B2B Demand Generation

Whether you're a marketing professional looking to improve your demand generation marketing, or a business owner looking to understand the basics of B2B demand generation, this page is for you. 

In this article, we will explore the most effective demand gen strategies and tactics for maximizing B2B demand generation, drawing on the latest research, best practices, and real-world examples. 

We will cover topics such as personalisation, data and analytics, lead nurturing, measuring ROI, and much more. So read on, and discover the keys to successful B2B demand generation.

‍

What is B2B Demand Generation?

B2B demand generation is the process of identifying, nurturing leads and ultimately converting them into a paying customer for a business-to-business company. It is a crucial aspect of any B2B marketing strategy and can mean the difference between a successful business and one that struggles to grow.

Demand generation is not about manipulating people into buying unnecessary products; rather, it involves delivering relevant information to potential customers at the right time with the assurance that the offered solution aligns with their requirements.

Demand generation is a comprehensive marketing strategy that requires more effort than lead generation. It encompasses various stages, touchpoints, campaigns and offerings aimed at creating excitement, consciousness and brand recognition.

The ultimate goal of demand generation is to facilitate more effective communication between buyers and sellers, leading to improved conversion rates and successful deals.

‍

What is the Difference Between Demand Generation and Lead Generation

Demand generation and lead generation are related but distinct marketing strategies.

Demand generation refers to the efforts of creating demand for a product or service through a variety of marketing tactics, such as content marketing, social media, events, and advertising. The goal of demand generation is to raise awareness of a brand, increase consideration and interest, and build a strong reputation in the market.

Lead generation, on the other hand, is the process of attracting and converting potential customers into leads, who are then passed on to sales for further qualification and conversion into paying customers. Lead generation typically involves tactics such as offering gated content, forms, and landing pages to capture lead information, as well as lead nurturing campaigns to build relationships and drive engagement.

Both strategies are important for a successful marketing and sales process and often work together to support each other. To learn more about how lead generation can help you, read our article here for further advice.

How do I Implement a Demand Generation Strategy Within My Business?

The process of gathering leads and increasing business growth depends on your resources and the price point of your product or service.

Two of the main marketing strategies which use Demand Generation are Inbound Marketing & Account-Based Marketing.

Inbound Marketing is a strategy that focuses on attracting and engaging customers by providing valuable and relevant content and experiences at each stage of the buying journey. The goal is to build trust and authority and, ultimately, convert prospects into customers. Inbound Marketing relies on tactics such as content creation, search engine optimization, social media, and email marketing to bring potential customers to a company's website and other digital assets.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a B2B marketing strategy that focuses on targeted, personalized marketing efforts to engage specific accounts rather than a broad target audience. ABM aims to build relationships with decision-makers within target accounts, align sales and marketing efforts, and drive engagement and conversions. ABM often involves high-touch, personalized tactics such as direct mail, events, and targeted content to engage specific account stakeholders.

Below are the steps you can use for each marketing strategy.

‍

Inbound Marketing Strategy Using Demand Generation

Here are the steps to implement an inbound marketing strategy:

• Define your target audience: Identify your ideal customers and understand their needs, pain points, and behaviour patterns.

• Create a buyer's journey map: Map out the journey your potential buyers take from awareness to purchase and identify the key touch points and decision-making moments.

• Develop a content marketing strategy: Create content that aligns with each stage of the buyer's journey and provides value to your target audience at each touchpoint. This is where demand generation campaigns start working their magic to capture demand. What type of medium you use to communicate with your customer is detailed here. From Social media engagement to email marketing, each has its place with creating demand.

• Optimise your website: Ensure that your website is optimised for search engines and user experience and that it provides a clear call-to-action to move your target audience through the sales funnel.

• Leverage social media: Use social media platforms to connect with your target audience, build relationships, and drive traffic to your website. This is another step in your demand generation process; it also allows you to syndicate your content across multiple channels from LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter and supports your SEO efforts.

• Use SEO effectively: Optimise your website and content for search engines to drive organic traffic and improve visibility.

• Create calls-to-action (CTAs): Offer valuable content and create clear and compelling CTAs to convert website visitors into leads.

• Nurture leads: Use lead nurturing tactics to educate and engage leads over time and move them through the sales funnel towards a purchase.

• Analyse and optimise: Use analytics and data to continuously monitor and measure the success of your inbound marketing efforts and make changes and improvements as needed. The insights and marketing data you gain here can be feedback on your marketing strategies to improve the quality of your leads.

‍

Implementing an inbound marketing strategy requires a consistent and ongoing effort, but it can help you build stronger relationships with your target audience, drive more qualified leads, and increase revenue.

Account-based Marketing Strategy Using Demand Generation

Marketing and sales teams collaborate together on a typical account-based marketing (ABM) strategy. It typically includes the following components:

• Target account selection: Identification of the key accounts you want to focus on and prioritise them based on their potential for revenue generation.

• Buyer persona development: Creation of detailed profiles of the decision-makers at your target accounts to understand their needs, challenges, and pain points.

