Ty Lingley’s Post

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to GTM. Maja Voje and I studied 12 leading B2B SaaS companies. (including interviews with their teams) Here’s what we learned: 1. PLG is eating the world >80% of the companies in our study employ PLG in some fashion. Even enterprise companies like Snowflake and Salesforce are adding free trials & freemium. It’s the new normal. Why is this working for them? In 2024, the best marketing is often your product. Users rarely want to lock in a $500K+ contract without trying the product first. But you do need to layer on a strong product-led sales motion to make enterprise work. 2. Dominate one at first, then layer on many Every company we studied got one GTM motion massively right. And, in each case, they still use that GTM motion in some form today. But, they layer on other motions over time. The ideal way to layer is symbiotically: • ABM couples nicely with outbound • Inbound supports outbound • Partnerships amplify PLG For instance: Dropbox grew at first massively on referrals. Now, other channels are much more important. 3. ABM and Outbound are pillars of enterprise For 5- and 6-figure deals, it’s difficult to rely on inbound or PLG alone. The buyer is used to a different process. They want to be hand-held. This is where motions like ABM and outbound shine. That’s why you still see the Snowflake’s and Salesforce’s of the world focusing on them. They’re the bread and butter of enterprise. So… bringing it all together, here’s where to start based on your buyer. If you’re selling to consumers or prosumers: • Lean into PLG, community, and partnerships early on • Layer in paid marketing as you find product-market fit and have budget to scale If you're selling to SMBs: • Blend inbound and outbound motions to build awareness and relationships • Paid digital can accelerate pipeline generation as you dial in your ICP If you're selling to enterprises: • Focus on targeted ABM and partner ecosystems • Inbound is great for air cover, but outbound is crucial for landing large accounts If you have a complex or technical product: �� Make sure you have developer docs, free tooling, and community support from day one • Don’t underrate channels like partnerships & paid digital; they can still be crucial support And above all: 1. Remember what works at one stage may not work another 2. Remember the law of diminishing returns 3. Be willing to pivot when necessary

Reposting this great study on GTM strategies in B2B SaaS, at least to keep for myself! Key takeaways: 1. PLG (Product Lead Growth) eats the market: Over 80% of top companies use PLG, including giants like Snowflake and Salesforce. Free trials and freemiums are the new norm. 2. Master One GTM Motion First: Start with one strong GTM strategy and layer on others symbiotically. Example: Dropbox's referral-based growth. 3. ABM and Outbound for Enterprise. Essential for high-value deals where buyers need more personalized engagement. Tailor your GTM approach based on your target market and be ready to pivot as needed. Full details in the original post! #B2B #SaaS #GTM #ProductLedGrowth

🔥 Building a GTM dream-team is like yelling AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! Each role is crucial to driving success & conquering your market. 🔥 My dream team would look like this: 🎯 GTM Manager: Someone who articulates and enforces a strong vision. They would ensure team cohesion, efficiency, and alignment with long-term goals 🎯 Product Manager: Your PM is the visionary who understands customer needs & translates them into product features. The bridge between development & the market, ensuring your product fits the market like a glove 🎯 Marketing Manager: The Marketing Manager crafts compelling narratives & campaigns that highlight your product’s unique value. From social media to email marketing, ensure your message resonates with your target audience 🎯 Sales Manager: Sales Managers are the frontline warriors. They lead the sales team, develop strategies, & build relationships with customers. They turn leads into loyal customers 🎯 Customer Success Manager: Once a customer is onboard, your CSM ensures they’re getting maximum value from your product. They provide support, gather feedback, & foster long-term relationships. Happy customers = repeat business 🎯 Data Analyst: In today’s data-driven world, a Data Analyst is indispensable. They track & analyze performance metrics, providing insights that inform strategic decisions to help you stay ahead of the curve 🎯 Product Marketing Manager: The PMM is the maestro who orchestrates product launches. They work closely with PM, sales, & marketing teams to ensure everything aligns for a successful product launch 🎯 Demand Gen Manager: Focused on creating awareness & generating interest, the Demand Gen Manager uses various tactics like content marketing, webinars, & events to fill the sales funnel with qualified leads 🎯 Channel Manager: If you’re leveraging partners or resellers, a Channel Manager is crucial. They manage relationships, develop channel strategies, & ensure partners are aligned with your GTM objectives 🎯 RevOps Manager: RevOps Managers streamline processes across sales, marketing, & customer success. They ensure all teams are aligned, systems are integrated, & ops run smoothly 🎯 Content Strategist: Your Content Strategist develops content that educates & engages your audience. They create blogs, whitepapers, case studies, & more to position your brand as a thought leader 🎯 Digital Marketing Specialist: These specialists manage your online presence, from SEO to PPC campaigns. They drive traffic to your website & ensure your digital footprint is strong 🏆 Assembling the right mix of talent ensures your GTM strategy is robust & effective. Each role brings a unique skill set that, when combined, creates a powerful force driving your product’s success in the market. 🦸 Ready to build your dream GTM dream team? LET’S GO!  💪🔥 #GoToMarket #GTM #ProductManagement #Sales #Marketing #CustomerSuccess #DataAnalytics #BusinessGrowth #TeamBuilding

