Demand generation marketing strategies: How to craft a demand generation strategy to generate more demand for your business
Sales leads are the lifeblood of any B2B business, and demand generation has always been very important in driving sales.
However, with the advent of social media, demand generation is more important than ever. The most successful businesses use demand generation marketing strategies to drive their sales.
Demand generation marketing strategies are a core component of any business. Demand generation aims to identify and convert qualified leads into customers. It is a critical part of a company’s growth strategy. A demand generation strategy allows businesses to target their most promising business prospects and generate interest in its product and brand.
If you’re having trouble closing deals or generating B2B sales leads, it’s likely you’re overlooking key strategies that are proven to work. This post highlights what you should do to get more B2B sales-qualified leads.
If you’re looking for a quick way to bolster your B2B sales funnel, this is the podcast episode and post for you. We will examine why demand generation is so important and what tactics you can employ to ensure that you are maximizing your efforts in this space.
- Demand generation marketing strategies: How to craft a demand generation strategy to generate more demand for your business
- What is demand generation?
- Demand generation vs. Lead generation
- The role of marketing in generating demand for your product or service
- What are the benefits of demand generation?
- What are the different types of demand generation?
- How to generate more demand for your business
- How to create a successful demand generation campaign
- Who is responsible for demand generation? Marketing or sales?
- Tips for generating more online leads
- Tips for generating more offline leads
- What Marketing Tactics Are Part of Demand Generation?
- Demand Generation Benchmarking Data
- How demand generation works
- Demand generation good practices
- Demand generation metrics: How to measure your efforts
- Tactics for TOFU, MOFU, BOFU, and beyond
- Key demand generation strategies
- Demand Generation Strategy #1: Generating Awareness With Your Target Audience
- Demand Generation Strategy #2: Converting & Monetizing Existing In-Market Demand
- Lead scoring
- Start developing and promoting downloadable resources
- SEO and inbound marketing
- Advertising on a Pay-Per-Click basis (PPC)
- Social media and community building
- Conversational marketing
- Demand Generation Strategy #3: Align Sales & Marketing Teams for Better Results
- 12 demand generation strategies for new brands
- 1. Give Away Your Best Stuff
- 2. Use a content marketing strategy that addresses your customers’ questions and problems
- 3. Provide a Free Tool, App, or Resource
- 4. Use Lookalike Audiences on Facebook
- 5. Partner with Industry Superstars on Webinars
- 6. Use Managed Placements in Display Campaigns
- 7. Leverage the Power of Display Remarketing to Build Brand Awareness
- 8. Invest (More) in Content Creation
- 9. Generate Leadership- and Education-Focused Content
- 10. Optimize Your Email Marketing Strategies
- 11. Consider Implementing a Lead Scoring System
- 12. Be Certain Your Sales Process is Pulling Your Prospects, Not Pushing
- Additional strategies from Dan Shewan
- 10 (or so) additional ways to ace demand generation
- FAQ’s
- Launch your demand generation program
- Listen to the episode with Matthew Hunt
- About Matthew
- Some topics we discussed include:
- Listen to the episode
- Related links and resources
- Connect with Matthew
What is demand generation?
Demand generation is the process of creating and nurturing leads so that they eventually turn into paying customers. It involves creating content and marketing programs that attract potential customers and persuade them to learn more about your product or service.
Demand generation is a type of marketing that helps companies increase their sales. It creates content that appeals to customers and funnels them into conversion. This process begins with identifying and qualifying prospective customers through content, inbound marketing, direct response campaigns, and events. Qualified leads are then passed onto a nurturing team that scores them on the stage of their conversion funnel. Finally, lead marketers give highly qualified leads to sales teams for further qualification before moving into conversion.
The goal of demand generation is not just to generate new leads but also to maintain or increase customer loyalty and avoid churning. Companies must create great content that appeals to their target audience. Therefore, demand generation is essential to any company’s marketing strategy and should be used with other methods, such as conversion paths and lead nurturing.
Demand generation vs. Lead generation
Demand generation and lead generation are two critical aspects of any business. However, they are often confused with one another. So, what is the difference between the two?
Lead generation is a subset of demand generation. It focuses on generating leads through marketing activities such as content marketing, SEO, and social media. On the other hand, demand generation is a more holistic process that touches every step of the customer journey, from awareness to research and justification.
It’s important to note that both B2B demand and lead gen tactics are necessary for a successful business strategy. You can’t rely on one or the other–you need both to create a comprehensive plan that will generate results.
The role of marketing in generating demand for your product or service
One essential function of marketing is creating demand for a product or service. Without a steady stream of customers, a business cannot hope to succeed in the long term. Fortunately, there are many ways to create demand for a product or service, and marketing should be at the forefront of these efforts.
One common way to generate demand is by creating informational content about the customer’s problem. This could include demonstrating how your product can make an aspect of their work or lives easier, more efficient, or more successful. For example, Squatty Potty began with a video that educated people on how they should use the toilet. The video went viral and garnered over 35 million views and 1.6 million shares on Facebook.
Another way to generate demand is through paid ads. By targeting your ideal market with carefully crafted messages, you can increase demand for your product or service. And since people are increasingly turning to digital media for information, it’s essential to have a strong presence online if you want your business to succeed.
A third way to generate demand is by sharing free reports and statistics about your industry. This creates visibility for your brand and helps educate potential customers about the benefits of your product or service. For example, the Sprout Social Index can help social marketers inform their teams and make better decisions. The report helps organizations make more intelligent decisions by providing valuable information to shape future strategies.
Fourth, marketing can help a prospect by providing them with free content. This could be in the form of an ebook, whitepaper, guide, or even a webinar. By providing this valuable content, you’re not only building trust with the customer but also helping them learn more about how your product or service can benefit them.
Finally, marketing must create demand to maximize sales. And while there are many ways to do this, it’s essential to tailor your efforts to meet your customers’ needs. That’s why it’s vital to constantly test and measure different tactics to see what works best for your business. Marketing can be a significant driver of demand through various channels, such as print and digital media campaigns, product placement, and celebrity endorsements with the right approach.
What are the benefits of demand generation?