• Personalised content creation: Demand generation campaigns can each target account that aligns with their specific needs and buyer's journey. By developing customised and relevant content for your buyer personas allows your company to start engaging with your potential customers, making them aware of your brand, reflecting their pain points and providing them with your solution.

• Multichannel outreach: Implementation of a coordinated and consistent approach to outreach to decision-makers at your target accounts through a variety of channels, including email, phone, direct mail, and demand generation campaigns using social media advertising. This is where the marketing and sales teams utilise each of their skill sets.

• Data-driven insights: Use of sales and marketing data and analytics to inform your ABM strategy and measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Setting up accurate marketing attribution in your CRM and creating appropriate key performance indicators is essential for this step.

• Cross-functional collaboration: Ongoing collaboration between sales and marketing teams to ensure the success of your ABM strategy and align on account-specific initiatives and goals. Sales teams can provide valuable information about customer pain points that can be feedback to the marketing team to improve their demand generation campaigns.

• Continuous optimisation: Regular measurement and refinement of your ABM strategy based on the results to ensure it remains effective and relevant.

‍

The specific components and tactics used in an ABM strategy will vary depending on the goals, resources, and target accounts of the organisation. The key is to personalise and tailor your approach to each target account to drive better engagement, build relationships, and drive revenue growth.

Why is Demand Generation Marketing Important for B2B Companies?

You can connect with potential customers by utilising demand generation campaigns through email, social media advertising or video. Connecting with the right people and delivering valuable content is key to the success of a demand generation campaign. Here is why we believe a good demand generation campaign is important for B2B business. 

‍

1. Identity Potential Customers

First, it helps to identify and nurture potential leads, which ultimately leads to increased sales and revenue. By understanding the needs and pain points of potential customers, B2B companies can create targeted and effective marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience. You gain more qualified leads, higher retention and more paying customers.

‍

2. Brand Awareness

Second, demand generation helps to establish and maintain a strong brand presence. By consistently creating relevant and valuable content, B2B companies can position themselves as experts in their industry and build trust with potential customers. This can lead to increased brand awareness and loyalty, which can be crucial in a competitive B2B market.

‍

3. Keeps Your Connected

Demand generation helps to improve the customer experience. By understanding the customer journey and addressing their needs at every step, B2B companies can create a seamless and personalised experience that helps to differentiate them from the competition.

The customer lifetime is potentially far longer with a company with successful demand generation strategies as the customer continues to see value in your service and stays loyal to your brand.

‍

4. Creates Qualified Leads

Finally, demand generation can also help to improve the overall efficiency of the sales process. By identifying and nurturing potential leads early on, B2B companies can be more efficient with advertising spending as well as the time and resources they have by focusing on leads that are most likely to convert.

Rather than swamping the sales pipeline with as many leads as you can get. A demand gen strategy will fill your sales funnel with high quality leads. There may be fewer than a lead generation campaign, such as 'sign up for a free ebook' however, it will generate leads that have a higher chance of converting.

‍

5. Increase ROI

For those focused on ROI, Demand Generation on digital platforms is the ideal strategy. Because of its targeted value based approach, you are talking directly to your ideal customers, giving them valuable content meaning you can invest a small amount of money in your ad campaigns and see a significant return.

Your Cost Per Acquisition is far lower as you are targeting a smaller demographic compared to more broad advertising and marketing strategies such as TV or Radio

‍

Overall, demand generation is crucial for B2B companies as it can help them to drive sales, establish a strong brand presence, improve the customer experience and improve the overall efficiency of the sales process.

B2B Demand Generation: Opportunities and Challenges

‍

If you are looking to increase your business success with B2B demand generation. Look no further than demand generation through online marketing to fulfil that purpose. With the ever-evolving landscape of technology and platforms, there are more opportunities than ever before to connect with the best customers and drive sales. 

But with these opportunities come challenges as well.

‍

What are the Opportunities with B2B Demand Generation?

The digital age has given us access to an incredible amount of data and analytics, allowing us to better understand our target audience and tailor our efforts to their specific needs. Social media and other digital platforms have also made it easier to reach a wider audience and build relationships with potential customers. And with the rise of artificial intelligence and automation, we can streamline and optimise our demand generation efforts like never before.

‍

What are the Challenges with B2B Demand Generation?

As with any new technology, there can be challenges. One of the biggest challenges is standing out in an increasingly crowded and noisy digital landscape. With so much competition, it can be difficult to make your message heard and attract the attention of potential customers. Additionally, the constant evolution of technology can make it difficult to keep up and stay on top of the latest trends and best practices.

Despite these challenges, the opportunities for demand generation online far outweigh the challenges. By staying informed and adaptable, any business can capitalise on the potential of the digital landscape to drive B2B demand generation success. 

‍

The Role of Personalisation in B2B Demand Generation

Personalisation plays a crucial role in B2B demand generation. It involves tailoring messaging, content, and interactions to the specific needs and preferences of individual leads or groups of leads. 

