In the second episode of the new series, Chris and guests explore contemporary topics in B2B marketing with a focus on demand creation strategies and the impact of connected TV advertising. Kicking off with a crucial clarification regarding demand creation and personal business matters, Chris sets the record straight on his integral role in Refine Labs and the fundamental existence of demand creation in marketing. Following the introductory context, the discussion transitions into actionable marketing insights. Learn about the various triggers that initiate customer acquisition in the digital landscape, the nuanced approach to using advertising budgets, and the future trajectory of marketing media utilization. With a detailed exploration of connected TV as an emerging channel and a rebuttal to common misconceptions surrounding contemporary demand generation tactics, the episode offers a plethora of strategic advice catered to marketing professionals seeking to stay ahead of the curve. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was joined by Exit Five’s Dave Gerhadt to talk about how Social and Community can help create demand. The insightful conversation kicks off with an overview of how companies can leverage communities and influencer partnerships to diversify their marketing strategies beyond LinkedIn and Google paid budgets. This episode promises to arm listeners with unconventional yet practical tips to take their digital strategies to new heights. Through an enlightening dialogue, Walker and Gerhardt explore the nuances of creating and nurturing owned company communities. They discuss the success metrics that truly matter and the distinctions between communities as stand-alone entities versus those adjunct to SaaS companies. The second part of the episode pivots to unpack the emerging roles of influencers, or key opinion leaders, in the B2B sector. The duo sheds light on the symbiotic nature of these partnerships and the importance of authenticity and strategic alignment. Insights into LinkedIn's algorithm changes and content distribution strategies pepper the conversation, providing a grounded perspective for B2B marketers aiming to make their mark in an increasingly crowded digital space. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was a guest on the Marketing Dribble podcast, hosted by Jonny Kenyon and Rob Boyle, to talk about Account-Based Marketing. The show starts with an enlightening prelude where he sets the scene for a comprehensive discussion, addressing the pivotal aspects of ABM such as account selection, tiering, and the tactical execution that drives technology, advertising, and outbound efforts. Chris lays down an analogy comparing go-to-market strategies to manufacturing operational efficiencies, highlighting the waste and lack of synchronization in conventional marketing efforts. He stresses the need for a collective approach, championing a phased strategy that encapsulates creating demand, capturing intent, converting pipeline, and account expansion. Throughout the episode, the conversation swivels seamlessly into the intricacies of ABM and how businesses, irrespective of their acknowledgment, leverage some form of this strategy. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

In the first episode of the new series, Chris and guests cover creating demand, capturing intent, converting pipeline, and expanding accounts. Led by Chris Walker, the latest discussion unpacks a nuanced take on shifting from traditional lead gen to more sophisticated demand gen strategies, influenced by hard data and innovative approaches. The conversation gravitated towards the art of balancing investments across the customer lifecycle, where Chris introduced a groundbreaking shift from department-centric to buyer-centric pipeline sources. With the touch of a strategist, the distinctions between creating demand and capturing intent were deeply explored, revealing a rich perspective on marketing's evolution beyond siloed analytics towards a seamless go-to-market vision. His insights resonate with an industry acutely aware of the need to refine marketing budgets and tactics, ensuring everything from webinars to SDR outreaches is measured against the modern buyer's journey. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker joins Chris Roche on the Acronym Podcast to discuss his transformative journey from his roots in electrical engineering to the echelons of B2B marketing entrepreneurship. Tune in as Chris delves into the trials and triumphs of the first twelve months at the helm of Refine Labs, offering inspiring insights for marketers aspiring to venture into the entrepreneurial landscape. Throughout the conversation, Chris highlights the importance of aligning go-to-market strategies with changing B2B dynamics and the role of marketing as a comprehensive business strategy. He also touches upon the pivotal moments when he opted to channel his marketing expertise into a standalone venture and the methodologies that allowed him to outpace traditional employment returns in a mere 90 days. The episode is a treasure trove of wisdom for marketers looking to make their mark in the realm of consulting and agency growth. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited to speak with the marketing team at Workleap, in a fireside chat session led by Michelle Mercier, VP of Marketing. He starts by discussing the changing landscape of buyer behavior and trends in B2B marketing. Then, he emphasizes the shift in power to buyers, who now have access to more information and rely less on direct interactions with sales teams. Chris highlights the importance of understanding customers and their needs, as well as the need for marketers to adapt to the evolving buyer journey. He also discusses the limitations of traditional attribution models and the need for a more holistic approach to measuring marketing effectiveness. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker joins Alex McNaughten to usher in the new year with a blend of professional updates and deep dives into the complexities of B2B go-to-market strategies. Kicking off with personal announcements, Chris sets the stage for a detailed exploration of the challenges confronting B2B firms in the ever-evolving digital marketing scene. As Chris unveils plans for his portfolio of companies, the conversation shifts toward critical aspects of analytics and go-to-market strategies that B2B companies grapple with. Chris shares his experiences and the discerning perspectives gained from providing consultancy services. He breaks down the misalignments between modern customer behaviors and traditional business strategies, offering listeners an array of appealing and intuitive insights into refining B2B operations. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

“Learning is what powers earning and impact.” Chris was asked to speak to the team at Quinyx for their Fireside Chat led by Johanna Fagerstedt. They start with some insightful rapid-fire questions, discuss Chris’ journey through the ideas of and away from the term Demand Generation. He explains how splitting things into Demand Creation and Demand Capture helps to break the process into “objective” and “goal” when looking at the bigger picture. They also discuss what makes a great leader, Chris’ thoughts on All-Bound, answer listener questions, and more! If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation every Tuesday on zoom by registering ⁠here⁠, or submit them ahead of the call ⁠here⁠! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at ⁠usehatch.fm⁠.

Chris was asked to speak to the team at Recruitee for their Inspiration Session led by Anne Smink. They covered a wide range of insights on the process of switching from a Lead Gen to Demand Gen Strategy, including: SEO: What skills does a team need to level up or focus on to improve demand gen strategy, and how to measure SEO impact Product Launch: how to fit launching a product into Demand Gen Execution Managing Expectations: Short term versus long term goals and results  Finding Balance: if a team that tracks leads should forget lead gen altogether in favor of demand gen, or create a balance of tracking and maintaining some gated content Content Creation: how to utilize a two person team to effectively create and repurpose content  If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering ⁠here⁠, or submit them ahead of the call ⁠here⁠! Also make sure to check out ⁠The Vault⁠, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at ⁠usehatch.fm⁠.

With new listeners coming in every day, we wanted to highlight a couple of the most important episodes of 2023! *** Chris joined Ricky Sevta and Sean Diljore on the Sassy Talk podcast to share his insights on demand capture, demand creation, and revenue operations for early-stage B2B companies. He emphasizes the need for a data-driven approach to marketing and go-to-market strategies, highlighting the importance of using large-scale aggregated data to inform decision-making. Chris also discusses the disadvantages of the traditional MQL hamster wheel model and the need for a new operating model that is continuously updated based on data and insights. He explains how the traditional MQL SQL model is subjective and lacks data-driven decision-making, and suggests that companies should focus on performance-based objective data to determine the stages of the revenue process. Chris highlights the challenges faced by companies as they scale and the importance of finding efficient and effective ways to drive growth. He also emphasizes the need for early-stage founders to prioritize marketing and demand creation in order to accelerate growth and reach their target market. Additionally, Chris discusses the importance of pricing and how it should be listed on the website based on customer preferences and feedback. Key Takeaways: -The traditional MQL SQL model is subjective and lacks data-driven decision-making. -Companies should focus on performance-based objective data to determine the stages of the revenue process. -The current influenced revenue model often leads to analysis paralysis and hinders strategic decision-making. -Early-stage founders should prioritize marketing and demand creation to accelerate growth and reach their target market. -Pricing should be listed on the website based on customer preferences and feedback. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

With new listeners coming in every day, we wanted to highlight a couple of the most important episodes of 2023! *** With SaaStock and its incredible lineup of speakers in town, Chris was lucky to be able to do some in-person interviews for Revenue Vitals! First up was a chat surrounding leadership, mindset, and culture with ⁠Sam Jacobs⁠, CEO of Pavilion.  They chatted about: Key lessons and takeaways Sam has learned in his time as a CEO: Focus on the long term Love your customer Don’t try to do too many things Trust your intuition and slow down A reminder to put things into perspective, especially in times of economic uncertainty How to empower employees to feel valued and secure in their own path to success The idea of embracing instability instead of trying to correct it And more! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at ⁠usehatch.fm⁠.

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  He starts by reflecting on the year and sharing some insights and advice for entrepreneurs and professionals. He emphasizes the importance of perspective when considering the year you had, and encourages listeners to think about what a successful year in 2024 would look like for them. He then celebrates some Refine Labs wins, with clients and from the creative team. To wrap things up, Chris also discusses the potential impact of AI on B2B marketers and the balance between company brand and personal profiles in marketing strategies. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited to join Stijn van Willigen and Bart Snijders on the Sprints and Sneakers podcast, to discuss the importance of data-driven marketing strategies in B2B growth. He emphasizes the need for companies to focus on the right data and metrics to drive revenue and make informed decisions. He also highlights the shift towards a more scientific and data-driven approach in marketing and the need for companies to adapt to changing buyer behaviors. Chris shares insights on the evolving role of sales and the importance of aligning marketing and sales teams. He also discusses the impact of AI on marketing and the potential risks and opportunities it presents. Chris emphasizes the importance of creating content in the format that consumers prefer, such as short-form videos, and leveraging platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. He concludes by discussing the need for companies to have a higher purpose beyond just profits and the importance of aligning marketing KPIs with overall business goals. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  He starts by discussing the lack of data and tracking in companies that spend millions of dollars on Google paid search ads. He emphasizes the importance of having a system in place to measure the ROI of every investment in the channel. Chris highlights the need for marketers to go beyond basic metrics like conversions and clicks and focus on tracking pipeline creation and revenue generation. He also points out common mistakes, such as not using persistent UTMs, and emphasizes the importance of doing the fundamentals well before investing in advanced analytics tools. Chris concludes by discussing the ratio of investment in headcount and its correlation with ROI. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited to join Nitzan Kravitz on Mayple’s Host the Pro Podcast to talk about the current trends in B2B marketing strategies and the need for a comprehensive understanding of customer behavior and engagement. He emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making and the limitations of traditional attribution models. Chris also highlights the shift towards short-form video content and the need for marketers to adapt to changing consumer preferences. While AI in marketing is often overhyped, Chris advises marketers to focus on the present and what is working now. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  He starts by discussing the importance of looking at marketing and sales data from a macro perspective rather than getting caught up in micro-level details. He emphasizes the need to analyze overall business performance and benchmark it against similar companies to identify trends and patterns. By zooming out and focusing on high-level insights, companies can make more impactful strategy adjustments. Chris also highlights the value of thought leadership, market size, and automation in driving marketing ROI. He concludes by emphasizing the need for external perspectives and benchmarks to gain a clearer understanding of overall performance. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

"As long as you continue to progress forward, you don't really run into an issue because the bot is not going to outrun the human in terms of innovation right now." Chris was joined by Sarah Kennedy Ellis, Vice President of Google Cloud, to talk about the current and future impact of AI in Marketing. They highlight the areas where AI can be implemented today, such as content generation, process automation, and data analysis. They also discuss the challenges and considerations in adopting AI in marketing strategies. Then, Sarah turns the conversation back around to Chris to find out how Refine Labs is putting AI into practical applications, and how he feels about the ability to create learning models around thought leaders like himself.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  He starts by discussing the importance of looking at marketing ROI from a holistic perspective rather than getting caught up in micro-analyzing individual campaigns. Then he shares proprietary data collected from B2B companies in the $50 to $250 million revenue range over the past four to eight quarters. The data reveals a wide range of marketing ROI performance, with bottom performers getting as low as 28 cents in revenue for every dollar spent on marketing, while high performers achieve $3 in revenue for every dollar spent. Chris emphasizes the need to focus on improving overall marketing ROI before scaling up spending, as scaling without efficiency leads to further degradation. He also highlights the importance of analyzing data to identify what is driving impact and making strategic decisions based on that information. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited to join Shanee Moret on the Growthpreneurs podcast to chat about the benefits of content in B2B. Chris emphasizes the importance of creating and distributing content on social media platforms, particularly LinkedIn, for business growth. He believes that many founders resist content creation because they are stuck in outdated sales strategies and fail to recognize the power of content in reaching a wider audience. Chris highlights the need for a shift from lead generation to demand generation and the importance of measuring marketing effectiveness based on revenue rather than traditional metrics like MQLs. He also discusses the concept of dark social and the limitations of current attribution models. He predicts that companies will need to operate their go-to-market strategies more efficiently and rethink their approach to outbound sales. He also emphasizes the value of live events and the potential of AI in content creation. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited to join Stef Hamerlinck on the Let’s talk branding podcast to discuss content and branding. Chris challenges the traditional approach to B2B marketing and emphasizes the importance of understanding customers and generating demand. He highlights the distinction between demand creation and demand capture, and urges companies to focus on creating content that customers actually want to consume. Chris also discusses the role of brand building in B2B marketing and the need for effective distribution tactics to reach a broader audience. He emphasizes the importance of measuring the impact of marketing efforts on overall business growth and suggests shifting the focus from micro analytics to a more holistic view of marketing ROI. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he highlights the growing skepticism around the SDR predictable revenue model and the need for companies to reevaluate their outbound sales strategies. Chris also emphasizes the importance of rethinking the paid social strategy, shifting from lead generation campaigns to guaranteed distribution of content to target accounts. He explains how companies can blend website content and dark social content to create a more effective content strategy. Additionally, Chris addresses questions related to forecasting and planning, including how to factor in open pipeline and how to forecast for a brand new product. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited to join Steven Schmidt on the Magnetic podcast to discuss the new era of revenue and the importance of mindset in driving success. Chris shares his journey from freelancer consultant to building a $20 million company and emphasizes the opportunity to share his knowledge and help others. He also highlights the importance of having a strong mindset in all aspects of life, not just in business. The conversation then shifts to the role of data bias in revenue analytics and the need for companies to have a holistic view of their data to make informed decisions. Chris explains that data bias exists everywhere and that companies should be aware of their biases when analyzing data. He also discusses the future of revenue analytics and the need for companies to adopt a more standardized and objective approach to analyzing their revenue data. In terms of company culture, Chris emphasizes the importance of positive business performance, a clear vision, and transparency in fostering a thriving culture. He also shares the impact of bringing the team together for offsite meetings and the value of having a strong business partner like Megan Bowen. The conversation then delves into budget planning cycles and the key considerations for companies when planning their budgets. Chris advises companies to analyze their historical data and customer insights to make informed decisions about their future strategies. He also emphasizes the need for companies to adapt to the changing ways in which people consume content, particularly through social media platforms. Finally, Chris discusses the importance of creating 3D content that goes beyond traditional talking heads and engages with the audience on a deeper level. He explains that companies need to understand their customers' behavior and preferences in order to create content that resonates with them. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, and today he is sharing a snippet of advice from that call.  First, Chris discusses the importance of shifting your strategy on paid social media. He explains that many companies use paid social media solely for lead generation, but this approach is flawed because it does not capture true demand. Instead, Chris suggests using paid social media to create demand and build brand awareness. He also emphasizes the need to invest in content creation and distribution to effectively reach target customers. Chris also addresses the challenges of marketing to a smaller target market and provides insights on how to prioritize the buyer committee when budget constraints arise. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, and today he is sharing a snippet of advice from that call.  He highlights that many companies struggle to fully operationalize ABM and extract value from it. While ABM platforms can be helpful, they are not a silver bullet solution. The main perceived value of ABM platforms is their ability to use intent data to identify accounts that are "in-market" and improve outbound targeting. However, many companies fail to integrate ABM platforms with their SDRs, resulting in wasted resources. Additionally, the account scoring within ABM tools is subjective and can be manipulated to fit desired outcomes. Chris emphasizes the need for a clear account scoring system and the ability to evaluate the performance of each signal. Ultimately, he believes that companies should go beyond MQLs and MQAs and adopt a more data-informed go-to-market approach. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he discusses the concept of Pipeline Sources and how they can be used to drive revenue growth. He explains that instead of looking at internal departments, companies should focus on the buyer's perspective and identify proven buyer journeys that drive revenue. By analyzing data from the past fiscal quarters, companies can determine the paths that lead to high sales velocity and optimize their go-to-market strategy accordingly. Chris also discusses the issue of pipeline inflation and the importance of using a performance-based definition of pipeline. He highlights the core health KPIs for a go-to-market strategy, including total net new closed one revenue, all-bound hero pipeline creation, all-bound hero sales velocity, and marketing ROI or blended marketing CAC payback period. Finally, Chris explores the value of qualitative customer interviews and market research surveys in informing strategy and driving change. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was asked to join the Nearbound Marketing Podcast, hosted by Logan Lyles, to talk about the importance of building personal brands and activating evangelists within an organization. They discuss the concept of key opinion leaders versus influencers and how they can contribute to a company's marketing efforts. Chris shares his insights on measuring ROI in marketing, including the use of self-reported attribution, conversational intelligence tools, market research surveys, and win-loss analysis. He emphasizes the need for companies to shift their mindset and focus on demand creation rather than just demand capture. Chris also provides practical advice for executives looking to build their personal brand on LinkedIn and shares his strategies for remaining consistent in content creation. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he discusses the importance of data analysis and customer insights in building an effective revenue strategy. He emphasizes the need to measure the ROI of marketing channels accurately and challenges the traditional approach to attribution. He also highlights the lack of scrutiny around the ROI of established channels like LinkedIn Ads and Google Search, compared to newer marketing tactics. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he explains that every company, whether they realize it or not, uses an underlying operating model and data model that influences their marketing and sales processes. The operating model defines the steps and processes involved in achieving revenue goals, while the data model determines the KPIs that are measured to track progress and identify inefficiencies. Chris emphasizes the need for marketing leaders to understand and define their company's operating model and data model to ensure alignment and success in revenue strategy. He also highlights the impact of these models on the selection of tech tools and the execution of tactical marketing activities. Key Takeaways: -Operating models and data models are essential components of revenue strategy. -Companies often default to the most widely accepted operating model, such as the lead-to-SQL process. -Sales teams have well-defined operating models, while marketing teams often lack clarity in this area. -Tech tools and vendors build their offerings based on existing operating and data models. -Attribution models are influenced by the underlying operating and data models. -ABM models require a shift from lead-based measurement to opportunity-based measurement. -The five core stages of revenue strategy are operating model adoption, data model creation, strategy development, tech tool selection, and tactical execution. -Alignment between revenue team members is crucial for success. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris sat down with Clark Barron for the very first episode of the Demand Gen Therapy Podcast! They discuss the concept of the Dark Funnel and Dark Social in B2B marketing, and Chris emphasizes the need for companies to shift their operating models and align marketing and sales strategies with revenue team KPIs. He also highlights the importance of primary market research and standardized data models in making data-driven decisions. Key Takeaways: -Dark Social refers to the channels and platforms where B2B buyers research and make purchasing decisions that are not tracked by traditional attribution software. -The Dark Funnel is focused on using account-level intent data to capture existing market demand. -Companies need to shift their operating models and align marketing and sales strategies with revenue team KPIs. -Primary market research and standardized data models are essential for making data-driven decisions in B2B marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris sat down with Sajeel Qureshi, on the Rev Ops 500 podcast to discuss the myths and future of revenue operations (Rev Ops). Chris challenges the notion that Rev Ops is the most important function in go-to-market strategies, pointing out that many companies still understaff and underfund this area. He believes that Rev Ops should be split into strategic and tactical functions, with a focus on using standardized data to make informed decisions. Chris also introduces the concept of HIRO Pipeline, a new operating model that shifts the focus from leads and MQLs to account activations and conversions. He emphasizes the need for companies to adopt a more holistic view of their go-to-market strategy and align their teams based on data-driven insights. Key Takeaways: -Rev Ops is often understaffed and underfunded, despite being considered the most important function in go-to-market strategies. -Companies should split Rev Ops into strategic and tactical functions to drive proactive decision-making. -The current operating model, based on the demand waterfall and MQLs, is outdated and needs to be replaced with a more holistic approach. -HIRO Pipeline, a new operating model, focuses on account activations, conversions, and standardized data to inform decision-making. -Companies should shift their definition of qualified pipeline to align with HIRO Pipeline, based on a six-month rolling win rate greater than 25%. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he highlights the shift in the market from growth at all costs to efficient growth and the need for companies to adjust their strategies accordingly. He also emphasizes the importance of looking at metrics such as CAC payback period rather than CAC to LTV ratios for evaluating marketing ROI. Additionally, he explains the difference between demand capture and demand conversion and the need to consider all revenue channels, not just inbound, when assessing marketing performance. Key Takeaways: -Companies need to shift from growth at all costs to efficient growth in order to align with changing market dynamics. -CAC payback period is a more appropriate metric for evaluating marketing ROI than CAC to LTV ratios. -Demand capture refers to capturing the intent of potential buyers, while demand conversion involves converting that intent into sales meetings or pipeline. -It is important to consider all revenue channels, not just inbound, when evaluating marketing performance. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris sat down with Cameron Evans for a half hour consultative session to provide valuable insights and strategies for a real estate brokerage firm looking. Chris emphasizes the importance of focusing on agents who can generate revenue and have a higher lifetime value. Chris suggests collecting qualitative data from top-producing agents to understand why they choose to work with the firm and using that information to create a unique value proposition. He also recommends leveraging social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook to reach a wider audience and boost engagement. Additionally, Chris advises adding a secondary content creation pillar, such as consulting calls or expert interviews, to further enhance the marketing strategy. Key Takeaways: -Focus on attracting real estate agents who can generate revenue and have a higher lifetime value. -Collect qualitative data from top-producing agents to understand why they choose to work with the firm. -Create a unique value proposition based on the insights gathered from top-producing agents. -Leverage social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook to reach a wider audience and boost engagement. -Consider adding a secondary content creation pillar, such as consulting calls or expert interviews, to enhance the marketing strategy. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris sat down with Spencer Tally for a consultative session surrounding the creation and growth of personal brand. Chris suggests that Spencer can create content around how he works with his marketing team to achieve better results, highlighting the importance of alignment between sales and marketing. Chris also emphasizes the need for authenticity in personal branding and recommends networking with thought leaders in the industry to gather insights and provide value to his target customers. Key Takeaways: -Build your personal brand around your own expertise rather than the company you work for. -Focus on creating content that highlights how you work with your marketing team to achieve better results. -Be authentic in your personal branding and focus on topics that are most authentic to you. -Network with thought leaders in the industry to gather insights and provide value to your target customers. -Use video content on LinkedIn to build trust and affinity with your audience. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he highlights the abundance of information available in the digital age and the need for individuals to discern between opinions and data-driven insights. He draws a parallel to the medical field's transition to evidence-based medicine in the 1940s and suggests that the go-to-market space should also prioritize science and data over personal experiences and opinions. Next, Chris shares a real-life example of a company's misalignment between their perceived pipeline and the actual pipeline based on historical win rates. By analyzing the data, he reveals that the company inflated their pipeline by almost $90 million, leading to inaccurate forecasting and missed targets. He emphasizes the importance of defining pipeline based on objective performance criteria to improve sales and marketing alignment. Finally, he introduces his company's approach of using science and data to help companies make informed go-to-market decisions. He believes that breakthroughs can be achieved by analyzing large datasets and applying scientific principles to create confidence and clarity in future strategies. Key Takeaways: -Information has become a commodity, and individuals must discern between opinions and data-driven insights. -Companies often inflate their pipeline by not accurately defining qualified pipeline based on historical win rates. -Science and data should drive go-to-market decisions to improve alignment and achieve breakthroughs.Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited onto the inaugural episode of Donuts and Demand, hosted by Lindsay McGuire and joined as well by LaShanda Jackson. They discuss the definition of demand gen, share tips for success, and highlight their favorite campaigns. Chris emphasizes the importance of always-on programs and taking risks with one-time campaigns. They also discuss strategies for boosting conversions and the differences between creating demand and capturing demand. Key Takeaways: -Demand generation should be focused on creating demand, capturing demand, and converting demand. -Metrics and attribution systems dictate marketing strategies, so it's important to align them with revenue goals. -Third-party intent data can be unreliable, and marketers should focus on first-party data and Facebook's advertising algorithm for better targeting. -Always-on programs are essential for building brand affinity and familiarity, while one-time campaigns allow for creative risks. -Optimizing for closed-won revenue and qualified pipeline is more effective than optimizing for conversion rates or lead generation. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris joined Ricky Sevta and Sean Diljore on the Sassy Talk podcast to share his insights on demand capture, demand creation, and revenue operations for early-stage B2B companies. He emphasizes the need for a data-driven approach to marketing and go-to-market strategies, highlighting the importance of using large-scale aggregated data to inform decision-making.  Chris also discusses the disadvantages of the traditional MQL hamster wheel model and the need for a new operating model that is continuously updated based on data and insights. He explains how the traditional MQL SQL model is subjective and lacks data-driven decision-making, and suggests that companies should focus on performance-based objective data to determine the stages of the revenue process. Chris highlights the challenges faced by companies as they scale and the importance of finding efficient and effective ways to drive growth. He also emphasizes the need for early-stage founders to prioritize marketing and demand creation in order to accelerate growth and reach their target market. Additionally, Chris discusses the importance of pricing and how it should be listed on the website based on customer preferences and feedback. Key Takeaways: -The traditional MQL SQL model is subjective and lacks data-driven decision-making. -Companies should focus on performance-based objective data to determine the stages of the revenue process. -The current influenced revenue model often leads to analysis paralysis and hinders strategic decision-making. -Early-stage founders should prioritize marketing and demand creation to accelerate growth and reach their target market. -Pricing should be listed on the website based on customer preferences and feedback. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he highlights the common problem of understaffed and reactive revenue operations functions in B2B companies. He emphasizes the need for executives to prioritize and invest in this function to drive strategic changes and growth. Chris also discusses the lack of prioritization and investment in revenue operations, despite companies claiming to be data-driven. He suggests that companies should challenge their current practices and frameworks to ensure the effectiveness of their revenue operations function. Key Takeaways: -Revenue operations functions in B2B companies are often understaffed and reactive, hindering their ability to drive strategic changes. -Companies need to prioritize and invest in their revenue operations function to achieve growth and success. -Executives should challenge existing practices and frameworks to ensure the effectiveness of their revenue operations function. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited onto the Nex6 Project, hosted by John Ghiorso, to discuss Dark Social and Demand Generation in the context of B2B marketing. Chris emphasizes the need for a holistic revenue team approach, breaking down demand generation into three core categories: creating demand, capturing demand, and converting demand. He highlights the underappreciation of these concepts in B2B marketing and the flawed measurement models used by companies. Chris also emphasizes the importance of understanding customers deeply and leveraging platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook for effective marketing. He challenges traditional marketing practices and encourages companies to think differently to drive better results. Key Takeaways: -Demand generation should be viewed as a holistic revenue team approach, focusing on creating, capturing, and converting demand. -Dark social, including platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, is an underappreciated channel in B2B marketing. -Companies should shift their budget allocation to focus more on digital marketing, including Facebook and Instagram ads. -Personal brands are often more effective than corporate brands in driving engagement on social media platforms. -Thought leadership strategies should involve subject matter experts who provide objective insights and help customers across their entire job spectrum. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was a guest speaker for the SaaS Metrics Palooza, happening live online from October 10-12, coordinated by benchmark.it. For this fireside chat, Chris sat down with Ray Rike to discuss the importance of reevaluating marketing metrics and strategies to drive revenue growth. Chris shares his insights on the need to shift from lead generation to demand generation, and how companies can create, capture, and convert demand effectively. He emphasizes the importance of aligning marketing and sales efforts to optimize revenue generation and highlights the flaws in traditional measurement models. Chris also provides practical advice for CFOs and CEOs on how to allocate marketing budgets and make data-driven strategic decisions to achieve superior returns on their go-to-market investments. Key Takeaways -Shifting from lead generation to demand generation is essential for aligning marketing and sales efforts and optimizing revenue generation. -Companies should focus on creating, capturing, and converting demand to drive revenue growth effectively. -Allocating marketing budgets based on the different stages of the revenue process can lead to better ROI and scalability. -Analyzing sales velocity and buyer intent can help identify the most effective channels and programs for revenue generation. -Bold and innovative strategies are necessary to achieve significant pipeline and revenue growth.