Demand generation campaigns are important because they help create a steady stream of leads that can be nurtured into customers. Creating a system where you constantly generate leads ensures your business continually grows. In addition, demand generation makes it easier to target your ideal customer since you already know their needs and wants.
Demand generation is a more efficient marketing strategy that reduces wasted efforts. When you invest in demand gen, you understand what your customers want and need. This information is then used to create content and offers that appeal to buyers–thus qualifying them as leads.
The benefits of using demand generation strategies include increased website traffic, leads, and a reduction in marketing costs. In addition, this type of marketing also allows businesses to understand their buyers’ behavior and needs better. As a result, they can provide the right content and offers that attract qualified leads.
What are the different types of demand generation?
There are three main types of demand generation:
– Paid, which includes methods such as PPC, social media ads, and email marketing;
– Owned, which includes methods such as website optimization, SEO, and content marketing;
Earned, which includes PR, word-of-mouth, and social media methods.
There are many types of demand generation, but all of them have one common goal: creating more leads for your business. Some popular methods include lead capture, surveys, and demos.
Lead capture is a process where you ask people to provide their contact information in exchange for something they want, such as an ebook or whitepaper. Next, surveys collect information about potential customers’ needs and preferences. Finally, demos allow prospects to see how your product works and how it could benefit their business.
While each of these methods can be effective on its own, they’re even more powerful when used together as part of a comprehensive demand generation strategy. The focus of lead nurturing and sales activities aimed at converting leads is potential; that’s what makes demand gen so important. No one type of demand gen can work without lead gen – they both depend on each other for success.
How to generate more demand for your business
There are a few ways to generate more demand for your business. First, you can create a strong content strategy to help you rank higher in the SERPs. You can use paid advertising to target potential customers or social media to create a community of followers interested in your offer.
Generating demand for your business can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. First, you’ll need to focus on increasing the number of leads at the top of the funnel and converting some percentages into high-quality leads. Additionally, you’ll need to ensure your sales cycle is seasonal or sporadic so that demand gen will have time to work its magic.
Creating an indispensable brand is done through strategically communicating with prospects and turning them into quality leads. Next, adding value to your brand is essential to create a greater demand for it. And finally, make sure you execute demand generation tactics efficiently by focusing on quantity and quality.
How to create a successful demand generation campaign
To create a successful demand generation campaign, you need to identify and target your ideal customer, create valuable content that resonates with them, and use effective marketing channels to reach them. You should also track your results and analyze your data to see what works and what can be improved.
Creating a successful demand generation campaign is all about data-driven decision-making. First, you need to track the performance of your content over time to determine what’s working and isn’t. Then, you can use that information to qualify leads by topic or offer and measure marketing qualified leads (MQLs), and sales qualified leads (SQLs)!
But how do you know how well your demand gen campaigns work if you can’t measure their impact? The key is measuring your specific strategies’ impact on your website’s SEO ROI. Once you have that data, you can adjust for future campaigns based on what worked and didn’t.
Analyzing the results of a demand generation campaign is essential to its success, and there are a few ways to go about it. One way is through data analysis, such as bounce, conversion, and click-through rates (CTRs). This will give you an idea of which aspects of your campaign resonate with your audience and which ones need work.
Another way to analyze campaign results is through social listening. This involves tracking conversations around your brand or product on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook social media platforms. In addition, monitoring sentiment and identifying influencers can help you better understand how people react to your campaign.
Finally, you can also use analytics tools to measure the impact of your campaigns. This might include website visits, generating leads, and even closed sales. All of this data can help you determine whether or not your demand generation strategy is working – and what changes you need to make for future campaigns.
Who is responsible for demand generation? Marketing or sales?
Both marketing and sales are responsible for generating demand. Marketing creates awareness and interest in the product or service, while sales are responsible for converting that interest into actual sales.
There is a lot of discussion about who should be responsible for demand generation. Is it Marketing or Sales? The answer is that it depends on the company and how they operate.
In some companies, the Demand Generation team is aligned with Sales so that they can scale as needed in the business. This allows them to work more closely with the sales team and helps ensure that the leads they generate are quality leads that convert into customers. When this alignment occurs, there is a strong chance that the program will be successful.
However, in other companies, Demand Generation is managed as a separate entity within the organization. This allows them to act as a conduit between Marketing and Sales functions and helps ensure that both groups work towards common goals. In this type of setup, the team must have the autonomy to effectively do their job without either group’s interference.
Ultimately, it’s up to each company to decide who should be responsible for Demand Generation. However, having a well-functioning team is key to success.
Tips for generating more online leads
Generating leads is essential for any business, and there are some things you can do to make the process more efficient and effective. Here are a few tips:
1. Use a variety of channels to generate leads. Don’t rely on just one method – use multiple channels, including paid advertising, SEO, social media, and email marketing.
2. Make sure your demand generation efforts are aligned with your other sales channels. The top of the funnel is usually the longest part of the conversion rate, so it’s essential to focus on generating as many leads as possible.
3. Generating leads takes time, but it’s worth it if done correctly. If you find that generating leads is seasonal or sporadic, check out our post about how to create more leads consistently.
4. Always be prepared to generate leads for your company’s new products or services. Demand gen should be a continuous process, not something that only happens when you have a new product or service to promote.
5. Focus on quality over quantity when it comes to generating leads. Getting fewer high-quality leads is more important than creating many low-quality ones.
Tips for generating more offline leads
Generating leads is one of the most important aspects of any business, and it can be challenging to do in today’s digital age. However, there are still many ways to reach potential customers offline. Some of the best leads can come from personal interactions with people interested in your product or service.
Here are a few tips for generating more offline leads:
1. Connect with those who are interested in what you have to offer. It’s always helpful to connect with people who are already interested in what you have to offer. This way, you won’t have to spend as much time convincing them that your product or service is right for them.
2. Generate recommendations from current customers. When existing customers recommend your product or service to their friends and family, it helps create a chain reaction that can lead to more sales down the road.
3. Personalize your approach for each prospect. By taking the time to personalize your strategy for each prospect, you’ll be better equipped to turn them into quality leads and long-term customers.
What Marketing Tactics Are Part of Demand Generation?
