BUILD A REVENUE ENGINE DEMAND GEN, FUNNELS & SMARKETING Hana Abaza, @hanaabaza #SAASNORTH
ASSUMPTION: YOU’VE ACHIEVED PRODUCT / MARKET FIT
If you don’t, 90% of this presentation is not applicable to you.
YOU NEED MORE THAN A GREAT PRODUCT TO SCALE
You need effective system for improving process and expanding
revenue operations.
3 Phases of Evolution
WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
Wizard of Oz
Scooby Doo
Oceans 11
Marketing
Sales Customer Success
B2B SAAS REVENUE ENGINE
SALES & MARKETING ARE ON THE SAME SPECTRUM
Sales Sales Sales
Demand Marketing + Sales
*Brand & Demand + Sales
Support (reactive)
Support & Success Support, Success, Advocacy
CUSTOMER SUCCESS IS THE KEY TO GROWTH
WHERE DO YOU BEGIN & HOW DO YOU EVOLVE?
Where you focus first depends on your model, your market and your
core strengths.
POSITIONING
If you think this is a marketing thing, you’re doing it wrong.
“Marketing is about making it easy for people to find, evaluate and buy your products. Positioning is
figuring out what your product is in the first place.”
More April: rocketwatcher.com
- April Dunford, CEO of Sprintly
“Marketing can polish a turd. Positioning can turn turds into fertilizer.”
More April: rocketwatcher.com
- April Dunford, CEO of Sprintly
HOW DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT?
Are you a turd or are you fertilizer?
WHAT’S THE CONTEXT IN WHICH PEOPLE THINK ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT?
Price, customers, competition, brand, channels, message.
WHAT LANUAGE DO PEOPLE USE TO TALK ABOUT ABOUT YOUR PRODUCT?
How do your customers explain your product to their colleagues?
PERSONAS
These are your new BFFs – find out everything you can about them
“By not deciding on one of these personas, we paid a gigantic, invisible ‘optionality’ tax.”
Source: readthink.com
- Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot
THE PROBLEM WITH MOST STARTUPS ISN’T A LACK OF IDEAS, IT’S A LACK OF CLARITY & FOCUS.
Hana Abaza | @hanaabaza #SAASNORTH
MARKETING
Marketing in B2B SaaS requires different grow levers and processes.
DEMAND GENERATION IS A CORE ELEMENT OF DRIVING GROWTH
But it’s poorly understood and badly implemented.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS DEMAND GENERATION?
It’s about creating urgency with buyers that are complacent.
Demand generation is the engine that generates leads, identifies and
nurtures qualified prospects, and optimizes conversion throughout the buyer cycle.
These people are different!
Messaging, tactics and channels change. You need to generate
demand.
TACTICS THAT FUEL DEMAND
CONTENT EVENTS PAID
CORE DRIVERS
PARTNERS
ORGANIC ACCOUNT BASED MARKETING
FOCUS ON WHERE YOUR PEOPLE ARE.
CONTENT
will produce more content than they did in 2015
77% of B2C marketers 76% of B2B
marketers
CONTENT
ENVIRONMENT
COMPLEX
Over 841,000 “Mind-Blowing” Marketing Posts
Almost 563,000 Ultimate Guides to Marketing
Too many to count.
CONSUMERS ARE CREATING MORE CONTENT THAN EVER
DESPITE THE NOISE
CONTENT CAN BE A POWERFUL GROWTH DRIVER
Define your brand, generate leads, nurture prospects, persuade buyers, and empower advocates.
WE NEED TO CHANGE HOW WE THINK ABOUT CONTENT MARKETING.
Content needs to be more targeted, relevant and engaging.
HOW CAN WE GET MORE TRAFFIC?
HOW CAN WE GET MORE TRAFFIC?
HOW CAN WE HIT OUR GOALS WITH LESS TRAFFIC?
Blog Articles “Snacky” Content
Long Form
Premium (gated) ebooks/whitepapers
Webinars
WHAT CONTENT TYPES DO YOU FOCUS ON?
Visual Content SlideShare, Videos
Infographics
THE CONTENT MARKETING POWER LAW
A small portion of your content is responsible for the majority of your
results.
