GTM Live

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted last night's Demand Gen Live from Austin, TX where they're gearing up for the Refine Labs offsite. They prepped a couple topics for the episode...The first, backed by actual data, being "The Attribution Mirage - Marketing teams are being led astray and think they’re being 'data-driven'" and the second "How to prepare your executive monthly/quarterly demand performance reports." They also took questions on content mapping, why only focusing on CPL will be your demise, and why every marketing team needs to split the funnel to determine what channels are actually working for them.

Chris Walker presented a keynote on Dark Social at this year's Traffic & Conversion Summit in San Diego, CA. We've discussed dark social on the podcast before, but as a reminder - dark social consists of the places where B2B buyers are discovering new products. Places where attribution is not available, like communities, organic social, groups, content platforms, meetups and internal comms. Chris not only discussed WHAT dark social is, but HOW marketers can allocate resources to make sure their brand is top of mind and being discussed in dark social.

On last night's Demand Gen Live, Chris Walker signed on from San Diego, CA and covered the following agenda: Why the B2B agency model needs a complete overhaul, The truth about Marketing to the enterprise, and How “data-driven” companies lie to themselves about being data-driven. He also opened the stage to a live Q&A where he answered questions about the things companies decide to continue doing that they can measure vs. what they don't do because they can't, how marketers need to keep up with buyers who are changing rapidly, digital content experiences, and the benefit of collecting self-reported data.

Chris Walker joined the Alphov & Lopez Podcast for a full 90 minutes to chat through attribution, high intent vs. low intent, and overall marketing strategy. Chris was asked what would happen if marketers forgot about leads and demo requests and instead focused solely on qualified pipeline and revenue. He also shared his thoughts on how ABM is nothing new, and how he'd recommend it be implemented today in an organization especially given the common disconnect between marketing and sales targets. Chris dove further into the distinction between dark funnel and dark social, and shared the benefit of focusing on building your brand there as opposed to waiting for buyers to trigger an outbound action.

Chris presented a keynote on the topic of ABM. He was able to clarify his thoughts through sharing his experience with ABM at previous businesses, for current clients, and internally at Refine Labs. “ABM is marketing fundamentals which were around way before the technology existed.”

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen brought the Demand Gen Live community back last night to discuss where marketers get their information and the harm of over-relying on technology and ditching the fundamentals. The community members came on the show live to share where they get their information about marketing strategy and tactics, as well as reputable vendors. Chris dove into why marketers don't always need more budget, but instead need to often reevaluate and reallocate. They talked through word-of-mouth marketing and strategies to help target buyers discover content and develop brand affinity.MJ Peters, VP of Growth at Refine Labs, is hosting a Marketing Throwdown on Conferences on Thursday September 9th at 12pm EDT. Register here to attend. 

Dark Social consists of the places where B2B buyers are discovering new products where attribution is not available. Places like communities, organic social, groups, content platforms, meetups and internal comms. Why's dark social important to marketers? Because as Chris Walker says, "if you’re waiting on intent signals, you’re way too late." Dave Gerhardt, now Chief Brand Officer at Drift, joined Chris for a Demand Gen Expert Session to share insights into how to properly allocate resources to Dark Social in an effort to reach buyers where they're discovering new products.MJ Peters, VP of Growth at Refine Labs, is hosting a debate this Thursday (September 9th) at 12pm EDT on whether or not marketers should reintroduce conferences & trade shows into their marketing mix. Gaetano Dinardi, Kyle Lacy, and Nick Bennett will be participating in the debate. Register here for access. 

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted another Demand Gen Live installment last night with a heavy focus on marketing in organic channels that can't be tracked easily, if at all. Chris built off of the Dark Funnel topic and introduced Dark Social, where most of B2B buying decisions are made. He commented that "if you're waiting on intent data, you're way too late." They also answered questions about determining which channels you should be focusing on as well as how to market to non-marketers, and they did a deep dive into LinkedIn organic brand and content marketing. Chris also touched on the second agenda topic: the problem with marketing-influenced revenue.   We are back with Dave Gerhardt, Chief Brand Officer at Drift, this Thursday September 2nd at 12pm EDT for another Demand Gen Expert Session. Register here to attend.

Allison Munro, CMO at Vena Solutions, joined Chris to talk about a topic we’ve never covered on the State of Demand Gen: how to present to the board to build credibility and trust, and what level of information you should provide. Allison shares what the recipe is for a successful board deck, as well as how to outline the work and results marketing is driving for the business as a whole, instead of siloing the marketing team. She details the importance of knowing your audience and creating the appropriate context within the storytelling. “The principles of storytelling don’t go out the window when you’re talking to your board.”

Chris Walker presented a MUST listen keynote on marketing strategy & innovation yesterday. He talked about how marketers often are fed the wrong information which leads to poor strategy decisions, and how they can change that and position themselves to be ready for opportunities they can capitalize on. He stated that "marketing is pure offense when done correctly" and proceeded to share that many companies are solely playing defense. He shared a step by step process that all marketers should follow if they want to hit their targets in 6 months, as well as frameworks for conducting customer research and how to build a B2B brand that people actually love. We are back with Dave Gerhardt, Chief Brand Officer at Drift, next Thursday September 2nd at 12pm EDT for another Demand Gen Expert Session. Register here to attend.