What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

As we approach summer, water becomes a big part of our lives. Pools, beaches, lakes, rivers – we all rush to the water where we can! What other things do you associate with summer? As a Canadian, I think of some other true ‘Canadian’ symbols – Group of Seven artwork, summer concert tours, and ‘road apples.’

Give this great tune by some Canadian music icons a listen as we read on and see what the experts are saying this week:

New B2B Waterfall – Do you think you’re ready?!

Since its introduction in 2002, the SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall has been the de facto standard for managing demand gen processes. Over the years, the waterfall has been revised, and other research firms like TOPO have touted other methodologies such as the double funnel.

Forrester (who acquired SiriusDecisions) recently held its B2B Summit. I’ve been to many of these over the years, and love all the content provided. The highlight this year was the unveiling of their new B2B Revenue Waterfall, which focuses on capturing revenue opportunities B2B organizations have and allowing them to understand their performance throughout the revenue cycle.

The waterfall highlights an opportunity approach to conversion rates vs. a lead-focused approach. And this new waterfall also FINALLY addresses customer retention and repeatable revenue – with the ‘won’ segment cycling back to the beginning. We all know new customer acquisition can be expensive – so focusing on retention opportunities just makes good sense.

What do you think of the new waterfall? Are you still living in MQL and SQL ‘land’ and thinking back to simpler waterfall times? Or is this brand new renaissance going to help invigorate your revenue engine?

Are we in a post-COVID event world?

Have you heard the news this past week? Many US concert promoters have announced their summer concert line-ups! America is definitely confident that it’s in a post-COVID music festival world!

We’ve heard from many festival promoters, including Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, and Rockville – mostly occurring later in the summer. And we’ve also heard from some big bands such as Green Day that their tours will be kicking off this summer. Could this truly be the start of live music again? Do you think we’re ready?

How does this translate to B2B? A recent survey found that 93% of respondents are open to attending live events between August and December 2021. 79% of attendees are comfortable with attending live networking offerings at events!

Health and safety remains the top concern for all attendees – and top risk mitigation procedures expected include: sanitizing stations; mandatory masks; social distancing; temperature checks; and even proof of vaccine.

Do you feel comfortable traveling to an in-person event this year? Or would you prefer to paddle past?

As always, don’t hesitate to call me to brainstorm or just say hello.

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Get Ready for the New B2B Revenue Waterfall! appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? is an ongoing email. Join the mailing list to be the first to receive these weekly insights!

Monday mornings can be challenging at the best of times. Cranking this song by Lenny Kravitz is bound to get you moving and motivated for a brand new month! Listen with me as we explore some takeaways from the past week:

Sales vs. Marketing – Are You Gonna Go My Way?

According to HubSpot, fewer than half of marketers would describe their sales and marketing teams as “generally aligned.” Is that a problem? Heck yeah it is!

Sales and marketing alignment has been a topic in B2B for many, many years. And there are research firms that have had incredible success helping companies align their sales and marketing functions. (Hint: See webinar promo at the end of this post.) So why is this still an issue within organizations?

I find that a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between sales and marketing can be an effective way to bridge this gap. Traditionally, an SLA defines exactly what a customer will receive from a service provider. But SLAs can serve internal operations as well, and sales and marketing agreements are among the most crucial.

HubSpot tells us that a successful SLA should include the following elements:

1. Summary of agreement
2. Goals of both parties
3. What’s needed by both parties
4. Points of contact
5. If goals are not met
6. Conditions of cancellation

Feel like you spend most of your time engaging and re-arranging? Download their template and see if it can help you in your organization!

“Pivoting with Urgency” – Music Instrument Sales

As we can all imagine, online music instrument sales skyrocketed last year. Seems like everyone picked up an instrument or re-ignited their love of playing music at home in 2020. In this article, music retailers explain how they were able to quickly pivot to address the online needs of their customers.

And of course, guitar manufacturers are also claiming their strongest sales in recent history. Makes sense, right?

But what about those other ‘adjacent’ industries and products? Sure – online retailers have thrived, and instrument manufacturers have had a banner year. But what about the other ‘stuff’ that’s not as glamorous? Guitar picks, cases, strings, drum sticks, tuners? We don’t really think about them as much (and they don’t get the same press attention) but it stands to reason that all of these other products will also have a successful year based on the pandemic.

So, what lessons are here for B2B?

Even if you’re not able to pivot and take full advantage of current trends, perhaps you are ‘adjacent’ to an industry that’s thriving. Is there a product or service you have that can help to support those industries as they pivot and grow? Perhaps being the guitar manufacturer isn’t the ideal situation – maybe you want to be the guitar string manufacturer! Would you rather sell the guitar, or sell the strings to ALL the guitar brands? It’s all about perspective.

Webinar – Speaking of Sales and Marketing Alignment…

We’re hosting another What Do B2B Marketers Do Now? event this month! Join me and Forrester SiriusDecisions as we discuss sales and marketing alignment and the best marketing strategies to hit your 2021 numbers!

But what I really wanna know is… are you gonna register?

Looking forward,
Rick

Rick Endrulat, President | ricke@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/rickendrulat

The post Aligning Sales and Marketing appeared first on Virtual Causeway.

We spend much of our time managing multiple channels in our lead generation campaigns, and over the years, we’ve learned a few things! Which lead generation channel is right for you? In reviewing success across multiple clients, we can give you the inside scoop!

The Demand Gen Waterfall

Let’s start by examining the SiriusDecisions Demand Generation Waterfall – the bible of sales and marketing for today’s modern marketer. The waterfall tells us that there is a distinction between inbound and outbound marketing, which can be reflected to pass on higher and more qualified leads.

• Outbound Marketing: this includes print advertisements, television advertisements, radio advertisements, tele-prospecting, trade shows, and e-mail blasts.
• Inbound marketing: This can be anything from blogs, eBooks and whitepapers to viral videos and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

The SiriusDecisions waterfall tells us, no matter how the inquiry came in, it will go through a marketing automation system. Then, once scored, it will be passed on to the proper sales team for proper followup.

Something to keep in mind is the pipeline and Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) nurture stream – as all inquiries will not close upon first touch (as mush as we wish they would).

Multiple Channels

There are many lead generation channels. Many, if not all, convert leads with the proper amount of time and effort put in when following the SiriusDecisions waterfall. According to Salesforce State of Marketing 2015, email is keeping a high profile as “an integral touchpoint along the customer journey for the majority of marketers.” While this is from a few years ago, HubSpot data has found a resurgence in email in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whatever the channel, best practice on follow up time (within business hours) is generally considered 20 minutes. This is key to keep in mind if you have an inbound marketing campaign running – have your sales reps ready to follow up within 20 minutes.

The main takeaway I want you to get from this blog is, no matter what lead generation channel you use – inbound, outbound or both – ensure it is followed up by the proper sales or marketing representative in order to close the deal. And don’t hesitate to reach out for more insights or to see how we can help with your lead generation.

Marlene Keay, Senior Manager, Business Development | marlenek@v-causeway.com | www.linkedin.com/in/marlenekeay

The post Lead Generation Channels appeared first on Virtual Causeway.