From start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations, demand generation remains a persistent challenge. Markets are saturated, attention spans are short and post-pandemic budgets are strained. And it’s about to get tougher.
Businesses are under more pressure than ever to review and optimise their 2020 demand generation strategies just to keep a seat at the table. Today, that means overcoming these common challenges. But first, let’s make something clear…
This is Real Demand Generation
The goal of demand generation is to deliver qualified leads and opportunities to sales, distinguishing it from lead generation, where the objective is to produce a volume of leads for sales to qualify. Demand generation is more sophisticated and nuanced, and notably more aligned to sales. The challenge is not simply to accumulate a vast amount of unqualified leads – that approach can be expensive in the long-term – but to nurture leads through a series of touch points, moving them through the funnel towards the point of sale.
Whilst lead generation may focus on one or two channels in isolation, demand generation campaigns take a more holistic view of the buyer decision-cycle, combining multiple marketing channels into a cohesive and considered strategy. Channels might include:
- Paid Search
- Paid Social
- Organic Social
- Search Engine Marketing (SEO/SEM)
- Email marketing
- Offline events such as trade shows and conventions
The point at which your target audience raises a hand and takes some level of action marks the transition from lead to demand generation. Demand generation, then, is about producing marketing campaigns that drive meaningful commitment and intent—drawing on multiple marketing channels to create a cohesive customer journey that moves them to a point of brand preference and decision.
Sounds simple?
Clearly it is not. According to one survey cited by the Content Marketing Institute, only 33% of businesses felt they had enough content to meet their demand generation goals. From our experience of working with both SMBs and global brands, we’ve identified the five common Demand Generation pitfalls. Read on to learn how to remedy each one and achieve cut-through with your next campaign.