Demand generation tactics are a variety of marketing strategies that work together to create awareness and interest in a product or service. The most common demand generation tactics include:
- Content marketing
- SEO
- Social media marketing
- Paid advertising
- Email marketing
Many marketing tactics can be used to generate demand for a business. These include content marketing, social media, brand storytelling, thought leadership, and email marketing.
Email marketing is often included as a demand generation component because it brings existing customers back to the brand. It can also help to increase customer loyalty by reminding them why they do business with the company.
The McKinsey model includes a trigger event that propels consumers on the journey to solving a problem. This event could be a change in their personal life that causes them to start looking for a new product or service.
The McKinsey model only encapsulates the individual’s decision-making process of “considering an initial set of brands” and continuing with one they find appropriate. However, it does not represent all the events before consumers move on to their next decision point to decide if they like a brand and continue doing business with it.
According to Google Trends, eight billion searches for content marketing agencies. This indicates that there is high interest in this type of marketing tactic. In contrast, only 71 million searches for Marketing Insider Group (MIG) show much less interest in this particular organization.
“7-20 people are involved in a B2B buying decision.” This statistic comes from research conducted by Gartner, which shows that it takes a lot of people to decide on purchasing a product or service.
According to Gartner, validation and consensus content are lacking in branded content, especially in B2B buying decisions. Companies must prove that their product is the best option for the customer.
A successful demand generation tactic can be explained to non-marketers. This makes it easy for the company to communicate its message and helps customers understand why they should do business with the brand.
In a “loyalty loop,” the customer decision journey starts with awareness of the problem and ends with re-purchase. Strategic marketing aims to help identify those with a potential need and then bring them into the sales funnel. Once they’re there, quality leads can be nurtured until they yield breakthrough conversion rates.
Demand Generation Benchmarking Data
The 2019 Demand Gen Report provides insights into how much companies invest in demand generation, what they prioritize, and its impact on their B2B demand generation initiatives. In addition, the data can “drill down” into marketing and sales cycles, allowing for more targeted analysis of buyer behavior and future decisions.
However, with so much data available, it can be challenging to discern important trends from noise. Thankfully, business intelligence (BI) tools can help prove the value of demand generation efforts. BI tools such as InsightSquared, DataBox, and Stitch can help identify what’s working and where to optimize future campaigns.
If your BDRs aren’t expecting you to hand them ready-to-book appointments but know it’ll take upwards of 7+ touches, then use data assets like intent data and firmographic/behavioral targeting to get the ball rolling. And finally, use the demand generation benchmarking data to find buyers who are most likely to purchase your product. Again, prospects’ pain points should be the focus of the nurturing campaign – not just a solution. By identifying buyers with the highest propensity in the early stages, you can sort out their pain points and provide a solution before reaching out to you directly.
Demand generation budget
- 71% of B2B marketers expect their demand gen budget will increase in 2019 (Demand Gen Report)
- 46% said their demand gen budget would increase by 20%+ in 2019, up from 32% in 2018 (Demand Gen Report)
- The biggest demand gen investments are in branding, website design and optimization, and social media (HubSpot)
ABM solutions
- 46% of B2B marketers said they plan to test or deploy account-based marketing software (Demand Gen Report)
- 62% said generating the right contacts/stakeholders at target accounts was a top priority (Demand Gen Report)
Covering all stages of the funnel
- 79% of all marketing leads never convert into sales, mainly due to a lack of nurturing (HubSpot)
- 47% said in-person events were one of their top three channels for engaging prospects throughout the entire funnel (Demand Gen Report)
- 42% said search was their most successful channel to drive demand generation (Demand Gen Report)
- 40% said product demos were one of their most successful channels later in the funnel (Demand Gen Report)
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Measuring takes precedence
- 66% of B2B demand generation marketers said improving their ability to measure and analyze marketing impact was a top priority (Demand Gen Report)
- 74% of companies that weren’t exceeding revenue goals didn’t know their visitor, lead, MQL or sales opportunities (HubSpot)
- 47% of B2B marketers are actively measuring campaign attribution and influence (Demand Gen Report)
- 53% have revenue-based quotas, while 20% have lead-based quotas (Demand Gen Report)
- 58% of B2B marketers are focusing on lead quality over quantity (Demand Gen Report)
- 59% said improving marketing and sales alignment was a priority (Demand Gen Report)
How demand generation works
Demand generation creates awareness and interest in a product or service to generate leads that may eventually convert customers. It typically involves creating content relevant to the target audience, distributing it through various channels, and tracking the results to see how well it performs.
Marketers must uncover the best prospects and establish relevant segments with helpful content to generate demand. They should also create consistent offers with premium content, discounts, promotions, or giveaways. With free trial periods and downloadable infographics, marketers can increase their value proposition for customers while keeping costs down (and saving time).
Once you understand your leads’ needs, budget, and authority, you can start creating personalized content for them. However, it’s essential to remember that not all leads are created equal–some will be more interested in particular products than others. That’s why it’s necessary to continuously measure customer actions to understand which segments are interested in what and why.
Only after understanding your leads’ needs can you genuinely provide them with valuable content. And by doing so, you’ll be one step closer to generating more demand for your business!
Demand generation good practices
Demand generation is one of the most important concepts in marketing. It’s the process of creating and nurturing leads so that they turn into customers. And it’s essential for any business that wants to grow.
But generating demand can be a challenge. You need the right tools and strategies, and you must constantly look for new opportunities.
That’s where New Breed comes in. We’re experts in demand generation best practices and can help you create a plan that will work for your business. We’ve helped companies like Linium see massive success with our full-funnel approach to demand generation.
Contact us today if you’re ready to start generating more demand for your business!
Be consistent
The most effective methods of demand generation are those that are varied in character, offering a variety of presentation forms and generating many various client touch points. However, consistency is essential if you want each component of your efforts to contribute to a coherent, enjoyable experience for the user.
Maintain coherence in your branding, voice, style, and messaging across all points of interaction with your customers. Make it a point to check that every piece of content you publish reflects the core principles of your brand. The most crucial thing is that people should be able to identify them as belonging to your brand right away.
If it does not, you need to revise, revise, and revise some more until your brand’s voice is crystal obvious. Remember that sending the wrong message not only alienates potential customers but also affects the brand’s reputation.
