Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Frida Ahrenby
Chief Marketing Officer at Rillion
Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Frida Ahrenby
Chief Marketing Officer at Rillion
About Frida Ahrenby
Frida Ahrenby is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Rillion, a company specialising in accounts payable automation and payments. In this role, she is responsible for leading the revenue marketing strategy and execution across the US and EMEA regions. Frida manages the Marketing team, overseeing areas such as demand generation, performance marketing, content creation, SEO, web development, product marketing, and branding. She is also a member of Rillion's management team, contributing to the company's overall strategic direction.
How does your organisation measure marketing success, and have you moved beyond traditional metrics like MQLs?
At Rillion, we've adopted a revenue-focused approach to measuring marketing success. My background in sales has significantly influenced how I build and structure marketing teams, ensuring close alignment with sales objectives. Our primary metric is Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), which we've broken down into specific targets for marketing's contribution.
While we still consider MQLs, our focus has shifted to what we call high-intent MQLs. These are leads that demonstrate a more serious level of interest, such as requesting demos, price quotes, or direct contact. However, our approach goes beyond these obvious signals. We've developed an internal scoring system that considers various factors, including alignment with our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), engagement history, and participation in specific marketing activities like webinars or events.
This nuanced approach allows us to be more strategic in our lead qualification process. We're not just counting leads; we're assessing quality and potential value. By focusing on high-intent MQLs marketing created pipeline, we ensure that our marketing efforts are directly contributing to our ARR goals while providing sales with leads that are more likely to close.
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Our primary metric is Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), which we've broken down into specific targets for marketing's contribution.
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Typically, a successful journey involves a mix of 3 to 5 different channels, more than 50 touchpoints, and 8 to 11 stakeholders.
Given the complexity of B2B buying journeys, how do you quantify marketing's influence across multiple touchpoints?
The B2B customer journey has become increasingly complex, often involving numerous touchpoints, multiple stakeholders, and extended decision-making processes. To navigate this complexity, we've implemented a tool called DreamData, a revenue attribution tool, which provides valuable insights into the full customer journey.
What we've discovered is that there's rarely a single channel or touchpoint that can be credited with a conversion. Typically, a successful journey involves a mix of 3 to 5 different channels, more than 50 touchpoints, and 8 to 11 stakeholders. This insight has fundamentally shaped our marketing strategy.
Our role in marketing is to ensure we're present and relevant throughout this intricate journey. We can't simply pour all our resources into one channel or focus on a single touchpoint. Instead, we need to create a cohesive experience across multiple channels, addressing the needs and concerns of various stakeholders at different stages of their journey.
This approach requires a shift from thinking about marketing in terms of isolated campaigns to considering it as an ongoing, multi-faceted engagement strategy. We're constantly looking at how we can provide value at each touchpoint, whether that's through thought leadership content, personalised communications, or timely product information.
How are you approaching the alignment of marketing and sales teams, particularly in relation to account-based strategies?
While we haven't fully implemented an Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategy at Rillion yet, it's definitely on our roadmap for the near future. We're currently laying the foundations for this approach, which I believe are crucial for its success.
The first step in this process was conducting a comprehensive Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) analysis during Q2. This work has given us a clear picture of who our target customers are, which is essential before we can start identifying specific accounts to focus on.
When we do move forward with ABM, our approach will be highly collaborative, involving sales, marketing, and revenue operations teams. We'll analyse each market individually, considering both our ICP and what we call "up for grabs" potential as well as triggers driving a potential change in solutions. This involves identifying accounts that might be open to changing their AP automation solution in the near future, perhaps due to expiring contracts or recent leadership changes.
Our goal will be to create tiered lists of target accounts for each market. Based on these lists, we'll determine our engagement strategy, deciding which accounts warrant one-to-one, one-to-few, or one-to-many approaches from both sales and marketing perspectives.
It's important to note that this strategy needs to be tailored for different markets. For example, our approach in the US, which we consider a "white space" market with over 50% of potential clients not yet using AP automation, will differ significantly from our strategy in more saturated European markets.
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I believe the future of B2B marketing lies in striking a balance between personalisation and automation.
How do you see B2B marketing evolving, and how is your organisation preparing for these changes?
I believe the future of B2B marketing lies in striking a balance between personalisation and automation. While buyers are increasingly doing their own research before making contact with vendors, they still crave personalised experiences where they feel seen, heard, and understood.
This presents an interesting challenge for marketers. On one hand, we have access to more data and automation tools than ever before, allowing us to scale our efforts efficiently. On the other hand, there's a growing need for authentic, human connections in the buying process.
At Rillion, we're preparing for this shift by focusing on building authentic relationships alongside our automated marketing activities. This means investing in smaller, more personal events and communities, and finding ways to show that there are real people behind our brand who understand our customers' needs.
We're also constantly refining our content strategy to position ourselves as thought leaders early in the buying journey. This is crucial given the research suggesting that 84% of buyers have largely decided on their preferred vendor before making contact. Our goal is to be present and valuable to potential customers long before they're ready to talk to sales.
As we navigate these changes, we're mindful of the impact of emerging technologies like AI. While these tools offer exciting possibilities for efficiency and personalisation, we're careful not to let them make our interactions feel impersonal. The key, I believe, is to use technology to enhance rather than replace the human element in our marketing efforts.
About Rillion
Rillion is a leading provider of accounts payable (AP) automation and payment solutions, offering tools to streamline financial processes for businesses globally. Specialising in AP automation and payments, Rillion's services cover the entire workflow from data capture to invoice approval and payments. Trusted by over 3,000 companies in more than 50 countries, Rillion maintains offices across the US and EMEA. Backed by private equity firm Altor since 2021, Rillion continues to innovate in the financial technology sector, empowering organisations to achieve greater efficiency in their accounts payable processes.
About 6sense
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