The Demand Gen Fix

In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, it’s crucial to fine-tune every element to drive optimal performance. In previous episodes, we delved into the first eight essential marketing levers out of the 12 we believe need to be dialed in to optimize your marketing performance. On this episode, we're shifting our focus to the next two critical components: Tactics and Measurement. These elements are not just about execution; they are about precision and impact. By implementing strategic tactics and rigorous measurement practices, we can refine our approach, ensuring that every effort is aligned with our goals for sustained growth and success. (00:00:21) Exploring the 12 marketing levers and why they need to ALL be dialed in (00:02:04) The importance of effective marketing tactics to drive growth (00:03:44) The reality of the longer buying cycle and the necessity for more marketing touchpoints (00:06:14) Building an omnichannel approach to effectively reach diverse decision-makers (00:10:36) A need for tailored content strategies to engage multiple decision-makers (00:11:06) Exploring the 3 pillars of demand generation: strategy, content and distribution (00:18:21) Marketing measurement and the issues marketers face in evaluating program performance (00:21:06) The reliability of data and its impact on marketing performance evaluation (00:25:06) Importance of analyzing marketing data trends rather than just presenting raw numbers. (00:31:06) Suggestions for developing a comprehensive reporting mechanism The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

With so many options in the HR tech market, standing out can be a daunting task, especially when your technology doesn't fit neatly into an existing category. But it’s clear that while building a new product category in HR tech or work tech is challenging, it can be also a strategic move that can lead to market leadership if done well. Listen in to part 2 of our conversation with Sam Kuhnle, Vice President of Marketing at HR tech company, Loxo. In this episode, we continue to dig into how the Loxo team made the decision to create a new product category, what their experience has been and why they’ve committed to a long-term marketing strategy to achieve their vision of big growth. (00:01:05) - Having a long-term mindset when declaring a new product category (00:01:59) - Loxo's strong product-market fit and the challenge of building awareness in a crowded market (00:05:46) - The shift from lead generation to demand generation (00:06:31) - The impact of changing buyer behaviors on marketing costs and sales cycles (00:10:32) - The time frame for seeing results and indicators of progress (00:14:16) - Aligning sales and marketing efforts to drive revenue and foster trust with prospects (00:17:00) - Evaluating if creating a new product category is the right move The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

The HR tech market is extensive – with a lot of options to solve the big challenges. According to Sapient Insights, there are 7 established product categories in HR tech, with 55 application categories within the main product categories. But what do you do when your technology doesn’t fit clearly into an existing category? This is a question that a lot of marketers in this space grapple with. Some will tell you to build your own category and lead the way to domination. Others will tell you that trying to create a whole new category is a big mistake. So which answer is right? Listen in to this episode as we explore the topic with Sam Kuehnle, vice president of marketing at HR tech firm, Loxo – a company that decided to define and market a new product category within the market (00:00:20) - The challenges and risks of creating a new product category (00:02:00) - Sam Kuehnle’s background: From traditional advertising to digital marketing and demand gen (00:04:53) - Exploring the crowded and complex HR tech market (00:06:36) - Loxo's decision to create a new product category and the rationale behind it (00:10:41) - The challenges of building awareness for a new product category (00:13:34) - The need to win mindshare before market share – and educating the market (00:17:14) - The struggle of balancing immediate leads with playing the long game to build trust, credibility and relationships (00:18:12) - The reality of the slow initial growth and eventual rapid rise of a new product category The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

Marketing is often described as a complex game with elusive success formulas, challenging marketers to cut through the noise and capture the attention of potential customers. This episode, part of a series exploring 12 essential marketing levers, focuses on two pivotal elements: brand identity and awareness, and content. Understanding and fine-tuning these components can significantly enhance the performance of marketing programs, offering valuable insights for companies striving to optimize their marketing strategies. Mastering brand identity and awareness, along with creating compelling content, are crucial steps in the journey toward marketing success. These levers, when properly adjusted, can drive impactful results and elevate a company's market presence. (00:43) - The importance of brand recognition (03:19) - Potential brand issues that can hinder your company’s success (13:31) - Creating a content strategy to align with the buyer's mindset and buying process (19:36) - Understanding the buyer's pain points and tailoring messaging to resonate better (20:34) - Assessing and categorizing existing content for strengths, gaps, and weaknesses (24:35) - Creating pillar content strategies and content loops that keeps the audience engaged (26:30) - The critical role of these marketing levers in driving optimal marketing results The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

