The key to effective marketing is making sure your programs are dialed in to the behaviors and needs of your target market and the strategic objectives of your business.

Beginning in this episode, GrowthMode Marketing introduces how we define 12 marketing levers that impact your initiatives and bottom-line results. They are:

1. Audience
2. Positioning
3. Strategy
4. Budget
5. Scale
6. Contact Database
7. Brand Identity + Awareness
8. Content
9. Marketing Tactics
10. Marketing & Sales Alignment
11. Sales Processes
12. Measurement

Listen in as we dig in where all good marketing should start, with audience and positioning. We talk about important considerations for each lever and how to dial in and adjust what you need to succeed.

Watch this space for upcoming episodes that will cover the next 10 levers and how they’re important individually and collectively—so you can tune in the right settings for your business.

02:20 - Lever 1: Audience—market validation, research and audience personas to ensure you’re aligned to behaviors and needs
05:10 - Conducting audience research via surveys, focus groups, interviews and data analysis that helps validate your assumptions
10:56 - Lever 2: Positioning—clearly and consistently communicating your value proposition
14:25 - A clear and distinct positioning statement to differentiate your company and solutions
18:37 - The critical link between positioning and revenue goals
19:14 - Exploring each lever and how businesses can use this helpful philosophy to uncover actionable insights to adjust marketing strategy and improve performance
21:50 - A review of the 12 marketing levers and what’s coming on upcoming episodes

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

The sales team is working actively with a hot prospect. They watched demos, enthusiastically engaged in communications and requested a proposal … then suddenly, nothing. They stop responding. It’s frustrating for sure, but there may be many reasons why it happens. Don’t automatically assume they went with a competitor and stop pursuing.

Listen to this episode to hear our conversation about why some prospects go dark, what to do and how to work with marketing to help revive talks that go silent. Hear why successfully re-engaging a prospect involves demonstrating ongoing value and relevance to their business without pressuring them for an immediate decision.

00:20 Reason prospects go dark and how to re-engage them
01:32 Shifting priorities, lack of urgency, indecision and information overload
06:58 Early warning signs that a prospect might go dark and how marketing can help 09:23 What strategies sales reps can use to keep prospects engaged
10:47 Why personalized and relevant content is important
12:46 Continually demonstrating value
15:00 How marketing programs can help sales re-engage
18:49 Getting feedback on lost opportunities to improve future prospecting
20:01 How to have patience and demonstrate value without pressuring an immediate decision
20:29 Developing content that speaks to buyer needs

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

With just 5% or less of B2B buyers in the market to buy at any given time, marketers need to get creative to drive leads and meet revenue goals.

Your middle- and bottom-of-funnel prospects are the most likely audiences to have buying intent. Check out this episode for ideas on how to zero in on these prospects with informative content, nurture campaigns, targeted digital ads and more.

Hear why marketers need a balanced strategy of short-term tactics that drive, and nurture leads with long-term brand-building that raises awareness with the other 95% of your total addressable market—your future buyers.

00:20 The challenges of reaching prospects in the high-tech industry
04:24 Why it’s important to balance short- and long-term strategies to meet revenue targets
09:06 Leverage content that attracts high-intent buyers
15:50 How to use intent data technology to identify companies that may be in market for specific solutions
18:25 Using nurture campaigns to identify buying intent
19:51 Digital advertising and retargeting that drives engagement
22:31 Why you need to establish credibility and trust before expecting prospects to engage
24:21 Balancing short-term lead tactics with a long-term marketing strategy

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

The GrowthMode team is hearing from many marketing leaders who say they’re struggling to figure out why their programs aren’t driving better results. The reasons can sometimes be more obvious to us because we have the luxury of looking at it from an outside-in perspective. While your internal team is naturally heads-down working hard to produce work that meets a multitude of needs.

Listen to this episode to gain great insight on how to better align your approach to today’s HR tech buyer behaviors. Is your strategy on target? Find out now.