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he explains that pipeline velocity is a key metric that combines four growth levers: the number of qualified opportunities generated, win rate, average deal size, and sales cycle length. Chris emphasizes that companies should not solely focus on generating more pipeline, but rather optimize the existing pipeline to drive accelerated growth. Chris suggests several ways to analyze pipeline velocity. At a top-level, companies can look at the overall business performance and trends. They can also break down pipeline sources and compare the sales velocity of each source to identify the most effective ways to capture and convert demand into revenue. By analyzing the underlying drivers of pipeline velocity, companies can identify root causes and develop strategies to improve performance. Chris also shares his thoughts on the common debate of whether declining win rates or pipeline quality is the root cause of growth issues. He believes that in most cases, it is a marketing issue related to pipeline quality rather than a sales team's performance. However, he acknowledges that external factors such as market conditions and competition can also impact growth. Lastly, Chris provides insights on how marketers should report their progress on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. He suggests focusing on high ROI activities and avoiding frequent strategy changes based on weekly data. Monthly reporting should focus on progress towards quarterly goals, while quarterly reporting should involve a holistic analysis of the entire revenue team's performance. Chris recommends hiring an external consultant for objective analysis and conducting primary customer research to inform decision-making. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris joined Insightly CMO Chip House on the Closing Time Podcast to discuss the changing landscape of B2B go-to-market strategies and why traditional methods are no longer effective. He highlights the shift from events, outbound sales, and paid search to more efficient and targeted approaches. Chris emphasizes the need for a new framework that focuses on demand creation, demand capture, and demand conversion. He introduces the concept of HIRO Pipeline, a metric that aligns marketing with revenue and drives better decision-making. Chris also challenges the traditional sales funnel model and suggests breaking it down into multiple funnels based on aggregated buying intent. Key Takeaways: -Traditional go-to-market motions have not changed, despite significant changes in how buyers discover products and services. -Events are still valuable for networking and business development, but spending a large portion of the marketing budget on trade show booths is misaligned with how buyers now discover companies. -The effectiveness and ROI of paid search have declined over the past few years, making it necessary to reallocate budget to more effective channels. -The traditional sales funnel model assumes equal conversion rates and does not differentiate between demand creation and demand capture. -A new go-to-market framework should focus on accounts, not just leads, and integrate marketing, SDRs, and sales into an Allbound integrated revenue team. -Companies should measure and optimize for Hero Pipeline, which defines qualified pipeline based on historical win rates, aligning marketing metrics with revenue. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris joined Paul Banks, host of the Javelin Journeys podcast, to chat about the importance of understanding dark social and its impact on marketing strategies. He emphasizes that while it may be challenging to track dark social activities, it is crucial for businesses to recognize its significance in the decision-making process of potential customers. By understanding how customers access information and make purchasing decisions, businesses can leverage dark social to their advantage and gain a competitive edge. Chris also highlights the need for smaller businesses to prioritize marketing as much as product development and sales. By recognizing marketing as a primary growth lever, businesses can make strategic decisions based on data and customer insights. This shift in mindset can lead to more effective marketing strategies and overall business success. Key Takeaways: -Dark social, which includes private messaging and direct peer interactions, plays a significant role in the decision-making process of potential customers. -Businesses should prioritize marketing as much as product development and sales to drive growth and make data-driven strategic decisions. -The metrics and attribution systems used in marketing should be reevaluated to align with the changing landscape of customer behavior and preferences. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris joined Shane Mahi on the Redline Podcast to discuss the challenges faced by B2B SaaS companies in reaching their target customers. He shares strategies to overcome these obstacles and emphasizes the importance of scaling digital content and leveraging partnerships to increase brand awareness and build one-to-one connections with potential customers. Chris also highlights the need for companies to have a deep understanding of their target customers and to align their marketing strategies accordingly. He advocates for a scientific approach to marketing, using data analysis to drive decision-making and improve overall organizational scalability. Key Takeaways: Scaling digital content is crucial for reaching a wider audience and building brand awareness. Leveraging partnerships can help companies cross-promote and reach new audiences. Companies should focus on understanding their target customers and their specific needs and pain points. Field marketing should be connected to a digital strategy to maximize its impact and reach. Companies should invest in capturing and analyzing data to make informed marketing decisions. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First he discusses the flaws in the reporting models used for paid search and the need for a shift in how executives measure the effectiveness of paid search campaigns. He shares a personal story of losing $1,000 on Google Search Ads and highlights the importance of measuring ROI in B2B companies. He emphasizes the need for executives to focus on two core metrics: HIRO pipeline dollars and closed won revenue dollars. Chris also discusses the importance of changing the goals and metrics for paid search campaigns to drive better ROI. He then shifts the conversation to conference season and shares his thoughts on extending the impact of conferences. He suggests that companies should focus on creating content that adds value beyond the event itself, such as podcast episodes recorded at the event. He emphasizes the importance of building credibility and influence digitally before leveraging that to create opportunities in the physical world.Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

The iconic duo of Chris Walker and Gaetano DiNardi is back together to review the current state of capturing demand and answer audience questions live. During this episode, they cover: -A review of different intent types and offers -What's new or has changed in the capture demand channels -Common missteps in capturing demand -How Google Search, SEO, affiliates, and review sites fit into this conversation  Key Takeaways: -Generating a lead is not the same as capturing demand. Demand capture requires clear intent to purchase. -Low intent offers should be treated differently from declared intent offers in marketing campaigns. -Companies often confuse lead generation with demand capture and overinvest in lead generation efforts. -Proper measurement and alignment of strategy are crucial for effective demand capture. -SEO is becoming more challenging in B2B, and companies need to focus on capturing actual buying intent. -Paid search requires careful targeting and understanding of search intent to be effective. -Review sites and affiliates can be valuable for demand capture, but companies should also focus on building their own first-party reviews and content. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations.  First, he discusses the flawed approach of LinkedIn's influenced revenue report, which claims that a high percentage of closed deals were influenced by LinkedIn ads. Chris explains that this report is misleading because it fails to consider other factors that contribute to the sales process. He then moves on to discuss the inefficiencies in demand capture, particularly in content syndication, paid social, and Google paid search. Chris argues that companies overspend on these channels without considering the actual ROI and effectiveness of their campaigns. He emphasizes the need for a data-driven approach to marketing and sales, rather than relying on opinions and assumptions. Lastly, Chris addresses the debate around publishing pricing on websites. He argues that companies should prioritize customer preferences and provide transparency by publishing pricing information. He shares the results of a survey he conducted, which showed that the majority of buyers prefer to see pricing before engaging with a sales representative. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited onto the B2B Demand Acceleration hosted by Catarina Hoch of Operatix to discuss the difference between demand capture and demand creation in B2B marketing. He emphasizes the need for a balanced strategy that includes both capturing active intent and creating demand for potential customers who are not yet in the market. Chris also challenges the traditional model of an assembly line lead generation system and advocates for an integrated revenue team approach that aligns with the customer buying process. He shares insights on the future of SDRs and suggests that companies should focus on developing business through influencer marketing and partnerships rather than relying solely on cold calling. Key Takeaways: Demand capture focuses on accounts that are in-market to buy and demonstrate clear intent, while demand creation aims to educate and engage potential customers who are not yet in the market. Companies should adopt a balanced strategy that includes both demand capture and demand creation to maximize sales productivity and reduce wasted marketing expenses. The traditional model of an assembly line lead generation system is outdated and companies should shift towards an integrated revenue team approach that aligns with the customer buying process. The future of SDRs lies in their ability to capture active intent, but companies should consider hiring individuals with different skill sets and focus on developing business through influencer marketing and partnerships. Analyst firms can provide valuable insights, but companies should be cautious of their recommendations and consider the credibility and motivations behind their advice. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations. First, he explores the difference between proving the ROI of marketing programs and leveraging data to make strategic decisions. He highlights the issue of mixing these two concepts in B2B companies, where the data used to prove ROI is often flawed and not suitable for making strategic decisions. Chris emphasizes the need for a standardized and objective data layer that can inform strategic changes. In the second part of the episode, Chris talks about the key opinion leader strategy in B2B marketing. He shares his experience from his time as a B2B marketer and explains how this strategy differs from influencer marketing. Chris describes how B2B companies can identify key opinion leaders in their industry and build relationships with them to drive product adoption and influence clinical practice change. He suggests that companies should focus on more than just promotion and instead engage key opinion leaders in running studies, building use cases, and pushing the boundaries of technology integration. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was asked to appear on the Founder Wisdom YouTube Stream hosted by Charles Cormier, to share his unique perspective on revenue operations and go-to-market strategies for B2B companies. He emphasizes the importance of viewing the sales and marketing process as a system, rather than a series of disjointed steps. By focusing on creating, capturing, and converting demand, companies can align their marketing, sales, and SDR teams to drive net new revenue. Chris also discusses the importance of mindset, personal growth, and taking care of your body in order to achieve success. Key Takeaways: Companies often get stuck in an MQL machine and struggle to transition to an account-based model. Organizational change management is the biggest challenge for larger companies looking to transform their go-to-market strategies. AI has potential in areas such as data analysis and process automation, but caution is needed when it comes to customer-facing interactions. Podcasting can be a highly effective marketing tool, driving both revenue and brand awareness. Sustainable marketing efforts have a compounding effect over time, leading to significant long-term benefits. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited onto the Making Fun of Marketing podcast, hosted by Scott Logan of Kronologic to discuss the flaws in traditional marketing practices and the need for a new approach. He emphasizes the need to redefine MQLs and eliminate low-intent lead generation. Instead, he suggests focusing on ICP qualified buyers who express interest in purchasing. Chris also highlights the inefficiency of using SDRs to sell to executives and build trust. He advocates for a more streamlined process that eliminates unnecessary steps and improves conversion rates. Additionally, he challenges the traditional definition of pipeline and proposes a new framework based on sales win rates. Chris emphasizes the importance of a shared pipeline between sales and marketing and the need for a holistic view of go-to-market data. He also discusses the role of intent data and the limitations of current measurement methods. Overall, Chris encourages companies to break away from incremental optimization and adopt a new operating model to drive exponential growth. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations. This week, he tackles the transition from an assembly line lead generation system to an all-bound integrated revenue team. He emphasizes the importance of starting with the customer and aligning all departments towards creating demand, capturing active buying intent, and converting that demand into revenue. Chris also highlights the need to change key performance indicators and measurement methods to effectively transition to an integrated revenue team. He explains that many companies struggle with this transition because they fail to update their analytics and KPIs, which hinders their ability to accurately measure the impact of marketing efforts. Chris concludes by emphasizing the importance of addressing organizational and incentive-related challenges to drive successful revenue growth. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris sat down for a Marketing Learning Session with Mentimeter employees, led by Johanna Fagerstedt. He emphasizes the importance of understanding customers deeply and collecting primary market research to build a successful marketing strategy. Chris also shares his top three most important KPIs for measuring marketing success and discusses the challenges and strategies for implementing a hybrid go-to-market model. He highlights the need for a mindset shift in marketing and the importance of focusing on a few key marketing channels rather than spreading resources too thin. Chris also shares his thoughts on the role of humor in B2B marketing and the balance between new business acquisition and customer retention.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited onto the ForwardSlash podcast, hosted by Adam Buettner to talk about rethinking ABM & website strategies. Chris discusses the need for companies to transform their go-to-market strategies and challenges the traditional B2B marketing funnel. He emphasizes the importance of measuring CAC and payback, and highlights the need for companies to optimize their websites for speed to booked meetings. Chris also shares insights on the challenges of merging product-led growth (PLG) and enterprise sales, and the importance of showing pricing on websites. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited onto the Belkins Growth Podcast, hosted by Michael Maximoff, to discuss the importance of building trust in business and how to do so effectively. Chris shares his personal and professional journey, his rejection of societal norms, and his focus on innovation and alternative solutions. He explains how Refine Labs attracts smart underdog individuals who are looking to challenge the status quo and make a significant impact in the B2B marketing space. Chris emphasizes the need for a data-backed scientific approach to go-to-market strategies and the importance of a network of companies working together to push the industry forward. He also discusses the culture and values of his organization, including the emphasis on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and continuous learning. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

“All attribution is imperfect; it’s about how do we collect the right data, how do we then process it with our brain and our strategy, and make strong decisions.” Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, which opens with covering important and timely industry observations. This week, he tackles Revenue.  He outlines Pipeline Sources and how they contribute to measuring and scaling programs in the most effective way, and then proposes a new way to look at Demand, focusing on Hybrid Attribution, Self Reported Attribution, and budgeting Demand Capture and Demand Creation as two separate programs. Finally, he encourages everyone to shift their perspective and make changes that reflect the true  state of the market rather than following the lead of companies stuck in the past.

Chris sat down with Meghan Keaney Anderson of Jasper AI to talk about the impact AI has had on the current state of marketing, and forecast what marketers can do to keep up in the constantly shifting landscape. They start by talking about AI and content, looking at the ways the technology can increase acceleration and efficiency, as well as the ease of adaptation to new audiences in tone, style, and language. Meghan remains positive about the benefits while warning listeners on the wrong way to use AI, and the dangers of relying too heavily on these tools.  Then, they spend time chatting about SEO and how AI is going to heavily impact search engines, paid search, and the increasing competition of non branded organic search. Meghan hypothesizes a strong resurgence of brand, community, and editorial coming in the future.  They propose different uses and innovations, and speculate on the possibility of correction or consolidation after the recent spike in value and attention. Finally, Meghan gives some key takeaways for marketing leaders as processes and necessary skill sets evolve and change. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, and this week he opened by covering a couple important and timely industry observations.  First, he dives into a Split the Funnel epiphany he recently had that should help companies get a more holistic view of their entire business, not just how low intent and declared intent leads are performing. He suggests building out views of up to seven different sources, and running a split the funnel analysis on each pipeline source. Even if some programs don’t traditionally fall under the marketing umbrella, converging these processes could create a better big picture view of what’s working. Then, he previews the conversation to be released next week with Meghan Keaney Anderson about the impact of AI on the future of marketing. He explains the way that search will be evolving into a chat-based process, and how utilizing brand awareness and Dark Social will become crucial as non branded SEO becomes more competitive than ever. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Following up on their first conversation back in June, Chris sat back down with George Boot of Acquired.com. In this session, they discuss the experience of transitioning from an SDR to a demand generation strategist. Chris explains how he realized that traditional sales and marketing tactics were no longer effective and started implementing a demand generation strategy at his company. He shares his insights on managing resistance internally and embedding a company-wide culture of demand generation. He also provides advice for SDRs looking to transition into demand gen roles. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.f

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, and this week he opened by covering a couple important and timely industry observations.  First, he updates information on the recent shift in funding confidence for B2B, SaaS, and Tech companies. He explains that the market is in the best position it’s been in the past 18 months and covers what we can expect to see in terms of stocks, hiring, and investments because of this. Then, he stresses the critical importance of standardizing HIRO pipeline as soon as possible in your company. He breaks down the mistakes companies make without this standardization, in over or undervaluing sources.  Finally, he wraps by dispelling the idea that low intent leads regularly become declared intent leads, and how to optimize lead metrics by changing your mindset. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker was asked to join the Rev Up podcast, hosted by Ben Shipley of Trust the Process, to chat about customer-centric marketing and the importance of returning to fundamentals. Chris discusses the need to create demand by understanding customers and delivering value through content and thought leadership. He also shares insights on building a successful marketing team and utilizing essential tools for executing effective marketing strategies. They wrap up the conversation talking about content, the status of podcasting Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, and this week he opened by covering a couple important and timely industry observations.  First, he previews the current state of Revenue Operations, including the expectations and what he is seeing in practice. He presents this as an opportunity for people to think about assuming higher level responsibilities in order to vault their careers forward.   Then, he digs into some recent feedback on reasons that companies aren’t shifting from Lead Gen to Demand Gen. He acknowledges that attribution is going to keep holding people up until they reframe their thinking around it, and also talks through the misuse of terminology between MQL and SQL to create a perceived void in sales team productivity.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris was invited on the Revenue Formula Podcast, hosted by Toni Hohlbein & Mikkel Plaehn to discuss planning. They cover the challenges and problems faced by companies when planning marketing strategies, and Chris emphasizes the need to view marketing and sales planning as one overall system, rather than separate entities. He explains the importance of analyzing historical data to determine the effectiveness of different pipeline sources and make informed decisions about future strategies. He also highlights the inefficiencies and hidden costs associated with traditional MQL models and the need to focus on capturing high-intent buyers. Chris suggests that companies should optimize their demand capture budget and allocate resources to demand generation activities that drive meaningful results. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

“Do less, but do it fucking phenomenally” Chris Delivered a keynote presentation on Attribution and Measurement at the 2023 SaaStock Conference in Austin. He starts his presentation by discussing the current state of the market, highlighting the fact that companies have less money and marketing budgets are being scrutinized, and the implications of that. He emphasizes the need for companies to scale their projects down to focus on what’s working, rather than spreading their resources thin across multiple programs.  Chris then delves into different strategies for capturing and creating demand. He emphasizes the importance of organic thought leadership and content distribution, using platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, Reddit, and Quora. He wraps up by covering the need for a new framework for attribution, and then answers audience questions.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm

Chris Walker hosts weekly Private Coaching Events for Vault Subscribers, and this week he opened by covering two important and timely industry observations.  First, he interprets the results of the Metadata Paid Social Benchmark Report to show that when you use paid social for lead gen, the outcomes are a very high cost of acquisition and very low lead to win rate. He breaks down the percentages of win rate and length of customer acquisition cost payback time to reveal shocking results.  Then, he digs into the potential reasons he has seen so many B2B companies abandon their sourced model in favor of an influenced model for their marketing. He explains why he thinks that’s a bad idea and ultimately proposes an alternative approach. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

You’ve asked and we’re listening! Here is a compilation episode geared towards all-things Revenue R&D from Chris’ recent podcast appearances. Different areas he breaks down include: A definition and overview of the concept and use cases How to use Revenue R&D to evaluate the business in a holistic, standardized way A deep dive into the Revenue R&D Exit Criteria and how to adjust based on individual goals and sales cycle lengths An argument dispelling the myth that Revenue R&D is unnecessary Let us know what topic you want to hear a compilation episode focusing on next! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was invited onto the Game Changers webinar, hosted by Oana Manolache of sequel.io, to chat about his journey in building a $20 million business. Chris shares his background as a B2B professional and how he started RefineLabs after realizing that his unique approach to marketing was not being embraced by traditional companies. He discusses the shift from being a marketer to a CEO and the importance of thinking about the entire business holistically.  Chris emphasizes the need for marketers to focus on the customer and use direct customer insights to drive their strategies. He also highlights the power of content in breaking through the noise and connecting with customers. Chris challenges the traditional methods of measuring content ROI and suggests looking at the overall impact of content rather than individual pieces. He advises marketers to analyze their programs and identify areas of wasted spend. Finally, Chris discusses the challenges of planning for H2 and offers insights on optimizing conversion rates and pipeline marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm.

Chris was invited onto the Power Producers Podcast, hosted by David Carothers, to share his insights on marketing and sales as applicable to the insurance industry. He emphasizes the importance of leveraging digital tools to reach customers and the need to adapt to the changing landscape of consumer behavior. Chris also highlights the power of creativity in marketing and the ability to make a real impact on business growth.Chris's strategies for releasing valuable information for free and the importance of self-reported attribution in dark social channels provide actionable takeaways for marketers in all industries. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm.

Chris got to sit down with Anna Gullstrand, Chief People and Culture Officer at Mentometer, about her extensive background in management and leadership. Anna shares her insights and Chris expands on building high-performing teams, the importance of intentional leadership, the role of technology in employee engagement, and the future of work and remote teams. She also stresses the importance of continuous learning and development, diversity, equity, and inclusion education and implementation, and more.  Then, she turned the questions back onto Chris and asked for his perspective and recommendations on supporting the Chief Marketing Officer - where they can get inspiration and conversations management can have with them to ensure alignment.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm.

Chris sat down with George Boot and Justin Hanna of Acquired.com to chat about creating and measuring meaningful metrics. They cover the misalignment between sales and marketing, the flaws in the traditional MQLs and KPIs, and the importance of measuring the right metrics for revenue growth. He also talks about the changing landscape of B2B sales and marketing and the need for companies to adapt to the new reality. Additionally, Chris shares practical advice on how businesses can allocate their funding for growth, the importance of measuring the right metrics, and the benefits of using LinkedIn and Facebook ads for B2B companies. Chris's emphasis on the importance of understanding the customer and the need for businesses to be agile and adaptable in the new reality is a key takeaway from this episode. Finally, Chris teases a follow up to this episode to cover the how-tos of starting a podcast! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm.

Chris was asked to guest on Checked In with Splash, hosted by Camille White-Stern. They discuss the changing landscape of B2B marketing and how events fit into the new marketing strategies. Camille shares her insights on why there has never been a better time to be a B2B marketer and how marketing can be the key growth driver for a company. The conversation then shifts to the importance of community in event marketing, the role of events in the customer journey, measuring the ROI of events, the difference between marketing and sales events, and successful pipeline acceleration events. Finally, they discuss Chris and Refine Labs’ approach to content strategy and dark social strategy. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm.

Chris was asked to guest on the Launch Pod, hosted by Genero Growth’s Josua Fagerholm, to talk about B2B marketing past trends and future growth.  They chat about: What B2B companies can learn from B2C The most important thing that will drive growth over the next decade Shifting mindset in measurement Aligning sales and marketing The potential of AI to increase marketing efficiency …and more! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at www.hatch.fm.