Marketing is a challenging game to play. And figuring out the magic formula to success is not an easy feat. As marketers, we’ve got a hard job: break through the clutter of a noisy market to get the attention of prospects and win them over. The reality is marketing is a very nuanced element of a company’s success. If just one component is not dialed in, it can throw everything off. That’s why we’ve defined 12 marketing levers to dial in. Each one plays a role in how your programs perform. In this episode, we talk about the importance of scale and the contact database in optimizing your company’s growth potential. (01:55) - Indicators and challenges of scaling marketing efforts within an organization (02:12) - Insufficient resources, budget constraints and time-consuming programs impact ability to scale (07:24) - Documenting standard operating procedures to systematize processes for rapid growth (16:21) - Considerations for building and implementing a marketing technology stack (18:46) - The importance of your contact database the potential pitfalls of neglecting it (21:15) - Challenges in organizing and cleaning up contact data – and what you need to consider (27:27) - The importance of assessing and adjusting all of the 12 marketing programs to optimize for success The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

AI isn't just a buzzword. Over the last year, it's become a pivotal component in almost every HR solution, with many companies integrating AI into their technology platform to enhance their offerings. Marketers are keenly positioning AI at the forefront of their strategies, hoping to capitalize on this trend to stand out in the highly competitive HR tech arena. However, amidst this rush, it's crucial to understand how HR tech buyers are reacting to these AI-driven narratives. Are they convinced by the promise of AI, or is there skepticism about its practical benefits? This episode is part 2 of a 2-part conversation where we dig in on this topic with Bennet Sung, fractional CMO at HR tech company, MeBeBot, to talk about how the market is responding to AI and what that means for the marketing approach. 01:10 - Buyer hesitation: AI solutions have a more complex and lengthy sales cycle 02:16 - CIOs and CISOs are getting involved in the purchase decision 06:39 - Marketers need to creating impactful marketing tools and a sales playbook to support the needs of buyers 14:12 - Helping HR teams understand where and how AI can provide value 17:24 - Focusing message positioning on addressing pain points to differentiate AI solutions The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

AI has been around for years, but it has really taken off in the last year within the HR tech market. It seems nearly every solution includes some level of AI baked into the capabilities. And many marketers are leading with this technology in their message positioning as everyone tries to ride this latest wave in the quest to win more market share in the very crowded HR tech landscape. But how are HR tech buyers responding to this positioning? And what makes this sale different from that of past HR tech solutions? This episode is part 1 of a 2-part conversation where we dig in on this topic with Bennet Sung, fractional CMO at HR tech company, MeBeBot, to talk about how the market is responding to AI and what that means for the marketing approach. 00:20 - Exploring the increasing use of AI in HR tech solutions and how marketers are positioning it 01:10 - The pivot in the sales experience when AI is at the heart of a solution 06:41 - The buying process now has delays in sales and the need for responsible AI governance 08:37 - The trust factor: The challenges of embracing a technology HR leaders don't fully trust 10:41 - The shift towards a co-led buying experience involving HR, the CIO, the CISO 13:38 - The ethical and legal considerations of implementing AI in HR – and what that means for the buying process 19:52 - Promoting a risk-free pilot program to help organizations understand AI The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

Effective marketing is multifaceted, requiring dialed-in alignment across various components to truly optimize your demand generation programs. Each lever is a critical piece of the marketing puzzle, capable of transforming the results of your programs. If your company is struggling to meet revenue targets, it’s crucial to examine a series of 12 strategic levers we've pinpointed that influence performance and drive results. The 12 levers: Each lever needs to be dialed in to optimize your marketing. If just one is off, it can have a major impact on your ability to support your organization’s growth plans. So if you are looking for bigger results, it’s time to dig into each lever to determine where adjustments need to be made. In episode 58 of The Demand Gen Fix podcast, we talked about the 3rd and 4th levers – Strategy and Budget. In this episode we’re going to dig into the next 2 levers. And in future episodes we will cover the remaining 8 levers. The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