Work closely with your sales team
Calls to action (CTAs) that are powerful and aesthetically different and customized to each persona effectively direct potential consumers to your sales team. The sales team will take over once the potential customer has entered their information and been determined to be a qualified lead. They are then in a position to direct the customer through the remaining steps of the sales process.
It is essential to combine your sales and marketing initiatives to make the most of the information that is shared. It is beneficial for the sales team to gain an idea of the specific type of content that a prospect is connected with. In addition, the marketing team can reap the benefits of lead score data by better comprehending which digital marketing channels are the most successful. Is it email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), or a combination?
Develop customer journey maps and buyer personas
Customer journey maps help you understand your customers’ buying process, while buyer personas give you a detailed profile of your ideal customer.
Then, for each stage, list the actions and emotions that your customers experience. Finally, identify the channels and content you’ll need to reach your customers at each location.
Include demographic information such as age, gender, income level, job title, and psychographic information such as interests and needs. Next, describe how this persona buys products or services like yours. Finally, list the channels and content you’ll need to reach this persona.
Optimize and analyze your campaigns
This can be done through A/B testing, which involves splitting your audience into two groups and testing different versions of your campaign against each other. Another way to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns is to look at their conversion rates: how many people who saw the campaign went on to take the desired action, such as downloading a white paper or signing up for a webinar?
One way to do this is by adjusting the timing and frequency of your email sends. You might also want to test different subject lines, call-to-action buttons, and content to see what works best with your audience. And don’t forget about mobile optimization! Make sure your landing pages and forms are easy to use on smartphones and tablets.
By taking the time to optimize and analyze your campaigns, you’ll be able to improve their performance and drive more leads and conversions from your marketing efforts.
Demand generation metrics: How to measure your efforts
Demand generation is one of the most important aspects of any business and must be measured to determine its success. Too often, companies focus on vanity metrics such as social media followers or website traffic numbers, which are not good indicators of success. Instead, the goal of demand generation is to generate leads that result in revenue, which must be the focus for measuring success. Revenue can be expressed in dollar amounts, percentages, or indices.
“Pipeline value” is a metric that is helpful for B2B marketing organizations with long-cycle sales cycles. This metric measures how much potential revenue is in the pipeline at any given time. It can be expressed in terms of dollar amounts or percentages.
The “3 V” approach is a standard metric that measures the three primary metrics: Volume, Velocity, and Value. This approach can track progress over time or compare different campaigns or channels.
The “Viscosity” is a fourth metric measuring obstacles or friction to rapid conversion from one lead stage to another. This metric can help identify bottlenecks in the process so they can be addressed.
Number of Meetings Generated
This metric can be tracked at both the individual lead and account levels. Remember that not all meetings are created equal – you’ll want to track the total number of meetings and the quality of those meetings (e.g., how many resulted in closed deals).
This metric can be tracked at both the individual lead and account levels.
Number of Opportunities Generated
The more potential customers you can identify and introduce to your company, the more successful you are likely to be in generating leads and sales. This metric can be tracked by counting the number of customer or prospect contact records created from marketing campaigns. It’s also essential to track how many contacts convert into qualified opportunities, as not all will necessarily result in closed deals.
Average Deal Size
The “average deal size” is the size of your typical transaction. It is calculated by dividing the total revenue achieved in a given period (such as a month, a quarter, or a year) by the number of opportunities for that segment that were won and closed.
Sales Pipeline Value
The calculation considers the probability of each opportunity closing and the average deal size for each stage of the sales process.
There are a few different ways to calculate pipeline value:
CCV can be misleading because it doesn’t take into account future deals.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
To get an accurate measure, you’ll need to factor in all the costs associated with acquiring a new customer. This includes advertising and marketing expenses, sales and marketing staff salaries, and other related fees. You should also include any discounts or incentives you offer customers to encourage them to buy your product or service.
This will give you your CAC figure.
As your business grows and changes, so too will your CAC figure. Measurement is key to improving your customer acquisition efforts and ensuring they remain cost-effective.
Cost Per Lead
The lower the CPL, the more efficiently your marketing and sales efforts generate qualified leads.
There are a variety of factors that can influence your CPL, including:
- The quality and quantity of your leads
- Your conversion rate from lead to customer
- The average sale price of your products or services
- Your overhead costs associated with marketing and sales
Customer Lifetime Value
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Time to close or average sales cycle length
But if you want to gauge how efficiently your marketing team is working and how well it’s driving results, you need to look at time-to-close or average sales cycle length.
This metric can be especially helpful in understanding how efficiently your marketing and sales teams are working together. If time-to-close increases, it could mean that leads aren’t being appropriately qualified or that sales are taking too long to follow up on them.
This metric can help you identify bottlenecks in your process and determine where there might be opportunities for improvement.
Revenue generated against budget investment
32 in revenue. However, it’s not just about how much you spend on marketing but also where you invest your resources.
Several different factors go into calculating return on investment (ROI) for demand generation efforts:
- The amount of money invested in marketing
- The number of leads generated from marketing investments
- The percentage of those leads that convert to customers
- The average lifetime value (LTV) of a customer
Putting all those numbers together can give you a good idea of how effectively your demand generation campaigns have generated revenue for your business.
Tactics for TOFU, MOFU, BOFU, and beyond
Many different tactics can be used in the funnel’s TOFU, MOFU, BOFU, and Beyond stages. Knowing which will work best for your business and target audience is essential.
In the TOFU stage, a business can establish its brand as a thought leader, provide prospective customers with a sample of products and services, and gain visibility amongst its audience. This is typically done through marketing activities that create awareness and interest.
Content marketing is a type of marketing in which content is created to educate and inform potential consumers to generate leads and close sales. Content targeting TOFU prospects should be gated with contact information to be considered MQLs.
In the MOFU stage, businesses should provide more detailed information about their products or services and how they can solve customer problems. They should also continue to generate leads through content marketing, but this time the content should be more engaging and valuable so that people are more likely to convert.
In the BOFU stage, businesses should focus on closing sales by providing clear calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout all funnel phases. They should also continue to generate leads through content marketing, but this time the content should be more personalized and relevant to the buyer’s needs.
