Demand Waterfall, Funnel Makeovers, Bots & CMO Skills Highlight Top Articles For First Half Of 2017

Published: July 5, 2017

Readers of Demand Gen Report are looking to learn more about how to properly engage with buying units in target accounts, position their marketing teams to tie marketing efforts to bottom line revenue, as well as incorporate new technology to give their company a competitive edge.

An analysis of reader engagement over the course of the first half of 2017 shows that account-based marketing (ABM) continues to be a major talking point in the B2B marketplace. Some of our top articles include analysis of new frameworks for targeting stakeholders within prospective accounts and insight into technology fueling that space.

Marketing’s impact on revenue was also a clear topic of interest. Readers looked to learn how to move away from traditional funnel metrics, such as MQLs, and begin tying their efforts throughout the buying journey to closed business.

Demand Gen Report readers also were drawn to articles covering new, innovative technology to fill gaps in their current tech stacks. Whether its chatbots designed to engage buyers based on past behavioral data, or tech designed to turn in-person event engagement into actionable insights, the tools aim to help marketers maximize conversations with buyers to accelerate the buying process.

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Below is a list of the ten most-viewed articles from the first half of 2017:

What’s the Impact Of The New Demand Unit Waterfall? Hear From 30 B2B Experts

There are some notable differences in SiriusDecisions’ new Demand Unit Waterfall from its previous adaption. Primarily, the new Waterfall acknowledges the growing importance of understanding buying groups within prospective accounts. This post shared an in-depth look at the new Waterfall framework from the perspectives of roughly 30 B2B marketing and sales experts in the space.

5 Global Marketing Challenges And How To Overcome Them With Automation

Setting up your business to scale, especially on a global magnitude, is a tough task in and of itself. However, proper interdepartmental alignment can lead to more opportunities. This contributed column from Scott Yancey, Co-founder and CEO of the content globalization company Cloudwords, shares how global-focused companies can turn to technology and automation to broaden their demand gen strategies and engage new markets.

Customer Advocacy Is The New Competitive Difference In B2B Marketing

As the buying journey continues to become more buyer-centric, progressive B2B organizations such as Citrix, Blackbaud and Code42 find value in using customer advocacy programs to create brand authenticity through the help of content, referrals and social validation.

B2B Marketers’ Shift From MQLs To Revenue Requires A Top-Funnel Makeover

B2B CMOs should know that down-funnel efforts must be the focus of their marketing teams—moving away from the traditional MQLs and SQLs that never tied marketing’s efforts to revenue. This contributed column from Scott Vaughan, CMO of Integrate, a closed-loop marketing software provider, highlights tips to fixing the top-funnel inefficiencies to focus on lower-funnel strategies.

The New B2B CMO—Top 7 Skills For Success

The continuously expanding roles—and budgets—of marketing teams imply that they are expected to generate positive ROI. But how do CMOs position their teams to focus on responsibilities beyond brand and messaging strategies? This contributed column from William Wickey, the Head of Content and Media Strategy at LeadGenius, shared some skills CMOs should perfect to set their teams up for success.

Marketo CMO Pattabhiram Steps Down

Marketo’s past year has been full of news, to say the least. From its acquisition by Vista Equity Partners mid-2016 to shuffles on its executive board, including its CEO and CMO, Marketo continues to be a strong leader in the marketing automation space according to G2 Crowd. The announcement of Marketo CMO Chandar Pattabhiram in June is the most recent news from the company.

Are Bots The Next Generation Of B2B Marketing Employees?

As buyers continue to be more equipped to do their own research during the buying process, a new wave of technology has blossomed to help aid them in these efforts. Virtual assistants—whether through voice or chat—have been creeping into the B2C landscape for some time now, but experts agree their potential in B2B is even greater.

B2B Marketers Apply New Tools & Tactics For Segmenting Campaigns To Target Audiences

With targeting and segmentation becoming bigger priorities to support ABM, lead nurturing and related initiatives, new tools and tactics are being deployed to help marketers prioritize and better engage new targets.

B2B Marketers Leveraging Digital Tools To Maximize ROI From Physical Events

Events make up approximately 18% of program budgets, according to Forrester research, but the reality is they’re being treated completely wrong. In this article, industry experts state that events should be visualized as a step in a journey in a company’s relationship with the customer or prospect.

Demandbase CEO Discuses Future Growth, Competitive Landscape Following Latest Round Of Funding

In an interview with Demand Gen Report, Demandbase CEO Chris Golec discussed the expansion of the ABM landscape. Golec also shared his thoughts on the importance of integrating ad, marketing and sales tech for better ABM, the future of the company and the trends that will have an impact on ABM in the coming future.

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