What Is Demand Generation?
Driving sales is easier said than done. To convert clients into buyers, you must first create awareness, curate engaging content, and foster trustworthy relationships. That’s why you need a solid social media strategy and content marketing plan to showcase your product to your target audience. The best demand generation practices and strategies involve various sales and marketing tactics that reach buyers and lure them in. You need to create intrigue and interest in your product upon launching or even before its release. This way, potential customers will visit your website, engage with your online content, and request demos or meetings to understand how your solution works. Individual demand generation campaigns can be very fruitful, but you have to stay consistent and launch as many as possible throughout the year. They even extend after the conversion stage when your goal is to retain clients and turn them into advocates and recurring buyers.
Are you ready to venture on an adventurous SaaS demand gen trip and hook your audience? Keep reading to find actionable tips and useful tactics you should include in your marketing plan.
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The 3 Pillars Of Demand Gen
1. Audience
B2B buyer demographics are always changing, and your ideal buyer persona is never the same. That’s why you must continuously research market changes and identify the best ways to reach your audience. For example, newer generations, like Gen Z, are more active on social media, and that’s where they consume ads and product placements. So, your SaaS demand generation tactics can be used there to increase awareness and retention. Remember that creative messaging is the key to fostering meaningful and deep connections with your audience.
2. Experience
Do you know what a typical day for your B2B buyers looks like and what their key challenges are? It’s crucial to know this information if you want to target them effectively and build a demand generation strategy. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are ideal for B2B demand generation, as they allow you to target your customers based on specific demographics, characteristics, and interests. Behavioral data helps you identify your audience’s needs and preferences, boosting your B2B marketing campaigns and making them feel more personalized.
3. Technology
Once you know the other two pillars, it’s time to create account-based experiences (ABX) that transform your business’s demand gen strategy. By leveraging tools and AI-driven software, you can collect customer data and conduct a comprehensive SEO audit to understand where you’re currently standing. Once you create your customer segments and pinpoint each one’s needs and pain points, you can start working toward attracting them. Audience insights will help you create successful campaigns and implement lead generation techniques that speak volumes.
Demand Generation Vs. Lead Generation
These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not all the same. Demand generation includes the various B2B lead generation strategies you enforce to build brand awareness and drive interest. For example, a typical tactic most businesses implement is using gated content, like eBooks, to attract customers in exchange for their contact details. Among the best practices for demand generation are content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, webinars, and so on.
SaaS lead generation leans on a company’s target audience and demographics and offers relevant content and free resources for people to download for free. On the other hand, B2B demand generation marketing encompasses all the ideas and practices sales and marketing teams utilize to generate qualified leads and convert them into buyers. Basically, you dive deep into high-intent customers and their course of action. Which landing pages did they visit, and which resources did they download? If they left your domain early, what could be the reason? How can you reignite their interest? These are all questions you must answer if you want to attract clients who are truly interested in buying. To sum it up, demand generation aims to create interest where it may not exist, and lead generation captures that interest while enriching your subscribers’ list.
The Best Practices To Build A Demand Generation Strategy
1. Content Marketing
One of the top practices for demand generation is B2B content marketing. The content you create accompanies customers through all stages of the sales funnel. It builds awareness, generates leads, fosters loyal relationships, and proves thought leadership and authority in your niche. If you want your content to have a lasting impact, you must research your audience’s needs, pain points, and preferences. What do they want to read about? What are your competitors writing about, and which topics are popular? Once you understand who you’re talking to, you can start creating B2B blog posts that address people’s challenges. You may need to use a content marketing strategy template to stay organized and schedule your content accordingly. However, starting a demand generation blog from scratch can be challenging for newcomers. In that case, you can publish articles on existing trustworthy platforms relevant to your industry.
2. Craft Buyer Personas
To generate new leads and turn them into buyers, you must first identify your personas. This is one of the first and most crucial demand generation steps you should take. Basically, you build fictitious profiles based on people’s ages, job titles, interests, locations, industries, and budgets. You should then answer a few key questions regarding each profile. What are their pain points, and what motivates them to make a purchase? What stage of the buyer journey are they on? Also, you should conduct an SEO competitor analysis to identify the competing businesses and products your audience is already browsing. Maybe other companies offer them features you don’t, or their content is more engaging. Knowing what your audience wants and what your competitors offer allows you to craft the best demand generation strategy.
3. Account-Based Marketing
What is account-based marketing (ABM)? It refers to identifying high-value, high-intent customers and building trusting relationships with them. While a demand gen marketer focuses on creating interest in a company’s product and attracting prospects, account-based marketing is an extension of demand generation best practices. You utilize customer data and craft personalized and highly targeted marketing campaigns that accelerate business growth. To do that, you must build a list of qualified leads and ask your sales and marketing teams to use content and other tactics to appeal to each account’s needs. For example, HR tech buyers may require personalized consultation and customized content that speaks to the unique challenges they face, so your sales representatives must make each message sound personal.
4. Social Media Marketing
The best demand generation strategies and practices involve an investment in social media. Why? Well, in this day and age, everyone is on social media platforms trying to grow their audience and boost their company’s engagement. Social media marketing allows you to promote your content to your target audience and create paid ads whenever necessary. You can even target specific audience segments based on various demographics and characteristics. LinkedIn is a channel ideal for content marketing for B2B, while X (formerly known as Twitter) encourages discussions with prospects. All available channels allow you to engage with your customers, answer their personalized questions, and present yourself however you want. You don’t have to be in strictly professional mode 100% of the time. You may use more fun demand gen activities, including quizzes, games, and polls. Don’t be afraid to show your unique flair and present your personality to your audience.
