Almost two-thirds of B2B demand gen marketers report currently having a lead qualifying team that screens leads and sets appointments for sales, according to the latest annual State of Demand Gen report [download page] from Activate, produced in partnership with Marketing Charts.
The survey finds that a professional approach to lead follow-up and LQR teams is standard at larger companies: 78% of respondents from companies with at least 5,000 employees reported such a team. However, fewer than half (48%) of respondents at smaller companies said the same, almost matched by the share (46%) who said that leads go straight to sales.
The results also indicate that demand gen marketers who met or exceeded their KPIs (69%) were more likely than those who failed to meet their KPIs (51%) to have a lead qualifying team.
Asked which of various attributes a lead must display before being sent to a SDR/LQR, respondents pointed first to the provision of a valid email (70%), followed by the lead having the right job title/job function (64%), being based in a certain country/region (56%) and working for a company with the right revenue/headcount (53%).
Meanwhile, two-thirds look to drive additional engagement beyond the first-touch before sending leads to SDRs/LQRs, and half associate them with an existing named account (where present).
Looking forward, the need for marketers to engage leads more often is likely to increase, as 84% agree that successful demand gen will require more touch points before qualification.
Other Findings:
- Currently, sales development representatives (SDRs) and lead qualification representatives (LQRs) are most commonly part of the sales team, as indicated by 64% of respondents. However, for almost one-sixth (16%), SDRs/LQRs are part of the marketing and/or demand gen team, while for an additional 11%, all sales and marketing staff are part of a single revenue team. Separate research [download page] from Demand Gen Report and Demandbase suggests that sales development reports to marketing for about one-quarter of B2B marketers with SDRs or BDRs in their company.
- Marketing-generated pipeline and marketing-generated revenue are the top metrics planned for use in the coming 12 months. Marketing-generated revenue is a bigger focus for larger than smaller companies, and will be more commonly used by respondents who met or exceeded their KPIs than those who did not meet them.
- A slight majority (54%) agree that leads that don’t convert quickly are not valued by the business.
- Collaborating with sales to convert leads effectively is the second most-commonly cited demand gen challenge.
For more, download the study here.
About the Data: Findings are based on a July 2022 survey of 172 B2B tech marketers and demand gen decision-makers and influencers, 6 in 10 of whom work at companies with at least 1,000 employees.