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Note: This is the second of a five-part series of articles examining the discipline of Demand Generation. Follow this link to read the first article in the series: Why Nearly 60% of Enterprise Demand Generation Programs Underperform.  "Success doesn't necessarily come from breakthrough innovation but from flawless execution. A great strategy alone won't win a game or a battle; the win comes from basic blocking and tackling." ---Naveen Jain (Entrepreneur and Philanthropist) In a game of American football, two competing teams vie for control of a ball, which can be kicked through a set of goalposts or run into the opponent's goal area to score points. If you're a fan of the sport, you probably know that the game has evolved dramatically over the years. In fact, nearly every aspect of football has changed to some degree since the game's inception over a century ago: the rules, the equipment, the venues and even the on field tactics. The game constantly evolves, innovates and modernizes. Despite, the game's ongoing evolution, the end objectives of the contests have always remained consistent. Score more points than your opponent and you win the match. Win the most important matches and and you're crowned champion. Consistently win championships and you solidify your team as a dynasty. I doubt that any dynastic football coach would dispute Naveen Jain's quote we cited above. Having played the game myself, I can tell you that the best teams on paper don't always win the contests on the field. The bottom line is that ongoing success on the gridiron typically requires consistent and near-flawless execution of basic fundamentals in every facet of the game. Suffice it to say, the end objectives of nearly every business enterprise are parallel to the game of football: you play to win. In our first article of this series, we discussed why a high percentage of companies that have adopted Demand Generation practices and principles are ineffective. In this article, we'll address the four strategic pillars of successful enterprise Demand Generation programs and examine some of the fundamental tactics that distinguish the champions from the also ran's. The First Pillar: Your Process As we discussed in the first article, Demand Generation defines your organization’s personal relationship with your leads, prospects and customers. Needless to say, every customer touch-point offers an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your customer. Consequently, your organization needs to be structured around your customer rather than your products or services to fully optimize your Demand Generation efforts. Unlike traditional Lead Generation programs where interested (warm) prospects were turned over to a sales professional to close deals, Demand Generation programs nurture the relationship through the entirety of the Revenue Funnel. In other words, you're not just looking to close a deal. Instead, you're seeking to establish long-term relationships with your buyers; where satisfied customers become loyalists and loyalists become vocal brand advocates.  So why is having a dynamic, ongoing relationship with your buyers so important these days? First and foremost, the digital revolution has dramatically altered buying processes and decision making over the last few years. In effect, buyers are more knowledgeable and better informed than ever before. They're turning to friends, colleagues and other key influencers to research their purchases long before they ever engage with your sales team. Recent studies by Forrester Research, DemandGen and CSO Insights all reveal some startling figures that support this claim. For instance:
These figures indicate that your customers' needs and buying patterns must be at the center of your Demand Generation strategy. The stats also suggest that you need to actively engage with customers at every point in the revenue funnel principally on their terms. An effective demand generation process does just that. It more closely aligns your Marketing and Sales functions, and it creates a seamless buying process that eliminates the gap between Interest and Desire:  The Second Pillar: Your People Traditional business models typically view Marketing as a cost silo and Sales as a revenue silo. Effective Demand Generation generally requires a blended model approach. In our experiences, we've found that a combined marketing/sales organizational model, built around the touch-points in the revenue funnel, typically works best. For startup companies, adopting a blended organizational model is usually a relatively easy task. Conversely, established businesses with traditional lead generation models seem to experience difficulties. To be successful, you will most likely need to change the skill-set of your personnel, the reward structure based on changes in goals and performance metrics and the organizational structure to align to the buyers' purchase path. This requires a shift away from the traditional way of thinking of both marketing and sales. It's important to remember that organizational change Is difficult and that people sometimes resist the efforts. Your marketing personnel and your sales team need both support and leadership in order to make the strategic shift pay off. Consequently, clear communication of your overall mission, vision and objectives from the top on down are critical for transition. As we mentioned earlier, effective Demand Generation processes bridge the gap between