5. Lead Scoring
Chances are that your demand generation campaign attracts many leads. Some of them may be only interested in downloading your free eBooks, while others may actually want to purchase something. To identify high-intent prospects, you should enforce a lead-scoring strategy. How do you do that, though? You should look into your attribution data and underline which actions lead to conversions. Your sales and marketing teams can paint a good picture of what a high-value client looks like. Based on their projections, you can build your lead scoring model. For example, downloading an eBook may score much lower than registering for a webinar. So, once a prospect gathers a number of points, you can pass them on to sales so they can initiate the discussion stage. When you build your lead scoring method, pay attention to online behavior, interests, budget, and social media engagement.
6. Email Marketing
Demand generation strategies focus heavily on email marketing sequences and promotions. However, even if you have a good enough list of prospects, your results in converting them may be poor, and there could be many reasons for it. Maybe your content is irrelevant or boring, you’re sending way too many emails, or your email reputation is poor. Fixing the first two is quite easy. So, how do you improve your email reputation? Try to segment your list and personalize your messages based on each segment’s preferences. Make each message relatable and reduce the frequency. When your emails are beneficial and relevant, they don’t end up in the spam folder, and your overall email score remains high. One of the best email marketing solutions for demand gen is A/B testing. Test different CTA buttons and headlines to identify your best options.
7. Event Marketing
Demand gen consultants may tell you that event marketing is essential in breaking into your desired market and socializing with clients and competitors. Sure, the online world is prevalent, but face-to-face events are still sometimes necessary for your marketing efforts. It’s where you communicate with your prospects, explain what you offer, and provide actionable solutions and tips. Remember that the internet is faceless most of the time, and people want to connect on a personal level before they do business with you. Making a good impression at conferences is important to attract new clients. To advertise your presence in those events, you can create RoS banners and popup banner ads. Those already interested in collaborating with you may attend just to listen to you and meet your representatives.
8. Content For Each Funnel Stage
81% of buyers surveyed said that content plays a significant role in their buying decisions. One of the best demand generation practices is to alter your content marketing ideas depending on the funnel stage each prospect is in. You don’t only want to lure in leads but also to gently push them toward conversion. At the top of the funnel (TOFU), you want to create awareness. B2B clients may not be aware of your business or product yet, and they are looking into getting general knowledge on the industry. At the middle of the funnel (MOFU), prospects are considering your option along with others. This is where you need to establish yourself as a thought leader and expert to win their trust. Finally, at the bottom of the funnel (BOFU), you try to convince them that you are the right choice for them. It’s where you utilize testimonials and case study articles to show proof of your claims.
9. Search Engine Optimization
Another best practice for demand generation strategies is SEO. Effective SaaS content marketing focuses heavily on implementing powerful and relevant keywords and phrases into your articles. Simply use Google Search Console or other tools, like Ahrefs, to check the rating of certain keywords you want to rank for. Instead of choosing high-volume keywords, you may opt for high-intent phrases. They may get fewer searches, but those who type them have higher chances of converting. When you start creating your content, don’t simply stuff your blog posts with keywords that make no sense. Make your reads valuable while incorporating your SEO skills as often as you can. Over time, you’ll notice that your website will start ranking higher, and you’ll get more visits and clicks.
10. Automation
Startup marketing can feel overwhelming when you have very limited resources and workforce. To combat many challenges, you may need to use a customer relationship marketing (CRM) tool that lets you automate many tasks. You can add customer information to your tool’s database and organize your campaigns effectively. Also, you can schedule social media posts and lead generation tactics and organize email drip campaigns. Therefore, your SaaS demand generation efforts are cohesive, and every team member can perform their duties easily. One of the benefits of automation tools is that they allow you to target specific IP addresses with programmatic display ads. Additionally, many tools remarket to existing customers automatically without needing your involvement.
What Does A Demand Generation Manager Do?
If you work in the marketing or sales sector, you may have seen hiring ads regarding demand generation managers. These professionals are sitting somewhere in the middle of marketing and sales departments. They are responsible for finding the best demand generation practices that will not only generate but also nurture leads and possibly turn them into buying customers. They must craft compelling strategies that will help a company acquire qualified leads and collaborate with sales and marketing to ensure their messaging is uniform across all platforms and campaigns. In addition, they should adopt a multichannel marketing approach, including email, social media, content, SEO, and PPC ads. Talking about PPC ads, directory listings are also in the mix. Many businesses utilize relevant directories to list themselves and even create ads to get ahead of the competition.
Moreover, demand generation managers should utilize iterative testing, specifically A/B testing, to improve campaign performance and boost ROI. Market research, competitive analysis, budget monitoring, and analyzing campaign results are also among their responsibilities. Lastly, they should stay updated regarding market trends so they can advise on the content that must be produced. And let’s not forget about the necessity of fostering good relationships with vendors and external agencies to further support a company’s marketing initiatives.
Key Takeaway
Demand generation help for companies is usually a top requirement, as it’s becoming harder to stand out in a competitive landscape where paid ads are deemed more important than organic results. B2B demand generation tactics can help you boost brand awareness, generate new leads, and increase conversions. From content marketing tactics, like gated content, to social media posts and promotions, there is a plethora of tips you can utilize. Email marketing and events are still very powerful in the B2B world, and marketers utilize them daily. Account-based marketing and lead scoring allow you to create personalized and highly targeted content and campaigns to appeal to high-intent clients. To achieve this, though, you must craft buyer personas and pinpoint the stage each prospect is in before initiating communication.
Once you have created a well-oiled machine, you may leverage the benefits of AI in marketing and incorporate chatbots into your website. It won’t help you close more deals, but it will take some burden off of your sales reps’ shoulders by answering FAQs and directing prospects in the right direction. This way, they can better collaborate with your demand generation manager to craft the most engaging campaigns that boost your business and generate interest in your product.
