have a better idea of how your 400 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:27.359 partnering with sales and what efforts can sales use beyond that initial engagement as new 401 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:33.480 leads or new respondence come in from your campaigns? This has been so insightful. 402 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.920 Tabitha, thank you so much for joining me. And where can people 403 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.720 find you online if they're interested in learning more? Yeah, definitely, Leslie. 404 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:47.119 I love talking about this conversation de beating more about accountbase marketing versus demand. 405 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:49.720 I'd love to connect with any of you via Linkedin. I'm also somewhat 406 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:53.440 active on my twitter profile, but if you want to have this conversation further, 407 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:57.720 reach out on linkedin first and they can always connect. Great, fantastic. 408 00:27:57.720 --> 00:28:00.480 Well again, thank you so much for joining me here on BB growth. 409 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:30.279 Thank you from