Name: The MQL is Dead: Why and How to Focus on Buying Groups
Start: 2023-06-28T16:00:00Z
End: 2023-06-28T16:01:04.000Z
Location: BrightTALK
Rating: 4.9

TechTarget (Nasdaq: TTGT) is the global leader in purchase intent-driven marketing and sales services that deliver business impact for enterprise technology companies. By creating abundant, high-quality editorial content across more than 140 highly targeted technology-specific websites, TechTarget attracts and nurtures communities of technology buyers researching their companies’ information technology needs. By understanding these buyers’ content consumption behaviors, TechTarget creates the purchase intent insights that fuel efficient and effective marketing and sales activities for clients around the world.

TechTarget has offices in Boston, London, Munich, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, visit techtarget.com and follow us on Twitter @TechTarget.


According to a Forrester survey, 85% of marketers using intent data see results. However, as their demand engine grows, so can the potential challenges evolve and change. Whether it's struggling to reach the right audience, delivering content that resonates, or boosting brand visibility, these roadblocks can hinder ROI and slow growth if not addressed. With 2025 approaching, now is the time to tackle these challenges and fine-tune your demand generation strategy for the new year. 

Join Kristin Prosowski, VP of Products (TechTarget), as she reveals the key aspects of demand generation strategy that shouldn't be overlooked, whether you’re building for 2025 or beyond.  Get the tools you need to solve the day-to-day marketing challenges you are seeing now and head into the new year with a foundational GTM strategy that combines TechTarget’s content, intent, and audience offerings to drive real demand.

Assembling Your Demand Gen Toolbox for 2025

“Quality might not always be the right answer, but it’s always the right question.” As B2B buyers’ hunger for video content continues to grow, many marketing teams are looking for better ways to fuel their video content engine – and, often, the search for quality is a driving force. Yet there are other factors to consider in the quest to create video content that meets your objectives, whether you’re creating video in house or looking for a partner to fill the gaps.

Join Susan Smith and Jeff Kunken (TechTarget) and BrightTALK's Greg Johnson as they discuss how video quality and content goals intersect and what you need to know to choose the right video services. They’ll tap into decades of combined experience to share how to set the right objectives for your video content and set your team up for success. Plus, they’ll break down different types of video services and budgeting strategies, how a good vendor compares to a true partner, and when to engage them.

The Quality Question: Vendors, Partners and Understanding Your Video Objectives

Join Mark Beccue, principal analyst for AI at Enterprise Strategy Group, for a unique conversation with Enterprise Strategy Group market experts as they discuss how generative AI (GenAI) is impacting the markets they cover. Mark will share some insights from his new study, The State of the Generative AI Market: Widespread Transformation Continues, to address how GenAI is moving into a phase of rapid market adoption. Then you’ll hear from four leading analysts on what their research and discussions with technology providers suggest about how GenAI will impact the evolution of networking, network security, data management and data security technologies and markets.

How GenAI Will Impact Your Markets, Buyers and Solutions

When it comes to B2B video content production, design and marketing folks often throw around the saying, “perfection is the enemy of progress.” But when we think about visual content, great execution goes hand-in-hand with success. Creators must then find a way to balance quality with scale, amidst the pressures of limited time and budget.  

In this webinar, join Fiona O’Connor (Sr. Manager, TechTarget) and Ben Hillman (Executive Producer, Paddle Studios) as they discuss the realities of B2B video production and what it takes to create great videos. Discover how Ben and his team at Paddle build high-quality content to attract and engage their target audience, so you can bring these tactics into your own video program to generate real ROI, no matter your budget.

Perfection vs. Scale: Achieving Balance in B2B Video Production

To have any chance of driving more revenue from a set of target accounts, you first have to engage them better somehow. And because today’s self-directed buyers prefer digital content, the challenge really comes down to whether you’re able to make the necessary content to meet your engagement needs. So how do you know what’s needed for better engagement? And how do you fill any critical gaps in what you’re doing today?

Join John Steinert, CMO (TechTarget) and Greg Anderson, SVP of Client Relations (Enterprise Strategy Group) as they think together about determining what content a given buying group requires and how to help ABM teams deliver exactly that. Using real-world examples, they’ll explore insights into buying teams, proven content types for specific use cases and blind spots that many teams unfortunately fail to address before they go live. These tips are sure to fortify your ABM content foundation so you’ll be able to improve what you’re already doing and strengthen new programming from the start.

