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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Marketing Development Representative

💰 $45,000 - $70,000

MarketingSalesDemand GenerationB2B

🎯 Role Definition

The Marketing Development Representative (MDR) is a high-impact, front-line role that converts marketing touches into qualified sales meetings and pipeline. Working at the intersection of marketing and sales, the MDR triages inbound leads, executes targeted outbound sequences, nurtures prospects across channels (email, phone, social, events), and provides feedback to improve campaign performance. MDRs are accountable for lead qualification criteria, meeting and pipeline targets, and maintaining data hygiene in the CRM while acting as a brand ambassador for product and company.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Marketing Coordinator focused on demand generation and lead management
  • Sales Development Representative (SDR) or Inside Sales Representative
  • Customer Success or Account Coordinator transitioning to pre-sales

Advancement To:

  • Account Executive (AE) / Business Development Manager (BDR)
  • Demand Generation Manager or Senior MDR Lead
  • Sales Manager or Field Sales Representative

Lateral Moves:

  • Product Marketing Coordinator
  • Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Specialist
  • Revenue Operations or Sales Enablement Associate

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Own the full lifecycle of marketing-sourced leads: triage, research, outreach, qualification, and handoff to Account Executives to drive a consistent pipeline for revenue teams.
  • Execute high-volume, multi-channel prospecting campaigns (email, phone, LinkedIn, direct mail, events) using a mix of automated sequences and personalized outreach to meet daily/weekly activity KPIs.
  • Qualify leads against established BANT/CHAMP/ANUM (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline, etc.) criteria and document qualification notes, buying signals, and next steps in the CRM to ensure a smooth handoff.
  • Schedule and confirm product discovery meetings or demos for AEs, maintaining SLAs for speed-to-lead to maximize conversion rates from marketing programs.
  • Work closely with demand generation and content teams to design and test nurture flows and follow-up cadences for inbound campaigns, webinars, downloads, and event attendees.
  • Collaborate with Account Executives to co-develop targeted messaging and outreach approaches for priority accounts and high-value leads.
  • Maintain and improve CRM data quality: update contact and account records, set lead statuses, and ensure proper attribution to marketing channels and campaigns.
  • Analyze outreach performance metrics (open rates, reply rates, meetings booked, conversion rates) and iterate on messaging, sequences, and targeting to optimize pipeline contribution.
  • Use prospecting tools (LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Clearbit) to enrich records, discover buying committees, and identify new contacts within target accounts.
  • Personalize outreach at scale by researching prospect pain points, recent product/organizational news, and industry signals to increase engagement.
  • Conduct discovery conversations to uncover business challenges and scope potential fit, creating accurate lead summaries and next-step recommendations for AEs.
  • Represent the company at trade shows, webinars, and local events by capturing qualified leads, following up promptly, and feeding insights back to marketing for future programs.
  • Execute A/B tests on subject lines, call scripts, and call-to-action language and report statistically significant learnings to marketing and sales leadership.
  • Monitor and report weekly and monthly KPIs to the team: meetings booked, pipeline value created, SQLs accepted, conversion rates, and activity metrics.
  • Maintain and follow outreach compliance and spam/opt-out best practices, including CAN-SPAM and GDPR considerations, and ensure opt-outs are respected in the CRM.
  • Participate in regular sales enablement and product training sessions to maintain product knowledge, competitive positioning, and objection-handling skills.
  • Build and maintain a prioritized account list for targeted campaigns and account-based marketing efforts in coordination with ABM and sales leadership.
  • Provide structured feedback to marketing and product teams on campaign messaging, content effectiveness, buyer objections, and gaps in the lead funnel.
  • Manage and execute nurture campaigns for long-term prospects, including periodic check-ins, content sharing, and re-engagement sequences to keep pipeline warm.
  • Coordinate with RevOps to ensure reporting alignment, funnel definitions, and lead routing rules are accurate and continuously refined.
  • Coach and mentor junior MDRs or interns on best practices for outreach, qualification, and CRM hygiene as the team grows.
  • Proactively identify opportunities to increase automation, standardization, and scaling of high-performing outreach processes while maintaining personalization.