Jon Miller says that the B2B go-to-market playbook is dead. Yes, that Jon Miller. Founder of Marketo & Engagio, CMO of DemandBase and serial Velocity client. We agree: most B2B businesses struggle to meet pipeline needs due to neglecting brand strategy, or find it too hard to combine with performance marketing efforts. Growth is harder than ever. The excitement at the advent of marketing automation & data has curdled; crap ebooks, product-led campaign dross and email carpet bombing means few are paying attention. Non marketers want marketing to deliver against insane growth KPIs. VC and PE heavies want strategies that drive/convert leads as fast as possible. And markets have become obsessed with growth. In SaaS, expand slower than 20% and you’re a dud – and your CMO is taken off ‘to the farm’. But sales activation strategies often bite B2B marketers on the arse. Some are good at it, but most build campaigns with a half-life shorter than popcorn. Sales reps in most B2B firms ignore 70% of marketing leads 😴 75% of content produced is never used by sales or read by customers 🙄 And 80% of all marketing leads die within the funnel, jammed in headfirst ☠️ Recent work from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute shows only 1/20th of prospects are in market at any time. Meaning a bare knuckle fight for 5% of the market. And the other 95% don’t respond kindly to being hit over the head with constant product campaigns. Sales activation depends on brand building. It turns out, brand is performance.  So if sales activation strategies and brand building go together like peanut butter and jam, why are so many B2B tech firms resistant to it? Most believe that brand is B2C. It’s true, they do it better, but it’s vital within our industry too. It’s also hard to marry a compelling story to content and performance efforts when teams are siloed around a set of disparate disciplines. And there's a specious belief that B2B buyers don’t care about stories powered by emotion. When in fact, B2B buyers are humans first, and directors, CFOs and analysts second. We’ve seen first-hand evidence of this in our work with Calm Business. Calm clearly drives business benefits by making people happier and healthier, but we focused on a more empathetic story of helping people succeed, over and above the business angle. Great brands have a distinct point of view about the world, based on core beliefs. Express that confidently, and people will buy your stuff. In our last piece, we talked about our approach to #b2b blueprints. And for us, that starts with what we call a Galvanizing Story, tightly integrated with performance plans. The story powers the blueprint; the blueprint powers everything else. It means that everything – strategy, content, creative, website, channel marketing, sales calls and performance – are aligned. No more jumbled, siloed marketing goals and tactics. The result? United marketing. That’s the blueprint for success. https://lnkd.in/eBrgdZUG

