Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Alex Bacon
Marketing Director at Cloud Direct
Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Alex Bacon
Marketing Director at Cloud Direct
About Alex Bacon
As the Marketing Director at Cloud Direct, Alex Bacon oversees a comprehensive range of duties that span traditional marketing activities, product marketing, and the management of Sales Development Representatives (SDRs). In this role, Alex plays a pivotal role in promoting and managing Microsoft cloud solutions for businesses, with a particular emphasis on Microsoft Azure, among other technologies. The position entails developing value propositions in close collaboration with technical teams and bridging the gap between marketing and sales to enhance the company's market presence and customer acquisition efforts.
Could you explain how your marketing strategies have evolved with account-based marketing (ABM) and the role of data in these strategies?
In adapting to ABM, we've developed a tiered approach where we classify accounts based on detailed engagement metrics and third-party data insights. This method isn't about individual customization but focuses on stratifying accounts to tailor our resources and campaigns effectively. For instance, tier-one accounts receive more intensive focus, benefiting from both our internal analytics and insights from partnerships, such as those with Microsoft. These insights help us shape our marketing tactics to ensure we're not only reaching but resonating with the accounts that have the most potential for conversion.
‟
We've been shifting our focus more towards the quality and size of the pipeline, which is becoming increasingly crucial.
What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) your team uses to measure success in these targeted marketing efforts?
Our team primarily focuses on sales-qualified leads (SQLs), marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), and particularly the sales pipeline. Recently, we've been shifting our focus more towards the quality and size of the pipeline, which is becoming increasingly crucial. This emphasis allows us to better measure our success in engaging and converting top-tier accounts, ensuring that our efforts lead to meaningful interactions that are likely to result in sales.
Marketing and sales alignment is often challenging. How do you ensure these teams collaborate effectively?
Effective collaboration between marketing and sales is foundational to our strategy. Strong collaboration between sales and marketing is vital for our success. We establish common goals at the beginning of each year and continuously align our strategies and communications. This synchronisation ensures that both teams are not only aware of the overall objectives but are also equipped to act on them in a cohesive manner. By sharing KPIs and maintaining open lines of communication, we preempt potential misalignments and ensure that both departments contribute optimally.
‟
Strong collaboration between sales and marketing is vital for our success.
‟
We’re focusing on nurturing leads long before the actual sales conversation happens, emphasising the importance of consistent and personalised marketing engagement to remain top of mind.
Looking ahead, what trends do you anticipate will shape the future of marketing and sales?
The increasing desire of businesses to conduct thorough research before initiating contact with sales teams is a significant trend. To address this, we’re focusing on nurturing leads long before the actual sales conversation happens, emphasising the importance of consistent and personalised marketing engagement to remain top of mind. This strategy is crucial as it ensures that when potential clients are ready to discuss purchasing, they are already familiar with and trust our brand, significantly smoothing the path to sales.
How does technology, especially generative AI, fit into your marketing strategies?
Generative AI has become a pivotal part of our content strategy, particularly in creating initial drafts and facilitating rapid content development. Tools like Microsoft Co-pilot help us streamline our workflow and enhance creativity, allowing our team to focus on higher-level strategy and client engagement. The potential for AI to expand into other areas like imagery and video production is something we're exploring, anticipating that it could revolutionise how we engage with our audience.
If resources were no object, what areas would you invest in to boost your marketing efforts?
With unlimited resources, I'd prioritise integrating more subject matter experts into our marketing initiatives. This would deepen our content's relevance and authenticity, particularly for technical buyers who value detailed and expert-driven discussions. Additionally, enhancing brand awareness would be a major focus to ensure that we remain a top contender in potential clients' minds across their decision-making journey.
About Cloud Direct
Cloud Direct is a forward-thinking technology company that specialises in harnessing the power of Microsoft cloud solutions to empower businesses. As a Microsoft partner, Cloud Direct is dedicated to helping organisations of all sizes implement and manage their Microsoft environments, with a strong emphasis on Microsoft Azure alongside other cloud technologies. The company prides itself on its comprehensive service offering, which includes everything from initial cloud strategy and implementation to ongoing management and support. With a team of certified experts, Cloud Direct ensures that its clients can navigate the complexities of cloud technology, driving efficiency, innovation, and growth. Through its commitment to excellence and customer success, Cloud Direct stands as a pivotal player in the cloud services industry, transforming the way businesses operate in the digital age.
About 6sense
6sense is on a mission to revolutionise the way B2B organisations create revenue by predicting customers most likely to buy and recommending the best course of action to engage anonymous buying teams. 6sense Revenue AI is the only sales and marketing platform to unlock the ability to create, manage and convert high-quality pipeline to revenue. Customers report 2X increases in average contract value, 4X increases in win rate and 20-40% reduction in time to close deals. Know everything, do anything, with 6sense.