Success Drivers: Two Essentials for ABM That Wins

Research indicates that while only 2% of sales conversions are made during the first point of contact, roughly 80% develop between the 5th and 12th contact attempt. To generate the most ROI from lead gen activities and increase conversion rates, demand generation marketers must drive quality engagement with priority contacts and enable their sales colleagues to orchestrate personalized outreach and lead follow-up to create more quality touchpoints during this window of opportunity. 

If you are facing continuous pressure to build sales pipeline, listen in as members of TechTarget’s award-winning Customer Success team share a proven blueprint for effective lead follow-up. You'll learn how to engage buyers by incorporating nurture programs, optimizing SDR motions, and empowering tailored sales outreach with intent data. You'll also get insights into how marketing automation, integration platforms, and even artificial intelligence can help boost ROI and increase conversions at scale. 

Source: https://www.conversica.com/blog/inbound-lead-follow-up-stats-for-2023/

Your Roadmap to Driving Conversions with Effective Lead Follow-Up

With lean teams and increasing pressure to drive revenue growth through their partner ecosystems, Alliances professionals need to center their Partner Marketing and Partner Sales efforts on the accounts that are most likely to convert into registered opportunities.  

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a perfect complement to traditional joint go-to-market activities, helping alliance teams achieve better ROI by targeting the right accounts with their co-marketing campaigns and co-selling activities. 

Pooja Golechha, Field and Partner Marketing Lead at Pegasystems, is an expert in both Account-Based Marketing and Partner Marketing. Join us as she sits down with TechTarget’s Anita Covelli to: 

- Explore why ABM is a perfect fit for Partner Marketers looking to build pipeline 
- Share her hands-on experience using ABM to drive better Partner Marketing outcomes  
- Highlight the real-world results she has achieved by applying ABM to Partner Marketing 
- Discuss how Partner Marketing and ABM teams can best collaborate 
- Present a practical framework to help you get started with ABM in Partner Marketing

A Practical Guide to Getting Started with ABM in Partner Marketing

Today’s buyers consume, on average, 12 pieces of content when researching a purchase. When producing relevant and valuable messaging is this critical, how do you create the right assets to address every prospective buyer’s needs at every stage?

As the leading B2B webinar and video provider, the BrightTALK team has learned a thing or two about creating content that converts. Join us as we demonstrate how to build a well- balanced asset library that blends rich and static media throughout the buyer’s journey. We'll teach you to leverage different content types and demonstrate how to build a robust editorial calendar to create meaningful marketing touches as your buyers progress deeper down the sales funnel.

Mapping B2B Content to Each Stage of the New Sales Funnel

As a revenue marketer steeped in your own organization’s ideas, positioning and challenges, it’s easy to develop blind spots and an affinity for the familiar. This can make it incredibly difficult to drive organizational change, innovate your campaigns, test new messaging and evolve your overall go-to-market strategy. Maura Ginty, a leading fractional CMO and GTM advisor, has a unique vantage point. Since she works with a mix of B2B organizations at any given time, varying in size, industry and maturity, Maura is an expert at digging deep into each org’s strategy, revenue processes and tech stack, to unearth new opportunities for growth.  

Join TechTarget’s Olivia Dassler as she sits down with Maura Ginty for an in-depth conversation about the trends and common obstacles Maura is observing and helping revenue teams overcome. We’ll discuss Maura’s path to becoming a fractional CMO, the unique skills that help her thrive in this role, and the observations she’s seeing across the board right now. You’ll walk away with insider knowledge on the fractional perspective and fresh ideas for evolving your GTM strategy and driving revenue growth.

The Fractional Perspective: Maura Ginty’s Top GTM Lessons

In a world where AI chatbots are revolutionizing how we live and work, many of us are turning to AI to answer questions, create content, write code, and even brainstorm ideas. But how can we effectively integrate AI into our GTM planning and execution? Will AI enhance or hinder the GTM process? 

Join Pam Didner, B2B marketing consultant, author, and podcaster, as she delves into the transformative ways AI can enhance your GTM strategy. Pam will share insights on the best practices for evaluating and evolving your GTM approach with AI, explore different methods for integrating AI into essential GTM components, and highlight key metrics for measuring the success of AI-driven versus human-led GTM efforts.

Transforming GTM Approaches with AI: From Planning to Implementation

Buying groups are all the rage (or haven’t you heard?). Forrester predicted the death of MQLs and the rise of Buying Groups. And for years this transition seemed aspirational and “future state.” But now? Now it’s starting to become a reality. In a new TechTarget survey of hundreds of B2B IT providers, nearly half said their company is embracing a buying group strategy in the next year. 