The key to effective marketing is making sure your programs are dialed in to the behaviors and needs of your target market and the strategic objectives of your business. Beginning in this episode, GrowthMode Marketing introduces how we define 12 marketing levers that impact your initiatives and bottom-line results. They are: Listen in as we dig in where all good marketing should start, with audience and positioning. We talk about important considerations for each lever and how to dial in and adjust what you need to succeed. Watch this space for upcoming episodes that will cover the next 10 levers and how they’re important individually and collectively—so you can tune in the right settings for your business. 02:20 - Lever 1: Audience—market validation, research and audience personas to ensure you’re aligned to behaviors and needs 05:10 - Conducting audience research via surveys, focus groups, interviews and data analysis that helps validate your assumptions 10:56 - Lever 2: Positioning—clearly and consistently communicating your value proposition 14:25 - A clear and distinct positioning statement to differentiate your company and solutions 18:37 - The critical link between positioning and revenue goals 19:14 - Exploring each lever and how businesses can use this helpful philosophy to uncover actionable insights to adjust marketing strategy and improve performance 21:50 - A review of the 12 marketing levers and what’s coming on upcoming episodes The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

The sales team is working actively with a hot prospect. They watched demos, enthusiastically engaged in communications and requested a proposal … then suddenly, nothing. They stop responding. It’s frustrating for sure, but there may be many reasons why it happens. Don’t automatically assume they went with a competitor and stop pursuing. Listen to this episode to hear our conversation about why some prospects go dark, what to do and how to work with marketing to help revive talks that go silent. Hear why successfully re-engaging a prospect involves demonstrating ongoing value and relevance to their business without pressuring them for an immediate decision. 00:20 Reason prospects go dark and how to re-engage them 01:32 Shifting priorities, lack of urgency, indecision and information overload 06:58 Early warning signs that a prospect might go dark and how marketing can help 09:23 What strategies sales reps can use to keep prospects engaged 10:47 Why personalized and relevant content is important 12:46 Continually demonstrating value 15:00 How marketing programs can help sales re-engage 18:49 Getting feedback on lost opportunities to improve future prospecting 20:01 How to have patience and demonstrate value without pressuring an immediate decision 20:29 Developing content that speaks to buyer needs The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

With just 5% or less of B2B buyers in the market to buy at any given time, marketers need to get creative to drive leads and meet revenue goals. Your middle- and bottom-of-funnel prospects are the most likely audiences to have buying intent. Check out this episode for ideas on how to zero in on these prospects with informative content, nurture campaigns, targeted digital ads and more. Hear why marketers need a balanced strategy of short-term tactics that drive, and nurture leads with long-term brand-building that raises awareness with the other 95% of your total addressable market—your future buyers. 00:20 The challenges of reaching prospects in the high-tech industry 04:24 Why it’s important to balance short- and long-term strategies to meet revenue targets 09:06 Leverage content that attracts high-intent buyers 15:50 How to use intent data technology to identify companies that may be in market for specific solutions 18:25 Using nurture campaigns to identify buying intent 19:51 Digital advertising and retargeting that drives engagement 22:31 Why you need to establish credibility and trust before expecting prospects to engage 24:21 Balancing short-term lead tactics with a long-term marketing strategy The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