From a B2C Marketing Founder to Chief Revenue Officer in B2B SaaS: My Transformation with Elevatus 🚀 Hey there, wonderful network! Today, I'm excited to share with you my very first blog. My hope is that it inspires you, even if just a little, to embrace the unknown and chase after your dreams with everything you've got. It all started with a powerful product in its beginning stages, Elevatus. Innovated by incredible founder Yara Burgan, who later teamed up with the innovative Co-Founder Yacoub Zureikat to turn that vision into reality. I remember those early days vividly. Back then, I was knee-deep in the world of B2C marketing, running my own newly founded company. But when Yara and Yacoub shared their idea with me and asked me to support in designing Elevatus' very first logo, I was so invested in how amazing and powerful this product is, a product that will make the world a bit more fair, eliminating the bias and supporting the world of employment. Little did I know, that logo request would change the course of my life forever. 🎯 We created the very first brand for Elevatus and we were all very excited about it. Following that, they asked me to join their #B2B #SaaS marketing team, believing I had what it takes to push a new product to the market and generate qualified leads. It was quite a leap from my #B2C background. I remember thinking, 'Sure, how hard can it be?' Little did I know, I was about to step into the realm of B2B marketing, where convincing a consumer is like selling ice cream on a sunny day, but convincing a CIO or CEO in your product is like selling snow to an Eskimo! 😵 But with both Yara & Yacoub by my side, I embarked on this wild, unpredictable journey. And let me tell you, it was one heck of a ride! 🔥 There were moments of doubt, moments where I was questioning if I was a marketing specialist or just a wizard at making marketing magic happen! 🧝♀️ But through it all, their unwavering faith in me kept me going. Sometimes all you need are leaders that believe you have what it takes and have the patience to watch you grow and succeed, just like they did. Fast forward to today, leading the marketing and sales department to achieve an exceptional 61.53% ROI in marketing over 1.3 years, also spearheading #lead generation campaigns, resulting in a remarkable 120% surge in qualified leads per month, and an impressive 23% #conversion rate from demonstrations to closures, I became your friendly neighborhood Chief #Revenue Officer. It's crazy to think about how it all happened. 😊 So, what's the moral of this little tale? Well, it's simple: never underestimate the power of belief - in yourself and in others. With a little bit of courage, a whole lot of determination, and a sprinkle of #AI magic, anything is possible. Here's to chasing dreams, breaking barriers, and remember, go the extra mile as it's never crowded. 🎖 🎖🎖 Nadin Z.

The third in our blog series about B2B’s new marketing playbook is now live. It covers the essential relationship between performance marketing and brand strategy together with why brands find it so difficult to build programs that blend the two. Follow me for the next in the series covering B2B SEO and how to move from paid to organic - and get in touch with any questions/comments, it’d be great to hear from you. #b2bmarketing #performancemarketing #brandstrategy

🚀 Exciting News! Introducing Our New ABM Program on #HubSpot! Yesterday at #Inbound23 Brian Garvey shared one of HubSpot's core principles: "Think Bigger and Partner Better." At 42DM we've taken that to heart and developed an innovative solution for B2B tech companies: ABM Program on HubSpot! 🎉 Why choose HubSpot for ABM? 💲 Cost-Effective: Save up to 50% compared to traditional high-end ABM software like #DemandBase and #6sense. 🌐 Single Ecosystem: Manage all your sales and marketing efforts in one unified platform, from ABM to advertising, lead nurturing, webinars, and more. 🧩 Modular Design: Avoid vendor lock-in by adapting your stack as needed, adding or replacing modules that suit your evolving requirements. ⏳ Less Commitment: Our approach offers flexibility without the long-term resource demands of traditional ABM implementations. Read about our solution here and share your thoughts: https://lnkd.in/eEDKg-py #ABM #B2BMarketing #MarketingSolutions

Have you modernized your GTM strategy Old Way = Look at the Sales funnel by department New Way = Look at the Sales funnel by buyer intent (how the buyer entered the sales funnel) Historically, each department is measured by the blended performance of the “leads” they source with direct software attribution. This model incentivizes getting the most “leads” and the lowest cost, not to drive *revenue & and sales productivity. Marketing runs lead gen to first-touch attribution on as many contacts as possible to game attribution. It doesn’t actually drive customers to want to buy but appeases their outdated attribution models circa 2012. Planning and forecasting breaks down because they blend content syndication leads that close at 0.1% with declared intent demo requests that win at 8%. Their old-school “demand waterfall” model breaks like cheap glass. Departments (Sales, Marketing, SDRs) fight over credit instead of working together because that’s how teams are measured and budgets are set. It’s such an outdated model and a core driver of sales/marketing misalignment and other overall GTM problems. Smart companies want to adopt an “All-Bound” model because they see this clear problem in their business but need a new framework to measure success & make strategy adjustments. Here’s how to make it happen: 1. Look at what GTM motion CAPTURED the demand (what was the trigger for how the buyer entered the pipeline). These are called “pipeline sources”. 2. This demand capture source is a surrogate for *buyer intent* and will much better predict sales efficiency metrics like win rate, sales cycle length, and pipeline velocity. 3. Build a separate attribution model (e.g. self-reported attribution) to characterize what programs are CREATING the demand. 4. Use this data to OPTIMIZE your entire revenue strategy, not determine binary credit to teams, departments, and budgets. Implementing this framework will: 1. Drive significantly better alignment between all GTM teams 2. Have all teams WORKING TOGETHER, not fighting each other for “credit” 3. Create an entirely new view for Revenue leaders and strategists to make far better decisions & strategy improvements 4. Dramatically improve your revenue planning and forecasting accuracy. 5. Clearly show you where to FOCUS and clearly show you what to STOP doing. It’s 2023. Every department (Sales, Marketing, SDRs, Customer Success, etc.) contributes to every closed-won customer. Time to update your mindset and measurement frameworks for how customers buy and how the World actually works today. hashtag #marketing #attribution #sales

