Market View
Beyond MQLs: Reframing success in B2B marketing
Sponsored by:
Produced by:
Ross Spencer
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Togather
About Ross Spencer
Ross Spencer serves as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Togather, an online marketplace tailored for the events industry. In his role, Ross oversees marketing strategies that cater to a diverse range of events, from intimate weddings to large-scale corporate parties and festivals. Togather connects clients with a variety of handpicked suppliers, offering everything from street food and bespoke bars, to unique venues for crafting memorable events of all magnitudes.
How do you see marketing's role extending beyond generating MQLs and integrating into every aspect of business communication?
I've always believed that a comprehensive market orientation is essential. For me, marketing is fundamentally about communication—it's what a business conveys through every action it takes. Marketing should be the lens through which every customer interaction and communication is viewed. We must examine how we communicate with our customers and what these communications say about our brand and services.
This perspective leads me to see marketing as having boundless possibilities. Every element of communication, from invoices to the fine print in an email, serves as a marketing tool, even if they aren't traditionally recognised as such. Thus, marketing is about more than just generating MQLs—it's an all-encompassing strategic approach that affects every facet of a business's presence and interactions, no matter how small they may appear.
In my role, I emphasise the importance of marketers proactively promoting their work internally and ensuring clear, consistent communication at every step. This approach helps build understanding and appreciation for the marketing process, improving relationships and feedback.
‟
Marketing is about more than just generating MQLs—it's an all-encompassing strategic approach that affects every facet of a business's presence and interactions, no matter how small they may appear.
‟
The companies that perform the best are those whose brands generate the most leads organically. It's about creating a smart brand that resonates on an emotional level, rather than just logical.
How does understanding the emotional influence on consumer behaviour shape your marketing and sales strategies, particularly in your marketplace?
The whole discussion around MQLs ultimately boils down to the balance between brand investment and lead generation. When people ask how much we should spend on branding versus lead generation, my response is that, idealistically, everything should be invested in the long-term brand goals. However, practically we know that shorter-term sales are a necessity to operate, to salaries, to fund growth and we must focus on lead generation as well.
I genuinely believe in the power of brands because the companies that perform the best are those whose brands generate the most leads organically. It's about creating a smart brand that resonates on an emotional level, rather than just logical. This approach is what sets apart the truly successful companies.
In our business, attracting suppliers isn't a big marketing challenge because we're selective and even have a waiting list. On the sales side, our marketplace operates traditionally, with event organisers coming to us with specific events in mind. Another aspect involves us approaching companies to handle their general event needs. Our goal is to capture their interest before they feel the need to search the market themselves., converting their initial searches for information directly into marketplace requests, which also serve as a source for future B2B outbound leads.
We've recently been piloting a new offer to test market engagement. Interestingly, the feedback we've received is that it's too expensive, even though it's priced based on what customers already pay on average. Out of the 175 people in that cohort, 13 have gone on to make a general request. It's intriguing because they're not necessarily engaging with the product itself, but the novelty and legitimacy of the new offer opens up dialogue. This kind of experimentation with new offers is invaluable—it really helps us gather more data and insights.
What steps have you taken to evolve your MQR process, align marketing with sales, and leverage data to drive strategies?
It all boils down to data. A lot of what I'm doing now involves establishing new processes and habits, and developing the relationship with the sales team is a massive part of that. Interestingly, the sales team currently reports directly to me, which helps in aligning us towards a unified go-to-market approach with shared objectives.
We're starting to implement better segmentation, improving how we collect data from initial requests, and analysing non-converting enquiries to understand potential future opportunities. Some of our biggest leads aren't always the ones with the most attractive initial requests. This is a new and interesting challenge for us—to recognise that what might not seem appealing at first could actually represent a significant opportunity for us as a company.
It's all about leveraging data effectively—collecting the right data points, understanding which are most indicative of future revenue, not just converting the lead in front of us.
‟
Testing regionally can reveal where you can optimise spending and where the customer base responds best to your offerings. You'll start to see patterns in conversion rates and revenue generation, which can guide where to focus your efforts initially.
How have you refined your segmentation strategies to tailor approaches for different business sizes and types?
Initially, when I joined, I noticed a distinct lack of segmentation based on the diverse types of companies we serve. That was one of the first areas to focus on . We started by categorising businesses into small, medium, and large segments. Earlier this year, we realised that these categories needed refinement, so we expanded to include about five tiers.
Now, we're beginning to incorporate industry data and booking behaviours into our segmentation strategies. This allows us to tailor our approaches more effectively to meet the specific needs of different business sizes and types. For us, there’s a sweet spot with the finance industry, agencies, and tech startups of a certain size. Geographical segmentation is also key, as different regions can have varying acquisition costs and market responses.
If a company is looking to improve their marketing qualified requests, I would advise them to start by asking, "Where is your revenue coming from?" Look at which industries are most profitable for you. Testing regionally can reveal where you can optimise spending and where the customer base responds best to your offerings. You'll start to see patterns in conversion rates and revenue generation, which can guide where to focus your efforts initially.
About Togather
Togather is an innovative online marketplace dedicated to the events industry. It connects event organisers with a wide array of suppliers, offering everything from food and drink to decor and entertainment. Designed to streamline the planning process, Together serves a variety of events, including intimate weddings, corporate parties, and large festivals, making it a go-to resource for creating memorable experiences.
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.