Finally, businesses should continue generating leads through content marketing in the Beyond funnel stage. This stage represents the long-term relationship between a company and its customers. Content should be designed to provide value over time and help customers achieve their goals.
Top of the Funnel (TOFU) tactics
TOFU is often where companies participate in marketing activities designed to generate interest and awareness. In essence, you are trying to connect with potential clients by providing them with content that will educate them and answer any questions they may have concerning the service you are making.
The top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) is the section of the funnel in which you can develop your brand as a thought leader, present prospective buyers with a “sample” of your products and services, and achieve visibility amongst your audience. The following are examples of marketing initiatives that fall into the “top of the funnel” category:
Content marketing: Creating information that is valuable, informative, and actionable, such as blogs, eBooks, videos, and whitepapers, is a necessary step in this process. The goal is to make TOFU prospects more visible.
The content targeted at prospects farther along in the sales funnel should be gated so that users can demonstrate qualifying interest by providing their contact information. After they have accomplished this, they are eligible to be considered MQLs.
The content associated with your brand should contribute to the positioning of your products and services. Put most of your effort into discussing how your product or service operates, how it differs from other available options on the market, and the benefits that are exclusive to your product or service. Afterward, it can be broadly disseminated via various methods, including email and social media.
Public Relations: Devoting time and effort to activities that fall under the public relations category can disclose a lot about your audience’s web sources to obtain their information. If you are aware of the websites, newspapers, and other resources that are utilized by your audience, you will be better equipped to raise awareness where it is needed the most.
Provide Users with Free Samples, Trials, Demos, or Tools:
Make a free trial version of your product or service available to potential customers with only a subset of its features yet provide significant value. Allowing your potential customers to participate in a demo and ask any questions they might have along the process is an effective method to provide them with a comprehensive experience with your product or service. Here are some instances of how we put our products to use at ZoomInfo.
Free Trial: Prospects who sign up for a free trial are given access to a functional but restricted version of the ZoomInfo product. This allows them to assess the product’s value to their company if they purchase it.
Revenue Calculator: Prospects can use our free revenue calculator to determine the business impact of adding ZoomInfo to their technology stack based on how they already run their company by entering that information into the calculator.
Middle of the Funnel (MOFU) tactics
This is where you’ll start providing more value to move them closer to making a purchase.
When potential customers reach the MOFU stage, they are familiar with your brand and service. The most important aspects of MOFU are lead engagement and conversion. In this stage of the sales process, marketing hands over quality leads to the sales team so those leads can be followed through to the end of the funnel.
Nurture programs – It is arguable that nurture programs are one of the most successful tools demand generation managers have at their disposal. A nurture program is one that focuses on the conversion of leads and includes messaging that is individualized, targeted, and sent at set intervals.
Email campaigns are only one component of nurturing programs; additional strategies, such as directing prospects to landing sites that include gated material or encouraging registration for webinars, may also be implemented.
Multi-channel nurturing – targets prospects across various channels based on how they engage with your initial outreach attempts. For instance, if a lead chooses to ignore the content of your nurture email, you may target the same lead with the same offer on social media to receive more attention.
Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) tactics
MQLs and SQLs are turned into paying customers once the leads have advanced to the BOFU stage of the funnel. At this point in the process, the implemented strategies need to center on showing the value proposition of your product or service and the impact it can have on the customer’s bottom line.
Case Studies – It is a terrific method to illustrate the value proposition of your product or service if you provide prospective consumers with concrete data regarding how your product or service assisted in resolving an issue for one of your paying customers.
Discretionary Offers – These are the types of deals that can help to sway potential consumers who need a little bit more persuasion. You can make strategic offers tailored to the specific challenges faced by each consumer if you collect data about them throughout the sales funnel.
Education, Resources, and Helpdesk – Providing in-depth content and resources to your customers, such as educational blogs, eBooks, webinars, and videos, that assist them in the correct implementation and use of your B2B solution is a great value proposition, especially for more complex B2B products. Not only because it can help potential customers make a purchase, but also because it can help keep clients after the sale.
Beyond the Funnel
It is much simpler to make a sale to an existing customer than to make a sale to a brand-new customer. It is wonderful for customer retention and making the most of brand trust to concentrate on creating demand generation even after a consumer has previously made a purchase of a product or service. The following strategies might be employed by consumers who have already purchased a product or service from your company to generate additional revenue:
Upselling – is a method of sales that involves presenting clients with an upgraded, more expensive, or more recent version of a product or service that the company already offers.
Cross-selling – often known as upselling- is a type of upselling involving selling a product or service to a customer in conjunction with another product or service the consumer has already purchased.
Bundling – is a type of upselling that refers to encouraging customers to buy multiple products or services at once for a discounted price to increase the total amount they spend.
Key demand generation strategies
Demand generation is essential for any business looking to grow. At New Breed, we understand this and have developed a data-driven approach that helps companies increase website traffic and boost demand generation. Our top three strategies are Data-Driven Demand Generation, Optimizing SEO for B2B Businesses, and Automated Marketing Campaigns.
These strategies can be highly effective in helping a company achieve its goals. In this article, we will take a closer look at each one. We’ll start with our number one strategy: data-driven demand generation. This approach involves using data to identify where your leads are coming from, what content is most effective at converting them into customers, and what channels are most likely to result in closed deals. This information lets you fine-tune your marketing efforts and see better results.
Our second strategy is optimizing SEO for B2B businesses. This involves improving your site’s ranking on search engines so that you show up higher when people are looking for products or services like yours. Doing this will attract more qualified leads already interested in your offer.
Finally, automated marketing campaigns can play a massive role in generating demand for your business. Automated campaigns involve setting up marketing systems that run on autopilot, delivering the right content to the right people at the right time. This takes the guesswork out of marketing and ensures that you reach your target audience with maximum impact.
We hope you’ve found this article helpful. If you’d like to learn more about any of our strategies, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Demand Generation Strategy #1: Generating Awareness With Your Target Audience
This can be done through various methods, such as content marketing, paid advertising, and email marketing. However, the most effective way to generate awareness is to identify and target your ideal customer persona. Once you know who you’re trying to reach, you can craft messaging that resonates with them and capture their attention.