Secondary Functions

  • Support marketing campaign planning by providing historical conversion data and buyer insights to inform targeting and creative.
  • Assist in building and maintaining segmented lists and target account clusters for ABM and targeted nurture tracks.
  • Help design and troubleshoot sequence templates and email copy in Outreach, Salesloft, HubSpot, or Pardot under marketing direction.
  • Collect and maintain a repository of objection-handling scripts, competitive intel, and value props for the sales and marketing playbooks.
  • Participate in post-campaign retrospectives and contribute measurable recommendations for future optimizations.
  • Support lead scoring calibration efforts by validating scoring assumptions against real-world qualification outcomes.
  • Aid in cross-functional projects such as marketing attribution audits, event ROI analysis, and customer case study outreach.
  • Serve as backup for inbound customer support triage during peak times, routing technical or billing issues to the appropriate teams.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of compliance policies and assist in audits related to communications and opt-in/opt-out records.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proven proficiency with CRM platforms such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or Microsoft Dynamics for lead routing, activity logging, and reporting.
  • Experience using sales engagement platforms like Outreach, Salesloft, or Groove to build and run multichannel cadences and A/B tests.
  • Familiarity with prospecting and enrichment tools (LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Apollo) to find and qualify contacts and accounts.
  • Comfort with marketing automation tools and integrations (Marketo, Pardot, HubSpot Marketing Hub) to understand lead flows and campaign attribution.
  • Strong data literacy: ability to interpret campaign metrics, conversion funnels, and KPI dashboards; basic competency with spreadsheets (Google Sheets / Excel) for reporting.
  • Experience scheduling and facilitating virtual demos and meetings using calendaring tools (Calendly, SalesLoft, Google Calendar, Outlook).
  • Familiarity with ABM platforms (Demandbase, Terminus) and experience working on account-based campaigns is a plus.
  • Ability to perform basic segmentation and list building for targeted outreach, including use of boolean search strings and list filters.
  • Proven track record of executing high-volume outbound calling and emailing while maintaining personalization and compliance.
  • Experience collaborating with RevOps for lead routing rules, attribution mapping, and CRM health checks.
  • Basic understanding of SaaS product selling cycles and terminology, including ARR, MRR, churn, and renewal dynamics (preferred for B2B SaaS roles).

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to craft concise, persuasive messages for different buyer personas.
  • High sense of urgency, organization, and time management to balance high-volume activity with thoughtful follow-ups.
  • Resilience and persistence: comfortable with rejection and able to maintain motivation to achieve activity and meeting targets.
  • Coachable and growth-oriented mindset with a hunger for continuous learning and measurable improvement.
  • Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills to identify signals of buyer intent and adapt approaches accordingly.
  • Empathy and active listening to understand prospect needs and surface the right information for downstream sales conversations.
  • Collaborative team player who partners well with marketing, sales, product, and operations stakeholders.
  • Attention to detail, especially in CRM logging, follow-up commitments, and meeting confirmations.
  • Analytical curiosity to dig into campaign performance and suggest data-driven optimizations.
  • Professional presence and credibility when speaking with mid-market and enterprise-level prospects.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent required.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, or a related field preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Marketing
  • Business Administration
  • Communications
  • Information Systems
  • Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 1–3 years of professional experience in sales development, marketing operations, inside sales, or demand generation roles.

Preferred:

  • 2+ years of experience in B2B lead qualification, appointment setting, or MDR/SDR roles, ideally in SaaS or technology industries.
  • Demonstrated success meeting activity and pipeline targets, with familiarity measuring SQL/ACV contribution.
  • Experience working with integrated marketing and sales tech stacks (Salesforce + Outreach + Marketo/HubSpot).
  • Prior experience with account-based marketing programs, event follow-up workflows, or enterprise prospecting campaigns is a strong plus.
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