Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Nick Geurds
Chief Commercial Officer at Lepaya
About Nick Geurds
Nick Geurds is the Chief Commercial Officer at Lepaya, where he oversees the entire commercial organisation. With a comprehensive approach to customer engagement, Nick orchestrates the full customer journey from initial marketing touchpoints through to ongoing success. His strategic vision integrates sales, customer care, and all customer-facing interactions to create a seamless and cohesive experience. Nick's expertise lies in aligning marketing and sales functions to drive business growth and enhance customer satisfaction in the rapidly evolving B2B landscape.
How has the evolution of B2B marketing metrics reflected the shift towards account-based marketing?
The landscape of B2B marketing has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. We've moved beyond simply counting Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) to a more nuanced approach that prioritises the quality of interactions. With the advent of sophisticated platforms like 6sense, we can now deliver highly relevant content to our audience, which in turn has raised their expectations of us. This shift has prompted us to develop a dual system that balances both high-quality interactions and volume. We're now leveraging multiple data sources and predictive analytics to assess engagement at the Decision-Making Unit (DMU) level. For instance, if our model predicts that eight or nine individuals in a thousand-employee company should be actively engaged with our solution, we track how all of them are interacting with our platform, not just the one who becomes an MQL. This more comprehensive approach allows us to foster richer relationships and gain deeper insights into our potential clients' needs and behaviours. It's a fundamental change in how we view and measure marketing success, moving us from mere lead generation to genuine engagement cultivation.
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We've moved beyond simply counting MQLs to a more nuanced approach that prioritises the quality of interactions. We're now leveraging multiple data sources and predictive analytics to assess engagement at the Decision-Making Unit level.
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Today, when we design a customer engagement journey, we meticulously plan every touchpoint from initial marketing contact through to sale closure. This integrated approach serves a dual purpose: it equips our sales team with more effective materials and enables marketing to play a more active role in advancing clients along their journey.
How has this evolution in marketing metrics influenced the alignment between marketing and sales functions?
The relationship between marketing and sales has evolved dramatically over the past decade. We've transitioned from a model of clear division and mutual criticism to one of deep integration and shared goals.
Today, when we design a customer engagement journey, we meticulously plan every touchpoint from initial marketing contact through to sale closure. This integrated approach serves a dual purpose: it equips our sales team with more effective materials to guide clients through the buying process, and it enables marketing to play a more active role in advancing clients along their journey.
We've implemented shared KPIs that focus on metrics like pipeline and deal velocity. Our goal is to optimise the time from initial marketing engagement to deal closure while simultaneously increasing average deal size. This collaborative approach hasn't been without its challenges, particularly when it comes to changing the mindsets of seasoned sellers. However, by demonstrating how these new methods align the buyer's journey with the seller's process, we've been able to create 'Aha moments' that highlight the value of this integrated approach.
The key has been to show our commercial teams how these insights can help them better understand where the buyer actually stands in their decision-making process. This has transformed perceptions, with marketing now viewed as a valuable source of buyer insights rather than an interruption to the sales cycle.
How does your organisation leverage data and technology to gain actionable insights into account health and buying intent?
We've developed a multi-faceted approach to gathering and utilising data for account insights. Our process begins with a broad analysis of organisational changes such as headcount growth, revenue trends, new office openings, and fundraising activities. This gives us a dynamic picture of shifts within our target organisations.
We then narrow our focus to our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), which we've carefully crafted based on factors like industry type, company size, revenue, and organisational maturity. We maintain a targeted list of around 1,500 global clients, which helps us prioritise our engagement efforts.
Beyond these high-level organisational trends, we drill down to personal information to derive more detailed, relevant insights for our client interactions. This granular approach allows us to tailor our strategies more effectively, moving away from a random approach to a more strategic, targeted program.
Interestingly, we apply similar data analysis techniques to predict churn among existing clients. By monitoring for signs that clients might be exploring alternative solutions, we can proactively address potential dissatisfaction, integrating these insights into our customer success strategies.
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Looking forward, I believe the true power of AI in B2B marketing will lie in its ability to help us better understand and predict customer behaviour. The challenge for marketing leaders will be to harness these technologies while maintaining a human touch.
Looking ahead, how do you see emerging technologies like generative AI shaping the future of B2B marketing?
The impact of generative AI on B2B marketing is already becoming apparent, and I believe we're just scratching the surface of its potential. Currently, we're experimenting with AI primarily in two areas: content personalisation and engagement automation.
In terms of content personalisation, while AI makes it easier to create tailored content at scale, it also presents a challenge. There's a risk that content could become "the new spam" as everyone leverages these tools to produce more material. The key will be using AI not just to create content, but to ensure it remains highly relevant and valuable to our audience.
For engagement automation, we're using AI to streamline follow-ups and support our sales development representatives (SDRs) and marketing teams. This allows us to re-engage with clients at optimal moments, avoiding the awkward interactions that sometimes occurred in the past when we relied on more manual, reactive approaches.
Looking forward, I believe the true power of AI in B2B marketing will lie in its ability to help us better understand and predict customer behaviour. As these technologies evolve, they'll enable us to create more sophisticated, personalised buyer journeys that feel natural and valuable to our prospects and clients.
The challenge for marketing leaders will be to harness these technologies while maintaining a human touch. It's about using AI to enhance our ability to connect meaningfully with our audience, not to replace genuine human interaction. As we navigate this new landscape, the most successful marketers will be those who can strike the right balance between technological innovation and authentic engagement.
About Lepaya
Lepaya is a cutting-edge training provider that bridges the gap between traditional education and practical workplace needs in today's dynamic business environment. Offering an innovative blend of online and in-person sessions, Lepaya equips professionals with essential skills crucial for modern business success. Their programs, focusing on leadership, personal effectiveness, and technical proficiency, are designed to empower individuals and drive organisational growth in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
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.
