This article originates from a panel at the Revenue Marketing Summit in Denver, 2023. 

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Ensuring your organization has effective marketing and sales alignment is a crucial endeavor for any company that wants to stay competitive. It's not just about implementing strategies or deploying tools; it's about creating a seamless synergy between marketing and sales teams, using technology as a catalyst. 

I’m Jared Gardner, VP of Growth at Human Interest, and I've been at the forefront of pioneering strategies that bridge the gap between these two vital arms of our organization. 

In this article, I’ll share insights and experiences from a recent panel discussion, featuring industry experts:

  • Justin Gabbart, VP of Growth, Dandy
  • Bryan Olshock, VP of Pipeline Generation, ServiceTitan

We discuss how to effectively align your marketing and sales teams using the right MarTech, and delve into the nuances of audience targeting, ad technology, and how to transform insights into actionable strategies, ensuring that our marketing efforts aren't just seen but felt in the sales results.

The essence of marketing and sales alignment

Embarking on our main discussion, I posed a pivotal question to my fellow panelists: "What are the key ingredients of marketing and sales alignment?" This is a critical aspect that businesses often grapple with, and understanding it can significantly enhance operational efficiency and success.

Mutual KPIs and data-driven strategy

Bryan emphasized the importance of having mutually defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and targets throughout the sales funnel. He shared that for him, the focus is less on the frequency of interactions with leads and more on whether the investments made are translating into actual pipeline and revenue.

Bryan outlined his approach of dividing leads into tier one and tier two categories, setting benchmarks for conversion through the funnel. This process allows him to regularly assess whether there are issues with volume, pursuit, quality, or mix of leads. 

He also highlighted the value of having an unbiased third party, like a Revenue Operations team, compile data. This ensures that when sales and marketing teams meet, they focus on addressing issues rather than disputing data.

Alignment through quality and qualification

Justin shared his experience at Dandy, where he encountered misalignment between the marketing and sales teams due to differing goals and approaches. The marketing team was initially focused on scaling inbound traffic and was measured on early-funnel metrics like MQLs, meetings, and opportunity stages.

In contrast, the sales team was incentivized to develop an outbound motion. This disparity led to conflicts and a decline in lead quality.

Justin discussed the transformative decision to reevaluate and discard previous targets, shifting focus towards qualification and quality of leads. This led to a restructuring of their paid media, webinar, and content programs to prioritize meeting setups and ensure a consistent transition from meetings to opportunities. 

By adding more friction to forms and intensifying the lead qualification process, Dandy was able to focus on delivering higher quality leads, which in turn led to more efficient funnel progression, despite a reduction in lead targets.

A person-first approach

As the VP of Growth at Human Interest, I report directly to the Chief Revenue Officer, which essentially aligns me closely with the sales team.

Addressing my own question about the key ingredients for marketing and sales alignment, I advocate for a person-first approach, emphasizing empathy for the sales team. Their job is challenging, and understanding their struggles is vital.

My strategy revolves around a deep understanding of the business. As marketers, we need to think like business strategists, comprehending how the business is valued and where growth is stemming from. This understanding helps align marketing objectives with the company's top priorities. If there's a disconnect, it becomes challenging to demonstrate the value of marketing efforts at the end of the year.

This approach also provides leeway to prioritize tasks that align with top company objectives, sometimes necessitating pushing back on sales requests that don't align with these priorities.

A crucial part of my philosophy is getting intimately familiar with the sales process. I encourage marketers to participate in sales calls to better understand the buyer and refine marketing strategies. This hands-on experience is invaluable in making the sales team's job easier and more effective.

Aligning technology with business goals

As we delve deeper into the role of technology in aligning sales and marketing, it's evident that a thoughtful, data-driven approach is key. The insights from Bryan and Justin highlight the importance of setting clear, mutually beneficial goals and focusing on the quality and qualification of leads. 

As we progress, it's crucial to consider how technology can support these objectives without overshadowing the fundamental need for strategic alignment between marketing and sales.

The current MarTech landscape

As we shifted the conversation towards technology's role in driving alignment, Bryan and Justin shared their perspectives on the current MarTech landscape.

Back to basics and leveraging first-party data

Bryan advocates for a "back to basics" approach, ensuring that existing technology like Marketo and Tableau is optimally utilized before pursuing new tools. He emphasizes the growing importance of tag management and Customer Data Platform (CDP) tools, like Segment, for leveraging first-party data, especially with changes in cookie tracking and attribution.

Moving away from tool bloat and specific tool categories

Justin shared his shift from being attracted to new tech tools to focusing on a more integrated approach. He expressed skepticism about the ROI of ABM tools focused on IP resolution and the trend of choosing the best-in-breed tool for each function. 

Instead, he now favors a best-of-suite approach, like using HubSpot, which offers a more cohesive and cost-effective solution despite not being the best in every single category.