Chris was asked to guest on the B2B Insiders podcast, hosted by Gabriel Barboza and David Costa Lima to chat about Demand Generation, and how companies can stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving world of B2B marketing. From the B2B Insiders Podcast This 30-minute interview on B2B Insiders features a dynamic exchange between the founders of the community, Gabriel Barboza and David Costa Lima, and Chris Walker, a globally recognized marketing professional and founder of Refine Labs. The conversation will focus on pressing topics in B2B marketing, including:the evolving nature of demand generation,marketing attribution. Moreover, it will highlight the need for different demand-generation strategies at different stages of a company's growth. It will also tackle the balance between focusing on effective marketing channels and diversifying marketing efforts. Follow Gabriel Barboza and David Costa Lima On LinkedIn Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to guest on the A2B Series podcast, hosted by Isaiah Studivent and Chalique Seabron to chat through his experiences in B2B Marketing, Refine Labs’ approach to in-house versus agency strategies, and advice for new and prospective CMOs! From the A2B Series Podcast: Chris Walker, CEO of Refine Labs, joins Isaiah and Chalique in Austin to discuss the state of B2B marketing. If you’re a B2B GTM leader, this episode is for you! A few of the topics discussed in this episode: B2B Marketing best practices, frameworks to scale content, marketing attribution and measurement, what B2B companies can learn from B2C companies, and more! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

With SaaStock and its incredible lineup of speakers in town, Chris was lucky to be able to do some in-person interviews for Revenue Vitals! In this episode, Anthony Kennada, CEO of AudiencePlus chats with Chris about building relationships with your audience and how to streamline and refine your content creation strategy. They covered: How to produce and distribute content in the most consumable format How to avoid common content creation pitfalls Transitioning from CMO to CEO Anthony’s personal journey through this shift Balancing the idea of “firing yourself” from the CMO role and maintaining a personal brand The biggest challenges and process of self skill discovery And more! Then, Anthony turns the questions back on Chris to talk about breaking through the algorithm and making a LinkedIn strategy work more effectively. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

With SaaStock and its incredible lineup of speakers in town, Chris was lucky to be able to do some in-person interviews for Revenue Vitals! First up was a chat surrounding leadership, mindset, and culture with Sam Jacobs, CEO of Pavilion.  They chatted about: Key lessons and takeaways Sam has learned in his time as a CEO: Focus on the long term Love your customer Don’t try to do too many things Trust your intuition and slow down A reminder to put things into perspective, especially in times of economic uncertainty How to empower employees to feel valued and secure in their own path to success The idea of embracing instability instead of trying to correct it And more! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Eddie Asked Chris to sit for an interview to help with a project for his Master's program, and Chris was happy to talk him through some unique approaches to the work.  They chatted about: What makes a great marketing leader Life events that helped shape Chris’ customer centricity What companies should keep an eye out for when hiring How to change your mindset for more out of the box thinking And more! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

You’ve asked and we’re listening! Here is a compilation episode geared towards all-things HIRO and Pipe Framework from Chris’ recent podcast appearances. Different areas he breaks down include: Pipe Framework introduction and overview Vocab: Pipe Conversion, Pipe Qualified Meeting Aligning Sales and Marketing  HIRO introduction and overview A clearer breakdown of the HIRO calculation Practical advice for implementing this Pipe Framework Let us know what topic you want to hear a compilation episode focusing on next! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to guest on the Salesforce Simplified Podcast, hosted by Mike Boyle of Ad Victoriam Solutions to chat about the state of B2B Marketing today! They chatted about: Challenges B2B Marketers face today Chris’ favorite recent marketing campaign and what he learned from its success Tips for building a strong digital presence How can B2B companies effectively target their ideal customers How to measure the success of B2B Marketing campaigns B2B Social Media best practices …and more! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

You’ve asked and we’re listening! Here is a compilation episode geared towards all-things Split the Funnel from Chris’ recent podcast appearances. Different areas he breaks down include: The root of sales/marketing misalignment How to Utilize CRM data  Sales Velocity Calculation Understanding Levels of Buyer Intent Dark Social and the Dark Funnel Let us know what topic you want to hear a compilation episode focusing on next! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to guest on the B2B Founder Stories Podcast, hosted by Julian Lumpkin of Successkit.  Find out what Chris wanted to be when he grew up, how he transitioned into a leadership position and what balance of control over operations he maintains, and how he navigated the financial ins and outs of running a startup. He also talks about a long term vision for Refine Labs, how they differ from other agencies, and digs into the concepts of Revenue R&D and Dark Social. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

You’ve asked and we’re listening! Here is a compilation episode geared towards all-things Pipeline Sources from Chris’ recent podcast appearances. Different areas of attribution he breaks down include: Pipeline Velocity  Allbound overview and practical application Departmental Credit as a Defense of ROI Sales Cycle Lengths Buyer Intent Alignment Measurement and Metrics Sales Velocity Let us know what topic you want to hear a compilation episode focusing on next! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to come on the B2B Podcast Podcast, hosted by Ryan Tabb! In this chat they covered Chris’ own journey through podcasting as well as the things he has learned along the way to help others on their own.  They chatted through the ways Chris has kept the Refine Labs podcasts going for so long, considering so many end after 10-15 episodes, where he built his skills and experience on mic before Refine Labs, and how he and his team measure success.  Chris also gives advice to companies looking to start their content journeys, reveals podcast practices that give him pause, and more! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

You’ve asked and we’re listening! Here is a compilation episode geared towards all-things Attribution from Chris’ recent podcast appearances. Different areas of attribution he breaks down include: Refine Labs’ Self Reported Attribution Journey Hybrid Attribution Framework in theory and practice The Attribution Mirage Attribution Software Mismeasurement A Step by Step Guide for Implementation How to Convince Leadership that Self Reported Attribution is the right move Let us know what topic you want to hear a compilation episode focusing on next! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to come back for a second appearance on the Modern Startup Marketing Podcast, hosted by Anna Furmanov, for a focused discussion on Creativity.  Anna asks Chris what comes to mind when he thinks about creativity, when he’s the most creative, advice for startups that want to start experimenting more, and how to be the best at leveraging creativity in whatever marketing space they’re pursuing.  Then, Chris turns the questions back on Anna and asks for insight into trends she’s seeing in early stage startups, the potential reasons behind those trends, and how the broader macroeconomic change is making an impact.   Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“If you’re talking about the problem, people are going to assume you’re the solution.” Chris gets to sit down with Kyle Coleman, SVP of Marketing at Clari to talk through all things revenue. They go in depth on how an SDR upbringing helped Kyle develop communication and fluency in messaging as a marketer, the process of developing Clari’s position of “Run Revenue” to change their entire strategic lens, the importance of shifting the view of revenue for the future, the potential impact of social posting and connections, and more! Then, Kyle turns the questions back onto Chris to find out what the top mistakes are from a content marketing standpoint, and his concerns in respect to generative AI in content marketing.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was invited as a guest onto a special Tuesday edition of The Closing Show Live, hosted by Nadia Milani, VP of Marketing at Proposify!  From The Closing Show Live: We're super-charging the sales & marketing alignment conversation with Chris Walker, CEO of Refine Labs. Often imitated, but never duplicated. In this episode, we discuss what marketers and sales teams are probably doing wrong and how you can increase your sales velocity sooner than later. Also, Nadia puts Chris on the hot seat with some rapid fire questions. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“Word-of-mouth has long fueled the success of countless companies, big and small. But over the past several years, through the rise of the digital age, word-of-mouth has evolved into something with unlimited potential — something known as dark social. Now, a recommendation (or negative feedback) can reach millions with a single click of a ‘share’ button.” Chris was invited onto the Winning the Challenger Sale Podcast to chat about the power and evolution of word-of-mouth into Dark Social, and trends he has observed in modern buyers and successful company strategies. He also covers the value of product-led growth, and segmenting and executing sales process based on buyer intent Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Today’s Revenue Vitals Live marks the last in the public facing series, but we will still be holding the space weekly for exclusive Vault Customer sessions! If you’re interested in joining, make sure to check out The Vault! Some of today’s topics included: Strategy for what to prioritize when looking for a new position Advice for moving from a generalist to a t-shaped specialist, and ways to better position yourself for a revenue-oriented role Unique ways to work on product positioning without access to client information or a true buyer's journey map An insightful approach on how to apply Demand Gen tactics to the sales funnel Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to speak with a group of thought leaders as they invest their time in growth. They kick off the conversation by discussing dark social and the fundamental differences between Dark Social and Dark Funnel. Chris dispels myths about certain industries being “different” in the way their buyers cling to traditional ways of buying, then questions roll in about Account Based Marketing, finding an Evangelist outside your organization, scrutinizing the effectiveness of booths at events, and more! If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We had the chance today to dig deep into dialogues with audience members, tossing ideas back and forth, addressing follow up questions, and highlighting the benefits of this full hour of Q&A with Chris and Kaylee! Some topics included: Cold Calling: Everyone has an idea on what cold calling is and what it means for it to work well, but we back the whole concept up to propose individual definitions of what ‘cold’ and ‘working well’ could actually mean to your company so that you can determine how to approach those calls Demand Creation Strategy: Creating Content and planning Events without a Subject Matter Expert poses a problem, but we go through some options for bringing in SMEs and how to use external voices to your advantage CRM Selection: Choosing the right CRM for your needs and specific use case should be a holistic experience, but we cover the major benefits and drawbacks to Hubspot and Salesforce If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“Be Bold, Take Risks” Chris was asked to speak with Peter Rabey on the Leadership Learns Podcast, about his journey in leadership. They discuss past, current, and future trends, the differences between capturing and creating demand, dark social, today’s B2B buyer, and winning B2B Strategies.  If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

It was a global event today, with audience calling in from Chile, Australia, Denmark, and more to ask questions and chat with Chris! Some topics included: Content: how to best utilize and repurpose influencer marketing and when to scale back content creation to focus on fewer segments at a time Re-branding: insight into weighing an otherwise successful new name against similarly named companies in the same space for SEO and trust  AI: thoughts about the impact of AI-enabled web search on paid search tools Live Events: advice on different channels and data to utilize when trying to convert live event education to sales opportunities  If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to speak to the team at Recruitee for their Inspiration Session led by Anne Smink. They covered a wide range of insights on the process of switching from a Lead Gen to Demand Gen Strategy, including: SEO: What skills does a team need to level up or focus on to improve demand gen strategy, and how to measure SEO impact Product Launch: how to fit launching a product into Demand Gen Execution Managing Expectations: Short term versus long term goals and results  Finding Balance: if a team that tracks leads should forget lead gen altogether in favor of demand gen, or create a balance of tracking and maintaining some gated content Content Creation: how to utilize a two person team to effectively create and repurpose content  If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris is back and had a productive hour of live chats with listeners where he addressed their questions, and got to chat back and forth through their specific scenarios. Some topics included: Explaining Dark Funnel to a CEO: how to better understand breaking down the concepts clearly as well as bringing it to life in application LinkedIn Promoted Posts: a reflection on the new feature that allows personal brands to post on behalf of companies, and thoughts on influencer marketing beyond LinkedIn YouTube Video: where to start and which format of video to focus on right now Self Reported Attribution: metrics to watch that will identify potential future success and failure (with an important caveat) And more! If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Stephen White, of the Bitesize B2B Marketing Podcast invited Chris on to chat about some of Refine Labs’ recent research experiments, and how Chris approaches growth with an experimental mindset.  They cover why an experimental mindset is so important, and how teams can efficiently run experiments. Chris covers the self reported attribution experiment in detail, how that has paved the way for other programs at Refine Labs, and more! If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Kaylee Edmondson and Sidney Waterfall host this week, spending the hour having live chats with listeners, addressing their questions, and digging into their specific situations: Some topics included: Live Event Content: how to distribute live event content in new and engaging ways, preparation techniques to make post-production more efficient, leveraging content at in person and online events, and tailoring tactics to align with your event goals Advice on where and how to invest your trade show budget to make the event as effective as possible Insights and tips on how to get started creating a cohesive, thoughtful campaign strategy  Ways to establish culture and discipline to encourage effective behaviors when shifting to implement true Revenue R&D   If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was honored to be invited as the first interview guest on the inaugural episode of the B2B Content Podcast: Redefined, with Edward Purmalis. They chatted on the inherent overlap between B2B and B2C companies, how Chris and Refine Labs have paved the way for transitioning historically B2C tactics into effective B2B strategies, and where they see the future heading. They also discussed: Touch Point Based and Self Reported Attribution How to stay 2-3 years ahead of your customer Short form vertical video strategies The best way to measure effectiveness And more! If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris and Kaylee spent the hour having live chats with listeners, addressing their questions and digging into their specific situations: Some extended discussions covered: How to adapt and differentiate Self Reported Attribution strategies for different programs and points of engagement A deep dive into the Revenue R&D Exit Criteria and how to adjust based on individual goals and sales cycle lengths The potential shift away from SEO with the impact of ChatGPT on marketing How to grow one to one sales tactics into one to many If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Kyle asked Chris to sit down to an interview covering the current state and future of Product-Led Growth companies. They covered: What’s changed in the way B2B buyers buy software products Companies capitalizing on the changing landscape The effects of attribution mis-measurement The way forward for modern software companies And more! If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris and Kaylee spent the hour having live discussions with listeners, addressing their questions and diving deep on their specific situations: Some extended discussions covered: The rebranding of YouTube and the impact we’ve seen from it Strategies to use and questions to ask at trade shows to make meaningful connections How to balance initiative in interviewing clients with protective account managers How to develop and share a public speaking profile If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was asked to be on Bopcast, hosted by Ryan Sullivan, to chat through Chris’ journey into entrepreneurship. He offers encouragement and perspective to anyone carving their own path. They discuss developing a personal brand, Chris’ aspirations, learning theory, routines, and the importance of following through on promises to yourself. If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris and Kaylee spent the hour having live discussions with listeners, addressing their questions and diving deep on their specific situations: Some extended discussions covered: Interview Scenario Advice Owned LinkedIn Execution Gated vs Ungated Content If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

As we dive into weekly Revenue Vitals Live with listeners invited to come on, ask their questions, and talk through scenarios with Chris, we wanted to revisit a popular episode from last year to demonstrate the effective conversations Chris is able to have in these events and encourage you all to prepare your questions for Tuesday! In this Ask Me Anything episode, Chris and Megan answered questions on: How to hire talented demand gen marketers, Using customer insights as your mode of differentiation, How to go up against competitors way bigger than you, And much more. If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Back by popular demand, Chris and Kaylee reprised the full hour of audience discussion and questions! Some topics include: How to tactically enable Subject Matter Experts when marketing to specific knowledge customers How to get the right content in front of the right audience An in depth discussion on pipeline velocity How to help a seller see the value in shifting approach If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

With new listeners coming in every day, we wanted to highlight a couple of the most important episodes of 2022! This is an episode of the Sales Leadership Podcast, where Chris was invited to talk through how organizations can drive revenue in a more predictable way. He covered: What the true definition of demand is, Removing friction in the buying process, making sales easier, Aligning sales and marketing by measuring HIRO pipeline, Nuances between capturing demand and creating demand, How the buyer journey has evolved and what that means for the sales org, and The buyer experience If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

The normal playbook was thrown out this week for a full hour of your questions answered by Chris and Kaylee. Some topics included: Getting your content & video engine off the ground The importance of who is speaking vs what they're saying Your first 90 days as CMO What to do if you've got zero demand If you have questions for Chris or Kaylee, join the conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.

Earlier this week Chris jumped on the Unpopular Opinions podcast hosted by Ashley Sava. They chopped it about Chris's (many) unpopular opinions on the state of B2B marketing today. Starting the early 2010's, B2B's heavy reliance on marketing tech and lead generation has not caught up with the evolution of social media, online communities, and dark social channels.  If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Yesterday's fifth installment of Revenue Vitals Live was a barnburner of actionable data and insightful live audience questions around Self-Reported Attribution. Chris brings fresh, new experiment data from the Vault to break down form conversion rates and how to make the most your implementation. The second half AMA is full of audience questions that you may be thinking of yourself. If you have questions for Chris or Kaylee, join the conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event.

Chris was asked to be on the B2B Content Strategist Podcast hosted by Amy Woods to detail his journey through building a personal content strategy from the ground up! They discuss the content process from concept through distribution, and Chris gives advice on keeping content data driven and actionable. They also cover live events, short form content, reasons your content could break down and how to avoid that misalignment, the impact of AI on content creation, and what you need to focus on to get started and make an impact. If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Today, on the fourth installment of Revenue Vitals Live, Chris covers the concept of Splitting the Funnel, defining terms, explaining practical examples, and giving actionable advice. And, as always, dives into deep conversations through an AMA where listeners are encouraged to come on live to chat through their questions with Chris and Kaylee. If you have questions for Chris or Kaylee, join the conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

With new listeners coming in every day, we wanted to highlight a couple of the most important episodes of 2022! This is an episode of Demand Gen Live, where Chris gives his top 6 pieces of advice for success in marketing. *** The goal of B2B paid social ads should be to communicate a single idea to your audience, not to move them from "who is this company" to demo.  Companies waste millions of dollars every year by spending their budget on ads that fail to produce meaningful results because they don't tell the right story. In this episode, Chris gets super tactical on how to run effective campaigns that play to your greater strategy of telling your brand story, including: How to craft your messaging Tips for setting up your ad campaigns And why you might want to make changes to your current campaigns If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“You can’t capture demand until it’s been created”. Today, on the third installment of Revenue Vitals Live, Chris covers Demand 101, defining terms, explaining practical examples, and giving actionable advice. In this episode, Chris dives into: - Demand Capture - Damming Demand - Creating Demand - Evolution of Buying Behavior -Q&A conversations with listeners If you have questions for Chris or Kaylee, join the conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“Learning is what powers earning and impact.” Chris was asked to speak to the team at Quinyx for their Fireside Chat led by Johanna Fagerstedt. They start with some insightful rapid-fire questions, discuss Chris’ journey through the ideas of and away from the term Demand Generation. He explains how splitting things into Demand Creation and Demand Capture helps to break the process into “objective” and “goal” when looking at the bigger picture. They also discuss what makes a great leader, Chris’ thoughts on All-Bound, answer listener questions, and more! If you have questions for Chris, join the Revenue Vitals Live conversation every Tuesday on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

How can you use attribution data to close the gap on your measurement and make better decisions for your company, business, and team? That’s what Chris covers today on the second installment of Revenue Vitals Live! In this episode: - The Attribution Mirage - Hybrid Attribution Framework -Q&A with listeners, building on the attribution slides and digging deeper into real-world application of the data If you have questions for Chris or Kaylee, join the conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Also make sure to check out The Vault, where you can find full depth insights and IP beyond the high level live event. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

With new listeners coming in every day, we wanted to highlight a couple of the most important episodes of 2022! This is an episode of Demand Gen Live, where Chris gives his top 6 pieces of advice for success in marketing. *** "Nobody is focused on creating demand. No metrics support demand creation. Everything is about being sales-centric and marketing supporting sales. And the truth is, the only way that you win big, is by going out there and creating demand..." - Chris Walker In this episode, Chris breaks down why companies don't focus on creating demand and instead put all their energy into capturing demand. After laying the groundwork for why companies don't do it, he breaks down why whoever creates the demand, wins. If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives @chriswalker171, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Live zoom events are back! Join Chris Walker along with VP of Revenue R&D Kaylee Edmonson every Tuesday at noon central as they break down the barriers to creating a consistent and scalable revenue engine by sharing the Refine Labs philosophy and framework, and share first-hand market insights from The Lab. In this episode: - Chris shares the vision for Revenue Vitals Live, including the mission to provide less opinions and more data, to be more accessible in time slot, to share non obvious insights only, and to be actionable: you should be able to take the insights shared in the live and implement them that day. - He also covers the Pipe Framework and data from the Reddit Advertising experiment - And as always, they take questions from the audience. If you have questions for Chris or Kaylee, join the conversation on zoom by registering here, or submit them ahead of the call here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

With new listeners coming in every day, we wanted to highlight a couple of the most important episodes of 2022! This is an episode of Demand Gen Live, where Chris gives his top 6 pieces of advice for success in marketing. *** There has never been a better time to be a top-tier marketer. Demand is high and supply is low. But how do you become one of the top 1%? In this episode, Chris goes through his top 6 pieces of advice for marketers that are trying to become the best. These are all tips that he implemented himself and attributes to his own success and the success of Refine Labs. If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives @chriswalker171, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

With new listeners coming in every day, we wanted to highlight a couple of the most important episodes of 2022! This is a private keynote Chris delivered in June, with key information on shifting your marketing strategy. *** Now is not the time to slow down your marketing. Many companies pull back spending and go into self-preservation mode in slow economic times. The fact of the matter is, that economic slowdowns create an environment of opportunity for companies that know how to leverage them. In this episode, Chris is going to talk about a 3-step framework to make marketing your secret weapon, not only in a recession but forever. He dives deep into how to create demand in your category by changing your Mindset, Metrics, and Execution; in that order. If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives @chriswalker171, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

As the year winds down, we’re collected some of the best moments of Chris’s past two months of TikTok Lives! Questions covered include: What are the perks of having a fully remote workforce? How do you make the most of scheduled 1 on 1s? Should sales and marketing teams transform into revenue teams? What’s the best way to build community that adds value? How to establish a culture of posting on LinkedIn? And more! If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

As the year winds down, we’re collected some of the best moments of Chris’s podcast appearances over the last two months. Thanks to the hosts who have reached out to welcome Chris onto their shows, including Tom Hunt (Confessions of a B2B Marketer), Alex Krawchick and Mary Blanks (REVolution Podcast), Michael Pedersen (Dominate Your Market), Pablo Ruiz (Performance Media Podcast), and Asher & Kelly (Unlearn Podcast). Topics covered are: How the overall function of marketing is broken Addressing the hot take that the Revenue Process doesn’t need R&D A new way to measure success and ROI The best way "David" can take down "Goliath" in 2023 What’s the Beef with SEO? Some things getting in the way of alignment Looking beyond the idea of the Sales Funnel model Going in depth on Damming Demand If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In the 25th installment of our Tuesday open office hours on TikTok Live, Chris discusses the problems with measuring individual pieces of content rather than looking at overall aggregation. Fewer people are going to ‘like’ posts with radical ideas, so it’s crucial to take a deeper look at DMs, community growth, and program initiatives. He gives advice on account based selling, side hustles, and educating clients to support your narrative. We also opened the show up to Q&A and covered topics including: How to get your first client Are side hustles essential? Is it ever worth it to cold call customers? Demand Gen vs Demand Capture LinkedIn poll results and reactions How to create content outside your area of expertise And more! Tune in every Tuesday at 3pm eastern to ask your questions, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris sat down with Asher and Kelly of the Unlearn Podcast. Their mission is to challenge perspectives and create space to learn new versions of concepts, driving change. Chris questions companies’ reluctance to innovate strategies while it’s an offensive move, instead of when they’re forced to in an economic crash. He also discusses the fundamental misunderstanding of Demand Gen, how to use Revenue R&D to evaluate the business in a holistic, standardized way, and more! If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In the 24th installment of our Tuesday open office hours on TikTok Live, Chris gives advice for building a community through live events, and discusses the flaws in the way companies think about B2B buying journeys. He also encourages viewers that it’s never too late to try, learn, or do something new; as long as you’re willing to work to grow in a space where others are already established, the only thing holding you back is not starting.  We also opened the show up to Q&A and covered topics including: How to break into marketing yourself on LinkedIn Getting customer insights against territorial departments Podcast: Audio, Video, or both? How to go about messaging when you need to reach different stakeholders Where do paid LinkedIn ads fit? And more! Tune in every Tuesday at 3pm eastern to ask your questions, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris was invited onto the Performance Media Podcast, hosted by Pablo Ruiz, to discuss the present and future of B2B marketing. He shares insights into Dark Social, damming demand, creating category, Revenue R&D, and more! If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In the 23rd installment of our Tuesday open office hours on TikTok Live, Chris discusses building culture and how, as a CEO, he sets his team up to be successful. He also shares his thoughts on how the traditional function of marketing is broken and the three different buckets it should be divided into. We also opened the show up to Q&A and covered topics including: Should sales and marketing teams transform into revenue teams? How to expand a B2B operation into a new market Suggestions for small studio content creation Coping with repetition of the same message Who should be targeted in LinkedIn ads? When it’s right to move on to the next big thing And more! Tune in every Tuesday at 3pm eastern to ask your questions, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“When you find something that works, you need to make it work.” In an appearance on the Dominate Your Market Podcast with Michael Pedersen, Chris announces the decision for Refine Labs to leave the Demand Gen ecosystem and move to a Revenue R&D system. They also discuss ideal investments in marketing and advertising, how to address antiquated views on marketing, CEOs taking ownership of content and visibility, and more. If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In the 22nd installment of our Tuesday open office hours on TikTok Live, Chris discusses why having an R&D function is crucial to growth, customer happiness, and success. We also opened the show up to Q&A and covered topics including: Does every B2B company need to become a media company at some point? Should marketers still be thinking about production through the funnel lens? Advice on equipment and guests when starting a podcast Top 3 issues B2B Marketers face Next steps for using TikTok and how to promote organic content How to convince a marketing department to move away from traditional demand gen methodology The effectiveness of intent data for demand generation And more! Tune in every Tuesday at 3pm eastern to ask your questions, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In an appearance on the Confessions of a B2B Marketer Podcast with Tom Hunt, Chris addresses some industry hot takes including: Dark social = word of mouth Lead gen is dead CEO's don't need to create content Revenue doesn’t need R&D …and more! Chris also answers audience questions on going international, creating content posts that work for you, and more. If you have questions for Chris, join his Tuesday afternoon TikTok Lives or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“You have to remove the idea of credit”: focusing on alignment and viewing revenue as a team sport, rather than splitting up department focus, will help improve strategy. Chris was featured on the REVolution Podcast with Alex Krawchick and Mary Blanks of Klearly to discuss Revenue Generation, metrics, attribution, and more. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In the 21st installment of our Tuesday open office hours on TikTok Live, Chris discusses growing confidence and a thick skin to focus on growth and your business. We also opened the show up to Q&A and covered topics including: - How to define your own success - Eliminating scheduled one on ones - How to get access to the Refine Labs Vault - What impact AI might have on the future - Building a brand on Linked In - and more... Tune in every Tuesday at 3pm eastern to ask your questions, or submit them here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this exclusive, invite-only event, Chris discusses Revenue Forecasting and Planning principles to use for goal setting and planning He goes in depth on: The 10 step process to complete this modeling Key mistakes he sees organizations make and how to avoid them How to use this expert guidance to set achievable revenue targets The slides that accompany this event are only available to customers and Vault waitlist members. If you'd like to get on the waitlist for the Vault, visit www.refinelabs.com/waitlist Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

This week, Chris sat down to answer some big picture questions from a CEO perspective on the direction of the Revenue Vitals podcast, setting yourself and your business up for success, staying adaptable, and how to balance spending in a thoughtful way. If you have a question for Chris, you can join his TikTok Lives on Tuesdays, 2pm central, or submit your questions here! Questions include: - How to build routine to set yourself up for success - Why it's important to spend time on yourself as a leader rather than focusing on your competitors - How you find confidence in yourself and your own experiences - What problems Revenue Teams may face in 2023 - and more... Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In the 20th installment of our Tuesday open office hours on TikTok Live, Chris describes some key details from the midst of 2023 planning. As always, we also opened the show up to Q&A and covered topics including: - How to build a valuable community - How to set goals that aren't about money - Thoughts on combining Product Led Growth with Enterprise Sales Motion - The formula to figure out customer acquisition costs - and more... Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In the 19th installment of our Tuesday open office hours on TikTok Live, Chris shows you the 2021 Refine Labs Profit and Loss Statement and how finances affect strategic decision-making at the executive level. As always, we also opened the show up to Q&A and covered topics including: - How to get a promotion if there are some gaps in your resume - The benefits of full salaried sales teams - Paid vs free communities - Tips on utilizing your CS team for marketing initiatives - and more... Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We've been going live every Tuesday on Tiktok for the past 18+weeks now answering real-time questions from the audience. In this episode, we pulled some of our favorite questions including: - Any tips to improve CMO/CRO Alignment? - What are your thoughts on boosting posts/putting media spend behind organic content? - Is there any truth behind the criticisms that attribution vendors have against self-reported attribution? - Any advice to make sure our website is capturing the demand we're creating? - What's essential to have in your marketing tech stack? - How do you switch to demand gen when you're already using SDRs? - What's the best way to build a community?

