Mar 2022, 10

MQLs, PQLs, SQLs–how does a modern conversion funnel work?

Operators used to think about *the* conversion funnel: you would move from awareness to consideration to conversion.

Then SaaS came around and it was still about that, but also retention and expansion and advocacy. It would be pretty linear, you would move from being Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) into a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) into being a customer within the purview of Success as a function.

Pretty straightforward right?

Except now Product Qualified Leads (PQL) are a thing… so, ugh, where do they go in the conversion funnel? Do they come before MQLs? After them? Do they replace MQLs? Are they something that should exist in parallel to them? How does one turn into the other? If you’ve been thinking that it’s all very confusing, you’re not alone.

Mar 2022, 08

Should every company be a PLG company moving forward?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, by now you will have heard about PLG. It’s literally everywhere on B2Tech Twitter, it’s the hottest topic of the moment when it comes to SaaS companies.

It stands for Product-Led Growth, of course… you might have heard about Product-Led Sales or Product-Led Revenue, slightly different flavors for essentially the same concept.

Mar 2022, 03

IRL Events are more important than you realize and here’s why

Most of us have been on a long hiatus from live events but they are back. Despite many prognostications that gathering in large groups will transition permanently to virtual events our primal social instincts seem to be too powerful.

This reality is where the crux of my position lies. Making connections in real life leads to exponentially more value in every way.

I and the team are attending a ton of events this year and are super excited to do so because:

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Mar 2022, 01

What’s the difference between “contact scoring” and “lead scoring”?

Marketing has known this for years: out of 1,000 people that visit your pricing page or view your webinar or download an ebook, not everyone is interest-ED in the same way in you, but not everyone is interest-ING in the same way to you either.

Feb 2022, 24

Copywriting is not your CEO’s job (and neither the intern’s)

Another day, another redesign.

A single day doesn’t go by without a post on my Linkedin feed of some startup announcing a major redesign of their website.

I get it, I’ve run an agency for 13 years, always hearing the same stuff:

Feb 2022, 22

Is it wrong to be honest about why a business exists?

All things old are new again, I actually just read an article that suggests marketing is all about “storytelling”.

Imagine my surprise at this being a novel idea, I had always thought of storytelling as a fundamental element of good marketing.

Similarly, Revenue (profit), is and always has been the objective of a business.

Have a hot take you’d like to see published? 🌶️

Write it down in 250-350 words, fill out the form below, and let us know.

Send your Hot Take

Feb 2022, 16

Why are Marketing and Sales constantly at odds with each other?

Historically there is no company that I’ve seen, been part of, and/or invested in where this hasn’t happened. As far as I can tell, at its core, the situation is the consequence of two foundational issues – first and foremost, marketing and sales teams are measured on metrics that have a fundamentally different nature: quantitative for Marketing Teams and qualitative for Sales Teams.

More is always merrier for Marketing Teams but for Sales Teams, not so much…

Feb 2022, 14

Your problem is not the CAC, it’s the LTV

In the post-apocalyptic (aka iOS 14) world we’re living in, one of the questions I get more often is along the lines of “My cost to acquire a customer is too high and I cannot afford it. How do I lower it?”

I get it. SaaS is a super competitive space, everyone has a lot of capital available to deploy on users acquisition and they want to grow fast.

On the other side, privacy laws and Apple changes to iOS have reduced the effectiveness of advertising drastically increasing CPC up to XX%.

Still, I don’t care. And you’re asking the wrong question.

Feb 2022, 11

Why is marketing the first and deepest budget cut in a downturn?

Are marketers their own worst enemy?

Thankfully it’s been a while since we’ve dealt with a sustained recession. Since our memories tend to be short we likely forget that budgets get cut during downtimes and especially marketing budgets according to Harvard Business Review.

I’ve had the hard conversations, in good times and bad, justifying marketing strategy, staff, and budget with leaders who just don’t “buy it”.

MQLs, PQLs, SQLs–how does a modern conversion funnel work?

Should every company be a PLG company moving forward?

IRL Events are more important than you realize and here’s why

Have a hot take you’d like to see published? 🌶️

What’s the difference between “contact scoring” and “lead scoring”?

Copywriting is not your CEO’s job (and neither the intern’s)

Is it wrong to be honest about why a business exists?

Have a hot take you’d like to see published? 🌶️

Why are Marketing and Sales constantly at odds with each other?

Your problem is not the CAC, it’s the LTV

Why is marketing the first and deepest budget cut in a downturn?

Revenue Acceleration Manifesto