You can publish this content on your website, blog, or social media pages. You can also distribute it through email newsletters, paid to advertise, and other channels. When you produce high-quality, valuable content for your readers, they’ll be more likely to share it with their friends and colleagues. In addition, you’ll start generating more leads and sales opportunities as word spreads about your company and its products or services.
Demand Generation Strategy #2: Converting & Monetizing Existing In-Market Demand
After implementing your techniques for increasing brand recognition, the next step is to concentrate on satisfying the existing demand.
Your current objective should be to get your content, paid search, and social ads in front of individuals actively looking for your products and services. This can be accomplished by targeting certain personas with your content.
The material produced during the stage of capturing demand is centered around a different purpose than that it was during the stage of creating awareness. Here, the focus is on attracting users who already have an active interest in your solutions.
This indicates that you can employ gated content, in addition to lower funnel sales collateral such as price sheets or white papers that provide more particular information about the deals you have available. It is important to keep in mind that the demand creation plan you choose needs to use a broad (but pertinent) net, making use of the maximum number of channels and mediums.
This figure is intended to help highlight the various kinds of material that are used throughout the buyer’s journey, which frequently overlap with one another.
Lead scoring
A lead scoring system is an additional important marketing component for demand generation. The marketing and sales teams need to collaborate to develop a standardized set of standards for what constitutes a qualified lead, a hot prospect, or, on the other hand, a person who is not a good fit for the company.
Most customers, particularly in a B2B setting, interact with marketing content long before they speak to a sales team member, which is one of the reasons why a scoring system is of such critical importance.
Teams can make the most of their available sales resources by defining when a prospect is open to direct outreach through a scoring system. To begin, you will want to investigate the characteristics shared by your most effective leads. Ask and answer questions like:
- Where do they make their living?
- What exactly do they do for a living?
- Which materials did they download exactly?
- How did they manage to locate you?
Investigate the data to determine which elements had the most impact on sales, and then use that information to design a points-based system for qualifying leads.
Then, the two groups can coordinate their efforts to devise a plan for reaching the appropriate demographic via public relations (PR), advertising, and organic marketing strategies.
Start developing and promoting downloadable resources
During the awareness stage, we said that one way you may demonstrate the value you provide to potential clients is by providing them with complimentary tools and reports.
You might adopt a similar method if you want to capture the demand already there. This time, though, instead of providing a web-based utility that is completely free of charge, you could offer a free resource in return for an email address and a few other details.
SEO and inbound marketing
A combination of SEO best practices, a well-executed keyword strategy, and an inbound content strategy that captures audience intent is required to attract high-quality leads and turn them into customers.
Inbound marketing, as it exists now, goes beyond personas and keywords; instead, content should focus on providing answers to real consumers’ problems while also concentrating on long-tail, conversational keywords.
At every point of the sales funnel, brands need to place a primary emphasis on comprehending the “why” behind the actions of customers.
Advertising on a Pay-Per-Click basis (PPC)
Utilize sponsored search advertisements to amplify the impact of your content. You may use Google Ads to encourage users to download assets, sign up for a subscription, or promote an e-book, but ultimately, the goal is to get your material in front of people who are actively searching for terms relevant to it. When you align the goals of your digital advertising with purpose, you increase the likelihood that you will be able to turn clicks into conversions and potential customers into actual ones.
EMAIL AND REMARKETING CAMPAIGNS SHOULD BE USED TO NURTURE PROSPECTS.
Email drip campaigns and retargeting display adverts are two ways to keep your business at the forefront of the minds of potential customers who aren’t quite ready to make a purchase.
Your prospects might be enticed with personalized offers that lure them back to your website when you interact with them through display remarketing in their email inboxes and on the websites they visit frequently. Brands can communicate passively with buyers still in the evaluation stage through display adverts (like the one displayed below).
Social media and community building
It should be no surprise that social media plays a significant role in communicating with prospective customers. After all, more than ninety percent of millennials, seventy-eight point five percent of members of Generation X, and almost fifty percent of all baby boomers use at least one social network every month. According to Sprout Social’s research, customers are significantly more likely to visit the brand’s website after following a brand’s social media accounts.
Even if organic distribution on social media used to be sufficient, it is no longer the case because social platform algorithms have made it much more difficult for organic growth. This is even though social media is one of the primary demand generating marketing elements.
Your target audience needs to be driven to the long-form blog pieces, lead magnets, and event sign-ups that get them into the pipeline, and paid promotion is a crucial component of this process. In addition, advertising on Facebook grants access to extremely potent targeting capabilities, such as custom intent audiences and lookalike audiences.
Conversational marketing
Conversational Marketing is a core component of Drift’s offering because it is one of the quickest ways to advance buyers through the sales cycle. This is accomplished by utilizing tailored messaging and intelligent chatbots to engage website visitors.
You may employ conversational chatbots to answer inquiries, gather information, and qualify leads rather than referring your visitors to a conventional landing page with static forms. In addition, chatbot software provides more information than forms and may be programmed to discover a buyer’s pain points, intent, and product characteristics that are most important to them.
Demand Generation Strategy #3: Align Sales & Marketing Teams for Better Results
When sales and marketing are aligned, they can more effectively create demand through coordinated content, lead generation campaigns, and targeting the right prospects.
Today’s sales and marketing teams need each other to provide customers with the best possible experience and, of course, to develop a process that can be replicated for successfully closing deals, increasing deal size, and shortening the sales cycle. Historically, the two teams have not gotten along well with one another.
Building on the information presented in the previous section, businesses with an effective sales enablement plan will have an easier time converting solutions-focused interactions into actual revenue. This indicates that marketers need to be aware of everything that takes place once a lead converts, and they need to support the sales team in the form of price sheets, sales decks, case studies, and other similar materials.
12 demand generation strategies for new brands
When starting a new business, generating demand can be challenging. It’s a crowded market, and it can be hard to find new customers. That’s where demand generation comes in.
This article offers nine strategies for generating demand for your product or service: Home, Blog, and 9 Killer Demand Generation Strategies for New Brands.
Demand generation is more complicated than lead generation – you’re not just trying to get people interested in what you have to offer; you want them to be excited about it. That takes time and effort, but the payoff can be worth it.