Buyers are spending more time on LinkedIn. They’re spending more time on TikTok. Communities. Podcasts. They’re spending more time on channels where they can access information from peers that is trustworthy. This is universal across all industries. Less people are going to Google to search for “the best xyz” and more people are learning about what they need through social channels or word of mouth. This is why your content strategy needs to look beyond what is easily trackable and move into what is the most customer-centric. In this episode, Chris talks with Ryan Stewart about social content strategy, how he thinks about creating demand, the future of communities, and more.

Category creation is something a lot of people talk about, but few execute it well. To truly create a category, you must move out of a category that the industry currently tries to place you in. In this episode, Chris and Dave Gerhardt discuss exactly how they think about category creation, how to build one, and how the category of Revenue R&D is going to change how go-to-market programs are executed.

In this exclusive, invite-only event, Chris discusses Pipeline Sources - a key concept to improve planning accuracy and GTM team alignment. With this concept and by listening to this episode you’ll learn: Forecast & Planning Structure - Implement Pipeline Sources as an alternative to department-specific goals that lead to GTM team misalignments. How to Analyze 2022 Performance - Measure your baseline performance for 2022 to use as a starting point in 2023 planning 2023 Planning & Projections - Use Pipeline Sources to complete bottoms-up planning to ensure the tops-down goals are realistic and achievable. Construct a plan on where you’ll be placing bets next year to hit the target. The slides that accompany this event are only available to customers and Vault waitlist members. If you'd like to get on the waitlist for the Vault, visit www.refinelabs.com/waitlist

This week's CEO Office Hours on Tik Tok Live brought about some timely questions around year end planning and 2023. Some viewers were curious about the future of AI in B2B and content creation. Will a machine ever be able to make the same qualitative insights a human can? Chris then goes into figuring out the CS, Sales and Marketing alignment trifecta. Through mindset and the right goals & metrics, it's definitely possible to get everyone on the same page.  Join us each week @chriswalker171 on Tik Tok on Tuesday's at 2pm Central/3pm Eastern and get your question answered. Join the waitlist for The Vault Beta access: www.refinelabs.com/waitlist

When the economy is uncertain and budgets are being cut left and right, how do some companies continue to grow while others don’t? What’s the unlock to adapting to the market in difficult times to avoid being in the latter group? “When the economy is tough, being an undifferentiated SaaS vendor is the easiest way to go under.” - Sahil Mansuri In this episode, Chris and Sahil break down the recent economical events affecting venture-backed SaaS businesses and how companies can adjust their go-to-market strategy in order to win during unstable economic times.

Chris is back on our regularly scheduled programming of CEO Office Hours at 2PM CT, 3PM ET @chriswalker171. Moving forward he'll be bringing more business and executive-level topics to these Office Hours while still leaving time to answer your wide ranging questions. This week's segment is about revenue-based financing; with the right cashflow and profitability, is it a viable option for your business? Some later questions focused on how to challenge yourself as a high performer, sticking to routines to build confidence, and where to look (or not look?) for a mentor. Join the waitlist for The Vault Beta access: www.refinelabs.com/waitlist

Chris has returned with another round of CEO Office Hours on Tik Tok Live. This weekly installment brought a wide variety of questions from career advice to revenue growth. Some questions were: What was the one piece of career advice that really stuck with you? If you were a one-person marketing team, what would your tech stack look like? What's the best way to use social media to scale your business? Get your question answered each week on Tuesdays, 3pm EST, on Tik Tok Live @chriswalker171 Join the waitlist for The Vault Beta access: www.refinelabs.com/waitlist

A key component of Revenue R&D is the Pipe™ Go-To-Market Framework. The framework is focused on empowering independent buying journeys at qualified accounts as they come directly to you and actively engage their buying process with you. In this Vault leak from the private event, Chris goes over key measurement stages and definitions, a new approach to revenue attribution, and simple guidelines to integrate the Pipe™ into your GTM mix. Join the waitlist for The Vault Beta access: www.refinelabs.com/waitlist

In this private event to Refine Labs customers and Vault waitlist members, Chris lays out the groundwork for his new Revenue R&D framework. He went through each of the five-step process to launch new programs to drive revenue the same way you drive new product innovation: Step 1 - Experimentation New experiments are launched into market with proper data collection and analytics Step 2: Positive Signals Collect quantitative and qualitative data as early indicators of success, including correlation to pipeline production. Step 3: Repeatability Results are proven through replication, noting consistent positive signals which lead to HIRO* pipeline replication, driving consistent pipeline month-over-month Step 4: Operationalize and Scale Build the processes, talent, technology, and analytics to consistently execute the program at scale Step 5: Fully Integrated Proven revenue programs that drive pipeline from Day 1 are integrated into your company for your team to operate. Join the waitlist for The Vault Beta access: www.refinelabs.com/waitlist

Most companies have a very methodical approach to the way they roll out product features. However, when it comes to their go-to-market strategy, they don't have any structure in place to generate revenue. Everything is expected to work immediately, otherwise, it gets terminated. In this private event that Chris did for  ABMLA, he talks about the new revenue R&D playbook and how to create a scientific process of advancing revenue-generating programs from concept to fully integrated programs in a consistent, scalable way. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris joined Cameron Brain on the Social at Scale Podcast (by EveryoneSocial) to talk through: Determining where you should be focusing resources as a marketing org,  Evaluating your own intent when approaching a social content distribution strategy,  Refine Labs' process for stacking growth,  Dark social, and The Revenue R&D process

Nick Bennett (Director of Evangelism & Customer Marketing @ Alyce) joined Chris live in the Boston studio last week to talk through what's changed with field marketing and in-person events. They talked through: optimizing your events for content, owning your own events, delivering an elevated experience by raising the bar, why marketers should make commission, and the state of evangelism. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Daniel Murray (Head of Media @ Sales Impact Academy and Founder @ The Marketing Millennials) joined Chris live in the Boston studio this week during Hubspot INBOUND. They talked through what the current state of LinkedIn is, how to make a company page work better than a personal profile, current pulse on live events, repurposed distribution, and what’s working right now on TikTok. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday, Chris goes live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. This week, he talked for an hour on some higher-level and business-growth topics including LinkedIn being the new resume, customer research changing the course of marketers' careers, building a distributed workforce, being a generalist vs. a specialist, and why marketers need to focus on revenue. Join us every Tuesday to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171

Today's episode features a recording from Erin Balsa's The Notorious Thought Leader podcast. What is a thought leader? Someone with a large audience that speaks on a niched-down topic? That's basically what the definition has come to mean in most circles. And that's why we've come to dislike the term. It's not uncommon for "Thought Leaders" nowadays to not even be the practitioners of the things they are preaching. In our mind, to be a true thought leader in a subject matter, that job has to be deeply ingrained into your day-to-day and that's simply just not the case anymore. In this episode, Chris talks about how to develop and communicate your unique point of view to convey true expertise. It's the same method that he has used in his journey in building Refine Labs. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday, Chris goes live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. This week, he went deep for over an hour on some high-level topics like developing your personal brand, what the ideal sales team looks like, and tactical advice for creating your revenue engine. Join us every Tuesday to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171

On this episode, our host Chris Walker sat down with Heather Osgood on the Podcast Advertising Playbook. They broke down every obstacle of today's modern marketer. From everyone's obsession with attribution to the best ways to gain customer insights, no topic was off limits. If you're looking to overhaul your revenue engine, then this is not an episode to miss.  

Friend of the program, Dave Gerhardt, joins Chris and Megan on what feels like a Demand Gen Live throwback. The driving discussion is about self-reported attribution and how it's a key component in using your marketing as a two-way communication channel. They spend the second half of the discussion answering tactical questions from the audience.

Every Tuesday, Chris goes live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. Some highlights from our 12th installment: 3:18 - What is Revenue R&D and Why Companies Should Care 5:37 - Stacking Growth 7:53 - Difference Between Inbound Marketing and Demand Generation 9:50 - Should Marketing Be Accountable for a Revenue Number? 13:19 - Is B2C marketing more creative because of lack of Sales? 14:31 - Convincing the C-Suite to Invest in Revenue R&D Strategy 21:30 - How to Build a Digital Community 34:57 - Quantifying Customer Insights to Leadership Join us every Tuesday to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171

Chris joined the Sales Leadership Podcast this past week to talk through how organizations can drive revenue in a more predictable way. He covered: What the true definition of demand is,  Removing friction in the buying process, making sales easier,  Aligning sales and marketing by measuring HIRO pipeline,  Nuances between capturing demand and creating demand,  How the buyer journey has evolved and what that means for the sales org, and The buyer experience Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday, Chris goes live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. Some highlights from our 11th installment: 00:34 - Manufacturing Revenue & Demand 2:38 - Difference between HIRO and Total Pipeline 7:30 - Creating demand in an industry where the market doesn't know about your solution 9:35 - Root cause of the Demand Deficit 12:22 - Role of SDRs 16:27 - How does ABM Fall Into the Overall Demand Strategy 18:14 - Differentiating in a Saturated Category Join us every Tuesday to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171

Chris Walker hosted an invite-only event to share our proprietary Hybrid Attribution Framework, and we are leaking the audio here on the State of Demand Gen podcast. With this framework, you’ll be able to: Properly measure, attribute and quantify ROI for Demand Creation programs like podcast, social media, communities, word of mouth, and more,  Continue to use your set up with attribution software to measure Demand Capture Get a continuous stream of insights directly from your prospective customers to optimize your budget allocation and overall strategy. The best part? You can get it set up at your company within 24 hours. To get access to future invite-only events, sign up for The Vault waitlist at refinelabs.com/waitlist. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Today's episode features a recording from Dave Gerhardt's Exit Five Podcast. Chris and Dave talk about articulating a company POV, refining your marketing strategy, a framework for demand generation, self-reported attribution, what's going on with LinkedIn, B2B ad creative, and building community. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday, Chris goes live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. Some highlights from our 10th installment: Self-reported attribution - 1:00 The role of RevOps - 2:50 Create Demand & Capture Demand - 6:00 Key Opinion Leaders - 15:45 Does your website effectively capture the demand you are creating? - 18:50 Qualitative and Quantitative Insights - 20:15 Evaluating the SDR function - 23:00 What's Next For DGL? - 26:00 Make Buying Easier for Your Customers - 34:00 Top Tips for Starting a Dark Social Content Strategy - 42:14  Join us every Tuesday to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker joined Jacob Zangel on his soon to be released podcast to talk through not just manufacturing demand, but manufacturing revenue. It's time we stop differentiating between marketing and sales, and start looking at go-to-market strategies through the lens of creating demand vs. capturing demand. This requires new definitions and new terminology. Instead of looking at marketing through the lens of lead gen vs. demand gen, marketers need to break their marketing strategies into create demand vs. capture demand. Chris explains this in detail and goes into the specifics of building brand and defining categories in this episode of State of Demand Gen. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday at 3:00PM ET we go live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. In our 11th installment, we covered: - How To Create Demand in Mature Categories - Where demand gen is going in the next 5 years?  - Running demand gen at an early-stage startup that wants quick results - How to fix sales/marketing alignment - How demand teams can work with sales to achieve better results - The role of email in demand gen - The ideal sales-to-marketing ratio  - And much more! Join us every Tuesday at 3 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday at 3:00PM ET we go live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. In our 10th installment, we covered: - Tips for a One-Person Demand Team - Marketing for an Agency vs. a SaaS company - When your CEO (shouldn't) be involved in marketing - How to grow a top 25 podcast - What separates good vs bad communities - Balancing quantitative and qualitative insights - The first steps in building a demand gen strategy - And much more! Join us every Tuesday at 3 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Stock options. It's something that SaaS startups love to give out as incentives, but it's something that employees generally know very little about. Since our last Demand Gen Expert Series, we have been fielding a lot of questions about stock options, how they work, what they're actually worth, and more. As you know, when our audience asks, we listen and respond. Ryan Walsh, CEO of Repvue, has vast experience receiving stock options, as well as giving them out, so it was fitting that when we were looking for an expert guest his name kept coming up. In this episode, Ryan and Chris tackle: The differences between stock options and stock Why companies offer (or don't offer) stock options to employees How do you make money with stock options? How to calculate the value of your stock options When companies raise rounds of funding is it good or bad for employee stock options? What happens to your options when you leave the company? And more! Join us every Tuesday at 3 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

B2B marketing is stuck. The entire old-school marketing playbook is completely broken. Optimizing a revenue engine is a lot like optimizing processes in a manufacturing plant to be more efficient. But in order to optimize your process, you need to first get started. Too many teams try to start by doing everything at once. You need to take baby steps. Figure out how to run a live event that people want to come to. Use the qualitative feedback from that event to learn if people are engaged; are they leaving halfway through? Are they asking questions? Are they coming back week after week? Etc. Then figure out how to use that content to drive short form channels where your audience is already congregating, like LinkedIn. Again, collect the qualitative feedback. Are people commenting? Are they tagging co-workers? Are they starting conversations with you in DMs? These are all signals that your content is working. Once you learn that your messaging is hitting, then you can start amplifying that message through paid media to your ideal customers and step out and try new channels.  In this episode, Chris talks about the process in which he did this at Refine Labs, but more importantly the strategy behind the content: Communicating a message over collecting a lead. Join us every Tuesday at 3:00 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday at 5:00PM ET we go live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. In our 9th installment, we covered: - What to do when SDRs are underperforming - 1:05 - What all demand marketers should be including in their dashboards - 3:17 - Barriers for scaling organic content and how to overcome them - 6:31 - How to use Dual CTAs in a PLG/Enterprise sales motion - 8:30 - Executing organic social as a SaaS company - 11:17 - How broad should you go on your podcast? - 13:40 - Should you be charging an onboarding fee? - 19:48 - And much more! Join us every Tuesday at 4 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this episode Chris is live at the Work Smarter conference where he goes over his 3 step framework to create an unfair competitive advantage through your marketing efforts. Step one: Customer Insights It is absolutely imperative that you learn to collect insights. Insights from your team, insights from your customers, and insights from the market as a whole. Over the last decade, in large part due to martech vendors, marketers have been trained to rely solely on quantitative data. When you look at quantitative data, the thing that you don’t get is the “why”. And without the “why” you are just guessing. This is why you need to learn to collect qualitative insights. In this episode, Chris talks about how to collect qualitative customer insights at scale and in real-time. Step two: Synthesizing the insights into strategy Once you have all the insights you need to learn how to synthesize them. Qualitative data doesn’t fit into a spreadsheet for data analysis, so you need to learn how to take what you’ve learned and turn that into an actionable strategy. Chris talks about how he has been doing this for the past 10 years. Step 3: Creating Demand Creating demand is all about going out and educating the 99% of the market that aren’t ready to buy or even category aware. Most companies spend time competing for existing demand—cold calling, SEO, Google ads, etc. This is capturing demand. And when you focus on capturing demand, you compete with every other commodity player in the space. When you focus on creating demand and educating the audience with no intent to close them into a sale, it actually leads to more sales. People view you as the stand-alone expert in the category and never even compare you to other vendors. Join us every Tuesday at 4 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday at 5:00PM ET we go live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. In our 8th installment, we covered: - Strategic thinking > Tactical thinking - Mission driven marketing - Building a marketing strategy for a consulting firm - Brand Awareness vs. Creating Demand - How to get people to show up for your event - Should website content be converted into dark social content? - Why dark social content isn't intended to convert you - And much more! Join us every Tuesday at 4 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this episode, we pulled together some of the greatest hits of our talks on how qualified pipeline is currently defined in B2B and why it's broken. We start off by talking about why the current system is broken. After we shed light on the problem, we dive into how we're fixing it by: Redefining what qualified pipeline is. Why it needs to be standardized across the industry. Why HIRO Pipeline is the best way to measure qualified pipeline. and more... Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday at 5:00PM ET we go live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. In our 7th installment (and best yet) we cover: - How to transition from a sales role into marketing - How to test messaging before it's deployed to sales - Community as a B2C marketing strategy - The 3 types of demand (creating, capturing, and damming) - Demand creation vs. ABM - How B2B companies should think about influencer marketing - And much more! Join us every Tuesday at 4 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this episode, we pulled together some of the greatest hits of our talks on Dark Social. We start off by clearing up the definition of what dark social is, just in case anyone is still unclear. Once we set the table the stage for what dark social is, we dive into: How it drives buying decisions How it aligns your go-to market team with the customer journey Why you need to stop focusing on outdated marketing metrics, like MQLs How to get off the MQL hamster wheel Creating brand affinity and more... Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

The increase in privacy has been the biggest nudge marketers have needed to start doing marketing the way it was meant to be done. For too long, people have used third party data as an excuse to not do proper customer research. As a marketer, there is no greater superpower than knowing your customer and the programs and channels that are creating demand. In this episode, Chris sits down for a fireside chat to talk about dark social, self reported attribution, and how to generate customer insights in a cookieless world. Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Demand Gen Live has been a Tuesday night staple for hundreds of B2B marketers. Over the past 790 days, we've: - Held 112 Tuesday meetups - Recorded 10,000+ minutes of audio and video - Answered 780+ audience questions - And set a world record for fern puns in a single Zoom chat But like all good things, DGL is coming to an end. This was the fernal episode of Demand Gen Live. Some might say, the final ferntier. But don't worry, Refine Labs live events aren't dead—this isn't a ferneral. We'll be announcing a new show and time to make the show more accessible to more people in the marketing community! In this episode: - Chris and Gaetano talk about their learnings and what they took away from the DGL community. - Four of our community members speak about how DGL has changed the course of their careers. - And as always, we fielded questions from the audience. Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this episode, we pulled together some of the greatest hits of our talks on creating demand vs. capturing demand. We start with some clips where Chris simplifies the topics by defining the difference between creating and capturing demand. After the explanation, we skip forward to how you can take steps to switch the mindset, measurement and execution of your marketing strategy to effectively create demand. Finally, we end the episode by sharing some tips on how you can show leadership that the strategy is working. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Every Tuesday at 5:00PM ET we go live on TikTok to answer rapid-fire Q&A. This is our 6th installment and in this episode we cover: - When (if ever) should display ads be considered? - Why specializing is not the best career move - Using standardized metric systems to measure customer experience - How to use CTAs in LinkedIn ads - Video vs static images for LinkedIn ads - Demand Gen for local retail - And much more! Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Creating organic content where your buyers hang out is one of the best ways you can collect customer insights. It's your goal as the marketer to learn everything there is to know about the platform and how your customers use it, then optimize your content strategy to be as effective as possible. But how do you measure effectiveness? One of those measurements are your learnings. The comments, DMs, and conversations that are created by putting your point of view out in public can lead to huge insights that can change the way you do business.  In this episode, Chris shares his playbook on how to get started creating organic content and then using micro-innovations to maximize insights. Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Marketing is a lot like medicine in the late 1800's. Back then, the way medicine was practiced was through individual observation. A physician would do something for a patient, they would observe the results, and then they would share those results with other physicians. Unfortunately, this is a very inefficient way of furthering the science of medicine. This is where marketing is right now. Lots of individual marketers and teams running experiments and (sometimes) sharing the results. It wasn't until later that the medical community started doing clinical trials where several physicians would conduct research across a controlled environment, get results and then have those results peer-reviewed by a third party. That's where marketing is going and we're calling it "Evidence-Based Marketing". In this episode, Chris talks about what evidence-based marketing is, his early thoughts on how it could be implemented, and what the results could mean for the marketing community. Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We're back with another TikTok live. We're going beyond our traditional demand gen content and fielding questions on leadership, entrepreneurship, finance, culture, or anything else you want to talk about. In this episode, Chris fields questions on: - Community-led content - Marketing Technology - Thinking about marketing with a long term mindset - How to attract early adopters to you SaaS product - And much more! Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Now is not the time to slow down your marketing. Many companies pull back spending and go into self-preservation mode in slow economic times. The fact of the matter is, that economic slowdowns create an environment of opportunity for companies that know how to leverage them. In this episode, Chris is going to talk about a 3-step framework to make marketing your secret weapon, not only in a recession but forever. He dives deep into how to create demand in your category by changing your Mindest, Metrics, and Execution; in that order. Join the waitlist for our new intellectual capital product, The Vault: https://www.refinelabs.com/waitlist Join Demand Gen Live every Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET Join Chris live every Tuesday at 4:00 PM for rapid-fire Q&A on TikTok: @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

B2B marketers can learn a lot from the direct-to-consumer industry. For one, there is no sales team in DTC. That means marketing has to get a person from awareness, all the way through the checkout process with no outbound sales to help carry the weight. Because of that, DTC marketing strategy is inherently different. Today, we welcome back DGL legend Gaetano DiNardi, a former B2B marketer who transitioned to B2C marketing at Aura - a digital security company that helps consumers stay safe online. In this episode, Gaetano talks about: Why creative and storytelling are so important in DTC How to win against competitors with deeper pockets and more established brands Partnering with creators His best advice for B2B marketers And more... Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

There are marketing teams right now, in 2022, that completely rely on software-based attribution to guide their strategy. Because of this, they only see where demand is being captured (Organic/Paid Search, Direct Traffic, etc) and they never see where the demand is being created. They try to build communities. They try to do a podcast. They try organic LinkedIn content. But what inevitably happens is they don't see any clearly tracked measurement in their attribution software that maps back to those activities. So what happens? The programs get deemed ineffective and terminated. The problem is, all the things that were just mentioned are demand creation programs and attribution software is not able to track demand creation activities. In this episode, Chris talks about why there is a huge lack of innovation in B2B and how old attribution mindsets are playing a huge role. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this week's Ask Me Anything, we dive deep into several topics including:  - How to Run a Successful Digital Event/Webinar - Advice for Young People Getting into SaaS - Why You Need To Stop treating Event Attendees Like a Cold Call List - Should a Newsletter Be Part of Your Content Strategy? - The Difference Between Dark Social and the Dark Funnel - How to Run Demand Gen for SMB - How to Get Marketing and Sales Aligned Using HIRO Pipeline - And more... Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. To join the waitlist for The Vault, visit: refinelabs.com/waitlist

We're back with another TikTok live. We're going beyond our traditional demand gen content and fielding questions on leadership, entrepreneurship, finance, culture, or anything else you want to talk about. In this episode, Chris fields questions on: - Why website traffic is (or isn't) better than social traffic - The threat of a recession and the impact on jobs, customer retention/acquisition, and how company's strategies will evolve. - Intent data and demand gen - Using connected TV for B2B advertising - Starting a bootstrapped tech company - and much more... Join us every Tuesday at 5 PM ET to ask your question on TikTok by following @chriswalker171 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

One of the things that makes the Demand Gen Live community so great is the ability we have every week to help marketers with real challenges that they're facing in their day-to-day roles. A few weeks ago, we decided to shake things up and go "full-AMA" for a Demand Gen Live. The feedback was so positive that we decided to do it again. In today's Ask Me Anything episode, Chris and Megan answered questions on: How to hire talented demand gen marketers,  Using customer insights as your mode of differentiation,  How to go up against competitors way bigger than you,  And much more.

