5 challenges of demand generation for niche & start up software companies

5 Challenges of Demand Generation for

Niche and Start Up Software Companies

… and some strategies to overcome them

Catherine O’Reilly

@oreillycath

• About Me

– 15 years experience in B2B tech marketing

– Enterprise software

– Transition from larger to smaller company

Introduction

Challenge #1

You’re starting with a blank page …

What we actually did ..

1. Set goals – sales leads2. Define audience – market research3. Decide priorities – attract visitors and

convert to leads; target key accounts4. Create action plan – how were we going

to do this: inbound + outbound + supporting content + tools + budget

5. Review regularly – iterate as appropriate

Product Marketing

Sales enablement

Competitor Analysis

Product Positioning

Demand Generation

Inbound Marketing

Events

Social Media

Account-based

Marketing

Awareness

Branding

PR

Analyst Relations

Marketing Operations

CRM

Marketing Automation

Website

Content

SEO

Blog

Video

Ebooks

Graphic Design

Look & feel

Content Production

Typical Marketing Department ..

Challenge #2

In smaller organisations ...

Typically, all these roles are filled by 2 or 3 people

• Demand Generation

• Marketing Operations

• Awareness

• Product Marketing

• Content

Challenge #3

Challenge #4

• E-book

• Presentation

• Webinar

• Blog articles

• Infographic

• Social posts

• Press release

Developing & Repurposing Content

• Publish everywhere

• Blog

• Email

• Social

• LinkedIn Groups

Promoting Content

Analysing Performance

• Most views

coming through

organic search

Keywords: “work

allocation

software”

• High form

submission rates

from social media

and email

marketing

Challenge #5

INFO GATHERING

• Account profiling– Key Decision Makers

– Influencers

• Build up Intelligence– Survey

– Online research

• Create org chart– Identify targets

– Figure out connections

OUTREACH

• Direct mail / Email– Quick intro

– Gift

• LinkedIn outreach– Request connection

– Get introductions

– Inmail

• Phone call– Follow up

– “Research” mode..

6 step action plan – Account-based Marketing

Questions?

Thank You

@oreillycath