Top 3 Channels Revenue Leaders are Using to Build Pipeline in 2024

2024 is almost halfway done, and business leaders are working hard to allocate budgets and implement their growth plans to bring in the most revenue possible for what is shaping up to be a wild year for the SaaS industry. 

But where exactly are sales and marketing leaders betting big this year? Which channels do they believe will be the most effective catalyst for growth in 2024 and beyond? 

In our B2B Pipeline Pioneers podcast, SalesIntel CEO Manoj Ramnani talks with industry-leading revenue professionals to discover the latest trends and tactics driving growth for top companies. As part of the podcast, Manoj conducts market research to discover where revenue leaders are investing their time and resources to unlock their organizations’ next phase of growth. 

In this article, we’ll discuss the top three channels sales, marketing, and customer success leaders are most bullish, where they’re placing their biggest bets this year, and where they see the greatest opportunity in the quarters ahead.   

What channels are revenue leaders choosing in 2024?

Since our podcast’s inception, we’ve been complaining guest responses to see what channels revenue leaders are looking to tap into in the coming quarters. 

We’ll be compiling all user responses into a more detailed report at the end of the year, but for now, let’s take a look at the three channels our marketing and sales leaders are betting big on this year.

Partnerships

As traditional sales and marketing tactics lose steam due to recent economic fluctuations, partnerships have moved from an offshoot of the Customer Success function to a fully-fledged GTM play that has top revenue leaders buzzing. 

“[Partnerships] are a big thing that we started testing just in Q4 of last year that paid off.

And all this year, we’re running that home in an effort to create 60 percent revenue attachment from partnerships.”  – Blake Williams, Founder at Growth Story, B2B Pipeline Pioneers Episode 3: Pioneering Go-to-Network

From purely a return on investment (ROI) perspective, companies are seeing much higher returns by investing more in influential partnerships to provide warm intros to new buyers and markets.  

“You’re going to get a lot more bang for your buck if you use each other [partners] to amplify and share audiences. I speak a lot about finding partners who look in the same direction. I have even seen partnerships work between competitors.” – Melissa Moody, General Manager at Commsor, B2B Pipeline Pioneers Episode 16: Pioneering a Relationship-First Strategy

“For the large part, the C-suite, if you look at organizations going to market efficiently through partners, they’re getting a significantly higher demand gen multiplier out of that, which means if I spend a dollar directly, I get way more back in terms of ROI from partnerships.” – Blake Williams

Building relationships with trusted industry partners can also provide unique visibility into which companies are onboarding certain solutions, lend credibility or subject matter expertise, and help move prospects down the sales and marketing funnel.

“I might partner with the right people to host a private in-person event activation with special speakers or people that are going to be part of the experience to try to get the people that already know about us into our funnel a bit deeper” – Mark Kilens, CEO and co-founder of TACK, B2B Pipeline Pioneers Episode 30: Pioneering Tactical Partnership Plays

Community

Communitty-led growth has been another standout growth channel so far this year. With so many SaaS markets flooded with similar products, it can be tough to stand out amongst a sea of competitors all promising roughly the same thing. 

“Member-led growth, in our case is really important. There’s a lot of communities now, and I look at building brand [through community] as essential. [Communitites provide] information on who’s happy and who’s not, what cohorts are thriving, and what that tells us about our product and the potential market. What is our TAM and which parts of it, should we be really be tapping into when in order to stay focused?” – Kathleen Booth, SVP of Marketing & Growth at Pavilion, B2B Pipeline Pioneers Episode 31: Pavilion’s Community & Customer-Centric Growth Strategies

In a market where dumping money into paid ads doesn’t always translate to more revenue, building a strong community of engaged and loyal users that naturally attracts and retains members is becoming a competitive advantage and key growth driver companies are looking to capitalize on this year. 

“People are not just buying from you because you made a perfect paid ad or ran a specific webinar that brought you the leads that you were able to close. But the actual connections with people, that’s what is bringing in the predictability”. – LAURA Erdem, Sales Leader – North America at Dreamdata, B2B Pipeline Pioneers Episode 34: Creating Pipeline Predictability Through Connection

Customer Channels

Expansion: 

In 2024, top revenue leaders have identified account expansion through cross-sells, up-sells, or new features as a critical revenue driver, especially in turbulent economic market conditions.  

“Because of the market conditions we are in, people are apprehensive of net-new investments. So when they [customers] have trust in you, and they’re spending time and money and see results. Why not invest in the people and companies that are actually showing those results?” – Sangram Vajre, CEO & Co-Founder at GTM Partners, B2B Pipeline Pioneers Episode 25: Long-Term Pipeline Growth: Deepening Customer Relationships and Broadening Partnerships

This makes good economic sense for companies as it’s estimated that the likelihood of selling to an existing customer is up to 14 times higher than the likelihood of selling to a new customer – making expansion some of the most valuable and lowest-hanging fruit for companies looking to shore up revenue for this year. 

“As we’re coming out of 2023 and into 2024, we of course want to bring in new logos, but the easiest money is in the expansion.” – Kristie Jones, Founder and Principal of Sales Acceleration Group, B2B Pipeline Pioneers Episode 29: Creating Expansion Strategies for Long Game Wins

Referrals: 

Referrals are one of the most powerful influencing factors in any purchase decision. Research has shown that 88%-92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends, family, and colleagues. 

Asking existing (happy) customers and business colleagues for introductions or referrals to companies within their network can provide a point of social proof and warm introductions to potential new clients, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion. 

“With referral-based sales closing at 50-70%, I want to invest a higher amount there”. – Katie Penner is the Head of Sender Relations at Sendoso

With many sales organizations struggling to bring in new logos, it’s no wonder more leaders are turning to their current customers to drive revenue growth through expansions and referrals this year. 

What channels will you choose?

The diversity of growth strategies we’ve seen shows that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to driving business growth. However, if there’s one takeaway from the results so far, it’s this: the biggest bets in growth are happening at the relationship level. 

Whether nurturing mutually beneficial relationships with industry partners, fostering a loyal community, or expanding through current customers, building and maintaining real, meaningful connections is where top revenue leaders are bullish in 2024.

Want to participate in the research?

Complete the 100 Pennies Game–an interactive exercise to gauge how business leaders are prioritizing different growth strategies. This exercise encourages players to prioritize and make trade-offs between different strategies and find the investment mix they believe will unlock the next phases of growth for their business.

Sound like fun? You can play the game for yourself here: B2B Pipeline Pioneers – GTM Leader Survey.