To effectively create demand you need to give away your best content for free. But what if your content is in fact your product? This is a big blocker for independent consultants when they want to create demand. By giving away the information that makes them valuable, they think that people will no longer need to work with them. Here's the thing: People don't hire consultants for their knowledge of a subject matter. In fact, that knowledge is likely a commodity. People hire consultants to increase their likelihood of success in implementing that knowledge. What happens when you horde all your knowledge until a sales process is you get lumped in with other vendors as a commodity. And when you're viewed as a commodity, you have to compete on price, which is not a good place to be. In this episode, Chris talks about how consultants can win using the same demand gen principles that we use at Refine Labs to help some of the best B2B SaaS companies out there. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

People don't use Google the same way they did in the past. 10 years ago if you wanted to find information on a product you Googled it. Today if you want to find information on a product you have way more, often better, options. You could ask in a community. You could visit a review site like G2. You could post about it in social channels and get unfiltered, unbiased feedback. And yes, you could still Google it, but with all these new options available should Google still get the bulk of your advertising dollars?  If you're a regular listener of this podcast you likely already know our stance on this, but the question still comes up often. That's why we reached out to the Godfather of SEM, Rand Fishkin and asked him to join us to talk about this very subject. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

If you've watched the news as of late, you've probably heard a lot of big-name tech companies laying off employees, cutting costs wherever they can, and putting a halt to spending. This looming recession has a lot of B2B tech companies worried. But should you really be worried? What does a potential recession mean for your company or your specific role? In this episode, Chris talks about how responsible companies will come out on top, while others that were more careless will yet again feel the brunt of a slowing economy. We also touch on: Why dark social is not the same as word of mouth Why your website needs to be your #1 revenue-generating source, by far! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this episode, Chris talks about the trifecta of building a company that has a competitive advantage, is able to acquire customers in a scalable way, and is a talent destination that the best of the best want to come and work at. In addition to talking about building a sustainable company, Chris and Adam dive into the impact that LinkedIn has had on Refine Labs, the current economic state of B2B SaaS, and what's next for Refine Labs. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Native digitals don't buy the same way that native analogs do. Native digitals are also fast becoming the largest buying group of B2B software. However, most large B2B companies are still being run by native analog executives. This is in large part why most B2B companies are running playbooks from a decade ago and leaving a huge gap for new, digital-native startups to explode. In fact, Refine Labs is a perfect example of that. In this episode, Chris and Megan talk with Christopher Lochhead about how they are building a digital-native company and the huge advantages that it has given them. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

There is a big misunderstanding amongst the marketing community about organic content: "organic content is better than paid because it's free." That statement couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, here at Refine Labs, we have a 9 person team that runs organic content to the tune of over $100,000 per month. Not only does organic cost money but it takes more time to see if your message is resonating—time most companies simply aren't willing to put in to make organic work. In this episode, Chris talks about why organic content isn't free, how to use a paid strategy alongside organic, and much more. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In our first ever TikTok live, Chris went full AMA (Ask Me Anything) and fielded questions on everything from using different personalities in your marketing efforts, to how long it takes him to create content every day, to how to (not) formalize feedback, and more... If you're a fan of this format, shoot us a message on LinkedIn and let us know. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

"Nobody is focused on creating demand. No metrics support demand creation. Everything is about being sales-centric and marketing supporting sales. And the truth is, the only way that you win big, is by going out there and creating demand..." - Chris Walker In this episode, Chris breaks down why companies don't focus on creating demand and instead put all their energy into capturing demand. After laying the groundwork for why companies don't do it, he breaks down why whoever creates the demand, wins. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Earlier this week we leaked the wait-list landing page for Refine Labs' new IP warehouse, "The Vault". With one post (and a comment on another post) we received over 1,000 submissions from B2B professionals with titles like; VP of Marketing, CMO, and CRO. We also received some interesting responses in the comments: "Is that a FORM on the landing page?!" "6 fields? Really?" In this episode, Chris will clear up any misconception about forms, because it's not forms that are inherently bad, it's the intent behind them that is used. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Refine Labs just came off our company offsite in San Diego where nearly 100 team members showed up to meet and collaborate in person for the first time since joining Refine Labs. It was an experience that really highlighted the amazing culture that has been established here and a perfect opportunity to talk about how the culture has been built. In this episode, Chris answers questions that were sourced from the community on how to establish and grow a culture that makes employees want to build a career at your company. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Marketing Ops is evolving. With so many marketing technologies on the market, strong marketing ops professionals are no longer thinking strictly about the tactical role out of these new technologies. They are becoming strategic advisors on how teams can not only implement software but choose and use specific tools to best achieve the overall goal. In this episode, Chris sits down with Sara McNamara, Senior Manager of Marketing Operations at Slack, to discuss: What about operations is strategic, the best way to roll out new marketing technology, measuring marketing success, and more. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Refine Labs is breaking the mold twice in today's episode. First, we are extremely proud to announce that Refine Labs has instituted a living minimum wage of $75,000/year. A study was done by Princeton showing that $75,000 is the number where people can live comfortably and still have money left over to save. Second, we're breaking the DGL format and doing a full episode of AMA this week. Chris covered questions ranging everywhere from content-led community, to offsite learnings, to event content strategy, to career advice, and more. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Modern go-to-market is changing. In decades past, customers needed sales teams to educate them on product. They welcomed sales professionals to look under the hood and pitch them on how their product could best be used in their organization. But in 2022 the buyer's mindset has changed. They now have the ability to do the research. They have the ability to talk with industry peers and discover these things on their own. So where does that leave sales in the modern B2B GTM? In this episode, Chris talks about how marketing and sales can work toward a common goal in educating buyers and the new role sales professionals will play as industry subject matter experts. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

There are two things that can completely change the trajectory of your company's growth: Content and a unique perspective on your market. Unfortunately, there are several, easily overcome, obstacles that entrepreneurs face: They don't believe they have a unique perspective, they don't think they have the means to create meaningful content, they give up way to early, and so on. In this episode, Chris spoke to a room of small business entrepreneurs on how to overcome these obstacles, start creating the best content in your niche, build community around that content, and use it all to grow your small business. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Product-led growth is "all the rage" as a B2B go-to-market strategy right now. But how do you adopt PLG if you're already running an enterprise outbound strategy? Can you start putting PLG motions into place without going straight to a free trial or free version motion? How do you run a PLG and enterprise acquisition model in tandem? What role does pricing play in a PLG motion? These are all topics covered in today's interview with PLG-expert, Kyle Poyar. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

CEOs, founders, and executive-level SMEs are some of the most powerful voices your brand has at its disposal. So why don't more marketing teams take advantage of the top-tier minds in their organizations? The most common answer among executives is "I don't have time". The real answer is that they don't make it a priority. People often ask how Refine Labs gets so much traction on LinkedIn or on the State of Demand Podcast. The answer: Senior leadership sets the tone and shows what "good" looks like by creating content in dark social channels regularly. The rest of the team sees that and follows suit. In this episode, Chris talks about how he finds time to be active inside dark social channels while still managing the day-to-day responsibilities of a CEO in a rapid-growth company. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

There has never been a better time to be a B2B marketing. Gone are the days where marketing teams primary KPI is sending the sales team unqualified MQLs. Sales VPs and CROs reach out to Refine Labs everyday asking us to help fix their marketing. Marketing's goal in 2022 is educating the buyer before the buyer ever talks to a sales person, which makes marketing extremely powerful. Buyers having knowledge of the product before they talk to sales means that sales gets to talk to buyers with high intent every single time. In this episode, Chris dives in on the new role of marketing and why were in the golden age of marketing right now! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Content creation is the keystone to creating demand in dark social, but there are several mistakes teams make when trying to implement a content strategy: - Not having a framework in place to create and distribute regular content - Trying to do too much in the beginning - Giving up on channels too early - The list goes on Many times these mistakes are rooted in teams trying to execute tactics before they have a solid strategy in place. In this episode, Chris talks about his journey with content creation and how you can create a strategy that will be successful for your own goals. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

A lot of marketers are sold on modern demand gen, but they don't know how to institute change internally. We know this because the most asked question we get is, "How do you transition from lead gen to  demand gen?" If that sounds like you, you're in luck. We invited Alice de Courcy, CMO at Cognism, to talk about how she implemented this change internally. What makes this even more powerful is that Alice is a recent convert from lead gen to demand gen herself. In this episode, she will go into why she decided it was time to make the switch, how she set the stage internally with key stakeholders, and how they changed how marketing was measured to ensure a successful transition. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We talk a lot about using qualitative insights to drive better strategic decisions in marketing and go-to-market. But the truth is, this works in all areas of the business. Some people call it “acting on gut feelings”, but in reality, it’s not gut feeling. It’s getting feedback that can’t be measured in a spreadsheet and put your learnings into practice. In this episode, Chris talks about how he puts qualitative insights to work with customers, strategy, and even culture and hiring. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

At Refine Labs we've been implementing our proprietary Go-To-Market framework, Pipe, with over 50 of the fastest growing B2B SaaS companies out there. Because of that, we have access to arguably the best data set in the business which gives us a very unique perspective into how to execute successful go-to-market strategies. In this episode, Chris spends a full hour answering questions from the community members of Revenue Era ranging from: - What is the role of an agency partner? - How should you approach marketing as you move upmarket? - How do you do a "split the funnel analysis"? - Product Market vs Go to Market - and a whole lot more... Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Most marketing teams are running an old playbook; lead gen campaigns, trade show sponsorships, content syndication, gated content, etc. Once considered "best practice", these tactics have quickly become outdated as the world consumes information differently and digital transformations continue to ramp. In this episode, Chris talks about how to phase out tactics that no longer work and how to transition that budget into a new, modern way of doing demand generation. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Refine Labs just crossed over 100 team members and it only took about two years. Growing a business is a learning curve no matter what, but scaling quickly comes with a laundry list of lessons. In this episode, Chris talks about the journey and key learnings from an independent consultant to 100 employees and working with some of the best-known SaaS companies in B2B. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

When most B2B companies think about content they think about blogs, ebooks, and webinars. Social media posts are sprinkled on top and in most cases not even grouped into the company's content strategy. The problem with that is it's not customer-centric. Buyers spend time on social media, in communities, and building relationships with peers in their industry they can trust. They're no longer finding blog content from a google search, signing up for your newsletter, and downloading all your ebooks before buying. In 2022, buyers are asking their networks for advice or buying from the companies that provide value every day without pestering them. So how to get in front of buyers in 2022? The answer is a dark social content strategy that's optimized to educate and attract buyers over time in a non-intrusive format that they're interested in consuming. In this episode, Chris talks about what that looks like and how you can get started building it. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Marketing is evolving. While most marketing teams are still spending their time and resources writing blogs and running webinars, forward-thinking marketers are figuring out how they can create an unfair advantage for their business. In this episode, Chris dives into just that as he talks about what the goal of marketing is as a sub-function of GTM and what it means to be buyer-centric in modern marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We've been seeing a lot of buzz about the TOPO "Double Funnel" lately. But what exactly is it? And is it worth implementing or is it just another shiny object that sounds good in theory, but breaks down in practice? In this episode, Chris breaks down what the double funnel is, how it works, and the reasons you should think twice about implementing it into your go-to-market strategy. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Creating a culture where people are not only allowed to test and fail but encouraged to, is a necessity for innovation. But how do you create a culture that breeds innovation? The short answer is—it starts at the top. The CEO sets the stage for what will (and won't) be tolerated and leads by doing to set the example for the rest of the org. In this episode, Chris talks about how Refine Labs has become a talent destination by combining innovation and culture. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

What do B2B brands have to do stand out as more and more companies adopt demand generation strategies? First, most companies are still running the old playbook, and even though they’re calling what they do demand gen, it’s still lead gen. Companies who truly want to stand out running a demand gen playbook should focus on three things: Having a deep understanding of your customers Having subject matter expertise in-house Having a clear point of view In this episode, Chris talks about how to stand out in a sea of information on social media. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Most B2B marketing strategies are reactive. They spend a lot of money to show up once the customer is in a buying motion. But the problem with that strategy is that it becomes way more difficult to stand out in the crowd. Buyer's don't know who you are until they're ready to pull the trigger and they have no idea what sets you apart. In this episode, Chris talks about how companies can re-tool their marketing strategy to win in Dark Social so that you are proactively getting in front of future buyers before they ever even realize they need your product. That way when they do need your solution, the ones running the old, reactive playbook, never even get a look. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Employees have more power than ever in the employer/employee relationship and it's because most companies are still playing from a legacy playbook. The best companies are attracting top-tier talent because they are becoming destination organizations. "Price's Law" is the mentality that 50% of the work at a normal organization is done by the square root of the total employees. For example, at a 50 person company, 7 people do 50% of the work. That makes it extremely difficult when one or more of those people move on. So how do you attract top talent to ensure that your entire team is built from A players? Chris and Joe dive deep on just that in this episode. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We started doing Demand Gen Live back in March of 2020 with an audience of 15 people. Two years later, we're still doing Demand Gen Live weekly to an audience of 100+ and many of the original 15 are still showing up weekly. We brought back the OG co-host, Gaetano DiNardi, for episode 100 to talk about SEO vs. Brand. With top Google content becoming more and more about optimization and less about content quality, people are going to communities like Reddit and private groups to get information. So is SEO still an approach you should be considering? Chris and Gaetano weigh in on the 100th episode of Demand Gen Live! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Community is a powerful tool in scaling a company. Marketo demonstrated just how powerful community was in B2B when they built Marketing Nation. It was one of the first communities of its kind in B2B and is one of the major factors that led to their domination in the CRM market. Today we're talking with Sarah Kennedy Ellis, former CMO at Marketo, and current VP of Global Growth & Demand at Google Cloud on how she used community to grow the company, as well as catapult her career. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We talk a lot about tactical execution on State of Demand Gen. But there’s another side of your marketing strategy that is just as important—your brand story. Your brand’s story is the backbone of your marketing strategy. It’s what creates deep loyalty to your brand over competitors. In this episode, we welcome back Dave Gerhardt to talk about the importance of building a story around your brand. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

There has never been a better time to be a top-tier marketer. Demand is high and supply is low. But how do you become one of the top 1%? In this episode, Chris goes through his top 6 pieces of advice for marketers that are trying to become the best. These are all tips that he implemented himself and attributes to his own success and the success of Refine Labs. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Creating content in-house gives you a massive advantage in the market. Yet, content creation is still one of the most outsourced items for in-house marketing teams. When you outsource your content creation (and organic distribution) you lose key advantages. The first is that you don't give your in-house subject matter experts the ability to speak your company's unique value prop or opinions. The second is you aren't in the weeds on social media every day hearing what the market is saying about your industry, so you're always one step behind and end up being reactive, instead of leading the industry. In this episode, Chris talks about why it's so important to bring content creation in-house, and what parts you can outsource without losing value. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Modern demand gen practices have not yet been adopted by many companies in the EMEA region. In this episode of State of Demand Gen, Chris talks with Adam Holmgren on what companies across the pond need to do to get started using modern demand gen and how it can positively impact their business. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Pipeline velocity isn't just about pipeline creation. Pipeline velocity uses 3 historical metrics (win rate, ACV, and sales cycle length) to forecast forward. Most companies only look at pipeline creation. They don't look at sales cycle length. They don't look at win rates or conversation rates. And they don't look at ACVs. The beauty of pipeline velocity is that in order to drive growth, you can play with any one of the metrics that are used to calculate it. In this episode, Chris dives deep into why Pipeline Velocity is the most important marketing metric you should be tracking and how you can break it down to see what areas of your business are really driving meaningful growth. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

B2B SaaS companies have been running the same lead generation marketing strategy for over a decade now—create a gated piece of content, collect low intent leads, and have your sales team follow up. This practice may have been necessary 10 years ago, but with the advancement in how buyers consume content and increasingly tight privacy laws, smart marketing teams are challenging the status quo and transitioning to more modern practices. In this episode, Chris dives into how Refine Labs has been able to grow so fast with zero outbound, how to transition if you're already stuck in a model that is built for outbound, and why it's so important. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

The goal of B2B paid social ads should be to communicate a single idea to your audience, not to move them from "who is this company" to demo.  Companies waste millions of dollars every year by spending their budget on ads that fail to produce meaningful results because they don't tell the right story. In this episode, Chris gets super tactical on how to run effective campaigns that play to your greater strategy of telling your brand story, including: How to craft your messaging Tips for setting up your ad campaigns And why you might want to make changes to your current campaigns Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Capturing demand works hand in hand with generating demand, but it’s something that companies often overlook. When you’ve created enough demand that a customer is ready to buy, that buying process needs the best experience possible if you want them to move to closed-won. In this episode, Chris goes back to basics and talks about what to do after you've generated enough demand to move a prospect into your pipeline. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this episode, we pulled together some of the greatest hits of our talks on The Attribution Mirage. We start with an early episode of Demand Gen Live where we began experimenting with required open text fields comparing where customers said they found us and what software was telling us. After the explanation of the initial experiment and results, we skip forward several months where we share 20 real-life examples comparing software vs self-reported attribution. Finally, we end the episode by sharing some of the best practices when implementing self-reported attribution to get the best results, without biasing the data. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Most B2B companies know how to do sales. Most of them do not, however, know how to run a modern marketing strategy designed for creating demand, capturing demand, and funnel optimization. Companies are still running the same go-to-market strategy they were running in 2011 by pumping up MQLs and other vanity metrics that require more sales headcount with less results. In this episode, Chris talks through the strategy Refine Labs uses to help companies fix their go-to-market plan, starting with marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Winning in dark social requires a well-executed content strategy. Part of executing a content strategy successfully means that it's scalable. But scaling content efficiently is something that most companies fail to do. That's where stacking growth comes into play. It's at the foundation of dark social because it's what allows you to distribute your content across multiple platforms with minimal additional effort. In this episode, Chris outlines how we win on dark social by stacking growth internally and how we do the same with clients. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Events in 2022 play a totally different role than they did even a few years ago. Gone are the days of having to spend huge chunks of your marketing budget to build trade show booths that generate little return and sponsoring overpriced industry events. Your audience is digital and your event strategy needs to be aligned closely with your digital goals. In this episode, Chris talks about how you can use in-person micro-events to create amazing experiences, all while fueling your larger digital growth. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

The term demand gen gets thrown around a lot. A lot of companies claim to be running demand gen programs, but when you take a deeper look it’s still a traditional lead gen program. In this episode, Chris does a deep dive on what is demand gen, what is lead gen, how do they differ, and how the strategy has to change to run a true demand gen model.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Should SDRs report to marketing or sales? This is an age-old debate. But it's asking the wrong question. It doesn't matter which team the SDR reports to if they're doing the same, low-efficiency role. The real question is what is the future job function of the SDR and does that new functionality align with marketing or sales? In this episode, Chris talks about how he believes the role will evolve over the next several years to be more efficient and produce better results. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

How do you attract top talent to work for you? Is organic social a waste of time in B2B? What's the best way to leverage a company LinkedIn account? Chris is answering all these questions (and more) in this grab bag of marketing and business questions we sourced from Quora and Reddit.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Everybody loves metrics. They let us know when we're doing good and when we need to do better. The problem is, marketing teams have adopted certain metrics as their KPIs that don't do either one of those things. In fact, more often than not, when we drive those metrics we generally make our entire revenue team less efficient. In this episode, Chris talks about the 5 metrics that you should be aligning your revenue teams around in order to make the most efficient use of your sales and marketing dollars. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

It's that time of year for a lot of companies, annual planning. The time when everyone is excited about the possibilities that the new year brings. But along with that excitement, comes high expectations—many times unrealistic. Those expectations often drive decisions that end up falling short of where you want to be at quarter-end. In this episode, Chris talks about the 5 biggest mistakes that he sees companies making when they address annual planning and how they should address them now. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

It’s not uncommon for marketers and business leaders to hear the methodologies we talk about at Refine Labs and immediately dismiss them as “ineffective”, “clickbait”, or a number of other things. But the reality is, companies only fail to succeed with our methodologies when they continue to measure marketing with the same vanity metrics that have been pushed by MarTech vendors since 2010. When you stop measuring success by the quantity of MQLs and start measuring the quality of the leads that come directly to your website asking for a demo, the results speak for themselves. In this episode, Chris demonstrates this point by diving into a modern buying journey. You’ll notice that a huge majority of the touchpoint can't be measured by MarTech. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Leveling up a marketing strategy that performs starts with looking at what isn't working currently. A lot of companies want to add, add, add; but the current isn't optimized to work yet. Before you decide to add an advocacy program on LinkedIn, or any other organic marketing strategy, go back into where you are spending your money and see where it can be cut or reallocated to work better. In this episode, Chris talks about how to evaluate what's working, what isn't, and how to move forward.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

A few weeks ago we asked, "If you could wave a magic wand and get the answer to any marketing question right now, what would you ask?" We received a lot of great questions that led to some really good conversations. So...We did it again. But this time we're switching it up a bit. Refine Labs has been growing exponentially ever since the beginning. - We're onboarding some of the best B2B brands out there weekly - The culture is amazing (employee quote) - And new employees are joining at a record pace So we have some experience with building a business. That's why we asked for your toughest questions on building a startup or side hustle. In this episode, Chris goes through the list and answers all the questions that we received. As promised in the LinkedIn post, we will also release the video response to each question on the @RefineLabs TikTok. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

The days of marketers shoveling as many leads as possible to sales are long gone. The old rules that applied before social media, communities, and third-party content distribution platforms were mature no longer apply. You can't expect a piece of software to be able to give you an accurate map of the buyer journey anymore, because the buyer's journey is happening in places that be tracked by software. But shifting from lead gen to demand gen comes with a lot of questions—What is the strategy behind the tactics? How do you get started implementing change? How long to results? How do you measure success? These are all questions that Chris covers in this discussion on how to win with demand gen in 2022. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Imagine knowing the biggest trends in the industry before they happened. Imagine the advantage you would have over the competition. Every year we make predictions on what the biggest changes in B2B marketing will be and we've got a pretty good track record. But before we do that, we're going back to January 2021 to see which of last year's predictions came true. PLUS: If you tuned in last week, we told you we were going to read 20 self-reported attribution results and the corresponding software attribution.  If you're looking for proof that dark social produces results, and have been asking how to measure it, here it is. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Creating demand is not sharing a link to your ebook on LinkedIn. Capturing demand is not collecting an email after teasing a prospect just enough to get them to fork it over. Demand creation is showing up every day to provide valuable content to your industry with no strings attached. Your goal is to create so much demand for your product that the prospect comes to you and gives you their contact info with the expectation that you will call them. Unfortunately, most companies opt to skip the demand creation and try to go straight to the capture, which leads to several problems. In this episode, Chris discusses the relationship between demand creation and capture and the best way to utilize both. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

For the past three years, Chris and Gaetano have gotten together to discuss the current state of demand generation. It's back for 2022 and in this episode, they are weighing in on the strategies and tactics to help your marketing skyrocket and which ones have a better chance of imploding. Whether you're a fast-paced start-up or an established enterprise brand, this is an episode you don't want to miss. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Tis the season for resolutions. And if you're looking to get that promotion or seriously level up your marketing in 2022, this episode is a must-listen. We're talking about the 5 tenets (or rules, or pillars, or whatever you want to call it) that every B2B marketing team needs to follow to be successful this year. These are undeniable truths. Listen, implement, and crush your 2022 marketing resolutions. Speaking of resolutions, we made our own this year and that was to bring you a new podcast hosted by the entire Refine Labs Team. It's called The Marketing Movement and we’ll share our philosophy on topics ranging from content and creative to growth marketing and leadership—helping you accelerate your growth as a B2B marketer and inspiring you to start your movement. The first 3 episodes are now available on Apple and Spotify! Join us for the first Demand Gen Expert Series of 2022 as we welcome back DGL OG, Gaetano DiNardi to do our yearly State of Demand Gen episode. We'll be recapping what took place in the B2B marketing space in 2021 and make bold predictions for the year to come. Register here and join us Thursday, Jan 6 at 12 PM EST! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

If you had a magic wand that could answer any marketing question you have right now, what would you ask?  That's what we asked on the Refine Labs LinkedIn page last week. And while we don't have a magic wand, we do get access to a whole lot of B2B marketing insights in the work that we do. So, in this episode, we're setting out to answer LinkedIn's toughest marketing questions, asked directly from marketers like you. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

The major difference in between B2B and B2C marketing is that in B2C marketing owns the buyer journey. There is no sales team to close deals and for that reason, marketing has to create content that gets the buyer from initial view to check out. As a B2B marketer, it's time to start thinking more like B2C. When you do, you will start shifting your entire strategy. You'll no longer measure your efforts on the volume of leads you can generate for sales, but the quality and ease that sales have in closing them. In this episode, Chris talks about the future of B2B marketing and how it parallels what's been happening in B2C forever. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Refine Labs is widely known throughout the B2B SaaS space as being an innovator. At this point, most people know our views on current marketing "best practices". What people don't know (and what we get asked often) is about the origins of Refine Labs. How were the strategies we implement first discovered? How are we consistently attracting top talent? How did we go about building one of the best company cultures out there (if we don't say so ourselves)? In this episode, Megan sits down with Chris to talk about all of these things and more in the first-ever episode dedicated to answering questions about the origins of Refine Labs. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Investing in a marketing strategy that reflects what customers actually want from your marketing team is playing the long game. Too many marketing teams are incentivized to play the short game by quickly capturing contact information from people who aren't ready to buy. Instead, you need to put a plan in place to incentivize your team to help you build a long-term demand engine, willingly. In this episode, Chris talks about marketing strategy, how he built a culture that rewards employees for doing demand gen, and the future of B2B marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

If you’re looking at your year-end ad effectiveness right now and coming to the conclusion that LinkedIn isn’t right for you, consider this. There are two reasons why it doesn't work. 1) You are witnessing the attribution mirage. If you are seeing LinkedIn engagement grow, people are sharing, commenting, showing up to events, etc. LinkedIn is working. The problem isn't the platform, it's that attribution software doesn't track its effectiveness unless someone clicks a link to come to your homepage from the feed (which is a losing strategy). The second reason is that it doesn't work is the strategy is all wrong. In this episode, Chris talks about how to run proper demand gen through LinkedIn and drive real results. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Most companies have a marketing team in place to execute a winning marketing strategy. If marketing isn't working it's probably not the team. It's more likely the strategy that has been implemented. And it's not your fault. Martech vendors and analyst firms have been dishing out the Kool-Aid for the past 10 years. The problem is, we need a strategy for 2022, not 2012. In this episode, Chris outlines the path to getting unstuck from outdated strategies, how to create a new strategy with customers in mind, and the tactical steps you need to take to continuously make it better. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

There is a huge problem in how companies are approaching content creation and distribution right now. The ratio of marketing dollars spent on creation vs distribution is killing campaign effectiveness. Marketing teams are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars every month to distribute terrible content that nobody wants to see. In this episode, Chris talks about a better way to think about your content creation and distribution budget going into 2022 (and it may surprise you). We're also talking about the divergence that is happening in Revops and the opportunity that it poses for demand marketers. Join us Thursday, December 16 at 12:00 Noon EST for a special year-end keynote on strategy Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

A lot of marketers spend their entire career in the same industry. Not because they want to, but because it’s where they've gained experience and contacts. But there’s a secret weapon that anyone can use to not only cross industries, but help you dominate in your current industry. In this episode, Chris talks about the most important tool(s) he used in his career across several industries to create demand and win big with marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Technology has trained us to think that everything can be perfectly measured and tied back to revenue. But the reality is, in so many cases it can't. And for that reason, not every metric needs, or should be, attached to revenue. Now, that doesn't mean they're not meaningful or contribute to revenue down the line, it's just not the most appropriate way to measure its effectiveness. In this episode, Chris dives into the revenue question, as well as addresses how executives can get better results by measuring marketing differently. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Creating content is easy. Creating good content that drives results, that's hard. But with the right framework in place, it doesn't have to be. In this episode, Chris breaks down the 5-step framework we use at Refine Labs to create a content system that allows us to grow rapidly with zero outbound sales effort. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Podcasting is one of our favorite forms of content because it is so versatile. Not only can you publish the long-form audio on all the major podcast platforms, but when you record it with video you can repurpose on YouTube, break it down into smaller LinkedIn video posts, and a whole lot more. Taking full advantage of your podcast is a huge opportunity to generate demand on dark social. In this episode, Chris talks about how we utilize The State of Demand Podcast at Refine Labs to do just that. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Dave Gerhardt, Chief Brand Officer at Drift, joined Chris for another Demand Gen Expert Session, this time on the topic of "Marketing and Sales as One Team." Obviously, Marketing and Sales are quite different. But at the end of the day, their end goal should be revenue. By thinking of the two as working together rather than working towards completely separate goals, both teams are better able to drive results for the business. Dave and Chris discussed this in depth as well as where a Chief Revenue Officer and RevOps come into play. They also hosted a live Q&A, answering questions about SDRs, Customer Success, benchmarks, and KPIs. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Adding "How did you hear about us?" to your demo request form gives huge insights into what channels are working. But, there's a right way and a wrong way. And if you're making these three common mistakes, you could be doing more harm than good. In this episode, Chris goes over the top three mistakes people make and why it's so important to fix them immediately. He also talks about one of the most overlooked ways of increasing your marketing effectiveness—lowering customer acquisition cost (CAC). By making a few simple changes, we've seen company's media budgets drive up to 3x the results. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Marketing is the best tool growth stage companies have, not sales. But how does the founder/CEO play a role in driving marketing performance? The problem with most early-stage B2B SaaS companies is there is a lack of customer understanding leading the product roadmap. For the leadership to positively impact marketing, they need to start by understanding the customer. Segmenting down so much to where your product is so in tune with the customer that you have no competition. In this episode, Chris dives into how he did this at Refine Labs, as well as answers questions from Founders and CEOs looking to level up their marketing-led growth. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