marketing and sales. Over the years, we've found organizations that appoint a C-Level leader to oversee the whole process are generally more successful than their peers who draw territorial lines between marketing and sales functions. Therefore, we strongly urge our clients to appoint a "Chief Demand Officer" (or a Chief Revenue Officer if you prefer), who owns the he entire Customer Life Cycle. The CDO / CRO leads a team that is responsible for meeting the revenue objectives for your products or services, Their functional org chart generally looks something like this:  The CDO / CRO's functional teams exist to create awareness, nurture prospects, close sales, up sell, cross sell and strengthen relationships. Support staff (Marketing Ops) support the entire organization. Along with traditional sales and conversion metrics, two critical financial measurements tie the teams' activities together:
The Third Pillar: Your Content Once you've fully committed to a customer-centric business model, it's time to turn your attention to your content strategy. Like every marketing program, success is a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right solution. An ideal Demand Generation program establishes your organization as the expert in your particular line of business. Therefore, each and every interaction with your prospects and customers should affirm and strengthen the perception that you are the leading solution in your category. First and foremost, you need to find and target the best touch points to engage customers. This isn't an exact science. Tactics vary by industry and product type. Additionally, every business has varying strengths and deficiencies. Therefore, we strongly suggest you begin with category best practices that seem to fit your model. Test them out for yourself and quickly adapt and expand the ones that seem most promising. Here are some basic tactics to consider through the various stages of the revenue funnel:  With this model in mind, here are our five fundamental recommendations for developing an effective content strategy:
The Fourth Pillar: Analytics Although it doesn't directly appear on your balance sheet, your company's structured data is an extremely important and valuable business asset. To a large degree, your ability to access, analyze and interpret the data generated through all of your customer interactions drives the effectiveness of your Demand Generation campaigns. As a recent report by DemandMetric / Radius demonstrates:
 We recommend that you take stock of your data as early as possible! Missing, inaccurate or poor quality data impedes effective Demand Generation as well as the successful application of predictive analytics. You may wish to consider a full audit of your CRM applications, gathering and storage systems, personnel, as well as the depth, accuracy and quality of your structured data. That way, you can quickly begin to harness your assets and pull together an action plan to address your deficiencies.
A real opportunity exists in most industries to develop a sizable competitive advantage through structured data. Believe it or not, the DemandMetric / Radius report suggests that only 44% of CMO’s understand predictive analytics well; and only 11% of those that do understand are actually implementing or using predictive analytics for Demand Generation activities. Even more surprising, only 55% of companies that employ predictive modeling are using their data to find new revenue opportunities! We'll state once again: Demand Generation programs are an ideal pairing for predictive analytics. Even if you're a very lean organization, commercial solutions do exist to help integrate predictive analytics into the process. If your current Demand Generation campaigns are yielding less than desired results, chances are there's room for improvement if you unlock the full power stored within your enterprise data systems. Conclusions Effective Demand Generation is an enterprise-wide endeavor. It requires a firm foundation built upon each of the four strategic pillars we described above. Whether your company is new to the discipline or you're a seasoned player, you need to ensure that you're executing the fundamentals efficiently and effectively. Otherwise, you're likely to be steamrolled by your competition. You may be wondering why we haven't listed technology (e.g. automation systems, adaptive control technology, CRM systems, etc.) as a fifth pillar. While the right technology certainly speeds delivery, improves effectiveness and can also lower costs, we'd argue that technology systems are complementary tools to each of the four pillars we've described above. In our next article in this series, 12 Things to Consider Before You Automate Your Demand Generation Processes, we'll discuss the benefits of several Demand Generation technologies as well as some serious technological pitfalls you'll want to avoid. Author: Erik Gagnon - Managing Partner, Chi Rho Consulting Note: This is the second of a five-part series of Jumpstart Strategies articles examining the discipline of Demand Generation. Here are links to the other live articles in the series:
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ABOUT USChi Rho Consulting is a growth-focused strategic consultancy that helps entrepreneurs launch successful startups and ex[and their business ventures. We are based in Atlanta, GA (USA) and work with select clientele in North America, Europe and Asia. 
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