Personalisation can be achieved through various methods, such as segmenting leads based on demographics, firmographics or behaviour and using that information to create targeted and relevant messaging and content. Also, using marketing automation tools and Artificial Intelligence can help to personalise the communication and interactions with leads at scale. 

‍

Why Use Personalisation Demand Capture Campaigns for B2B Marketing:

• Increase engagement

By tailoring messaging and content to the specific interests and pain points of leads, personalisation can help to increase engagement and make leads more likely to convert into customers.

• Build trust

Personalisation can help to build trust with leads by demonstrating that a company understands their needs and is committed to providing relevant and valuable solutions.

• Improve the customer experience.

Personalisation can help to improve the overall customer experience by creating a more seamless and tailored journey.

• Stand out from the competition

With so many B2B companies vying for the attention of potential customers, personalisation can help to differentiate a company and make it stand out from the competition.

• Support your Sales team

B2B demand generation can aid the sales process as it qualifies your leads allowing sales teams to start meaningful and relevant conversations and increasing the likelihood of closing a sale. By understanding the specific needs and pain points of a lead, sales teams can tailor their approach and messaging to align with those needs, making the lead more likely to convert into a customer. 

• Retain Customers.

Build stronger and more lasting relationships with customers, leading to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth recommendations.

‍

Want to Increase the Success of Your B2B Demand Generation Campaigns? 

Partner with a digital marketing agency that specialises in demand generation services. 

Do Good Things can help you with a full solution to your digital marketing. We help you identify potential target audience, developing a demand generation strategy, customised reporting and CRMs, and help you measure and analysing results. 

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you drive results and achieve your business goals.

‍

Why is Demand Generation Important for Lead Nurturing?

Demand generation is critical for lead nurturing campaigns because it helps to maintain momentum and engagement with potential customers over time.

The process of lead nurturing involves providing valuable content and building relationships with leads at each stage of their buying journey. This helps to educate them about your product or service, build trust, and keep them engaged with your brand even if they are not ready to make a purchase yet.

By nurturing leads over time, you increase the likelihood that they will eventually become paying customers, which is the ultimate goal of demand generation campaigns. Lead nurturing also helps to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of demand generation campaigns by allowing you to focus your efforts on the leads that are most likely to convert, rather than wasting time and resources on leads that are not a good fit.

‍

Leveraging Data and Analytics for B2B Demand Generation

Leveraging data and analytics is a crucial aspect of B2B demand generation. By collecting and analysing data on customer behaviour, preferences, and pain points, companies can gain valuable insights that can be used to improve their demand-generation efforts.

By understanding the specific needs and preferences of leads, companies can create more targeted and effective campaigns, optimise their efforts and measure the results.

Here are a few ways in which data and analytics can be used to improve B2B demand generation:

‍

• Identifying Target Audience

Data and analytics can help to identify the specific characteristics of a company's target audience, such as demographics, firmographics, and behaviour. This information can be used to create more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.

• Optimising Campaigns

By analysing data on the performance of various marketing campaigns, companies can identify which campaigns are most effective and make adjustments to improve results.

• Personalising communication

Data and analytics can help to personalise communication with leads by identifying their specific needs and preferences.

• Identifying areas of improvement

By analysing data on customer behaviour, companies can identify areas where they can improve their products or services to better meet customer needs.

• Measuring ROI

Data and analytics can also be used to measure the return on investment (ROI) of demand generation efforts, allowing companies to better understand the impact of their efforts and make adjustments as needed.

‍

Why Partner with a B2B Demand Generation Agency?

If you're a B2B company looking to increase the success of your demand generation campaign, consider partnering with a digital marketing agency. A digital marketing agency can provide the expertise and resources you need to take your campaign to the next level.

‍

A Demand Generation Agency can help you:

Identify Your Target Audience

By analysing data from your CRM and researching your industry, a digital marketing agency can help you to identify the specific characteristics of your target audience and create a campaign that resonates with them. 

Develop a Personalised Strategy

A demand generation agency understands how to effectively take your solution and create campaigns that are tailored to the specific needs and preferences of your target audience. Increasing your chances of success. 

Implement Advanced Marketing Techniques

A digital marketing agency can help you to implement advanced marketing techniques such as marketing automation and artificial intelligence, allowing you to streamline and optimize your efforts at scale.

Leverage Data and Analytics

A demand generation agency can help you to build, collect and analyse data on customer behaviour, preferences, and pain points, providing valuable insights that can be used to optimize your campaign and improve results. Look for a CRM specialist that can help connect your marketing and sales efforts together to provide accurate results. This will also help you improve your cost per acquisition. 

‍

Looking for a Demand Generation Agency to Help Your Business?

Don't let the complexity of demand generation hold your company back, a digital marketing agency like Do Good Things can provide the expertise and resources you need to create a successful campaign that drives results. 

Let's chat about how we can help you to increase the success of your B2B demand generation campaign.

Get in touch with us today. 

‍