Podcast Summary

B2B Agility with Greg Kihlström™: MarTech, E-Commerce, & Customer Success

Episode 68: Improving Lead Quality with Derek Gerber, Power Digital
Air Date: November 4, 2025
Guest: Derek Gerber, Director of Growth B2B, Power Digital
Host: Greg Kihlström

Overview of the Episode

This episode explores the persistent issue of poor lead quality in B2B marketing, despite advances in MarTech, sales platforms, and analytic tools. Host Greg Kihlström and guest Derek Gerber discuss why so many teams still struggle to generate high-quality leads, the lesser-known negative impacts of working with poor leads, technological and organizational challenges, and practical strategies to address these issues. The conversation centers on achieving better sales-marketing alignment, data-driven approaches, and emerging trends that shape B2B lead generation today.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Downside of Poor Lead Quality

[01:44]

• Beyond Wasted Resources: Derek points out that poor-quality leads undermine more than just return on investment—they result in:

  • Lack of visibility into performance
  • Incorrect budget allocations
  • Decision-making based on incomplete or faulty data
  • Underperformance against KPIs and loss of stakeholder trust
  • Incorrect attribution that moves strategies away from data and toward gut decisions

  “About 58% of marketing leaders right now admit that they have trouble targeting the right kind of leads, which actually leads to poor quality leads… the lack of stakeholder confidence that generates, and then of course, like incorrect attribution … makes it extremely hard to upgrade the value of your strategy and go to market the right way.”
  — Derek Gerber [02:21]

Is the Problem Getting Better or Worse?

[03:59]

• Market Complexity & Shrinking Teams: Despite tools promising “easy” lead gen, actual teams have been downsized drastically, leading to overworked marketers who now need to juggle many unfamiliar responsibilities.

• Technology Overload: Stacks costing hundreds of thousands are often underutilized due to lack of integration and proper activation.

• Resource Constraints: Partners like Power Digital are brought in to provide scale and expertise that internal teams lack due to downsizing and budget freezes.

  “There are CFOs and CROs out there that are effectively saying you are not going to get headcount money or budget, but you can bring in a partner… I have these amazing world class technology solutions and tools but I don’t know how to activate them and I don’t have the right people on staff.”
  — Derek Gerber [05:28]

Can Technology Alone Solve Lead Quality?

[07:27]

• Fragmented Systems: All-in-one tech stacks are rarely fully realized—fragmented data and lack of actionable insights persist.

• Importance of Asking the Right Questions: Most clients (even with world-class solutions) still lack clarity about whether their marketing initiatives are working and if metrics are relevant for today’s buyer journey.

  “You may have again a world class solution and it’s just not being activated right as a part of your strategy. But how do I get rid of the noise? How do we clean up data? How do we gain more confidence?”
  — Derek Gerber [07:27]

Strategies for Higher Quality Lead Generation

[09:35]

• ICP and Journey Mapping: Power Digital emphasizes intensive Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) mapping and journey analysis—using intent data, fresh channel insights, and competitive research to set the right foundation.

• Channel Focus vs. Spray-and-Pray: Many marketers guess at effective channels—real gains come from targeted, data-driven planning.

  “We actually come back and show the intent of your ideal audience in your TAM in the last year and in the last 30 days... Most teams have been targeting the same audience for years, haven't thought about where to go next or actually how to properly document that whole go to market sequence.”
  — Derek Gerber [09:35–10:55]

Real-World Example: Test & Learn Strategy

[13:45]

• Case Study: A global cybersecurity client unified regional marketing, content, and branding teams—resulting in a:

  • 133% surge in paid media qualified opportunities
  • 85% increase in MQLs, with 70% becoming SQLs

• Key: Unified go-to-market strategy, data-driven campaigns, and personalized creative/brand activations.

  “In the past about year and a half, focusing where we can make the greatest impact for immediate paid media campaigns and what we were able to do, a content strategy in unifying those efforts, we actually saw 133% surge in paid media qualified opportunities with an 85% increase in MQLs... 70% of those turned into sequence SQLs, which was way above the benchmark threshold.”
  — Derek Gerber [13:45–15:10]

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “I’ve seen clients who just run ads just for the sake of running ads… then in the last couple weeks of a quarter are scrambling to get essentially in a stressful environment, prove out their value.”
  — Derek Gerber [12:24]

• “81% of B2B buyers who chose a solution in the end knew about the brand from the start.”
  — Derek Gerber [16:52]

Emerging Technology & Trends in B2B Lead Generation

[15:55]

1. AI-Driven Personalization at Scale
   • Only possible with structured, unified data and solid data practices
2. Rise of Buying Group Intelligence
   • Buying committees are larger, cycles are longer, and brands must ‘build champions’ throughout these complex orgs
3. Better Balance of Brand and Demand Generation
   • 81% of buyers pick brands they already know—short-term performance is not enough
   • “You’re not just judged by MQLs. There has to be pipeline and real revenue that comes out of it at the end.” [19:45]

Advice for Overwhelmed Marketers

[20:37]

• Start Small with Content & Personalization: Nail your content and speak directly to segmented audience needs—“Don’t be generic, don’t be general, be ultra focused.”

• Avoid Feature-Focus: Don’t lead with features—communicate direct business value and outcomes.

• Deep Understanding of TAM & Buying Committees: Map every key buyer group and personalize at every touchpoint.

  "... You need to be thinking about your audience who’s waking up and going how can you solve my problem? Can you communicate that effectively and clearly and consistently?"
  — Derek Gerber [21:26]

Staying Agile as a Marketing Leader

[23:30]

• Weekly Strategy Reviews: Block time to check if internal strategies align with market realities
• Commit to Testing & Learning: Allocate budget for experimentation with new channels/campaigns
• Be “AI-Ready”: Don’t use last year’s playbook—plan for rapid change and agent-to-agent buying experiences

  “Staying agile, again, watching out for that technology, but making sure that we’re always testing and learning new opportunities — that’s the way to win the game here in 2025 and beyond for B2B marketers.”
  — Derek Gerber [24:45]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:44] – The hidden costs and team impacts of poor lead quality
• [03:59 – 06:44] – Technology overload, downsizing, and the myth of all-in-one solutions
• [09:35] – ICP and intent-based journey mapping for higher lead quality
• [13:45] – Cybersecurity case study: Unified strategy gains in real numbers
• [15:55] – Top 3 emerging trends: AI, buying group intelligence, brand-vs-demand
• [20:37] – Practical advice for overwhelmed marketing leaders
• [23:30] – How to stay agile: Strategic reviews and test-and-learn mentality

Conclusion

This episode dives deep into why B2B marketers continue to struggle with lead quality despite better tools and data. Derek Gerber emphasizes a rigorous, data-driven approach—rooted in customer journey mapping, personalization, and continually testing strategy. Above all, marketers must resist generic tactics and instead focus on building focused, trust-driven content and experiences across the increasingly complex buying committee landscape.

For more from Derek Gerber and Power Digital, visit Power Digital.