01:07 Gated content: How it impacts conversion rates
05:28 Slow lead pipeline: Creating content that’s more compelling and builds trust
09:45 Digital footprint: Why it needs to be robust to attract prospects
16:28 Converting leads: How to emphasize lead quality over quantity
17:29 Lead scoring: Identifying buying intent and why it can be challenging
19:57 Quality over quantity: Prioritizing quality builds a better pipeline
23:24 Rethinking your approach to drive better results

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

For more than a year, there have been less prospects in the market to buy HR tech solutions. It’s estimated that only 1% of prospects are actively buying these days compared to the more typical 5%. And this trend isn’t showing signs of a rebound just yet.

Maybe you’re asking yourself whether to slash your marketing budget. It’s a question we’ve been asked recently, and we think it’s something on a lot of leaders’ and marketers’ minds. Check out this this episode to hear our discussion on the trends, navigating this tougher selling environment and how to best support the long-term growth goals of your organization.

00:21 With less prospects buying, should your marketing investment change?
01:44 How the decrease of prospects is impacting the sales process 02:57 Highlights from the 2024 B2B Sales Benchmark Report on sales challenges and impact on quotas
04:46 Why the sales process is longer and win rates and deal values are down
09:18 Cutting back on marketing spend affects important long-term marketing programs
13:55 The role of marketing in building brand awareness, credibility and trust for future prospects
17:31 How to inform and influence internal decision makers about the importance of a long-term marketing mindset
18:47 Key takeaways and conclusion

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

In part 2 of our conversation with Matt Torman, content marketing pro at work tech company, Brex, we continue exploring why moving away from marketing that attempts to be “everything to everyone” helps you breakthrough and standout in a crowded HR tech market.

Listen now to learn why taking calculated, creative risks with a blend of innovative ideas and data-driven decision making is crucial in a content-saturated landscape.

00:55 Taking creative risks that stay true to your company’s brand
01:34 Why understanding and targeting your core audience is so important
05:15 Fears and challenges that prevent marketing teams from taking risks
12:23 Taking the time you need to create engaging, authentic content
14:52 How to create unique content that stands out and connects with your core audience
16:55 Why collaborating on ideas and gaining new perspectives fuels innovative strategies
17:31 Testing and learning how your marketing performs is a critical component
18:37 Making data-driven decisions and gaining leadership support

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

In the very crowded HR and work tech space, too many marketers play it safe with their marketing campaigns. It creates a “sea of sameness” where businesses get lost in a multitude of messages across many different brands that blend and sound the same.

Listen in to explore this topic with our guest and content marketing pro, Matt Torman. He’s the content marketing principal at Brex, an AI-powered spending platform that helps employees make smarter financial decisions for their employers.

If your company is tied to a marketing approach that safely conforms, but you want to try pushing the envelope, this is a great episode for you! Taking risks can be scary, but listen as we talk through that together. See why focusing on breaking through can capture better results.

01:09 Learn why it’s essential to differentiate your business and solutions
02:43 The value of storytelling and using AI to support content creation
09:31 Why marketing to a broad audience is a common mistake
11:14 An example of a bold marketing campaign by Brex
17:16 Why making an emotional connection is a better way to speak to buyers’ pain points
21:05 How to transform surface-level messaging into content that digs deeper and resonates more with decision makers

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

A lot of really good HR tech companies get lost in a crowded market. That’s because you’re vying for attention with more than 21,000 HR tech businesses selling technology platforms—with new start-ups joining the industry all the time.

Listen to this episode to find out what three challenges consistently impede marketing outcomes and results for HR tech companies. Learn why positioning your business and solutions is at the heart of how to successfully gain traction. Because touting the same features and functionality as your competitors isn’t saying anything at all about your true differentiators.

01:09 Why it’s essential to differentiate your business and solutions

09:31 Why marketing to a broad audience is a common mistake

17:16 How to understand and make an emotional connection that speaks to buyers’ pain points

21:05 A look at surface-level messaging and how to dig deeper to connect with prospects

23:49 Why it’s important that your messages resonate with decision makers

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.