Adam Kaiser

SEM is an excellent way for a company to get up and running by responding to demand in the market. Early-stage companies who have not established their brand can start driving interest and opportunities immediately. As an organization grows, SEM can continue to be a large part of its digital toolbox while adding in other areas, including organic (SEO), as the company's brand becomes known and it builds authority.

The intersection of digital and direct mail can be a powerful combination. I have run many direct mail campaigns (actually direct FedEx!), where a package is sent to a prospect, and the materials point them back to a website, where they are prompted to enter a PIN or other code. From there, you've identified who you've reached and can capture data (through surveys or other means) on their current challenges, tech stack, etc., and even offer an incentive to book a meeting with sales. In some of these campaigns, I've seen 50%+ response rates.

To make sure strategies align, you have to ensure that sales and marketing are reading from the same sheet of music. When a marketing team is measured on leads, not opportunities (pipeline/revenue), marketers will determine what tactics produce the most leads and execute on those. Immediately, you have a misalignment of both objectives and tactics. To avoid all of this, measure sales and marketing on the same thing. With both teams looking at opportunities, the tactics to generate pipeline will be front and center. 

In most cases, you would want to keep the URLs of the posts and pages the same. If the pages had good organic rankings, maintaining the URLs is essential to maintaining those rankings. Additionally, if URLs are changed, and proper redirects are not in place, users will experience errors, and your site risks losing rank. Whether or not you change positioning is entirely up to you. With every website update looking at content and whether it brings value to visitors is critically important.

The move from Manager to Director is about transitioning from someone who is told what to do and "pulls the levers." In someone who can own a strategy and help execute it. Before you can build a strategy, you need to be an expert on the execution side of the work. Dive into every channel, and understand how they work and when they are leveraged. Additionally, always be looking at how others market. Look at your competitor's digital ads, read their blog, sign-up for a newsletter, and immerse yourself in their content. And step outside competitors as well. Find those brands you respect and learn everything you can about how their teams work and build programs. From a strategy perspective, look at areas within your business and think about how you could improve them. Then, bring your ideas to your managers and leaders. Getting feedback on those ideas can help you understand their thoughts, and you'll pick up some strategic guidance along the way. And don't be afraid to ask questions!

It can be incredibly frustrating when other teams lack respect for the time and effort it takes to execute a demand gen program. Sales teams and others can sometimes take the effort for granted and expect opportunities to flow in. And when things aren't going as expected, they are quick to blame the team without understanding the underlying factors at play or the work that happens daily. Your friend here is to educate your teammates and departments on your work and how it ultimately impacts the bottom line.

This depends on your experience level. If you are new to your field, joining with the right mindset and attitude can take a long way. If you engage with your teammates with a desire to learn and display a positive attitude, you can advance quickly in your career. In many junior roles, hiring managers are looking at culture fit and attitude more than anything else.

To gain influence, do your job well. When you join a team, it is essential to connect with all your teammates and try to add value as soon as possible. Throw yourself into projects and offer up your time and expertise. A series of small, quick wins can go a long way toward earning you some "street cred" while showing you're a team player here to make an impact.