The GrowthMode team is hearing from many marketing leaders who say they’re struggling to figure out why their programs aren’t driving better results. The reasons can sometimes be more obvious to us because we have the luxury of looking at it from an outside-in perspective. While your internal team is naturally heads-down working hard to produce work that meets a multitude of needs. Listen to this episode to gain great insight on how to better align your approach to today’s HR tech buyer behaviors. Is your strategy on target? Find out now. 01:07 Gated content: How it impacts conversion rates 05:28 Slow lead pipeline: Creating content that’s more compelling and builds trust 09:45 Digital footprint: Why it needs to be robust to attract prospects 16:28 Converting leads: How to emphasize lead quality over quantity 17:29 Lead scoring: Identifying buying intent and why it can be challenging 19:57 Quality over quantity: Prioritizing quality builds a better pipeline 23:24 Rethinking your approach to drive better results The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

For more than a year, there have been less prospects in the market to buy HR tech solutions. It’s estimated that only 1% of prospects are actively buying these days compared to the more typical 5%. And this trend isn’t showing signs of a rebound just yet. Maybe you’re asking yourself whether to slash your marketing budget. It’s a question we’ve been asked recently, and we think it’s something on a lot of leaders’ and marketers’ minds. Check out this this episode to hear our discussion on the trends, navigating this tougher selling environment and how to best support the long-term growth goals of your organization. 00:21 With less prospects buying, should your marketing investment change? 01:44 How the decrease of prospects is impacting the sales process 02:57 Highlights from the 2024 B2B Sales Benchmark Report on sales challenges and impact on quotas 04:46 Why the sales process is longer and win rates and deal values are down 09:18 Cutting back on marketing spend affects important long-term marketing programs 13:55 The role of marketing in building brand awareness, credibility and trust for future prospects 17:31 How to inform and influence internal decision makers about the importance of a long-term marketing mindset 18:47 Key takeaways and conclusion The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

In part 2 of our conversation with Matt Torman, content marketing pro at work tech company, Brex, we continue exploring why moving away from marketing that attempts to be “everything to everyone” helps you breakthrough and standout in a crowded HR tech market. Listen now to learn why taking calculated, creative risks with a blend of innovative ideas and data-driven decision making is crucial in a content-saturated landscape. 00:55 Taking creative risks that stay true to your company’s brand 01:34 Why understanding and targeting your core audience is so important 05:15 Fears and challenges that prevent marketing teams from taking risks 12:23 Taking the time you need to create engaging, authentic content 14:52 How to create unique content that stands out and connects with your core audience 16:55 Why collaborating on ideas and gaining new perspectives fuels innovative strategies 17:31 Testing and learning how your marketing performs is a critical component 18:37 Making data-driven decisions and gaining leadership support The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

In the very crowded HR and work tech space, too many marketers play it safe with their marketing campaigns. It creates a “sea of sameness” where businesses get lost in a multitude of messages across many different brands that blend and sound the same. Listen in to explore this topic with our guest and content marketing pro, Matt Torman. He’s the content marketing principal at Brex, an AI-powered spending platform that helps employees make smarter financial decisions for their employers. If your company is tied to a marketing approach that safely conforms, but you want to try pushing the envelope, this is a great episode for you! Taking risks can be scary, but listen as we talk through that together. See why focusing on breaking through can capture better results. 01:09 Learn why it’s essential to differentiate your business and solutions 02:43 The value of storytelling and using AI to support content creation 09:31 Why marketing to a broad audience is a common mistake 11:14 An example of a bold marketing campaign by Brex 17:16 Why making an emotional connection is a better way to speak to buyers’ pain points 21:05 How to transform surface-level messaging into content that digs deeper and resonates more with decision makers The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

A lot of really good HR tech companies get lost in a crowded market. That’s because you’re vying for attention with more than 21,000 HR tech businesses selling technology platforms—with new start-ups joining the industry all the time. Listen to this episode to find out what three challenges consistently impede marketing outcomes and results for HR tech companies. Learn why positioning your business and solutions is at the heart of how to successfully gain traction. Because touting the same features and functionality as your competitors isn’t saying anything at all about your true differentiators. 01:09 Why it’s essential to differentiate your business and solutions 09:31 Why marketing to a broad audience is a common mistake 17:16 How to understand and make an emotional connection that speaks to buyers’ pain points 21:05 A look at surface-level messaging and how to dig deeper to connect with prospects 23:49 Why it’s important that your messages resonate with decision makers The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