When Sydney Sloan walked into Salesloft three years ago they were optimizing for MQLs. Marketing had no efficiency. Salespeople were overwhelmed with low intent leads. Conversions were low. When Sydney took over as CMO, she wasn't interested in the vanity metrics that were being measured up until that point. She wanted to eliminate waste and increase marketing effectiveness at driving pipeline, not MQLs. In this episode, Sydney lays out her playbook on how she took over a struggling marketing team and turned it into a revenue-generating machine. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Marketers love to hate on "vanity" metrics, and rightfully so. But the problem is, they are misdiagnosing vanity metrics and using the real vanity metrics to make strategic decisions. I'm talking about MQLs, eBook downloads, website visits, blog views, etc. These may have been important KPIs back in 2011 when marketing's only goal was to find fit and feed leads to sales. But this isn't 2011. Sales teams can have tools like Zoominfo to find contacts that have fit. Marketing needs to shift their focus to intent. The new goal is to generate demand at the highest level of the funnel—the level you're not even playing in right now. In this episode, Chris talks about what metrics you need to start looking at and how to turn those metrics into revenue. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

You don't need more budget. In fact, less budget would probably help you do a lot more with your marketing dollars. The sad truth is that marketing teams across industries almost universally wasting money. Poor strategy and even worse execution can't be helped by more budget. And most marketing teams are converting at less than .1%. In this episode, Chris talks about how to rethink marketing strategies to eliminate waste and drive results.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

If you're in sales you're certainly thinking, "Demos?! Really??" And our answer is a resounding, Yes! But there's a small catch. It's time for marketers to rethink what a demo consists of. In the past (and as we record this podcast), a demo is when you go on a website, fill out a form and request to talk to a salesperson to see it in action. But as a marketer, your goal in 2022 and beyond needs to shift from feeding leads to the sales team and executing sales at scale. Sales shouldn't be responsible for educating the prospect on what their pain points are and how the product can alleviate them. That's marketing's job and it should've been clear long before a demo was requested. So if that task now falls into marketing, the question is, how do you effectively execute demos at scale? Effectively being the keyword there... The answer is to change the way you define a demo. In this episode, Chris talks all about how B2B marketing needs to start getting prospects 95% closed before they even talk to a sales rep. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Positioning is the foundation on which your business is built. But most business leaders don't fully understand what good positioning is, let alone how to execute it successfully. In this episode, Chris talks one-on-one with April Dunford, widely regarded as one of the top minds on the subject matter. April goes through her 5 components of positioning that every organization needs to address including competitive alternatives, differentiated capabilities, value, segmentation, and market category. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

What if I were to tell you that the way that you measure attribution is driving terrible business decisions and leading to huge amounts of wasted dollars? If you've been listening to this podcast for any period of time, you know that in order to make good strategic marketing decisions in 2021 and beyond, you need to fundamentally shift the way you think about attribution. Common sense would tell you that marketing attribution software can't measure word of mouth, community referrals, social media engagement, podcast listens, and more. Yet these are the things that are driving the most impact in modern marketing. In this episode, we talk about the shift in thinking you need to embrace, as well as how you can start executing better attribution techniques. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

As much as you wish it was, marketing is not a math equation. It's not even a science. And thinking it is, is an outdated idea that you need to unlearn ASAP. Marketing is an art. And the fact that comes along with that truth is that everything you do can't be measured with hard quantitative data. The real results come when you look deep into the qualitative data that helps you understand your customers. In this episode, we dive into what you need to do to unlearn the old and how to measure what really matters. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Marketers are lying to themselves and their sales teams. They complain when sales can't seem to close their MQLs into won opportunities, but let's face it, the leads don't close because they're anything but qualified. It's the reason sales have such disdain for marketing. Instead of trying to flood sales with as many email addresses as you can, you should be trying to filter them the highest intent leads out there—the 1% that are ready to buy. We're talking about demand generation in dark social.  But how do you measure that? How do you know it's working? In this episode, Chris talks with Ray Rike about how to optimize for high intent leads and the metrics that will tell you if you're doing it properly. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

The best marketing in the world right now is being done behind closed doors. By people that don't work for the brand. And don't benefit from referring it. I'm talking about communities. And the top-tier marketers are cultivating groups of die-hard fans, not by pitching products, but by offering access to subject matter expertise. But building a community isn't as simple as creating a Facebook group or slack channel. So what are the keys to getting a strong community off the ground? Today Chris is talking to Dave Gerhardt, founder of the DGMG community. Together they will compare and answer questions about how they were able to build two of the strongest communities in B2B. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Buyers in 2021 and beyond want less involvement from a salesperson when doing product research. When buyers want to do most of the buying before talking to sales, it becomes a marketing-owned journey. And that is precisely why there has never been a better time to be a B2B marketer! In today's episode, Chris talks about what the top 1% of marketers are doing, why they're going to be on the same pay level as top salespeople, and what you need to do to get there.  Register to join us live for the Demand Gen Live: Expert Series with Dave Gerhardt, Nov 4 @ 9:00 AM EST: https://bit.ly/3CtJrU7 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Talking to customers is one of the most under-utilized opportunities that marketers take advantage of. The learnings from talking to a single customer will change the way you do content creation. Do it at scale and you'll change the trajectory of your organization. But how do you get started? The easiest way—leverage the teams within your org that already talk to customers (like customer success) and piggyback off those meetings. You'll be glad you did! Register to join us live for the Demand Gen Live: Expert Series with Dave Gerhardt, Nov 4 @ 9:00 AM EST: https://bit.ly/3CtJrU7 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Unpopular opinion—Marketing's job isn't to give sales a bunch of leads for them to call on. Marketing's job is to sell at scale and pull in high intent buyers to request demos for sales to close. But how do you do that if you're KPIs are all based on generating low-intent leads from gated content downloads? In this episode, Chris talks about the current state of B2B marketing and how broken it is. He discusses lead gen status quo, why it always fails, and how to generate real, high intent inbound leads. Register to join us live for the Demand Gen Live: Expert Series with Dave Gerhardt, Nov 4 @ 9:00 AM EST: https://bit.ly/3CtJrU7 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

TikTok. It's no longer a platform to "keep an eye on". It's here to stay and has been the fastest growing social media platform, globally, over the last several years. But is it the right platform for you as a B2B SaaS company? Maybe, maybe not. In this episode, Chris talks about why Refine Labs is diving into TikTok as a brand and encouraging employees to do so as well.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

You have an arsenal of marketing talent inside your organization. The question is, are you encouraging them to build their brand, or are you suppressing them? I'm talking about personal brands on LinkedIn and most companies are doing the latter. If you're worried about employees building a brand for themselves will cause them to leave, then you're not creating a culture that encourages them to stay. Having employees create personal brands is one of the best (and fastest) ways you can build authority in your industry. In this episode, Chris talks to Kerry-Ann Stimpson, host of "The Internal Marketing Podcast" about the importance of leveraging employee knowledge and branding for your company's benefit.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris joins Daniel Murray to talk about Dark Social, how it was discovered, and how marketing teams need to get off the attribution hamster wheel if they want to succeed in the new world of social media, communities, word of mouth, and everything that isn’t (falsely) measured by your attribution software. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

What is the most overlooked part of demand generation? Think about all the metrics you're measuring. All the channels you're covering. All the ad budget you're spending. Think about the number of leads you're collecting.   Now ask yourself this: Do you check to see if anyone is actually consuming your message? If your answer is "No", then how do you know if you're effectively communicating with your buyers?   That my friends is the most overlooked thing in demand gen programs. In today's episode, we're diving into how to start making this a key part of your demand gen process.   As always, we're taking live questions from the audience. You can join us weekly, every Tuesday night @ 7:30 PM EST on Demand Gen Live to ask your questions: https://bit.ly/2ZahXUE Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Dark Social is the difficult to measure areas where companies are creating demand for their category, brand, and product every single day. Brands that everyone knows and loves are built here, not through MQL generation. And let there be no confusion—the highest performing marketing teams in 2021 and beyond are winning by crushing their Dark Social strategy. Once you change how you measure marketing, what you optimize for, and how you think about attribution it opens up an incredible amount of opportunities for what B2B companies can do, that nobody is doing right now. When you stop trying to optimize to generate MQLs at the cheapest possible price, your mindset will change to educating the industry on how you do things and how it impacts them. When your prospects get continuous value out of your content, without an SDR beating down their door, they will continue to come back time after time—And eventually, when they're ready to buy, you'll win that opportunity. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In this episode, Chris dives in on how to change your mindset on LinkedIn ads to get better returns. If you want to be successful with LinkedIn ads you need to shift your mindset. It’s time to leave 2011 marketing tactics behind and stop optimizing your paid LinkedIn ad spend for MQLs. Instead, optimize your ads to increase the reach of your organic content. Use ads to help build your organic machine so you can reach a massive audience and be top of mind when they are ready to buy, instead of when you want them to buy. We also dive into how to optimize your pipeline for high intent lead handoffs to sales and answer questions from the best B2B marketers in the game. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

“Capturing intent data is the only way to get intent.” - Marketing teams everywhere ^ It’s not true and it’s time to accept it. Chris sat down with Jake Dunlap to discuss how the industry relies on intent data that is flawed, solely for the purpose of creating a metric—even if it's sabotaging their success. In this episode, you'll learn about the three levels of intent and how to optimize your marketing to create real intent, rather than capturing assumed intent.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Marketing teams that start planning for 2022 now are the ones that are going to win in Q1. Teams that wait until December, or even early January, are the ones that are going to be scrambling and end Q1 in the hole. In this expert series of State of Demand Gen, Chris welcomes Dave Gerhardt to discuss their top three tips for developing a Q1 2022 marketing plan now. They dive into seasonality, marketing agility, testing new ideas and channels, and the necessities for a successful Q1. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen brought the Demand Gen Live community back last night to discuss a couple agenda items in addition to a live Q&A. On the agenda:    - How product-led growth companies should be thinking about enterprise demand  - The Blended Funnel: why it’s hard to see it’s time to change your strategy. Chris answered follow-up questions in regards to the agenda items in addition to questions about how to tell when a channel is not working vs. the person managing the channel is not managing it well, and how to manage the over-reliance on attribution data. Don't miss our event with Dave Gerhardt, Chief Brand Officer at Drift, tomorrow October 7th at 12pm EDT. We'll be covering our top 3 recommendations for your 2022 strategy. Register here to attend live. 

This episode consists of a recording from Chris’s speaking slot at the Clozd Win Loss Week event. He shares how to build a marketing strategy, covering everything from win/loss analysis, customer research, and marketing fundamentals. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen brought the Demand Gen Live community together again last night for an hour-long episode. They covered the history of lead gen & ABM and the leading metric every marketing team should be measuring. They also hosted a live Q&A and answered questions about event strategy, direct mail, marketing without technology, and marketing career paths. Register here for next week's Demand Gen Expert Session with Dave Gerhardt, Chief Brand Officer at Drift.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris joined The Marketing Starter podcast as a guest to talk about the dynamic between marketing sales, the making of a B2B brand, paid social and ABM. He got into a ton of marketing fundamentals and broke down what "just checking the box" looks like. Chris shared what happens when marketing takes on sales behaviors and calls them marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

This episode consists of a recording from Chris Walker's speaking engagement at the Full-Funnel Summit 2021. The theme for his talk was Measurement & Reporting. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

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. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

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. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

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.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

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.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

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. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

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.” Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

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. 

After a week off of Demand Gen Live, Chris and Megan were back last night for the Tuesday evening installment where they covered the following topics:  A big shift in B2B Search (SEO/SEM) dynamics,  Is the MQA the new MQL?,  Breaking down what happens when Marketing crushes their pipeline goals & sales misses quota by 50%,  Word of Mouth is driving a lot of business for you that you don't recognize,  Why the entire GTM motion should have some shared goals, and Ungated content and the attribution dilemma.   Register here for our next DGL Keynote, on Thursday August 26th at 12pm EDT. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

This conversation was repurposed from Chris Walker's appearance as a guest on the B2B Made Simple Podcast. They got into the weeds in regards to organic social content strategy. Sam asked Chris questions about channels for new user acquisition, experimenting, metrics and the nitty gritty behind podcasting and creating content. Chris shared that the opportunity on LinkedIn organic isn't over, but it's certainly more challenging than it was a year or two ago.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Dustin Deno, SVP of Global Sales at Showpad, joined Chris on the podcast to address the following question: "when we stop generating leads that don't close, how are we going to keep our SDR team busy? They discussed an alternative for going outbound - intent, as well as how sales teams respond to this type of change. They also covered both the benefits and the challenges of this type of go-to-market and strategy change.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Triana Mills, Creative Director at Refine Labs, joined us for another Back to Basics episode, this time on the topic of The Power of Creative in B2B Marketing. Triana and Chris answered questions about the advantages of using good creative in B2B and how marketers can better work with their creative team to drive more expansive tests and engaging creative.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We recorded Chris’s LIVE session from the B2B Sales & Marketing Exchange 2021 in Boston, MA where he talks about how the marketers that are focusing on the dark funnel are the ones who are winning. This involves giving people information they want in the places they want to consume it, on their own time, as well as a fundamentally different mindset and measurement criteria. Instead of using the dark funnel to activate outbound sales, marketers should be focusing on driving signals in the dark funnel by putting valuable content there.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted another Demand Gen Live last night, breaking down the Refine Labs strategy for the community and talking about the more effective alternatives to buyer personas. Chris expanded on the dark funnel and connected that concept to splitting the funnel. He also answered questions about opportunities outside of your 9-5 in marketing, the most important questions marketers should be able to answer about their customers, and measuring the impact of marketing to prospects already in the buying cycle. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker hosted another live consulting session, this time with a post-seed stage start-up that is currently following the organic playbook we have shared on the podcast. You'll get to hear about things that the founders and practitioners noticed in their own business after implementing the strategy, and how you can implement an organic content strategy yourself with little to no resources. Chris answers their questions about measurement and how to paint the picture to investors, and they reiterate the importance of educating and providing value to their ICP instead of constantly trying to sell to them in an impersonal way. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

We hosted a Demand Gen Expert Session with Tom Wentworth, CMO at Recorded Future, to talk about the catch-22 of attribution and what marketers can and should do about it. We've all been in a place where the challenges of attribution are apparent. When you're hitting your numbers, no one cares about attribution. But when you're not, that's when others become critical of it. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted Demand Gen Live again last night and covered the following agenda: -What happens when Marketing aligns to REVENUE instead of "leads" or SQLs,  -How "ABM" breaks down at execution, and   -The blurring line between marketing & sales as well as how Chris distinguishes the two.   They also answered questions about where SDRs should sit in an org chart, the best sources for marketing education, why many marketers end up doing sales not marketing, the issues that come with scaling too quickly, and when you align to revenue what should happen vs. what you'll notice initially happening. Register here for tomorrow's live event with Tom Wentworth, CMO at Recorded Future. We'll be discussing The Catch 22 of Attribution & How B2B Marketers Should Respond. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Joe Mullings, Chairman & CEO of The Mullings Group Companies, joined Chris in the Refine Labs podcast studio for a discussion about what's changing in the hiring landscape and how companies should respond. Joe shared that "the market has changed more in the past 12 months than my previous 30 years in the business.” They talked about work from anywhere vs. working in the office, as an employer how to make the strongest offer possible and improve internal processes, the biggest reasons culture breaks down, and the impact of hiring what Joe calls "force multipliers."  Register here for next week's live event with Chris Walker and Dave Gerhardt.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted Demand Gen Live last night and covered the following agenda: 1 - The 5 Reasons Why B2B Advertising Fails, 2 - Building Your Paid Social Content Mix, and 3 - Why B2B Companies Need to Create Content In-House. They also answered questions live in regards to testing creative, how to decide if you have product market fit, growth marketers vs. product marketers, and influencer marketing. Chris shared that the way to win in the market right now is a combination of marketing and customer success. He also emphasized that impactful creative is a missing piece in most B2B companies.  Register for next Thursday’s live event with Dave Gerhardt here.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris hosted another live consulting session last week with an early-stage SaaS company. He walked through their overall strategy and made recommendations throughout, touching on customer research, their media plan across various channels, organic content strategy, and why optimizing for leads drives the wrong behaviors. He broke down their current strategy and provided deep and tactical recommendations to help them level up their marketing. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Charlotte Babington, Director of Demand Gen at Refine Labs, hosted this episode of Back to Basics on the topic of Content. They covered the role of content in creating demand, how to measure its success, and distribution means and channels.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Last night Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) and Megan Bowen (CCO, Refine Labs) brought the DGL community back to cover the following agenda: 1 - How to control the flow of demand, 2 - The 3 levels of intent, 3 - How to leverage communities as an acquisition channel. They also hosted a live Q&A throughout and answered questions in regards to what happens when you create too much demand, influencer marketing, podcasting, declared vs. assumed intent, and demo requests. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker hosted another Small Business Consulting Session a couple weeks ago where he helped a startup flesh out a modern organic content strategy that centers around a live event. He talked them through measurement and attribution, where the dark funnel comes into play, how to get a feel for if something is working or not when few to no quantitative metrics are available, and how to create a community and build an engaged audience. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

In response to some chatter circulating through the marketing community that LinkedIn organic is dead, Chris presented a keynote on why it in fact is very much still alive, and how marketers can still capitalize on the platform. He opened up the floor to a live Q&A and answered questions about whether it is best to distribute content via a personal or company profile, connection strategies, content ideas, and engagement metrics.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted an hour-long installment of Demand Gen Live last night. They covered:  Why optimizing for SQLs instead of MQLs, even though they're further down the funnel, is often counterproductive and causes misalignment,  Manual attribution and our findings from implementing this on our site, and how this differs from multi-touch attribution,  Demo conversion by source as a means of troubleshooting declining demo requests,  YouTube SEO, and  How website changes can negatively affect your demand system Register here for Chris's keynote on "The State of LinkedIn Organic in 2021," taking place Thursday July 15th at 9am PDT.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

This episode was created from Chris's appearance a couple months ago on the Techie Talkie podcast. He answered questions as they related to: How attribution today is broken and how to fix it, the split between capturing demand and creating demand, and why podcasting is an underrated channel for creating demand. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. Chris is presenting a keynote about LinkedIn organic at Demand Gen Live on 6/15, 12pm EDT. Register here to sign up for one or all of the Demand Gen Live Keynote Series.

This episode is a playback from Chris's appearance on Kathleen Booth's Inbound Success Podcast. Kathleen started the conversation off by asking Chris about how he created such a buzz in the marketing industry in 2 short years. Their conversation then flowed into covering topics such as using data to shift away from the lead gen mindset, tactics vs. strategies, and optimizing for brand top of funnel. “Marketing is about finding something that works well, and then being incredibly consistent at delivering it while also innovating on a micro level,” says Chris when asked about which channels to focus on to avoid being spread too thin. It's about dominating and mastering a few channels before delving into new ones. Chris also shared an interesting take on influencer marketing when he says "everyone is doing influencer marketing, whether or not they know it." Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. Chris is presenting a keynote about LinkedIn organic at Demand Gen Live on 6/15, 12pm EDT. Register here to sign up for one or all of the Demand Gen Live Keynote Series.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen got the Demand Gen Live community together again last night to talk through a handful of impactful demand gen topics. They covered:  How to build your holistic website funnel (with 50-100x better conversion rates than lead gen),  Rethinking attribution using common sense - add these 3 measurement methods to your stack, &  How marketing teams can be prepared to capitalize on new opportunities when they emerge.  In addition to the agenda topics, they answered live questions about multi-touch attribution, what really drives buying decisions and how to unveil that information from a prospective customer, how to know when to give something more time vs. throwing in the towel, and using market research to refine targeting, messaging, and positioning. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. Register for the July 8th Cognism event "The Dark Funnel & What It Means For Marketers" Chris is speaking at here: https://info.cognism.com/chris_walker_live

Gaetano DiNardi, Head of Growth & Demand Gen at Nextiva, joined Chris in the new podcast studio to talk about the State of Demand Gen in 2021. They covered whether B2B demand gen has gotten easier or harder to execute since last year, demand creation vs. demand capturing, why there's a lot more waste now in B2B and what companies can do about it, marketing ops and of course...SEO. Check out the full episode to find out which 4 key places Chris and Gaetano recommend marketers focus for the remainder of 2021. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Latané Conant, CMO at 6sense, joined us for a Demand Gen Live Expert Series yesterday to talk about the dark funnel and how to use intent as a trigger for outbound as a means of getting off the MQL hamster wheel.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted another Demand Gen Live community event this week. They covered three pre-set agenda topics: (1) The Demand Waterfall: Is it time for a new demand model?; (2) The 6 pillars to build your word of mouth strategy; (3) The big problem companies face when only focusing on capturing demand. Chris also opened the stage to a live Q&A and answered questions from the community in regards to quality vs. quantity of leads, content distribution and promotion, creating content at and around conferences and live events, and social listening. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. Register for tomorrow's Demand Gen Expert Session here. 

Chris Walker joined Norwest Venture Partners for an event called “The New Rules of Digital Advertising.” He shared insights on the gap between leads and revenue, measuring on pipeline and revenue instead of solely on leads, and why measurement and attribution needs to shift in this new era of marketing. He also talked about reverse engineering how marketing got to where it is today and followed up his keynote with a brief Q&A.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker presented another keynote last week and shared his demand generation framework. Main takeaways: Word of mouth drives most B2B buying decisions today The best way to connect with your buyers is through content that resonates with them Attribution isn't always what it seems Content distribution is just as, if not more important, than creation  The same team should be responsible for both brand AND demand He also answered questions in regards to his demand gen framework, inbound vs. outbound, and how to completely shift your strategy without creating operational inefficiencies based on current org structure and budget allocation and goals.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.  Register here for our next live event with Dave Gerhardt, taking place Thursday July 1st at 9am PDT / 12pm EDT.

Chris Walker hosted Demand Gen Live last night with MJ Peters as his co-host. They covered pipeline velocity and how to start incorporating that into your primary marketing metrics, the missing piece of product marketing, and building a community vs. building a following. Chris also answered questions about whether or not brand and demand should be separate functions in an organization, leveraging expertise and gaining trust amongst your audience, and limitations with direct attribution by channel. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. Register here for our next live event with Dave Gerhardt, taking place Thursday July 1st at 9am PDT / 12pm EDT.

Christopher Lochhead, Author of Play Bigger and Host of the Lochhead On Marketing Podcast, joined Chris for an episode of State of Demand Gen. They shared insights on category design, what makes a legendary marketer, and why marketing is just sales at scale. Lochhead shared his thoughts and examples on why categories make brands as well as how to understand if a company really gets marketing.  Disclaimer: This episode contains explicit language.   Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker hosted a European time zone-friendly episode of Demand Gen Live yesterday where he delivered a keynote on the Dark Funnel. He explained what the Dark Funnel is and what marketers can do to capture the attention of their buyers in the places and ways in which they ACTUALLY buy. He opened up the stage to a live Q&A after the keynote and answered questions about non-conversion-based paid social, whether or not you can measure the impact of marketing in the dark funnel, intent data, how to know if your messaging is resonating, and podcasting. Register for the Norwest Venture Partners event 'The New Rules of Digital Advertising' featuring our host, Chris Walker, here: https://newrulesofdigitaladvertising.splashthat.com/

Chris Walker hosted this week's Demand Gen Live from his new Boston podcast studio. The agenda consisted of: Why Marketing Teams Should Move to a Holistic Website-Sourced Funnel, Crash course: Revenue Ops for Marketers, and How to Measure the Impact of Brand. He answered questions from the audience in regards to freeing your marketing team from attribution, the dark funnel, pipeline marketing vs. creating demand, the purpose of landing pages, using brand and word of mouth to get in front of your buyers, the role of SDRs, and why not all leads are created equal. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. Make sure to register for Chris's keynote on the dark funnel, taking place tomorrow at 9:30am PDT / 12:30pm EDT: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvcuqqqT4tG9KUwTtuYepZGuzxNHTBaUnX

Tom Wentworth, CMO at Recorded Future, joined Chris for a podcast episode last week. They discussed what happens when marketers make the shift from optimizing for leads to optimizing for pipeline, and Tom shared that getting more leads is not always good for the business. Chris and Tom talked through opportunity costs, the long term implications of optimizing for short-term metrics, the importance of brand in hitting pipeline goals, and why having a loyal audience creates a competitive advantage. They also debated whether a content marketer or journalist makes more sense to hire internally as well as what missed opportunities they are seeing marketers make often. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen of Refine Labs hosted another Demand Gen Live last night. The agenda consisted of: Performance Marketing vs. Brand Marketing, Why You Don't *Need* SEO in 2021, and How Top Marketers Stay Ahead of the Curve. They also answered live questions about ungating content, adjusting your metrics and how that affects things downstream, the iOS 15 update, prioritization based on perceived or measurable impact, and creating content. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm. Curious how you can win in the dark funnel and get buy-in from leadership to invest in these channels? Chris Walker is delivering a keynote on this topic in a one-off episode of Demand Gen Live on 6/17 at 12pm EDT. Register here for access: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvcuqqqT4tG9KUwTtuYepZGuzxNHTBaUnX

Chris Walker, CEO at Refine Labs, hosted another small business consulting session where he narrowed in on a company's biggest opportunity to double down their efforts in what he calls the "white space." This is where there's a lot of organic reach and competitors are not executing properly. He also shared his take on their Google Search strategy and how he'd recommend taking their positioning to the next level. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker went live yesterday with Dave Gerhardt, CMO at Privy, to have a discussion around the topic of how to prioritize your career path as a marketer. They talked through why it isn't necessary to be an expert at every function within marketing, but to have an understanding of what good looks like in all those functions as well as a broader understanding of how marketing interacts with other departments throughout an organization. Chris and Dave took questions live as they related to working for large corporations vs. startups, imposter syndrome, being a generalist vs. a specialist, and how to gain experience outside of your role. We host a these Demand Gen Expert Sessions with Dave Gerhardt on the first Thursday of every month where you can ask Chris and Dave marketing-related questions LIVE. To register for future sessions, click here.

