The Crawl, Walk, Run Stages of a Successful Demand Gen Program

The Crawl, Walk, Run Stages of a Successful Demand Gen Program

Without fail, every time I work with a new stakeholder, I have to reset expectations about what a demand generation program can do in its early stages. There are clearly defined “crawl, walk, run” stages of a demand generation program. 

It’s very common for those who aren’t in the field to think that once a foundational program has been built, the demand gen program should instantly be “running” and contributing significant amounts of revenue. 

But the reality is that most programs don’t generate results until they reach the “walk” phase (which can take about six months), and it can take a year or longer to reach “run,” especially when technology investments need to be made.

Building a sustainable program from scratch takes a lot of foundational work. The fastest I’ve ever put together a program is four weeks, but realistically it's a minimum of six weeks just to reach the “crawl” phase. 

Unfortunately, by the time executives have decided to bring in a specialist for demand generation, they’re usually already panicking about lead flow. But in my decade of building and launching successful demand gen programs, I have yet to see one that can generate a significant number of leads within the first five months. 

And so, the demand generation expert has consistently to reset expectations. 

Here are a few tips for those of you trying to remind leadership to trust the process.

1. Outline clear milestones and deliverables while you’re building your program. While everything should be well-documented, if you can choose a handful of very visible milestones to share (major content pieces are a great place to start), it can go a long way toward reminding your team that you are - in fact - laying a foundation.
   
   
2. Identify one or two quick-win campaigns you can run concurrently while building your program. I’ve yet to meet a client that is comfortable doing “nothing” while their program is being developed (although you and I both know that you aren't doing "nothing"). Identify what you can achieve relatively quickly and complete those campaigns in tandem. A great place to start is looking within your existing database to re-engage “once-hot, now-cold” leads or choose an existing piece of content and run a small paid and organic campaign on a digital channel.
   
   
3. Keep your teams involved in the process. Pull them in as SMEs for content, involve them in defining lead handoff processes and lead qualification definitions, and encourage them to participate in any quick-win campaigns you can produce. For example, if you’re launching an email campaign, keep your sales team engaged by helping them with a follow-up cadence. Or, hype up your executives to re-share existing content on LinkedIn. 

This process is fluid and it’s very likely that you’ll exist somewhere in between these phases. Your content might be “running” while your digital channels are “crawling”. That’s okay! Work with what you’ve got and focus on which aspects of your program will help you run the fastest. 

Ultimately, the goal is for the program to generate revenue. For some companies, that will happen during the “crawl” phase. But for most, patience and trust are required until the program starts “walking”.