The HR tech market is extremely crowded – and many brands get lost in the sea of sameness. Defining your differentiation is a critical step to breaking through the clutter. But how do you go about it? This is often the job of product marketing. Listen to this episode to hear from guest Noelle Bloomfield, senior director of product marketing at HR tech company, Gloat. We talk about the important role of product marketing in gathering market insights, aligning strategy and building out message positioning to differentiate form the competition. Hear why she believes a test and learn approach is important to ultimately creating more value for customers by constantly iterating based on market changes. 00:20 The important role of product marketing in the HR tech industry 01:17 Integrating product marketing and aligning with other teams 03:31 Quarterbacking the go-to-market journey to connect with buyers 08:00 How to stand out in a crowded market through differentiation 12:24 How to build a product marketing team designed to align with other teams 15:35 How to prioritize and focus 18:23 Why the buyer’s journey needs to be personal to connect more effectively 21:24 Continuous learning is key in product marketing 23:38 Why product marketing is a connector helping to drive better business results The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

Traditional sales processes that work a cold lead through a buyer journey defined by a HR tech businesses is fading fast. Prospects want to self-educate and be in control of their buying process and timeline. However, that doesn’t diminish the importance of the sales role and closing deals. But how and when you engage with buyers is a whole new ballgame. Collaboration and regular communication with sales on how demand generation marketing meets buyers on their timeline is key. Find out how to work with your sales team to identify opportunities to engage—near the end of the journey. Listen to this episode to hear about why creating synergies between marketing and sales can help you win more deals and build critical rapport. 01:02 The changing buyer landscape means marketing plays a bigger role in the purchase decision 01:17 Helping your sales team shift how and when they engage with buyers 02:51 How marketing can help support self-service buying behaviors 04:20 Why good content is so important 06:09 HR tech buyers are engaging with a sales rep much later in the decision process 13:36 How to build trust and connect with prospects 16:49 Creating a sales process that offers a better experience for HR tech prospects 18:03 Why sales and marketing alignment is critical in meeting prospects in a self-service journey 25:13 Help the sales team better understand how to effectively use marketing content The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

Are you seeing the performance of your lead generation marketing efforts dip? As prospect buying behaviors evolve, many tried and true marketing methods aren’t driving the results they once did. We’re hearing it from fellow marketing colleagues and we’re experiencing it ourselves. In this episode, we talk through why gated content and more aggressive lead generation strategies aren’t as effective for prospects who want more control of the B2B buying process. Listen now to learn ways to adapt and improve your results. 00:57 Why traditional lead generation isn’t as effective anymore 01:14 Comparison of lead generation and demand generation strategies and a short-term vs. long-term approach 05:36 Why evolving prospect behavior is changing everything 10:43 How is demand generation marketing different? 14:40 The drawbacks of using lead capture forms with today’s prospects 16:34 How to use lead generation marketing as part of a demand generation strategy for more traction and growth The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

Building brand awareness in the market can take many forms – and it doesn’t always have to come with a big price tag. As an employee, you can help amplify your company’s brand to drive bigger brand awareness in the market. One way to become a brand ambassador for your company is to use your personal brand on LinkedIn to bolster your company's profile. It’s a way to consistently stay in front of potential prospects and clients – without feeling intrusive – which can build credibility and trust over time. So take the leap, invest time in your personal brand and turn it into an impactful marketing channel for your company. In this episode, Logan Mallory, Vice President of Marketing, joins us to talk about his experience driving greater brand awareness for his company, Motivosity. 00:21 Becoming a brand ambassador on LinkedIn 08:36 Defining your content strategy 10:20 Driving business and customer interactions 13:09 Becoming an example for other employees on building a personal brand 15:21 Building brand ambassadors across the company to amplify the company brand 17:33 Engaging with customers through social selling and creating a presence 18:37 Convincing executives to build their personal brands 22:24 Creating meaningful interactions 26:12 Being intentional about building your audience 33:32 Consistency is key 36:46 Focusing on engagement over impressions 37:15 Building credibility and trust The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.