Last night on Demand Gen Live, Chris and Megan covered the following topics: The truth about influencer marketing that executives need to recognize Relationship building is at the core of B2B influencer marketing The value of user-generated content Great marketing means sales isn’t needed in the same capacity What types of content drive the most engagement Leveraging trade shows in an unconventional manner Sales enablement content Ad consumption - is there a negative impact if no action is taken? Experiential marketing How digital and offline channels intertwine Using media to educate and entertain the consumer rather than making them feel like they are just being moved through the funnel Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Christine Leonard, Director of Marketing Optimization at Amplify, came onto State of Demand Gen for an episode of Back to Basics about marketing optimization and the buyer experience. They touched on how to avoid a leaky funnel by making sure in ICP buyers are being handled appropriately, and how a phenomenal buyer experience can be a differentiator. Chris and Christine went back and forth on why marketers should be shadowing their sales teams so they understand what happens when a lead is passed over to sales. Chris suggested diving into lead-to-win percentage by source, and they discussed the varying role of RevOps.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Kathleen Booth, VP of Marketing at clean.io, joined Chris on State of Demand Gen to talk about authenticity in marketing. They discussed how to build leadership's confidence when it comes to experimentation and testing, why a "checking the box" approach to content is a huge missed opportunity, and the nuances between subscription and membership models. Kathleen and Chris shared their thoughts on outdated marketing strategies and how to freshen them up, and why brand marketing for a large corporation looks drastically different than that of a smaller organization. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Gaetano DiNardi (Director of Growth Marketing @ Nextiva) made a surprise appearance on Demand Gen Live with Chris Walker last night. They covered... What The Dark Funnel Is and How Marketers Can Use it to Market Better Issues with Intent Data Marketing Momentum The Importance of Consistency Creating a top 25 marketing podcast Leaning into what you can't measure Compounding gains Distribution strategies for hard to reach audiences Targeted direct mail When to outsource expertise Getting the most SEO bang for your buck How do you know when an experiment is working or not The broken SDR model Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Nick Bennett (Director of Account-Based & Field Marketing @ Alyce) brought Chris onto his Field Marketing Meetup to talk about the biggest upcoming opportunities in the field marketing space. They broke down the definition of field marketing and how field marketing tactics move across into demand and product marketing. It's important to note that what field marketing is defined as in one organization could be completely different than what it may be in another, but is oftentimes the bridge between sales and marketing.

Chris joined Mark Stouse on the Accelerating Value podcast to talk about the differences between B2C and B2B, specifically in regards to what B2B companies should unlearn from B2C marketing strategies. They talked about disrupting the “agency” world and why if a marketing agency can’t market themselves that should be a red flag. Chris also shared why churn is a business problem, not a customer success problem, and what the leading causes of churn are and how to correct them. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris and Megan hosted a special episode of Demand Gen Live last night with the primary focus being career growth and entrepreneurship. Chris kicked off the episode sharing his unconventional career path and how he ended up founding Refine Labs. They followed up with a Q&A where they covered an assortment of topics including:   Intent signals How do you keep your strategy moving or know when it’s time to move on As a marketer your job is to keep moving with your customer Following your intuition as a marketer The importance of deeply understanding your customer How demand gen marketers should structure their relationships with sales leadership What conversations with sales should demand gen marketers be involved in? The role of empathy in a business setting and in marketing The importance of marketing fundamentals Is it a content issue or an audience issue? Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris hosted a consulting call with a one-person marketing team with no budget at a small business. He shared his insights on the best approaches to take, given the inputs, to answer the following question: "If we have certain brands we want to target, what would be the best marketing approach to begin to attract that potential business via our digital marketing channels?" Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted a 1.5 hour-long installment of Demand Gen Live last night. They covered:   The business rationale behind why marketing-sourced revenue is a better metric than marketing-influenced revenue Reaching new audiences through podcasting Setting a content strategy with an external SME Striking a balance between providing true value and entertaining in your content strategy How content can be repurposed for different use cases and mediums The power of partnering with other individuals who are influential to your target market How marketers can help drive process improvements in sales and CS The state of in-person events for the remainder of 2021 Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Erik MacKinnon hosted this episode of Back to Basics with Chris with the main topic being content creation and distribution. They discussed how an earlier stage company, younger marketer, or a company just running SEO as their content play could go about shifting their focus to creating impactful content. Erik and Chris talked about organizational alignment and why marketers need to focus as much, if not more, on distribution.  Throughout the episode, Chris answered the following questions: What are some of the foundational principles to building a successful modern content marketing function? Is there any structure or approach that you recommend for a team who is new to content marketing? What are some of the common “best practices” or older plays that a forward-thinking, progressive content marketer should avoid? B2B SaaS marketplace is noisy and competitive, how much do you think the look, feel and experience plays into the effectiveness of content marketing vs. the information being provided? Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker kicked off the first event of our recurring series with Dave Gerhardt, CMO at Privy, on the 6th of May and spent an hour covering a handful of different topics. They talked about whether marketing is an art or science (or both), having a pulse on your market, why building brand and creating demand builds businesses, and the impact of positioning your company as the expert in your niche and how that makes selling your product or service easier. Dave also went into detail on company strategy, positioning, and messaging and the order in which those need to be done.  If you enjoyed this episode and haven't registered for the series yet, make sure to secure your spot here! Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted another installment Demand Gen Live last night and covered the following topics:   Why having customers that are happy is the most important thing in a business  How to create content that works across the entire journey  Thinking about things through a long term lens We are in the word-of mouth marketing era  The hidden benefits of thought leadership and personal branding  Brand Demand and ABM: Which to start with and how to implement each in your organization  How to approach competitor conquest campaigns being run against your company  Why creative in B2B ads actually does matter  LinkedIn advertising benchmarks and platform review  Chris’s favorite B2B tech stack  Why it's important for your CEO to believe in marketing  Make sure to register here for our recurring live series with Dave Gerhardt, CMO at Privy. The first event will be taking place on May 6 at 9am PDT / 12pm EDT.  Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Sidney Waterfall hosted this episode of Back to Basics with Chris Walker with the main focus of attribution in the B2B SaaS space. While there are common pitfalls associated with the over-reliance on attribution, it's not always so black and white. It's not that you shouldn't use it, just that you should understand when it should and should not be used. It's about balancing the things that you can and can't measure. Just because you can measure it doesn't mean it works and vice versa. We'd love to hear what you think about the Back to Basics series. Submit any feedback to DGL@refinelabs.com. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

On last night's episode of Demand Gen Live, Chris Walker and Megan Bowen covered the following topics:   Why marketers who create the most demand are the most in-demand; Pros and cons of category creation on SEO; A clearly defined playbook for creating demand; The value of SMEs creating content; How inefficiencies break as you scale; Intent data vs. actual intent; Marketing to different segments; Does SaaS marketing transfer to other industries; and Not blindly following advice. Thanks to our friends at Hatch for producing this episode. Get unlimited podcast editing at usehatch.fm.

Mark Roberge, Managing Director at Stage 2 Capital and former CRO at Hubspot, joined Chris on State of Demand Gen last week. They broke down common challenges with scaling B2B businesses, and Mark shared the top 5 reasons why SaaS businesses struggle with scaling. He shared why customer retention should be of heavier focus, and how to establish a leading metric for customer behavior since retention takes awhile to measure. He also explained what the three avenues of growth are and how they can be utilized to expand into a new market. Additionally, Chris and Mark jammed on inefficient sales processes and how sending your best leads to your least experienced sales professionals is a mistake that must be avoided. “I find that the founders jump too quickly to establish top line revenue as a North Star metric over customer success.”

Chris joined Hannah Munro on the CFO 4.0 Podcast to talk about how the role of marketing has shifted. He shared insights in regards to : better defining what a lead is, brand as a feeling, how the buying process has changed drastically over the past several years, why some of the most effective marketing strategies can't be measured, and how investing appropriately in marketing will drive business faster than an overinflated sales team. Register here for our recurring series with Dave Gerhardt, CMO at Privy. 

On last night's episode of Demand Gen Live, Chris and Megan covered the following topics:  Lead gen vs. Demand gen: how metrics and timing define your strategy Brand recognition Being realistic in regards to results Determining what makes most sense for your business to prioritize TODAY, not 10 years ago The curve of the adoption of innovation Insourcing vs. Outsourcing The importance of owning your CRM, your data, your tech stack, and your ad accounts internally Differences between LinkedIn personal & company page on LI strategies Why companies can’t, or don’t, innovate internally How marketing strategy misinformation can be often traced back to MarTech vendors Paying for attention vs. commanding attention When is it appropriate to recycle ad content Register for our recurring live series with Dave Gerhardt here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMucOuqqT0qHNH0y3ivTKPIUAHUUQgWwQmh

This episode was repurposed from when Chris joined Dave Gerhardt (CMO at Privy) for a conversation on the B2B Marketing Leaders podcast. They talked about unconventional growth levers, problem solving as a marketer, the importance of being in the details, and why a strong team makes everything easier. Chris dove into why measurement is flawed in marketing and how to use correlation and social cues as a means of measurement, and Dave shared that one thing marketers are not good at doing is thinking about both short-term pipeline generators and long term brand/revenue plays, like a podcast. Chris and Dave are putting on a recurring live event the first Thursday of every month. Registration is required (and free), so make sure to save your spot here and add it to your calendar.

Sam Kuehnle, Director of Demand Gen @ Refine Labs, hosted a Back to Basics session with Chris Walker about the buyer experience. They talked through the importance of reverse engineering your own buying process by challenging the ways people have previously done things and mapping the journey back to how people buy things today. Keep yourself honest by asking yourself when the last time a tactic you are currently employing worked on yourself. Sam and Chris talked through some of the most common mistakes companies make as well as assumptions and stereotypes that need to be replaced with actual customer insights from people who are in the market. “The journey is not linear.”

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen host this week's episode of Demand Gen Live. This episode covers some new topics in depth:   Strategy:  1. Why most companies don't create demand  2. How to use data to actually improve marketing performance  3. Just because it's inbound doesn't mean it's a good marketing strategy  4. It's' time to rethink what a website is for   Paid Social Deep Dive:  5. Copy in the creative is the #1 variable that determines whether or not your ad is successful  6. When to invest in a targeting tool like Metadata or Clearbit  7. Why creative is your secret weapon for maximizing smaller budgets  8. Why your lookalike audiences might be a trap 9. How to measure the success of a retargeting campaign Register here for our recurring live event with Dave Gerhardt (CMO at Privy).

Chris joined our good friends at Sweet Fish Media on the B2B Growth Show to talk about the difference between lead generation and demand generation. Chris shared his thoughts on why the idea of a funnel can be misleading when thinking of a modern buyer’s journey. They also discussed the differences between sales led and product led marketing and what steps a marketer could take to propel their career.

Collin Cadmus, Founder of Collin Cadmus LLC, joined Chris on the podcast to dissect his recent LinkedIn post that started with "Marketing is more important than sales." They discussed the importance in investing in building out your marketing team before scaling your sales team, and the challenges of rebalancing both teams when you've over-hired for sales. Collin shared the signals to look out for to tell you that you have too many sales reps. Marketing is the foundation for sales, and it's easier and more efficient to put that foundation in place before scaling the sales team so the reps are well equipped to do their job. 

This week on Demand Gen Live, Chris Walker and Megan Bowen broke down the difference between marketing sourced revenue and marketing influenced revenue, and which you should be focusing on. They also talked about how word of mouth amplified your marketing and the role of email nurture in B2B marketing and how to nurture prospects by other distribution means. After covering the agenda, Chris and Megan answered questions in regards to nurture campaigns, LinkedIn paid ads, and the importance of having an SME on board with creating content.

Chris Walker joined Andy Paul on the Sales Enablement Podcast to talk about why marketing gets stuck, and how to get unstuck. They talk about making space for innovation, closing the gap between how buyers are buying and how businesses are being run, the importance of qualitative feedback, and why the fear of the unknown is ruining marketing and sales strategies.

Dave Gerhardt, CMO at Privy, joined us for another live session to dive into the power shift from sellers to buyers and how that affects your marketing strategy. Half of their session consisted of a live AMA in which they answered questions in regards to: questions marketers should be able to answer about their customers, solutions to podcast & organic content roadblocks, the key players for each type of marketing team, the importance of consistency, and getting executive buy-in for organic brand activities.

Last night we celebrated the one year anniversary of Demand Gen Live! We hosted a special episode and had some of our loyal community members share their success stories as they related to the impact Demand Gen Live has had on their careers. Chris and Megan also answered questions revolving around topics like: when it makes sense to move towards being a specialist over a generalist, what to look for when hiring demand marketers, personal branding, and moving from typical lead gen activities to more focus on brand. Register here for our event with Dave Gerhardt (CMO at Privy), taking place April 1st at 12pm EDT. 

Chris Walker joined Nick Bennett on the Rep Your Brand podcast to talk about the impact of having a strong personal brand on your business. He shares that everyone has a personal brand, whether they think they do or not. If there are inconsistencies between who you are and what you say, you are diminishing your brand. Chris and Nick unveil the misconceptions behind sharing content openly on social platforms as well as the positive repercussions doing so can have, especially in the B2B SaaS space.

Andy Raskin joined us on State of Demand Gen to break down what he means when he talks about Strategic Narrative. He shares that the companies that are winning now are powered by a strategic narrative, which is more than just marketing and sales. It’s a story that guides actions at a company across all departments. Andy and Chris also talk about what you can learn from a movie that can be applied to your company’s pitch, the role customers play in the strategic narrative process, and how refining your company's narrative can make a positive difference in recruiting. Register for our live event on April 1st with Dave Gerhardt (CMO at Privy) here. 

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen started off this week's Demand Gen Live with recommendations for hosting micro events once it is safe to do so again. They shared the start to finish strategy, which includes using the content from the event itself as a fresh content pillar. Chris also shared his thoughts on marketing attribution, dove into some marketing automation and tactical paid social questions, talked about using data to optimize conversions, and shared his take on why smart companies will start to outsource marketing innovation. We'll be hosting a special event next week for our one-year anniversary of Demand Gen Live. You can sign up here. Also, don't forget to register for our next live event with Dave Gerhardt (CMO at Privy) here.

Dave Rigotti, Founder of Inflection.io joined us on State of Demand Gen to talk about common misconceptions when it comes to product led growth. Dave and Chris discuss the role marketing plays and how a company can prepare to switch from sales led to product led. They also touch on ABM and how a company should go about building their list.

We’re back with a second episode of Back to Basics, this time featuring Judy Sheriff (VP of Demand Gen @ Refine Labs) to break down the importance of marketers focusing on the entire funnel, and the repercussions of only focusing on metrics up to MQL.

This week's Demand Gen Live had a heavy focus on the execution of paid ads - we did a SaaS demand teardown of Procurify's digital marketing and answered questions live in regards to strategy and execution. The teardown incorporated a live screen share and kicks off at 5:01. If you wish to skip to the end, fast forward to 18:22 where Chris jumps into his thoughts and recommendations on direct response Facebook ads and conversion-based paid social campaigns. If you'd like to follow along with the screen share, check out the full video recording on Youtube and fast forward to 5:35 on the YouTube video. Whatever you choose, we'd like to note that the screen share aspect is not necessary to understand what is being talked about. In addition to the demand teardown, we also narrowed in on testing creative and targeting for paid social channels. We covered what complacency looks like in your marketing strategy and how to avoid and eradicate it, and dropped a special announcement about an upcoming event we are hosting with Dave Gerhardt (CMO at Privy), which you can register for here.

Andrea Kayal, CMO at Electric, joined Chris Walker on State of Demand Gen the other day. Andrea shared how companies choose to build their marketing teams based on the stage they’re in, and dove into the need for balance between strategy and execution. They discussed how to go about discovering pockets of opportunity by allocating budget to experimentation. Andrea then shared what aspects of her marketing strategy have been changed by the pandemic for the better.

Maya Grossman, VP of Marketing at Jumpstart, joins Chris Walker on State of Demand Gen to talk about her experience running top performing marketing teams at companies of various sizes. She emphasizes the importance of being quick off the bat to get results that will help you learn and optimize, as well as the importance of having conversations early and often with your customers. Maya shared her thoughts on what marketers can do fresh in their career to set themselves up for success later on. Chris then steered the conversation to revolve around content, specifically how a marketing team can go about justifying the investment in brand, and how one content pillar can create a waterfall effect. "Hope is not a strategy." -Maya Grossman

This week on Demand Gen Live, Chris and Megan covered a timely topic: why the removal of third-party cookies gives strong marketers an advantage. Additionally, they talked about the notion that it’s not always an either/or for organic or paid, it’s both. Chris also shared his thoughts on stacking growth by running experiments as a means of identifying new growth levers. As always, they took questions from the audience throughout the show. We're nearing the year anniversary of Demand Gen Live and would love to hear any success stories from listeners putting the tactics they learned from the Demand Gen Live series into action. Submit any success stories to DGL@refinelabs.com

"When you spend all your time and all your money on the wrong things, you don’t have the resources needed to try new innovative things that might actually work better than what you’re already doing."  Chris joined Brett Trainor on the B2B Founders Podcast to share his thoughts on maneuvering around common barriers when building a B2B business. They discussed the short and long term effects of running marketing campaigns solely to hit a metric and the difference in channels in regards to intent. Chris provided a breakdown of what the strategy should look like and how the founder of the company fits into the mix. He also explained why content marketing with effective distribution on social channels is currently the best way to grow your business and brand.

Chris joined the SEI Live Meetup to provide coaching on how to get started with creating content. He harped on the notion of progress over perfection, and the importance of commitment and consistency. He shared how he got started on LinkedIn organic and how he got to where he is today, then opened up the session to a live Q&A. “The quality of the information and how it’s communicated is what’s most important.”

Chris and Megan hosted the 51st Demand Gen Live installment last night with a packed agenda. They dove into why your ABM list should include target companies where you have an unfair competitive advantage, the difference between demand gen and marketing as a whole, and a step by step breakdown of how we structure, run, and optimize paid social campaigns.

Today we are trying out a new format due to positive feedback from our podcast consulting sessions. We’re going back to the basics of paid social advertising and breaking down the benefits of using that channel to capture and create demand. Let us know what you think of this new format by reaching out via LinkedIn.

Udi Ledergor (CMO at Gong) joined us for a Demand Gen Expert Session to talk about why Gong, a B2B SaaS company, decided to run a Super Bowl ad. They also broke down why you should try to avoid best practices, and discussed ways marketers at new companies can get brand campaigns and low budget initiatives off the ground.

This week’s DGL with Chris and Megan focuses on three key topics: why B2B companies struggle with organic content that’s not for SEO, how to build demand momentum, and the lost of art of segmentation, targeting, and positioning. The detailed AMA segment twists and turns through fascinating subjects like the right way to break up with your customer and developing your learning & testing processes.

Joe Mullings, Chairman & CEO of The Mullings Group Companies, joined Chris on State of Demand Gen to talk about recruiting and retaining demand gen leaders. They shared a new framework that forward-thinking companies have adopted in an effort to attract the best talent. Joe and Chris also discussed why companies shouldn’t be afraid of their employees creating their own personal brand and posting content on LinkedIn.

Chris Walker hosted another podcast and LinkedIn strategy consulting session with a cybersecurity company. They asked him questions in regards to real roadblocks and problems they're encountering as they get ready to launch and promote their podcast, especially in regards to distribution, reaching the right audience, and engaging with their target market. Register here for our Demand Gen Expert Session with Udi Ledergor, CMO at Gong, on Tuesday February 23 at 2pm PST / 5pm EST: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ldu-uqD0pGNP-Z07Z47-dF8Zd4Gzou-G_

Last night's Demand Gen Live with Chris Walker and Megan Bowen revolved around the customer/buyer experience and how that comes into play in regards to your marketing strategy. They talked about how to go about using paid advertising to learn more about your buyers, testing new messaging, more useful ways to employ your SDR team, and the importance of a strong brand. Register here for our Demand Gen Expert Session with Udi Ledergor (CMO at Gong) on February 23rd at 5pm EST.

Justin Welsh, Founder at JW Strategic Advisory, joined Chris Walker on State of Demand Gen to break down how he used organic content on LinkedIn to build his personal brand. Justin shared his Content Matrix and how it helped him get over hurdles when he was first getting started, the importance of consistency and distribution, and the benefits of publishing content both for the individual and the associated company and brand.

Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) and Dave Gerhardt (CMO, Privy) hosted an hour-long discussion about B2B influencer marketing, content marketing trends, modern PR, attribution, and the ins and outs of buying intent. They talked about the importance of modern PR and being the media company, building an audience, and how attribution starts with just a gut feeling. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted the 19th episode of the second season of Demand Gen Live last night. They covered three key agenda topics: (1) Refine Labs' Content Strategy - How a 3-person marketing team creates more content than most 1000+ employee companies, (2) SaaS Go-To-Market - It's time to get out a blank sheet of paper & start over, and (3) iOS 14 updates - Why Marketers that thrive in the unmeasurable will win. As always, they ended the session with a live AMA. To register for our Demand Gen Expert Session with Dave Gerhardt, taking place on 2/11 at 1pm EST, click here.

Sahil Mansuri (CEO at Bravado) joined us on State of Demand Gen to talk about the importance of marketers having empathy for sales. We also discussed unrealistic goals, transparency in the buyer’s journey, and the impact of misaligned goals across the organization.

Chris joined Mike Simmons on the Catalyst Sale podcast to talk through the importance of setting the right foundation in order to make marketing to revenue achievable. They discussed how to go about attacking a market where there's a lot of noise, scenarios in which marketing fails, the necessity of customer feedback, and quantifying the impact of speed in marketing.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Today marks our 100th episode on the State of Demand Gen podcast! Thanks to all our subscribers, listeners, guests and the team behind the scenes for setting us up for success. Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted Demand Gen Live last night and dove into a few key topics - (1) Transitioning from Lead Gen to Demand Gen, (2) Why Direct Attribution Fails on Paid Social, and (3) Why Building an Effective, Sustainable Demand Engine Takes Time. They followed the scheduled agenda with a 1.5 hour long AMA. To register for our free Demand Gen Expert Session with Dave Gerhardt (CMO at Privy) on 2/11 at 1pm EST, click here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsce6qrDksGtOV7IVAby_KWElcWvbilNyH

Rand Fishkin (Co-Founder & CEO, SparkToro) joined Chris Walker the other day to talk about his book Lost & Founder and break down his article “Something is Rotten in Online Advertising.” They talk about what you can do with your marketing dollars outside of paid advertising, the cost of optimizing for the wrong metrics, running effective ads, and building a product and brand that people love.

Patrick Campbell (Founder & CEO @ ProfitWell) joined Chris Walker on State of Demand Gen to break down his content journey at ProfitWell and share his recommendations for content creation and distribution.

Chris and Megan hosted another Demand Gen Live and set the high level agenda with The truth about website Content Experience Platforms and What parts of B2B marketing can be outsourced. The majority of the installment was geared towards the live AMA where they answered questions about case study distribution on paid social, thought leadership, how to evaluate a data-savvy marketing ops professional, and Google Ads. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We hosted our first Demand Gen Expert Session with Chris Walker and Gaetano DiNardi (Director of Growth Marketing @ Nextiva) and jammed for an hour on demand gen, performance marketing, and content. More specifically, we covered YouTube SEO & pre-roll ads, the CRO function as it relates to marketing, why you don’t need an expensive attribution modeling tool, and why exact match for PPC should rarely be used. We also covered how to repurpose excess sales resources and live chat vs. chat bots.

