How did we get there? Marketing has gone from being responsible for building brand awareness to now being responsible for almost every interaction from when a prospect first hears about your brand until they are a qualified opportunity and passed along to the sales team. More responsibilities with higher expectations, but rarely a significant increase in resources. 

That’s why we’re talking with Connie Glover, GTM Strategist, at CMarie Marketing Studio. She’s been in the marketing and P.R. game for a long time and brings brands to life through a mix of grassroots efforts and cutting-edge digital practices. 

In this episode, Stephanie and Connie talk about the impossible expectations of marketing in SaaS, what marketing really needs to deliver to sales, why leads are worthless, and so much more. and so much more. 

Key Takeaways:

1. Marketing has evolved tremendously causing marketing teams to be responsible for everything from when a prospect first hears about the brand through qualifying an opportunity for the sales team. 
2. Most CEOs and board members don’t understand the real role of marketing. They tend to focus on the visual aspect of marketing or lead quantity rather than understanding the importance of creating brand awareness. 
3. CEOs will never stop sharing random ideas about marketing. That doesn’t mean you have to implement any of them. 
4. Marketers have to stop falling victim to the reaction rabbit hole where they’re constantly reacting to feedback from countless people in the organization. 
5. MQLs, SQLs, and leads should die. Sales doesn’t really want any of them. They want handraisers who are in the market and ready to evaluate software solutions. Not people who looked at your content, visited your tradeshow booth, etc. 
6. The expectation for speed that companies have related to marketing doesn’t equate with the amount of effort that is required or the reality of how long it takes to drive results. 
7. Demand generation is NOT possible. You can’t create demand because you can’t make people buy when they’re not in the market to buy. Marketing can build a brand that will drive demand when people are in the market for a solution.