In this session we’ll dive deep into the survey data to reveal how your peers are approaching buying groups. We’ll discuss tales from the field: real-life examples of how companies of all sizes are making this transition via people, process and technology. And we’ll talk about how TechTarget’s product roadmap can help you take the next step, whether you’re on the first leg of the journey or already well underway.

Buying Groups: Next Steps to Making it Real (No Matter Where You Are At)

Adopting a holistic and cohesive marketing approach has never been more crucial as IT buyers continue to take a self-directed path to engaging with and discovering your solutions. This can be easier said than done, and many marketers struggle to execute global campaigns across various channels. Yet Akamai, the cloud company that powers and protects life online, has successfully integrated disparate tactics and approaches into a cohesive integrated marketing strategy. What do they do differently? 

Join Sean MacKinnon, Customer Success Director, EMEA (TechTarget), as he sits down with Zoe Latchford, Sr. Field Marketing Manager, EMEA (Akamai), to discuss how her team drills down to focus on what matters. Learn how they leverage intent data to drive net new client acquisition, deeply engage audiences with a comprehensive webinar strategy and align Akamai’s marketing and sales teams to ensure seamless execution. You'll walk away with practical tips and strategic insights for adapting this approach to streamline your marketing campaigns and achieve more revenue.

Ditch the Distractions: Akamai’s Approach to Integrated Marketing

Gone are the days when buyers relied heavily on sales reps to access information and solve their tech challenges. Instead, modern IT professionals are utilizing a vast variety of sources to prioritize their own independent research. While this shift might initially seem challenging, it presents a golden opportunity for go-to-market (GTM) teams looking to position their brand as an invaluable resource. 

This new era of the IT buyer’s journey could require significant adjustments to your GTM strategy. For a deeper understanding of how the modern IT buyer’s journey happens, join Liam Jack, Senior Account Director, EMEA (TechTarget), as he shares the latest research on EMEA buyer’s purchase motivations, team dynamics, media consumption habits, vendor evaluation criteria, and more. Walk away with practical tips and actionable strategies to enhance your GTM approach and enable your buyers throughout their research and vendor evaluation process.

Adapting GTM Motions to Reflect the Modern Buying Journey in EMEA

For complex and expensive B2B purchase decisions, everyone understands the logic of Buying Group thinking -- heck, most of us are already participants in the process! And we all know that MQLs are interesting signals, they’re just not very strong or predictive on their own. So, if the new ideas about long-needed lead management changes make so much sense, why hasn’t everyone jumped right in on making it happen? That’s the question we asked Palo Alto Networks’ Jeremy Schwartz. And he’s able to explain the key challenges and how they’re working their way through every single one. 

Join Jeremy and TechTarget CMO John Steinert as they discuss how Jeremy is helping to drive GTM innovation from the inside. They’ll cover the business benefits of the Buying Groups concept; how to think about it, communicate it, and work through the change management elements necessary to bring it to life in a global leading-edge corporation.

Innovation Inside Out: Bringing Buying Groups to Life at Palo Alto Networks

The holistic approach to marketing is not the road most traveled...at least not without wrecking the car in the process.  Achieving the success of surrounding the buying team takes ongoing and nuanced marketing knowledge of how to captivate and leverage the audience.  What pieces are missing?  What's the best path forward? 

In this webinar learn from Upland InterFAX's Senior Marketing Manager, Ginger Swann, and TechTarget's Manager of Customer Success, Ellie Mancini, about their collaboration and partnership in creating an integrated approach to intent marketing.  Hear how through trial and practice, they worked through challenges and changes to provide the InterFAX an approach to be fully equipped for success.

A Spoonful of Trial & Practice: How Collaboration and Partnership Can Produce Integrated Marketing

Account-based marketing has become a critical focus area in B2B for teams looking to build business with high-potential accounts and solidify revenue streams. While the allure of growable ARR and dependable NRR make perfect sense, the path to substantive ABM success trips up many organizations that dive in under-prepared. Go-to-market teams built for volume typically stumble over four major obstacles they haven’t had to contend with before. Until they solve for these, they commonly remain stuck, begin finger-pointing, and not infrequently decide to reverse directions back to where they started from.

In this webinar, TechTarget’s CMO, John Steinert, and leading revenue operations practitioner Josh Hill will discuss four of the major pitfalls they’ve seen derail many ABM efforts. (Hint: neglecting the buying team is a big one.) Join us as we discuss what to watch out for in your own organization, and how to work your way through to the solutions you’ll need to succeed.

The Four Sins of ABM and How to Overcome Them

As the drum beat for high-quality and valuable content from B2B buyers grows stronger, marketers are under pressure to identify new and innovative types of content, while also scaling their content engine. For some teams, this means exploring new resources, like generative AI (GenAI), while others look to creating new content formats. At times, the endless cycle can feel exhausting, if not a bit maddening. 