Partner with strategic alliances to tap into new audiences and keep those leads rolling in. Co-marketing is a great way to do that; both businesses get something out of it without spending much money on traditional advertising. You could also consider event co-marketing, where both companies have booths at the same event, or people who purchase tickets from both companies are given preferential treatment.
Other forms of co-branding include blog posts, webinars, and joint promotional agreements–all great ways for small businesses to increase their visibility in the market without breaking the bank. But before you start any kind of co-marketing agreement, make sure you and your target demographic are similar to each other. Both businesses’ marketing efforts should be mutually beneficial in attracting a new audience’s interest.
1. Give Away Your Best Stuff
This could be a white paper, an ebook, or a webinar. To ensure you’re getting the most out of this strategy, offer something valuable that’s difficult to find elsewhere. For example, if you’re in the business of selling software, consider offering a free trial of your product.
2. Use a content marketing strategy that addresses your customers’ questions and problems
Use your website, blog, social media channels, and other content platforms to provide valuable information that helps potential customers understand their issues and how your product or service can help them solve them. This type of content is not only helpful to potential customers but also demonstrates your expertise and builds trust. It can also be a great way to capture leads actively looking for solutions to their problems.
3. Provide a Free Tool, App, or Resource
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4. Use Lookalike Audiences on Facebook
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5. Partner with Industry Superstars on Webinars
Partner with Industry Superstars on Webinars:
Not only will their audience be interested in what you have to say, but their audience will likely be full of your target market. Plus, if the superstar is someone your ideal customer respects and admires, that’s just gravy.
6. Use Managed Placements in Display Campaigns
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7. Leverage the Power of Display Remarketing to Build Brand Awareness
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8. Invest (More) in Content Creation
Producing high-quality, relevant content regularly establishes your brand as a thought leader in your industry and positions you as an expert in your field. It also helps you attract organic traffic to your website, converting it into leads.
As a result, their blogs are sporadic at best, and their social media posts are few and far between. This sends the message that your brand isn’t serious about its content or customers.
This doesn’t mean you have to hire a full-time writer or spend a fortune on advertising; it just means you need to be more consistent with your publishing schedule and give your content the attention it deserves.
9. Generate Leadership- and Education-Focused Content
This type of content can help people in their professional lives and attract decision-makers’ attention. Leaders are always looking for new ways to improve their skills, so producing content that helps them do this can be very successful. In addition, decision-makers are always looking for further information to help them make better decisions for their companies. If you can provide them with high-quality, educational content, you will likely be able to capture their attention.
10. Optimize Your Email Marketing Strategies
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11. Consider Implementing a Lead Scoring System
A lead scoring system assigns points to leads based on their engagement with your brand. For example, website visits, email opens and clicks, and form submissions might be worth different point values. Leads with more points are considered more qualified and are therefore given a higher priority for follow-up.
A lead scoring system can help you focus on the leads most likely to convert into customers.
12. Be Certain Your Sales Process is Pulling Your Prospects, Not Pushing
This generally doesn’t work and can hurt demand generation. A good sales process should attract prospects, not push them away.
There are several things you can do to make sure your sales process is pulling prospects in rather than pushing them away:
- Make sure your message is clear and consistent across all channels
- Make it easy for potential customers to learn more about your company and products
- Use social media to connect with potential customers and create a dialogue
- Be responsive to inquiries and questions from potential customers
- Offer free resources such as ebooks, whitepapers, templates, etc.
Additional strategies from Dan Shewan
He’s also the author of two books: “The Content Marketing Handbook” and “The Lean Entrepreneur.”
Shewan offers nine demand generation strategies for new brands, which are as follows:
- Produce high-quality content.
- Optimize your website for search engines.
- Publish great content on social media.
- Harness the power of email marketing.
- Make use of lead magnets and landing pages.
- Conduct online PR campaigns.
- Participate in industry events and webinars.
- Use paid advertising to generate leads 9 Provide valuable resources to potential customers
10 (or so) additional ways to ace demand generation
Demand Generation is a process that’s crucial to any company’s success. It can be tricky, but with the right tools and strategies in place, you’ll be able to generate more demand for your business. Here are some tips to help you get started:
1. Use AI-informed social media marketing campaigns and interactive brand apps: These methods create an engaging experience for customers and allow them to interact with your brand on a personal level.
2. Understand customer expectations and meet them: Customers today expect more than just a great product or service–they want an excellent overall experience. So make sure your company is meeting its high standards!
3. Utilize the tried and true methods: Even though technology has changed dramatically in recent years, some ways remain just as effective (if not more so). Make sure you’re using all of the resources at your disposal!
4. Increase opportunities for leads through middle-of-funnel tactics: Once you have leads, it’s important to increase opportunities for conversion by utilizing lead management techniques.
5. Generate demand by managing lead flow into sales: This tactic helps turn potential customers into sales opportunities, which is essential for any business!
6. Spread the word about your products and services using content marketing: Content is a powerful tool for reaching your target audience and convincing them to become customers.
7. Use paid advertising: Paid advertising can effectively reach more people in a shorter amount of time.
8. Get involved with social media: Social media provides companies with a platform to personally connect with potential and current customers.
9. Attend industry events: Events are an excellent opportunity to network with other professionals in your field and learn about new trends and technologies.
10. Use CRM software: CRM software can help you track all your leads and sales opportunities, making the process much easier!
FAQ’s
What are the types of demand generation?
There are many types of demand generation, and knowing which will work best for your business is essential. The most common types are data, reports, guides, templates, and tools. However, there are other types of demand generation that you may not have considered.
Social media marketing is a great way to connect with potential customers. Platforms like Instagram and Pinterest offer a visual way to market your products or services. And resources like TikTok and YouTube can help you learn more about each platform individually.
All industries need some form of demand generation to market their products or services. And while the most common type is data, reports, guides, templates, and tools, experience marketing is the most challenging type to create an authentic experience for a customer.
What is a demand generation plan?
A demand generation plan aims to generate a steady flow of leads that your sales team can convert into paying customers.
You can use many strategies to generate demand for your business. Still, the most effective ones focus on creating valuable content and reaching out to potential customers through multiple channels.
