Today’s post is part two of a two-part series I started about two weeks ago.  In part one, I covered two main points:  One, the greatest challenges most B2B marketers face in building a modern demand generation program is that they have no idea how to do this or where to start.  Two, the first step in building a successful demand generation plan is to do some analysis.  I called this developing ‘buyer-targeting context’ – i.e., understanding the environment within which you are targeting your buyer, what your objectives are and what it will take to get there.  And I addressed the qualitative and quantitative analysis necessary to establish this context.   In part two today, I’ll dig into what it takes to translate this context into an executable demand generation plan.  ~ABN

Part Two:  Program Translation

Developing your initial buyer-targeting context gives you the baseline you need to start to build your demand generation plan.  By this point, you should have a clear idea of the following:  who your target buyer is; what constitutes a lead that is qualified to go to sales; what are the conversion steps and quantitative dynamics you’ll face in your nurturing programs; and what your overall ‘reverse-funnel math’ looks like.  These are all critical inputs.

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Earlier today, Left Brain Marketing introduced the world to a new demand generation model – The Left Brain Model for Demand Generation. Click here to download your copy of the whitepaper that explains this model. Below Malcolm talks about the rationale that went into the development of this new model.  ~ABN

Why a new model for B2B Marketers?

In my mind, that’s the obvious question. And the answer is relatively simple.  B2B Marketers (still) don’t have a framework that supports them in building a modern, integrated Demand Generation program.

There are many efforts out there to re-analyze the sales funnel, the buyer decision process and the hand-off between marketing and sales – all critical insights – but B2B Marketers still struggle when it comes to doing real nurturing.  The basics.  That tells me something is missing.

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How many posts a week do you find with ‘tips and tricks’ for improving your demand generation program or for leveraging marketing automation technology?  These posts are valuable, yet if you are part of the 97-98% of B2B marketers that either are not currently using marketing automation technology or that are not using it successfully – a reality I covered in parts one and two my ‘Real State’ of modern demand generation series – then you’ve got bigger fish to fry.

Where’s the gap?

I find B2B marketers increasingly ‘get’ the key building blocks.  They know – at least subconsciously – they need both process and technology (even if they don’t act on it).  And a growing group understands that in order to do successful online demand generation, they need some combination of marketing automation, together with lead management strategy and content marketing strategy.  B2B marketers also are increasingly aware of the importance of holistic nurturing.  Unfortunately, these remain mostly tactical considerations for far too many B2B marketers.  I think this is why demand generation remains a tactical, not strategic, consideration inside far too many companies, and why many have a narrow scope of what demand generation entails. 

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This afternoon I am speaking at the Boston-area Silverpop B2B Marketing University on the topic of “Succeeding with the Nurturing Dialogue.”  It’s a critical topic.  I truly believe that in the emerging era of Buyer 2.0 – i.e., in the era of a Web 2.0-empowered B2B buyer, who is now in the driver’s seat – it’s more important than ever for us to drive successful content-based dialogue at the core of our demand generation programs.  And lead nurturing is the holistic activity of managing this dialogue in a way that ties the buyer’s process to the marketing and sales organization’s ‘funnel’ – orchestrating our demand generation efforts.

How important is lead nurturing to B2B marketers?

If you polled a group of B2B marketers that have purchased marketing automation platforms, I’m sure 100% would say one of their top objectives is to drive email-based lead nurturing programs.  We know B2B marketers send out a lot of email.  In fact, approximately 89% of B2B marketers leverage email in their marketing efforts, according to Forrester at their Forrester Marketing Forum 2010.  And I’m sure an even higher percentage of this group is on the hook for supporting (at least) some portion of top-of-funnel lead generation via a combination of tactics that include email.

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I had the opportunity to attend the Pardot ‘Elevate’ user conference about two weeks ago.  Overall, it was a great event, and I want to extend my thanks to CEO David Cummings (Twitter: @david_cummings), COO Adam Blitzer (Twitter: @adamblitzer) and VP Sales Derek Grant (Twitter: @derekgrant) for inviting me to attend.

Let me first admit that given Left Brain Marketing’s focus on enterprise/mid-enterprise clients, I did wonder if the demand generation content at Elevate was going to be relevant for me and the segment I work with.  (Also, as a disclaimer:  Left Brain Marketing is 100% vendor agnostic – a policy recently highlighted by our founder, Malcolm Friedberg.  And as of the publication date for this blog post, we do not have any clients currently using Pardot.  So to be clear:  There is no sub rosa agenda in this blog post.)

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This is my first post as head of demand generation strategy at Left Brain Marketing (LBM).  (I think many of you know I recently departed from marketing automation vendor Silverpop, where I was B2B Marketing Evangelist and Director of Field Marketing.)

Given my new role, what is meant by ‘demand generation’ obviously is an important concept, and it’s something we definitely discuss internally at LBM – especially as it relates to online demand generation.  I’ve also had some interesting, recent interactions with marketing and sales professionals around the concept of demand generation, and these interactions have led me to believe this concept is nothing short of highly misunderstood.

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I read the column on Seed Nurturing in DemandGen Report last week and was surprised by some of the recommendations it made.

Not only did the column’s suggestions seem to run counter to best practices, they seem to be diametrically opposed to what marketing automation is designed to do.

The article instructed BtoB marketers to, “Make valuable content freely available on social media sites.” It explained that, “By eliminating the need for registration in order to gain access to your whitepapers, eBooks, and other valuable content, you remove the initial barriers to building relationships with prospects. In doing so, you will strengthen your rapport, and these anonymous leads will likely surface as inbound leads once their interest level increases.”

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