THE VAST MAJORITY OF CONTENT UNDERPERFORMS
Buzzsumo analyzed one million random B2B blog articles.
THE MEDIAN NUMBER OF SHARES FOR B2B CONTENT?
THE MEDIAN NUMBER OF SHARES FOR B2B CONTENT?
8
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SHARES FOR AUTUMN’S VIDEO?
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SHARES FOR AUTUMN’S VIDEO?
16
FOCUS ON HIGH-VALUE CONTENT AND WATERFALL THE HELL OUT OF IT
High-value content is relevant, data-driven and unique to you.
WATERFALL CONTENT ACROSS MANY CHANNELS
PR Strategy
Guest blogging
Webinars
eBooks/Whitepapers
Blog Posts
IRL Presentations
SEO
EVENTS
WHEN DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO DO EVENTS?
New Category Innovative Product High Price Point Hard to Access Buyer
PAID CHANNELS
ARE PEOPLE READY TO BUY?
Ready to buy?
Yes Acquisition
focused (demo/signup)
Handoff to Sales
Ready to buy?
No Lots of
Education Required
Content Focused Approach
Capture & Nurture Leads
Yes Acquisition
focused (demo/signup)
Handoff to Sales
Handoff to Sales
PARTNERS
WHEN SHOULD YOU DO PARNTER MARKETING?
Complimentary Products Overlapping Audience Targeted Topic
PARTNER MARKETING IS ABOUT ALIGNMENT & AUDIENCE
Agree on goals, promotional plan, topic and targeting upfront.
DEFINE YOUR FUNNEL
YOUR FUNNEL
Lead
Customer
Lead
Customer
Lead
Qualified Lead
Customer
YOUR FUNNEL
Lead
Customer
Lead
Qualified Lead
Customer
Lead
Marketing Qualified Lead
Sales Accepted Lead
Sales Qualified Lead
Opportunity
Customer
YOUR FUNNEL
Opportunity
Customer
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales Accepted Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads
Leads
YOUR FUNNEL
Opportunity
Customer
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales Accepted Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads
Leads
YOUR FUNNEL
Campaigns, Programs, Data,
Nurture, Scoring
Opportunity
Customer
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales Accepted Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads
Leads
YOUR FUNNEL
Lead Qualification and
Management
Campaigns, Programs, Data,
Nurture, Scoring
Opportunity
Customer
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales Accepted Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads
Leads
YOUR FUNNEL
Lead Qualification and
Management
Sales / Sales Enablement
Campaigns, Programs, Data,
Nurture, Scoring
Opportunity
Customer
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales Accepted Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads
Leads
YOUR FUNNEL
Lead Qualification and
Management
Sales / Sales Enablement
Campaigns, Programs, Data,
Nurture, Scoring
Customer Marketing/Sales
Opportunity
Customer
Sales Qualified Leads
Sales Accepted Leads
Marketing Qualified Leads
Leads
YOUR FUNNEL
Lead Qualification and
Management
Sales / Sales Enablement
Campaigns, Programs, Data,
Nurture, Scoring
Customer Marketing/Sales
Bi-directional
Funnel, Feedback
Loops
HOW DOES IT WORK WITH SALES?
SALES
3 KEY ELEMENTS OF GOOD SMARKETING
Qualifying Criteria, Lead Handoff, Funnel Operations
Lead Qualifying Criteria
Lead Handoff Process
Funnel Operations
WHAT MECHANISMS ARE IN PLACE TO RE-ENGAGE LOST LEADS?
Funnel operations are core to scaling your engine and improving
efficiency.
LOST TO A COMPETITOR?Automated follow-up at 5 and 11 months
LOST DUE TO BUDGET?Long-term nurture, re-engage with promotions/campaigns
HOW DO WE PUT IT ALL TOGETHER?
REMEMBER THESE CORE PRINCIPLES.
Smarter Smarketing
Smarter Smarketing
Can You Funnel?
Smarter Smarketing
Can You Funnel?
Go Where Your People Are
Smarter Smarketing
Can You Funnel?
Go Where Your People Are
Death and (optionality) Taxes
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF ALL...
vs.
Are you fertilizer or a turd?