Reflecting on Bryan and Justin's insights, it's clear that the key to effective MarTech investment lies in balancing the allure of new technologies with the practicality and integration of existing tools.

The focus should be on ensuring that technology serves the strategic goals of aligning sales and marketing, rather than becoming a fragmented set of tools with limited synergy.

Leveraging technology for deeper market insights

Let’s delve further into the practical applications of technology in enhancing marketing and sales alignment. Both Bryan and Justin share valuable insights on utilizing specific tools to gain deeper insights into the market and customer behavior.

The power of Gong for sales insights

Bryan highlighted his appreciation for Gong, a tool that provides recordings of sales calls. This resource has become invaluable for his team, offering direct insights into customer interactions. By analyzing successful and unsuccessful calls, they can better understand the customer journey and refine their strategies accordingly.

Under utilized tools and content engagement

Justin pointed out that many companies underutilize tools like Gong for marketing insights. He emphasized the importance of marketers engaging with these tools to understand customer conversations better. This approach aligns with my own perspective on the importance of understanding the buyer’s journey.

The value of content CRM tools

Justin also expressed excitement about content CRM tools like Seismic or Highspot. These platforms can be instrumental in tracking content engagement and providing sales teams with actionable data.

He stressed the importance of transitioning from traditional content distribution methods, like PDFs, to more interactive and trackable formats. This shift allows for a deeper understanding of customer engagement with the content.

Integrating technology and content for sales enablement

The conversation underscores the importance of integrating technology with content to empower sales teams. Tools like Clue automate the process of providing competitive intelligence to sales teams, demonstrating the power of technology in making content more accessible and actionable.

As we continue this discussion, it's evident that the right technology, when thoughtfully integrated into sales and marketing processes, can provide a significant advantage. It's not just about having the right tools, but about how these tools are used to enhance understanding, streamline processes, and ultimately drive better alignment and results.

Exploring innovations in adtech and audience management

Justin, passionate about advertising, notes the decline in native audience quality across platforms like Facebook and Google. With changes in audience targeting, he stresses the importance of investing in first-party audience tools and data.

He recommends tools like Clearbit for large enterprises and Metadata IO for specific title targeting across different channels. Justin also emphasizes the value of building an in-house database of contacts for audience creation, which can be more effective and less costly than broader targeting methods.

He is skeptical about AI-driven platforms for advertising, finding they tend to over-optimize and lose effectiveness.

I share my enthusiasm for using server-side conversion APIs and robust conversion tracking back to platforms. This approach compensates for the loss of signal due to the death of cookies and iOS updates. By providing detailed conversion data to platforms, we can enable algorithms to identify valuable audiences more effectively.

Utilizing tools like Segment, I focus on pushing quality signals and value data back to advertising platforms. This method allows for more efficient targeting and optimization of ad spend, aiming to find high-value prospects amidst the vast user base of platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

This discussion highlights the dynamic nature of AdTech and the importance of adapting strategies to keep up with changing platform capabilities and audience behaviors. While Justin leans towards developing precise first-party audiences, I focus on enhancing conversion tracking and data feedback to platforms. 

Both approaches aim to refine targeting and optimize ad spend, demonstrating the varied yet complementary strategies that can be employed in the realm of digital advertising.

Advanced strategies in audience targeting

Bryan and Justin delve deeper into sophisticated audience targeting strategies and their use of AdTech tools, sharing insights that are critical for any marketer looking to refine their advertising approach in the ever-changing digital landscape.

Bryan emphasizes the importance of 'creative qualification' in targeting the right audience, especially as platforms like Facebook limit granular targeting options. He suggests that well-crafted creative content can effectively qualify and attract the desired audience. Bryan is also optimistic about AI's role in scaling and optimizing creative content quickly.

Additionally, he highlights the utility of Funnel.io, a tool that aggregates data across multiple advertising channels into one comprehensive dataset. This tool allows for a bird’s eye view of media spend and performance, proving invaluable for performance-driven teams managing diverse ad channels.

Justin introduces the concept of 'front-running metrics' from the finance world, suggesting its application in marketing. This involves identifying early indicators that correlate with successful customer engagements. He encourages marketers to identify and optimize efforts towards metrics that signal high-value customers.

For instance, in the dental practice scenario, identifying practices with two doctors instead of one could be a key metric that correlates with better customers for Dandy. He suggests incentivizing marketing and sales teams to focus on these high-value metrics, thereby aligning the entire sales process more effectively.

Data-driven optimization

Reflecting on Bryan and Justin's points, it's evident that the future of successful digital marketing lies in a more nuanced, data-driven approach. Leveraging creative content to qualify audiences and utilizing tools like Funnel.io for comprehensive data analysis are crucial strategies.

Similarly, adopting front-running metrics provides a more predictive approach to identifying and targeting high-value customers.

These insights highlight the evolving complexity of digital marketing, where understanding and adapting to subtle audience behaviors, and employing sophisticated data analysis, become key to outperforming in a competitive digital space.