Creating a solid demand generation model may not be very easy. 61% of B2B marketers say lead generation is their number one challenge.
As a B2B marketer if you want to strengthen your demand generation strategy there are a few options that you have:
- First, to create your own demand generation strategy learning from past campaigns, online research and using demand generation strategy templates that are available on the web
- Second, partner with a marketing agency which offers demand generation as a service.
While the first option may seem tedious, the second option although comes with some valid challenges can turn out to be a good investment in the long run. Read the guide on Choosing the Right B2B Lead Generation Agency to get started.
What is demand generation as a service?
Demand generation as a service is similar to a product platform which many companies offer as a service. The only difference here is that instead of a product, it is a service which guarantees to bring in high quality leads aligned with your customer profile, business strategy and ultimately brand awareness.
What is a demand generation strategy?
Demand generation strategy has three parts like most marketing strategy:
The audience: Understanding your audience based on their interests, demographics, geographic location and their needs are important to define your campaign touchpoints, messaging and develop interest in your target audience before pushing them through the sales funnel.
The approach: Once the audience is defined, the approach comes into play. What do you want to sell? Does the customer have a need for it and if not how will you create the need?
The goal: This is not a demand generation vs lead generation scenario, but both go together. Your goal should be to establish a demand generation process which brings in quality leads over time and improves the conversion rates from qualified to opportunities.
If you are working towards putting together a demand generation framework or you already have one, we have put together some strategies which work well across all B2B demand generation marketing scenarios.
10 best strategies to improve your demand generation framework
- Emphasize what’s working. If you find that a particular blog or landing page works especially well for converting high-quality leads, keep using it. If an initiative dramatically exceeds expectations, set everything else aside and leverage the success.
- Make data-driven decisions. Performing consistent leads analysis is essential for a robust sales pipeline. It ensures low-producing sales months are rare and informs where leads drop off so you can resolve any problems.
- Know how many leads and sales you can create month to month. Long-term goals are strategically important, but tactically not as useful. Knowing where you stand from a short-term perspective is a better way to inform realistic expectations on how you’ll do in the future.
- Build your funnel based on your customers’ needs. Customers don’t care about your company. They want to know if you understand their problems so they can decide if they can trust you to help them. To build their confidence in you, strive to give them content they would have gladly paid for.
- Purge bad leads. Understand early the difference between a high- and low-quality lead so you can add or pull back resources from channels and campaigns that don’t deliver.
- Pre-qualify your leads. Creating more detailed lead form questions can help you better determine prospects’ intent and help you generate better conversion rates.
- Test the primary conversion points throughout your funnel. There is no limit to what is testable, including the type of content you offer, the type of lead magnets you offer, your subject lines, your headlines, your CTA placements, and even the products or services you offer.
- Make it easy for leads to convert. Ensure your CTAs are well-written and show up in the right places to make it simple for visitors to leave personal information in exchange for content.
- Use marketing automation. Marketing automation is an important demand generation tool. Gain a clear understanding of who your best leads are and how prepared they are to buy by gradually profiling them over time. Also, moving your leads through the lifecycle stages enables you to view their actions and better segment them in ways that improve targeted communication.
- Take care of existing leads and customers. It’s cheaper to onboard an existing lead than bring in a new one. To keep customers happy, provide products and services as well as expert business information so that they’ll stay loyal to your enterprise.
Demand gen vs Lead gen
It is important to understand the difference between demand generation and lead generation. Demand generation is the process of reaching new audiences and getting them interested in your products and services.
Lead generation is the process of nurturing a potential buyer and getting them interested in your product to the ultimate goal of converting them into a long term customer.
Demand generation activities are essential to acquire new markets and capture demand leads. There are companies that exist solely for the purpose of helping other companies drive demand and lead gen. Demand generation services can be useful for a number of reasons, but most importantly, they can provide businesses with the tools and expertise to drive demand gen and accomplish their marketing goals.
These services can be particularly useful for companies that are new to the demand gen game and need some guidance or inspiration on how to get started successfully.
Demand generation strategy examples
ViB is a top demand generation marketing agency that enables users to generate qualified leads, gaining marketable, sales-ready leads with an interest in their products. ViB’s appointment setting program uncovers opportunities and helps users find new audiences, allowing them to reach targeted, buying-ready members of ViB’s community of over 2 million professionals.
