"The Year of the Lead"

It seems like demand generation has exploded onto the marketing scene in 2009. Call it lead generation, lead management or demand generation, the appetite for leads has grown exponentially between this year and last. The business is coming from very focused and motivated marketing teams who understand this is "The Year of the Lead." The pressure from their companies to produce revenue in this type of atmosphere has opened up exploration of new ways to impact and create revenue. The spotlight is now squarely on demand generation solutions.

You see this in several ways:
1. The marketing automation companies and consulting groups are seeing rapid growth in this environment
2. Even in companies where marketing budget and/or teams have been cut, the focus on lead generation continues and we see many companies who are now "outsourcing" their lead generation function. A recent study from DemandGen Report showed that the budgets for lead generation are holding steady in 2009 (after big increases in 2008) and in some cases are increasing.
3. Participation of marketers in professional events focused on demand generation is growing and the fact that we now have events focused in this area is growing

Along with that appetite has also come a much broader knowledge of the exciting marketing category. I had a conversation yesterday with a marketer just beginning to look at lead management systems and how to improve leads in his company. He was WELL educated. He had spoken at length with a peer in another company and he had great ideas for what he wanted from a demand generation program. This is strikingly different from even a year ago. At that time a typical conversation would have been me doing ALL the educating.

The net? If your CEO or VP has asked you for more leads, better quality leads or ways that marketing can impact revenue...they are serious. It is "The Year of the Lead."

Tell me your opinion! What are you seeing?