Is your B2B marketing ready for 2024? Rate the maturity of your organization: 1. KPIs - Lead or MQLs (0) - Marketing contribution to revenue (0) - HIRO Pipeline ($ value of marketing-sourced opps that reach a stage with a historical 20%+ win-rate) (1) - Marketing sourced revenue & pipeline velocity (2) 2. Planning - Switch from tactic to tactic. Lack of focus and dedication (0) - Short-term campaigns aligned w/ product releases (1) - Long-term programs (2) 3. Channels - We try to be on every channel. (0) - We focus on a few core channels our buyers use for education and research. (1) 4. Performance eval - Last-touch attribution (0) - Account-based, multitouch attribution (1) - Blended attribution w/ self-attribution, digital attribution, sales and customer interviews (2) 5. Go-To-Market Strategy - Lead generation/sales-led motions (0) - Prioritizing broad targeting and volume-based campaigns (0) - Tailored around a well-defined ICP and the buyer's journey (1) 6. Tech Stack - Buy stack, develop playbooks around it. Prioritize automation (0) - Develop and validate processes, defining areas to refine & automate. Starting with a lean and inexpensive stack (1) 7. Marketing and Sales Alignment - Siloed teams with different focuses and metrics. Often, one team is not aware of what the other works on (0) - Aligned on target and messaging (1) - Teams aligned on GTM, have shared and individual playbooks, with revenue as a core metric. Regular pipeline review and planning meetings (2) 8. Budget Allocation - Mainly demand capture (0) - 80% on proven programs (including brand, demand gen, sales enablement, ABM...), 20% on new programs (1) 9. Team - Hire for siloed roles (e.g. demand gen, content, product marketing...). Delegate broadly and expect quick results (0) - Start with a lean team. Develop GTM and core marketing programs. Add people to own and grow processes and programs (1) 10. Growth Path - Try to figure out stuff on our own - or by copying others. Treat feedback as criticism (0) - Invest in team development. Invite specialists to solve a specific bottleneck, gain the necessary skills faster, and accelerate growth. Seek feedback to improve (1) --- There are a lot of other differences, but it's mainly about the mindset. Amateur orgs believe that buyers should buy the way they want to sell. Mature companies market and sell the way customers buy. They understand that the buying process is not linear and not in their control. Leads and customers result from brand awareness, demand generation, word-of-mouth, expansion, and a great product.

Performance marketing in B2B SaaS isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. We've realized that true mastery demands a blend of strategy, precision, and adaptability. Crafting a campaign that resonates with the B2B buyer's journey takes more than just a keen eye for data; it requires a deep understanding of the milestones that lead to a decision. Here's what we've learned: - Clear, SMART objectives are non-negotiable. - The right channels aren't always the most popular; they're where your audience lives. - Personalization isn’t a buzzword; it’s the key to unlocking meaningful interactions. Our findings? Conversion optimization isn’t just about A/B testing; it's about creating an experience that speaks directly to your audience's needs. And when it comes to affiliates, the right partnership can be as valuable as a standout sales team. Through targeted strategies and continuous refinement, we don't just reach our audience, we engage them on a deeper level. For more insights, check out the full details from the article below in the comments. #PerformanceMarketing #B2BSaaS #LeadGeneration #ConversionOptimization The Partner Agency Matt Frary Jessica Spear Chad Herman Patricia Kotchick Jones Erin Beckstein Brandon Melton, LC Robert Sherman Orlando -OG- Guerrero Petit