 Join Robert Rose, Chief Strategy Officer at The Content Advisory and Content Marketing Institute, for an in-depth discussion with Fiona O’Connor, Senior Manager, Marketing Programs, TechTarget, on the impact of classic content – content that provides new audiences with value and provides existing audiences with ongoing value – can have on your audience engagement. They’ll cover the characteristics of classic content, why it’s different from evergreen content and why it should be a part of your content strategy. You’ll leave with a blueprint for creating classic content and how to balance it with other content types for an effective content marketing strategy.

Bring Back the Classics: Why Classic Content Captivates Audiences

Your go-to-market intersects with potential buyers in three major areas. First is your R&D and what you choose to develop as products, features and packaging. Second is through your marketing, your positioning, messaging, targeting and channel mix, etc. Last, of course, is your sales execution, from opportunity creation, to pipeline management, to close. End-to-end, it’s a complex operational value chain where each part significantly impacts the others. And despite a huge rise in GTM-tech investment, achieving appreciable improvement seems to actually be getting harder. Join TechTarget President Rebecca Kitchens and CMO John Steinert for a strategic discussion about what’s happening in tech markets and vendor GTMs. They’ll cover where things are, where they see things going, and what they believe should be recognized and addressed by every company looking to grow business with its ICPs.

What Will Attract Buyers in an AI-Infused Future?

Historically, classic demand gen approaches, like marketing qualified leads (MQLS) and BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) have been at the center of how marketing organizations evaluate their effectiveness. Yet as buyers have changed – both in the number of purchasing decision makers and buying journeys overall – these approaches have not evolved to match the needs of the current B2B landscape. The result? Marketing and sales teams are leaving money on the table.

In this session, Terry Flaherty, VP, Principal Analyst at Forrester will discuss where these classic demand gen approaches fail and why they may be limiting your teams’ actual revenue potential. You’ll hear recommendations on what changes in thinking need to be made with Marketing organizations and how teams can begin to implement those changes.

The MQL is Dead: Why and How to Focus on Buying Groups

Content Marketing

Demand Generation

B2B Marketing

Marketing Analytics

Marketing and Sales Alignment

Buyer Journey

Digital Transformation

Forrester

Intent Data

The social media marketing community on BrightTALK is composed of thousands of engaged social media professionals. Learn about social selling, B2B social media and social media marketing for businesses with live and on-demand webinars presented by industry leaders. Fine tune your social media marketing strategy by participating in live webinars and round table discussions.

Social Media Marketing

Demand generation is the process through which a business integrates marketing and sales to move potential buyers down the sales funnel from interest to payment. The BrightTALK demand generation community is made up of thousands of professionals sharing and learning best practices for engagement marketing, demand generation and lead scoring and nurturing through interactive webinars and videos. Register and join the conversation to attend live webinars and have your questions answered by demand generation professionals and thought leaders.

The email marketing community on BrightTALK is made up of thousands of engaged email marketing professionals. Find relevant webinars and videos on email best practices to help you increase email conversions and drive email marketing ROI. Join expert speakers and email marketing peers sharing insights into building email lists, list segmentation, click-through rates and triggered campaigns.

Email Marketing

The marketing operations and automation community on BrightTALK is composed of thousands of marketing automation professionals. Learn and share best practices for marketing campaign analysis, outbound marketing and lead creation with hundreds of on-demand webinars and videos. Increase your engagement and fine tune your funnel management strategy by asking questions during live, interactive webinars with marketing automation peers and industry leaders.

Marketing Operations and Automation

Mobile Marketing

“People generally remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see and 50% of what they see and hear.” This final segment, the merging of audio and visual, is what makes webinars and videos a crucial part of any marketing program. The BrightTALK webinar and video marketing community gives you access to webinars and videos on marketing, best practices for video marketing online and tips for creating a successful marketing webinar. Join thousands of marketing professionals exchanging information through on-demand and live webinars and videos.

Webinar and Video Marketing

The digital content marketing community on BrightTALK is made up of thousands of marketers using rich media and thought leadership content to drive engagement. Join to learn best practices for digital content creation and distribution and explore how content engagement can help you connect with your existing and prospective customers and drive revenue.

The marketing community on BrightTALK is made up of thousands of engaged marketing professionals. Find relevant webinars and videos on marketing strategy, branding and more presented by recognized thought leaders. Join the conversation by participating in live webinars and round table discussions.

The MQL is Dead: Why and How to Focus on Buying Groups

Presented by

About this talk

More from this channel