This content can be in the form of blog posts, ebooks, white papers, case studies, or even videos. By providing valuable information for free, you attract people interested in what you offer and make it easier for them to find you when they’re ready to buy.
This involves reaching out to potential customers through email marketing, social media outreach, or even direct mail campaigns. Providing helpful information and staying in touch with potential customers over time makes it more likely that they’ll do business with you when they’re ready to buy.
What makes a successful demand and lead generation campaign?
Many factors go into a successful demand and lead generation campaign. But, perhaps the most important is the quality of your content. If users can’t find what they’re looking for or the low-quality content, they will not stick around long enough to become leads.
Another critical factor is providing actionable data. If people can’t see how they can use your product or service, they will not be interested in learning more. And finally, ensure your brand content is valuable and informative–people won’t convert unless you solve their problems.
It’s also essential to track the number of visitors who turn into leads and then the number of leads who become opportunities (top-of-the-funnel metric) to assess their quality and effectiveness as a lead generation marketing campaign. Again, this will help you determine whether or not a particular campaign is worth continuing.
Chatbots can sometimes yield a lower conversion rate than traditional lead generation campaigns. However, tracking the leads versus the lead to the opportunity conversion rate for non-chatbot leads is crucial to make an accurate comparison.
What is a demand generation strategy?
A demand generation strategy is a marketing plan that helps you generate awareness and demand for your product or service. When done correctly, it can help you grow your customer base by moving potential buyers through the buyer’s journey.
This type of marketing is essential because it provides a predictable sales pipeline for your sales team. It also transforms interest into action, which is what you want as a business owner. By generating more demand for your product or service, you’ll see an increase in revenue and profits over time.
There are many ways to generate demand for your business. For example, you use online advertising, PR campaigns, email marketing, or social media outreach. The key is to find your best strategies and stick with them. You’ll see results over time if you’re consistent and persistent.
What is a demand generation example?
It’s all about getting customers interested in what you’re selling and getting them to take the next step, whether that means signing up for a free trial, downloading an ebook, or scheduling a consultation.
Outbound strategies involve reaching out to potential customers through ads, emails, phone calls, or other methods. Inbound strategies attract customers through content marketing, SEO, and social media.
No matter which strategy you choose, there are some basic steps you need to take to generate demand for your business:
Identify your target audience
Create content that appeals to your target audience
Spread your content through social media and other channels
Measure the results and adjust your strategy accordingly
What is a demand generation tool?
Demand generation tools can include paid advertising, such as search engine marketing (SEM), social media advertising, and display advertising; email marketing; content marketing; and lead nurturing programs.
What is the best tool when it comes to lead generation?
When it comes to lead generation, there are several different tools that you can use. However, the best tool for your business will depend on your specific needs and goals.
Some of the most popular tools for lead generation include email marketing, social media marketing, and content marketing. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses, so you must decide which is right for your business.
Email marketing is an excellent tool for reaching out to potential customers and generating leads. It allows you to send targeted messages to specific groups of people, making it a very effective way to reach your target audience.
Social media marketing is another popular tool for lead generation. It allows you to connect with potential customers online and build relationships with them. This can be a great way to generate leads and close sales.
Content marketing is also becoming increasingly popular as a way to generate leads. This type of marketing involves creating content that educates and informs potential customers about your products or services. When done correctly, this can be an extremely effective way to generate leads and close sales.
Launch your demand generation program
A planned content strategy is critical for increasing income by raising awareness, creating and nurturing opportunities, and encouraging participation. In addition, a good demand generation approach will assist your company in attracting dependable, high-quality leads and, ultimately, growing your organization.
Listen to the episode with Matthew Hunt
About Matthew
Matthew Hunt is the founder of Automation Wolf, a company that supports B2B founders and CEOs to develop snackable content that keeps them top of mind and stays consistent in prospects’ newsfeeds; while also bridging the gap between short and long-form content.
Matthew Hunt was an ashamed introverted dyslexic but has become a successful extroverted dyslexic entrepreneur. He built 3 profitable B2B companies in the last 13 years on smart marketing & sales. Matthew has worked with 100s of companies (large & small) to help them implement marketing & sales strategies. He has worked with RE/MAX, Valvoline, FedEx, Chef’s Plate, League & TouchBistro.
Matthew knows that no one likes to be marketed to or sold to, especially prospects. In this episode, he shares his 4 stage demand generation marketing strategies to drive pipeline growth.
Some topics we discussed include:
- Commonly held beliefs that do not help demand generation marketing strategies
- Why you need to own the relationships more than great marketing and copywriting
- How Matthew defines demand generation marketing
- How to get personal with people in the post-pandemic world we live in
- How demand generation and creating community works better than inbound or outbound marketing
- What could the community look like for a business
- Why Matthew recommends every business consider hosting a virtual summit
- Does demand generation work for all types of businesses
- What do demand generation marketing strategies hinge on, and what does it entail
- What metrics to use for demand generation marketing strategies
- and much much more ….
Listen to the episode
Related links and resources
- Check out the Automation Wolf
- Learn from Sean Whitford – Generating Demand to Boost Growth: How to Use Demand Generation Strategies
- Learn from Vivek Nanda – How to Craft Powerful Audience Engagement Strategies That Drives Growth
- Learn from Adam Berguem – How to Address an Emerging Trend in Marketing and 7 ways to Drive Business Growth
- Learn from Fred Copestake – 5+ Ways to Building Trust With Clients That Drive Predictable Growth
- Check out the article – 20+ Powerful Marketing Strategies You Should Copy to Grow Your Company Fast
- Check out the article – How to Create a Powerful Diversity Marketing Strategy That Drives Growth With Examples
- Check out the article – What is an Omnichannel Customer Experience And How to Boost Growth With it
- Listen to my interview with Margie Agin – How to Craft a Brand Strategy Framework That Actually Unlocks Rapid Business Growth
- Listen to my interview with Ryan Robinson – How to Fuel Your Content Promotion to Drive Business Growth
- Listen to my interview with Nathan Bliss – What is Inbound Sales And How to Leverage it The Way Prospects Buy
Connect with Matthew
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