A guest post by Lauren Carlson of Software Advice (with video of the Daily Fix's own Carlos Hidalgo)

One of the best perks of living and working in a city like Austin, Texas, is the talent that rolls through regularly. Recently, we got a visit from Carlos Hidalgo, CEO of Annuitas Group and executive director of the Marketing Automation Institute. Carlos always has an interesting perspective to offer on marketing automation solutions and strategy because he spends most of his time working with companies to implement them.

The last time Carlos visited the ATX, we got to talking about the idea of lead management versus demand generation. Carlos explained that he was in a meeting with a client recently who had a limited budget and wanted to know which to invest in: demand gen or lead management. This question sparked some confusion because we couldn't figure out how you could have one without the other.

If you invest in a demand generation strategy but have no formalized system in place to manage said demand, then you are wasting your time. Conversely, if you design a comprehensive lead management plan but have no comprehensive demand generation to support it, then it won't do you much good.

I asked Carlos to do a quick whiteboard, explaining the difference between demand generation and lead management in the context of the sales funnel. In this first video, Carlos explains how the two are not two separate entities but are really a dual proposition.



In this second video, Carlos brings in the technology conversation. He explains how you can enhance your demand gen and lead management strategy by implementing a marketing automation system. He also brings up a very important point: The technology can only be as powerful as the strategy it supports.



Lauren Carlson is a CRM of Software Advice.