B2B Marketing Metrics Framework - with Bill MaCaitis - Former CMO Slack, ZenDesk and Salesforce
Oct 1, 2024
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Bill MaCaitis, former CMO at Slack, Zendesk, and Salesforce, shares his wealth of knowledge on B2B marketing metrics. He discusses lessons learned from leading brands and the importance of integrating brand building with lead generation. Bill emphasizes a shift from traditional metrics to a more nuanced approach that values brand awareness and customer-centric metrics. He also explores the impact of AI on marketing metrics and product-led growth strategies, emphasizing a cohesive customer experience and the significance of technology skills in advancing careers.
Bill Macaitis emphasizes the necessity of developing a comprehensive marketing metrics framework that categorizes essential metrics for measuring marketing effectiveness.
Transitioning from B2C to B2B requires a focus on brand development and understanding customer journeys to drive efficient growth.
Deep dives
Lessons from B2B Marketing Leadership
Valuable lessons from marketing leadership roles at major B2B companies are highlighted, focusing on the importance of efficient growth strategies. The shift from a B2C to a B2B mindset revealed a stark contrast in marketing tactics, particularly the conservative nature of traditional B2B marketing methods, like press releases and top-down selling. The host emphasizes the need for a modern approach, incorporating tactics such as customer journeys, brand development, and digital efficiency, which contributed significantly to growth at companies like Slack, Zendesk, and Salesforce. Investing in brand equity and creating unique brand identities also emerged as crucial lessons that set these companies apart in a competitive landscape.
Measuring Brand Awareness
Measuring the return on investment for brand awareness initiatives poses challenges in the B2B sector. A strong emphasis is placed on understanding various brand metrics, such as aided recall and brand sentiment, to gauge long-term value and customer perception. The discussion includes the innovative method of using control groups to track the effectiveness of brand campaigns and make informed decisions based on results. A disciplined approach to measuring brand impact allows marketers to connect investment in brand initiatives with their overall effectiveness and contribution to revenue growth.
Key Marketing Metrics Framework
The creation of a marketing metrics framework, which categorizes metrics into six essential areas, aids marketers in tracking their efforts effectively. These categories include funnel metrics, brand metrics, customer experience metrics, product-led growth metrics, data-driven metrics, and stakeholder value metrics. Highlighting common uncertainties among marketers regarding which metrics to focus on, the framework provides clarity on performance measurement and alignment with broader company objectives. This comprehensive approach ensures that marketing teams not only remain accountable but also contribute to enhancing customer experiences and achieving organizational goals.
Driving Capital-Efficient Growth
The discussion stresses the importance of capital-efficient growth, particularly under current economic pressures faced by B2B SaaS companies. Metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and pipeline coverage are identified as crucial indicators of future growth potential. The interconnectedness of marketing, sales, and product teams is emphasized, advocating for shared goals and collaborative measures to enhance customer journeys. The host shares practical strategies for aligning marketing and sales efforts while utilizing leading and lagging indicators to effectively gauge performance and forecast outcomes.
Bill MaCaitis the former Chief Revenue Officer at Slack, and previously the CMO at Slack, CMO at Zendesk, and SVP of Marketing at Salesforce joins our host Ray Rike to share the Marketing Metrics Framework he developed during his experience as a multiple time Chief Marketing Officer. During today's episode Bill and Ray discuss various topics including:
Top lessons learned from Marketing leadership roles at category leaders
Catalyst for developing a Marketing metrics framework with six categories
Prioritizing Marketing metrics that the CEO and CFO care about
Starting his career in more traditional B2C media brands, Bill learned the importance of brand, advertising, and awareness building; He then leveraged that experience in his first B2B Marketing leadership role at Salesforce which was the foundation for his roles as the Chief Marketing Office at Zendesk, Slack, and ultimately the Chief Revenue Officer at Slack.
What were the lessons Bill learned at three leading SaaS companies? He started with a lesson he learned at his first company out of college, and that was learning how to drive efficient growth from day one. One of the first things Bill noticed in his first role in a B2B technology company was that Marketing was viewed primarily as a lead generation function. Bill believed that a great B2B company also needed to think about how to build a unique brand and infuse that brand into the voice of the company and the product. He brought that belief and experience into creating amazing brands at Salesforce, Zendesk, and Slack.
One of the questions Bill answered was how to measure ROI for Marketing investments into brand and awareness in a B2B company. Bill stated that CFOs want hard-hitting, ROI measurements that prove the return on Marketing investment. Brand may be harder to measure in the short term, but when you view a brand as impacting long term leads. Shorter term metrics to measure brand include unaided recall, aided recall, share of voice, and even brand sentiment.
Bill then shared the six categories of metrics that best-in-class B2B Marketers should measure including:
Funnel Metrics
Brand Metrics
Experience Metrics
PLG Metrics (Product-Led Growth)
Date-Driven Metrics
Stakeholder Value Metrics
If you are a B2B Marketing professional and are being asked to provide more details about the Metrics that Matter to the CEO and CFO, this conversation is a great listen!