During last night's Demand Gen Live we set the stage with a few key topics: How to think about content quality, What parts of B2B marketing can be outsourced, and Early findings on testing intent data. We then opened the floor and answered questions in regards to podcasting and SME content creation, Google removing third party cookies, intent data, and the impact of privacy restrictions on ads. To register for our Demand Gen Expert Session with Gaetano DiNardi on Thursday 1/21 at 12pm EST, click here. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Nick Bennett (Director of Field Marketing @ Logz.io) joined Chris Walker on State of Demand Gen to talk about what field marketing is and how he sees it playing a part in demand as a whole. They also discussed KPIs for field marketing, how the team is typically structured, the importance of understanding functions outside of marketing, and the future of the CMO and CRO roles.  To register for our Demand Gen Expert Session with Gaetano DiNardi on Thursday 1/21 at 12pm EST, click here. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We broke a record last night for the longest Demand Gen Live to date! Thank you everyone who submitted questions in advance and live. We talked about everything from how to make entertaining & engaging content to what metrics should be used to measure growth at various stages of the funnel. To register for our Demand Gen Expert Session with Gaetano DiNardi on Thursday 1/21 at 12pm EST, click here. To register for future Demand Gen Live sessions, click here. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris joined Ryan Baker (VP of Digital Strategy @ 417 Marketing) on the 417 Marketing Podcast to talk about the importance of brand activities that cannot be directly attributed to revenue. They talked about marketing sourced qualified pipeline and revenue as a metric, the difference between brand and branding, and why playing the long game helps you get better results in the short-term as well. Chris also shared his insights on qualitative metrics and how to get feedback without asking for it.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

For this episode we recorded a call Chris held with a couple new podcast hosts. They asked him questions about all the things including recording logistics, guests, branding, finding your niche, process, and distribution. "Especially at the beginning, your content and distribution is far more important than what mic and camera you're using."  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We kicked off the first Demand Gen Live of 2021 last night on Zoom and were joined by several new and returning faces. We covered Chris Walker's 2021 B2B Marketing Predictions, International Demand Gen, The Future of the SDR role, and a handful of questions submitted in advance and live by our audience. Submit any questions you want us to cover next week to DGL@refinelabs.com and register for the series here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/uJIpdO-vqDsoxeNkHjM_AAG9HFI9m9SKGQ For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

"Removing channel attribution inside of social channels is absolutely required in B2B companies moving forward." Today we tried out a new format and had Chris go deep on a topic that was top of mind. He talks about how much better your marketing can be if you strip away the need to attribute leads to specific channels. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Last night we hosted the last Demand Gen Live of 2020! Chris Walker and Megan Bowen talked through content creation, pipeline marketing, conversion tracking, and paid ad variations. As always, we hosted a live AMA as well. We're kicking off the 2021 Demand Gen Live series next week and whether you're a first timer or a returning guest, you'll want to register here to get it on your calendar: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/uJIpdO-vqDsoxeNkHjM_AAG9HFI9m9SKGQ For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

In the midst of the holidays we gathered 30 marketers on Zoom to resume our second to last Demand Gen Live installment of the year. We set the agenda with Why only having a small budget to start is an advantage, Why didn't a SaaS company start Thursday Night Sales or Demand Gen Live, and Important considerations when transitioning from Sales-led to Product-led. Thanks to the questions that were submitted ahead of time, we also went into depth on the iOS update's implications on Facebook ads, success on LinkedIn, podcasting, and Google ads. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We hosted another AMA using the questions you've asked us on LinkedIn. Listen in to hear Chris’s answers in regards to podcast advertising, why all MQLs are NOT created equal, what types of ads you should run instead of Get a Demo ads, and converting high-intent leads. We'll be running with this format one more time before the year ends.  If you have any questions you want us to answer either here or on Demand Gen Live, submit them to DGL@refinelabs.com.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We opened up the chat to questions early this week on Demand Gen Live with Chris Walker and Megan Bowen. They answered questions regarding Facebook audience targeting and campaign structures, podcast distribution, and how to measure marketers if not on channel metrics. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We’ve been getting a ton of questions submitted via email and on LinkedIn and are trying out this new format to keep up with the volume. In this session we answered questions about what marketers should be doing instead of virtual trade shows, why the traditional webinar as we know it is outdated, and how to get executives on board when experimenting with brand activities.  If you have questions you’d like Chris to answer, send them to DGL@refinelabs.com

"Whether or not your content marketing will be successful comes down to your INTENT." On this installment of Demand Gen Live Season 2, Chris and Megan talked about why direct response demo ads don't work, why Google gets more credit than it actually deserves, and how to choose the right company to work for as a demand marketer. We opened up the floor to a live AMA and answered questions relating to intent, paid social targeting, retargeting, and organic content.

Chris was interviewed by Luigi Prestinenzi (Co-Founder and Head of Growth @ Sales IQ Group) on the Sales IQ podcast. They talked about how important it is for marketers to have sales conversations and frame results to your executives to get things done. Chris also talks about how not all MQLs are created equal and how different lead sources close at vastly different rates.

Chris Walker was back for Demand Gen Live this week and co-hosted the installment with Megan Bowen. They covered: Key steps Refine Labs took to create market demand; How marketers can develop business acumen; and Why changing from lead-based to account-based may not fix your marketing. We also hosted a live AMA and answered questions submitted live and in advance from our audience. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker hosted Cassidy Shield on State of Demand Gen to talk about marketing in 2021. The pandemic has forced companies to focus on CREATING demand, not just capturing it. Cassidy shared his insights on how they know what’s working and what’s not, and how to reevaluate current channels and repurpose them for new objectives.

"If you can figure out how to scale culture, it will be way easier for you to win." Chris hosted Kyle Lacy (CMO of Lessonly) on State of Demand Gen. They jammed on how to measure your demand team, getting rid of the lead goal, ditching metrics when it comes to brand activities, and scaling culture.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

"Market the way you buy." Daniel Murray hosted Chris Walker on The Marketing Millennials podcast the other day. They talked about how buyers have changed over the past 10 years, what it really means to be buyer-centric, what marketers should be measuring and reporting on, and the only 2 cases in which Chris will run direct response campaigns.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker and Megan Bowen hosted Demand Gen Live again and tackled several detailed questions submitted in advance and live from our audience. Some of the topics we covered include: Why you should stop measuring marketing influenced revenue; LinkedIn spam; Marketing regression; How to create true buying intent; and Why not all MQLs and SQOs are created equal. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder at Terminus, joined Chris Walker on State of Demand Gen to go into more detail about ABM - specifically tips for better execution and measurement.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

On last night's episode of Demand Gen Live we hosted a live AMA and tackled topics such as: How to balance Brand and Performance, Measuring the effectiveness of LinkedIn and Facebook advertising, the LinkedIn algorithm and content distribution. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

James Hounslow, host of the Tech Sales Influencers podcast, interviewed Chris Walker the other week. They talked about what sales leaders who are focused on top of funnel should be doing to be most effective, how changes in the marketing department can have negative downstream effects, and how to command your buyers' attention in a way that provides value and changes perception. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube. 

Chris and Megan powered through another Demand Gen Live last night to discuss the differences between Capturing Demand and Creating Demand. We also answered questions submitted in advance and live about:  Assignments during the recruitment process for Director+ level roles;  Podcasting in a saturated market;  What creative works best for paid social campaigns; and  How to get customer feedback as a marketer. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Josh Wagner (Head of Partnerships @ LeadMD) joined Chris Walker for a short session on State of Demand Gen. They deep dive into Account Based Marketing (ABM) to discuss how it originated and has been used well, and poorly, especially in the B2B SaaS space.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Last night we continued Season 2 of Demand Gen Live with the AMA format. Chris and Megan tackled questions asked both before the show and live ranging from what demand REALLY means and how to create it with momentum to case studies and podcasts. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Kyle Hamer (Founder & CEO, Hamer Marketing Group) hosted Chris Walker on the SUMMIT Podcast to talk about marketing in a post-COVID-19 world. They discussed how to use both intuition and data to determine where to spend your budget, why you should separate performance and brand, and how unrealistic goals drive the wrong marketing behaviors. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Kevin "KD" Dorsey joined Chris on State of Demand Gen this week to talk about how B2B can learn from B2C, especially in regards to influencer marketing. They discuss their thoughts on B2B influencer/user marketing and why SaaS companies in particular should be considering this approach. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

On last night's Demand Gen Live we received several questions before the show and tackled them live. Some topics we covered include:   -Brand, Demand, ABM - Where to focus?;   -First 90 days as the first marketing hire; and  -How the pursuit of ROI and Efficiency drives bad marketing. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

On Season 2 Episode 2 of Demand Gen Live, we talked about: How Sales can work well with the CMO, How word of mouth drives revenue with zero attribution, and what B2B marketers can learn from B2C. We also hosted a live AMA and answered questions about topics including LTV, ad copy variation, imposter syndrome, and segmenting. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker joined Sandro Meyer on The Growth Leadership Show to talk about: why other people don't post regularly on LinkedIn, what happens when metrics become more important than the outcome, the importance of primary market research, content creation and distribution, and what you can outsource vs. what you can't. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Latané Conant, CMO at 6sense, joined Chris Walker on State of Demand Gen to go into more detail about the concepts that are discussed in her new book “No Forms. No Spam. No Cold Calls.”  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Last night we kicked off Season 2 of Demand Gen Live with our co-hosts Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) and Megan Bowen (CCO, Refine Labs). We leaned harder into the AMA format and covered a variety of topics including:   Being proactive vs. reactive in the sales process and with customers;  Why meaningful content should be incorporated throughout the entire sales and customer journey; Launching into a new market with a new product; Customer at-risk identification programs; and 2021 Demand predictions For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris interviewed Darryl Praill (CRO @ VanillaSoft) on State of Demand Gen this week to talk about marketing, sales, and where both sit in the organization. They discuss common frictions between the two teams, and how they can work together to achieve a shared goal...revenue. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

In the Season 1 Finale of Demand Gen Live, we had Gaetano DiNardi (Director of Growth Marketing, Nextiva) back to go through a stacked agenda.  We covered:   -Scaling a global demand team,  -Why Enterprise companies don't publish pricing,  -Hot takes on LinkedIn stories,  -Why is it so hard to hire top demand gen talent?, and  -Better ways to nurture "leads" in long sales cycles.   Tune in next week LIVE for Season 2!  Link to register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/uJIpdO-vqDsoxeNkHjM_AAG9HFI9m9SKGQ For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Erik Jacobson (CEO, Lemonpie) interviewed Chris Walker on "Brands That Podcast" to talk about Chris's thoughts on what most B2B companies are doing wrong in regards to leads and attribution. He also goes into detail about the State of Demand Gen podcast and how companies should be integrating podcasting and organic LinkedIn thought leadership into their marketing strategy.   For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris sat down with Scott Rivers (Managing Partner, Cerca Talent+) to talk about modern marketing. They touched on how to can get to a place with your marketing where you are allowing your buyers to learn about your product in the way that THEY want, as well as how to commit to, set expectations, and get buy-in throughout your organization when running a new experiment. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Gaetano DiNardi (Director of Growth Marketing, Nextiva) joined us once again for the 27th installment of Demand Gen Live. We covered: why overweight sales teams can get marketers stuck on the lead gen hamster wheel, why Facebook ads should remain in your 2021 marketing mix, and also hosted a live AMA and took questions from the attendees.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker was joined by Jonathan Beaton, VP of Marketing at IntSights, to talk through the marketing values they hold that go against the grain. They touched on how they got where they are today, how to stay ahead of the curve, performance marketing, outsourcing content, and modern PR.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

This installment of Demand Gen Live marks 6 months since we started the series on Zoom. We dove into why your company should seriously consider starting a podcast and did an in depth live paid social and search analysis of a B2B SaaS company. We concluded with a live Q&A and an incentivized challenge for our attendees. NOTE: The live B2B paid social & search breakdown was cut out from this audio recording. To view the screen share, check out Demand Gen Live x26 on the Refine Labs YouTube channel.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker joined Alice de Courcy (CMO, Cognism) for a fireside chat about e-books. He shared his thoughts on what marketers should be channeling their time and energy into instead of the traditional e-book and suggests other methods of tracking past the initial download for those that still choose to produce them. Alice and Chris have differing thoughts on the use and effectiveness of the e-book and both make a compelling case for when and how they should be used in conjunction with other tactics in a marketing strategy.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Over 50 marketers and sales folks gathered together on Zoom for Demand Gen Live this Tuesday. We were joined by Megan Bowen (CCO, Refine Labs) and discussed: The "growth at all costs" mindset; Why intelligent leaders stop innovating; ABM and Intent data - if and when to use both; and Why some CEOs resist investing in marketing. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker joined John James on the Champagne Strategy podcast last week to talk about a wide range of topics across marketing, sales, and entrepreneurship. They covered: Why organizations invest heavily in sales headcount as a replacement for lack of demand, and what happens as a result thereof; What Chris's entrepreneurial background taught him about how people make purchasing decisions; How to spend your marketing budget like it's your own money; and The difference between high performing teams and high potential teams. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Jason Widup, VP of Marketing at metadata.io, joined us on State of Demand Gen to share his thoughts on marketing in 2020. We talked about how we define performance marketing and how it fits into the overall marketing strategy, why paid social isn’t an intent channel, and what happens when you are stuck in an endless cycle of measuring TOO much.   For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We broke the record for the longest Demand Gen Live to date on last night's installment. We discussed:  What should my ROI be on Google Ads; How can you identify true intent; Partnership marketing strategies; Is NPS a metric worth considering; What to do when competitors play below the line; and a live Q&A. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We hosted an event in early 2020 with Josh Braun in Miami, FL to talk about top of funnel outreach in B2B sales and marketing. Chris and Josh dove into how to get prospects to come knocking on your door and have your brand top of mind when they're ready to buy, as well as how to sell to prospects who may not know they have a problem you can solve. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Megan Bowen (CCO, Refine Labs) joined us again on Demand Gen Live in Gaetano's place. We talked about: Other alternatives to the sales/marketing compensation divide, how Sales can better align with Marketing on an organic approach, go-to questions when conducting customer research, LinkedIn company page metrics, and separating marketing into brand and demand teams. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Richard Harris, Founder of The Harris Consulting Group, came on the State of Demand Gen podcast today. We covered: What parallels appear in both the sales and marketing worlds; How measuring the things that don’t matter and don’t map to business results affects the sales org; What questions should a sales leader be asking to understand demand gen better; and Where the CRO role fits in the org chart. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Gaetano DiNardi returns for this week's Demand Gen Live. We tackled the following topics: The brand halo effect, when to trust your gut instead of your data, and why you should develop content in-house. We hosted a 45 minute live Q&A following the previous topics. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker joined Josh Wagner on the Love Selling Hate Sales podcast. They talked about: balancing marketing with sales, where the balance lies between building relationships and hitting quotas, how to really get into your customers' shoes, and different trains of thought when it comes to sales rep compensation plans. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

On last night's Demand Gen Live, Megan Bowen (CCO, Refine Labs) joined Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) in Gaetano DiNardi's place. Over 50 marketers and sales folks joined the call and participated in a live Q&A.    We covered: why brand marketing lowers CAC, what needs to change from a marketing and CX perspective with enterprise deals, should content marketing be tied to a revenue goal, dealing with a CEO who doesn't understand marketing, and what the best answer is to: "if your marketing budget was reduced by 50%, what marketing channels would you execute on and why?" For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris joined the Surf & Sales podcast last week to go into depth on how his background and experiences at former companies shaped the work he does at Refine Labs. They went into depth about: Whether marketing is getting better at selling or sales is getting better at marketing; Why you can't have a short-term mindset with content marketing and thought leadership; and How attribution causes marketers to forget common sense. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) and Gaetano DiNardi (Director of Demand Generation, Nextiva) hosted Demand Gen Live for the 20th week in a row. They focused on pre-submitted questions as they related to sales forecasting, LinkedIn video ads, growth hacks, and whether webinars are brand or performance. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris joined Yaagneshwaren Ganesh and Manish Nepal on the ABM Conversations Podcast last week to share his thoughts on how attribution oftentimes misses the mark when being used to measure the results of content marketing, what marketers can do in place of trade-shows and in-person events, and why your best leads shouldn't be going to an SDR.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening?  Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris joined Rich Cardona on The Leadership Locker to share his thoughts on how companies should be implementing a truly buyer-centric marketing and sales model. They discussed what product management can teach you about marketing, how to attract and educate your buyers instead of convincing them, and the benefits of pivoting to revenue marketing.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

This week on Demand Gen Live we talked about the importance of qualitative metrics, why not to use LinkedIn Engagement Pods, gating content, and outsourced content production. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

On this week's Demand Gen Live, Chris Walker and Gaetano DiNardi jammed on...how to know if it is your campaign that is failing or your messaging, when attribution can't connect the dots, company profiles on LinkedIn, and key metrics to include in your reports to the board. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Amy Volas (Founder & CEO, Avenue Talent Partners) joined us on State of Demand Gen to talk about running a successful business during a pandemic, hiring misconceptions, and how to interpret blanket advice on LinkedIn. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We're super excited to have Josh Wagner on the State of Demand Gen podcast. The high level topic of our conversation today is how a CMO can best translate marketing to the rest of the C-suites and implement changes in regards to metrics that matter, sales and marketing alignment, attribution, and so on.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

In this episode of Demand Gen Live we covered the following: warning signs of inbound demand plateau, the death of the gated webinar as a means of lead gen, why "integrated campaigns" just means campaigns, and what a day in the life of a Director of Demand Generation entails. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

We brought Roderick Jefferson onto the State of Demand Gen podcast to learn his take on Sales Enablement. He shares his knowledge and experience as it relates to what exactly sales enablement is, what metrics matter from an enablement perspective, how sales has changed in 2020, and where sales enablement falls in the org chart. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

On the 16th installment of Demand Gen Live, Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) and Gaetano DiNardi (Director of Demand Gen, Nextiva) discuss how to run profitable Adwords campaigns, why aligning with revenue causes lead quantity to drop, and the future of the SDR role. They also hosted a live Q&A and a repeat attendee shared her experience with using the skills she has learned in the Demand Gen Live sessions. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris joined Matt Wolach on the SaaS-Story in the Making podcast to discuss his methodology as it relates to demand generation and reframing the traditional model.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

There's been a lot of talk around the "new normal" lately. But what exactly IS the new normal and how will it affect your business moving forward? In the second episode of Skaled Consulting's Back-To-Market Strategy Series, Chris Walker talks with Jake Dunlap (CEO, Skaled Consulting) and Joe Mullings (CEO, The Mullings Group) about building and scaling your back-to-market strategy as it applies to Marketing, Sales, and Talent. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Chris and Gaetano discuss the following points as well as questions that popped up in the live chat: Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) vs. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), why growth-stage companies should not market like industry giants, how to measure brand marketing, and why B2B companies are not all in LinkedIn marketing. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Throwback to when we stopped in with LeadMD (Phoenix, AZ) where Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) and Josh Wagner (Enterprise Account Executive, LeadMD) discussed B2B Sales and the SDR model, how building a side hustle gives you strong business experience, and how B2B companies should be applying B2C marketing approaches.  For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

Franklin Williams (Skaled Consulting) chatted with us about the outdated SDR/AE model and what needs to change for the model to work for the way buyers are buying today. The SDR function was originally created to serve as a conversation starter in an effort to remove that repetitive task from the AE's plate, but now makes the task almost redundant. For more content, subscribe to State of Demand Gen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

This installment of Demand Gen Live features: a Facebook retargeting demonstration, a conversation about what chat bots are doing to sales, a full top-down SEO analysis with Gaetano, when to use a company page on LinkedIn vs. an employee profile, and Chris and Gaetano's thoughts on whether or not sales enablement should fall under demand gen. The video version of this recording, complete with the Facebook retargeting and SEO analysis screenshares, is available on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0K09cBbbyOJm-LGKl59Ybg

This episode features a throwback to our chat with Megan Bowen (VP Customer Success, Platterz). We discuss some of the reasons why Customer Success is so misunderstood, where the CS function fits into the org chart, and why all departments should have visibility into customer segmentation, the ICP, and the customer journey.  For more content, subscribe to our podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Tired of just listening? Check out Refine Labs on LinkedIn and YouTube.

On this week's Demand Gen Live, Chris walked the group through setting up audience targeting in Facebook Ads Manager, then discussed with Gaetano how to deal with negativity on LinkedIn, what's the right balance of inbound and outbound in a marketing mix, how to incentivize referrals, and how important backlinks are to your SEO strategy.

Earlier this year we stopped in with LeadMD (Phoenix, AZ) where Chris Walker (CEO, Refine Labs) and Andrea Lechner-Becker (CMO, LeadMD) chat about B2B Marketing, how marketing attribution misses the power and impact of word-of-mouth, and why companies are so driven by net new customer acquisition.

Today's episode features a throwback from Chris's first appearance on Josh Braun's podcast Inside Selling. In this episode, they talk all about how to sell to a CEO. Josh and Chris talk about lower friction methods to starting a broader conversation that does not ask too much of the person being reached out to. They share CTAs that are not just asking for 15 minutes (or any length of time for that matter) which can be an immediate turnoff as well as what you can offer your prospects to provide value when they are not in active buy mode. 

Today we have Justin Welsh, Founder of The Official Justin and Interim CRO of PatientPop, on the State of Demand Gen podcast to share his candid observations and hot takes on the current sales climate, 3 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. He shares his observations on outbound and inbound sales activities, what sales reps should be doing more of right now, and how smart companies are pivoting. Chris and Justin then discuss why VP Sales are often not set up for success when starting at a new company, and Justin asks Chris about ungated content and if there is ever or will ever be a time and a place for content to be placed behind a form fill.

We covered lot's of ground in this week's Demand Gen Live. In this playback you can expect to learn: why you should take industry "best practices" with a grain of salt, Gaetano's take on lead scoring, lead handoff process optimization for your sales teams, and tactics we are seeing work on both LinkedIn and Facebook organic and paid.

“The #1 factor to a sales rep closing a lead is how good the lead Marketing sent to Sales is." Today's episode is taken from Chris's appearance on Catalyst Sale with Mike Simmons. Chris shares how he became such a prominent presence in the demand gen space. From there, they discuss biases that Sales has against Marketing, how to align Marketing and Sales to create one team, and how to create a system that educates a customer throughout the entire sales cycle.

Today we hosted Jackie Hermes, CEO of Accelity, on the State of Demand Gen podcast. We talked about activities SaaS marketers are doing today that they should not be, attribution and why that's not the problem we should be solving as marketers, and we did a lightning round to hear Jackie's thoughts on newer marketing trends.

Tune in to this recording from our in-person event with Justin Welsh this past February in Santa Monica, CA. Chris and Justin cover: -How Demand Gen has changed since 2010 and what they would do starting a demand gen function 10 years ago versus in today. -When the AE/SDR outbound model is the right move for a company -Marketing and Sales alignment and the controversial topic of whether or not to give marketers a revenue quota to share the end responsibility with Sales -How to create value during Sales cycles of all durations -Creating meaningful content for your audience on LinkedIn -Why the ways people are buying today are changing + Live Q&A

On the 11th installment of Demand Gen Live, Chris Walker and Gaetano DiNardi do another live teardown - this time analyzing a company's LinkedIn Ads. Chris shares what he would do differently if he was running them, and gives guidance for others who are looking to push content through paid social channels. As always, we hosted a live Q&A and answered product and SEO related questions. Chris and Gaetano chose one company they see doing demand gen particularly well and dove into the details, as well as with a company whose demand gen might be lacking.  Subscribe to Our Channel Here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0K09cBbbyOJm-LGKl59Ybg?view_as=subscriber?sub_confirmation=1

Today Chris dives into the counterpart of the familiar Sales Enablement function, Buyer Enablement, with Trent Anderson on the Leadlio Account-Based Collective. Many organizations implement a Sales Enablement function to help their sales teams go to market and convince others on their product. Flipping this function on its head and putting the buyer first equips the buyer with all the knowledge and information they need to go about their buying journey at their own speed, and lets them receive the information when and how they want it, not when and how sales wants to share it. Chris goes into detail about providing pricing information on the site, why form fills are often ineffective, and how to distribute content successfully on digital channels.

Chris joins Casey Cheshire on The Hard Corps Marketing Show to discuss common misconceptions seen in the Demand Gen space, primarily revolving around the obsession with getting more and more leads. Chris discusses why some organizations are dominated by their sales teams, how costs could be reallocated to align with overall business objectives, the power of copy and organic social, and how to be more effective with your marketing strategy.

Many companies claim to be buyer-centric. Chris joins "Marketing Strategy Talks w/ Ian Luck" to talk about what it really means to be buyer-centric and how to make it easy for your audience to consume your content. 

Chris Walker joins Josh Braun on Inside Selling to talk about how a company can truly be customer-centric. Josh identifies a missing piece in terms of one's ability to get higher converting cold email responses, call responses, meetings, revenue, etc. That missing piece is not knowing your customer well enough. Many companies claim to "know" their customer, but the extent to which they know their customer is through buyer persona documents that are filled with buzz words. Unless you truly know your audience, how they talk, and how they think, your message is not going to resonate.

On this installment of Demand Gen Live we tackle MANY live questions and requests including...YouTube pre-roll and how to evaluate video success, Gaetano's candid analysis and thoughts about SE0 agencies, and whether or not marketers should be compensated based on revenue. 

Chris is interviewed at Aspireship where he discusses how his methodology is different than some of the traditional B2B demand generation tactics, such as trade shows, direct mail, and excess outbound sales activity. Chris shares his thoughts on better ways to communicate with people, which consist primarily of content marketing with effective distribution.

Chris Walker and Gaetano DiNardi break down the different elements of the SiriusDecisions Demand Waterfall. They go into depth and answer live questions about third-party content syndication and SEO.

Chris Walker joins Kevin Mulrane and Travis King on an episode of Innovate Sales to talk about how important it is for marketers to understand their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) from a perspective that goes beyond simply observing sales conversations. They discuss things every marketer can do to gain customer insights that will help guide content creation, and Chris shares strategies that allow you to optimize for metrics that matter, such as qualified pipeline revenue, sales cycle length, and win rate. 

Last week, we joined Katrina Fuhrman on Winning Wednesdays to talk about how to put your best foot forward when marketing to a select number of prospects. Chris shared his take on the difference between inbound and outbound qualified leads, providing content that speaks to the prospects’ interests, and what an optimal sales funnel looks like.

In this episode of State of Demand Gen, Chris Walker joins Kevin Mulrane and Travis King to share the demand gen channels and tactics he is currently running with full confidence. He shares tactical advice on optimizing for revenue (not leads), how to best use content, and what is working in regards to paid social. 

Times are tough and you're being asked to make some cuts to your marketing budget in an effort to weather the storm. So what goes, what stays, and how can you best reallocate your budget? Today we share the top few line items you should be taking a second look at.

On this week's installment of Demand Gen Live, we discuss the pros and cons of paid social and search engine optimization (SEO). Join us every week live on Tuesday nights. Link to register here.

On this week's installment we redefine content strategy (with real examples) and unveil marketing automation do's and don'ts.

On this installment of Demand Gen Live, we share insights regarding LinkedIn advertising in the B2B space and discuss best practices for distributing your content.

In this installment of Demand Gen Live, we talk about the importance of actually doing the work and staying close with it, not only for the impact it will have on your expertise, but also to stay aligned with the strategy and help it evolve and grow. Join our community of marketers every Tuesday night to participate in the live Q&A and chat. Link on the Refine Labs YouTube channel, under any of the Demand Gen Live videos.

Your content will work better when you stop thinking about how it somehow leads someone into a sales funnel to buy your product. Straight up. Chris Walker and Gaetano DiNardi dive into content strategy on this week’s episode of Demand Gen Live.

The second installment of Demand Gen Live. We made some improvements to the format including audience video participation for Q&A. Lots of depth here on building a multi-channel digital advertising strategy and distinguishing between intent channels and awareness channels in B2B Demand Gen.

The first ever installment of Demand Gen Live. Chris Walker and Gaetano DiNardi discuss demand generation vs. lead generation, revenue quotas, and other metrics to measure demand gen performance.