This eBook explores why inbound marketing alone is insufficient for effective demand generation.

1. SPI INSIGHT:
12 ESSENTIAL STEPS
FOR MORE EFFECTIVE
DEMAND GENERATION

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© Sales Performance International, Inc
12 ESSENTIAL STEPS FOR MORE
EFFECTIVE DEMAND GENERATION
By Dario Priolo, CMO and Demand Generation Practice Leader
Many organizations have been strongly influenced by the notion of
“inbound marketing” that was made popular by HubSpot, about five years ago. As
you probably know, the philosophy behind inbound marketing involves creating
content, such as blog articles, ebooks, and presentations, that is intriguing to
potential buyers whom you want to target. The content is optimized to be found by
search engines and promoted widely on social media platforms, such as Linkedin
and Twitter. Then, you wait for leads to start flowing in.
Companies that rely solely on this approach have run into a number of
problems, such as:
• Creating high quality content is difficult and time-consuming.
• Prospects are now inundated with low quality, irrelevant content – there’s
just too much of it.
• Search engine optimization (SEO) is nearly impossible to sustain because
there is too much competition for the same keywords, yet Google only
returns about 10 organic search results on the first page of its search
engine results page.
• Google also tends to favor established brands and is constantly changing
its search algorithm.
• Most leads generated from inbound marketing are small and do not fit
mostcompanies’idealcustomerprofile.Therearealotoflookers,including
many competitors, but few qualified buyers.
• Waiting for leads puts you in the middle of the customer’s buying process
where a competitor has gotten in earlier to shape the customer’s thinking
andearnedfront-runnerstatus.Atthispoint,youhavebeennearlyreduced
to a commodity.
• An inbound mindset has perpetuated the myth that demand generation is
marketing’s problem and that salespeople don’t need to prospect.
An inbound only approach may have worked in 2010 for a few early
adopters, such as HubSpot and Marketo. However, now that everybody has piled on
the inbound bandwagon, it is no longer a differentiator. Rather, it has become table
stakes.
An effective demand generation approach today requires you to go back to
the basics to really understand what your customers want and need, how you fulfill
them better than your competition, and how you can proactively build awareness
and credibility with buyers who fit your ideal customer profile. Stop blindly drinking
the HubSpot Kool-Aid and think critically about your demand generation strategy.
You need a mindset that not only embraces inbound marketing, but “all bound”
marketing.
Here are some thoughts to consider:
1. Identify the markets where you are strongest and can dominate.
2. Clearly define and update your ideal customer profile and buyer personas.
3. Develop a proper editorial strategy that addresses the issues your buyers
face and that positions your point of view as the preferred approach.
4. Know the events within organizations that trigger a need for what you sell.

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© Sales Performance International, Inc
5. Create high quality, buyer-focused content that positions your capabilities
as a means for buyers to navigate the change driven by these triggers.
6. Strategically identify the companies with whom you want to do business.
7. Identify buying influences in those companies and source their contact
information.
8. Assign these companies and buying influences to salespeople, not to cold
call but to monitor, track, and engage at the right opportunities.
9. Salespeople should also connect with these buying influences on social
media and use this as a channel to build awareness and credibility at a
personal and organizational level.
10. Distributecontentthroughanallboundpromotionalmixthatmakessense.
11. Strategically drive demand through targeted outbound and salesperson-
driven “micro-marketing.”
12. Take opportunities through SEO, page search, online advertising, and
events.
You require a carefully thought-out go-to-market strategy. This is
something that I help our clients do. Please contact me if you have any questions or
would like to learn more about how I can help you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DarioPrioloisSPI’sChiefMarketingOfficer&DemandGeneration
Practice Leader. Dario is an expert in business-to-business buyer
behavior, content and digital marketing transformation, go-to-
market strategy, and executive-level demand generation.

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