#demand_generation_basics

Marketing has emerged as a whole new industry in itself in the past years. A lot of new marketing terms used these days can be quite confusing and understanding them thoroughly can be quite a task. In this article, we will discuss a marketing technique called demand generation and how it can help a business to improve the conversion rates.

In simple terms, demand generation can be defined as a strategy that is aimed at generating awareness among the prospects and therefore, drive their interest towards buying your products or services. It is a lot different from lead generation. In fact, it can be understood as a stage just before a prospect turns into a lead. Since it is among the very initial steps of your prospects’ interaction with you, it can have a huge impact on conversion rates because the first impression is powerful. Here are a few demand generation strategies that will boost your business.

1.     Put your best content forward

Content is what rules your all marketing strategies because without that good punch line or that promotional video, you cannot get the attention of your audience. Especially now when the internet is full of all kinds of blogs, videos, and infographics, you need to take an extra step towards making your content stand out. Therefore, our advice to invest in good quality content because that is the first thing your prospects will interact with. Make sure that it has something of value to offer.

 2.     Give your prospects free tools or apps

Who doesn’t love free stuff? Invest in developing a tool or an app that your prospects can use free of cost. In addition to establishing your credibility among customers, it strengthens your position in the industry. Also, it is one of the most trusted resources for PPC help. For example, a financial institution can offer an app that assesses individual profiles free of cost to find out whether or not they are eligible for a loan.

 3.     Partner with other businesses

Some businesses are using partnering as a great demand generation strategy. Also referred to as partnership marketing, this strategy is a collaborative effort between two businesses where they come together to work towards the same business goal. Working with another similar business can help you save money, resources, and time while it can work wonders for your struggling business. You can get better exposure and hence, increased brand awareness among customers.

 4.     Use content syndication

Blogging is known to improve your ROI by over 13 times. Companies that blog on a regular basis get more customers to their websites and therefore, they get a number of conversions. But what is even more beneficial is content syndication. It can be defined as a strategy in which similar businesses guest post on each other’s websites. Not only does this give them an advantage of partnership marketing but they reach out to a much wider audience.

 5.     Leverage the power of social media

It goes without saying that the businesses that are not tapping into the benefits offered by social media are losing big time on profits and business opportunities. In the modern business landscape, social media has emerged as the primary platform for business promotion. Video marketing is one of the most popular social media marketing tool being used these days. Therefore, using it for demand generation and all other marketing techniques is crucial to the success of any business.

 6.     Improve your email strategy

Do not keep sending bulk emails because those either end up in spam box or are never read. Instead, work on the optimization of your email strategy. Everything from the subject line to salutation should be well written. Leverage the power of personalized emailing to get maximum results.

Marketing has emerged as a whole new industry in itself in the past years. A lot of new marketing terms used these days can be quite confusing and understanding them thoroughly can be quite a task. In this article, we will discuss a marketing technique called demand generation and how it can help a business to improve the conversion rates.

In simple terms, demand generation can be defined as a strategy that is aimed at generating awareness among the prospects and therefore, drive their interest towards buying your products or services. It is a lot different from lead generation. In fact, it can be understood as a stage just before a prospect turns into a lead. Since it is among the very initial steps of your prospects’ interaction with you, it can have a huge impact on conversion rates because the first impression is powerful. Here are a few demand generation strategies that will boost your business.

1.     Put your best content forward

Content is what rules your all marketing strategies because without that good punch line or that promotional video, you cannot get the attention of your audience. Especially now when the internet is full of all kinds of blogs, videos, and infographics, you need to take an extra step towards making your content stand out. Therefore, our advice to invest in good quality content because that is the first thing your prospects will interact with. Make sure that it has something of value to offer.

 2.     Give your prospects free tools or apps

Who doesn’t love free stuff? Invest in developing a tool or an app that your prospects can use free of cost. In addition to establishing your credibility among customers, it strengthens your position in the industry. Also, it is one of the most trusted resources for PPC help. For example, a financial institution can offer an app that assesses individual profiles free of cost to find out whether or not they are eligible for a loan.

 3.     Partner with other businesses

Some businesses are using partnering as a great demand generation strategy. Also referred to as partnership marketing, this strategy is a collaborative effort between two businesses where they come together to work towards the same business goal. Working with another similar business can help you save money, resources, and time while it can work wonders for your struggling business. You can get better exposure and hence, increased brand awareness among customers.

 4.     Use content syndication

Blogging is known to improve your ROI by over 13 times. Companies that blog on a regular basis get more customers to their websites and therefore, they get a number of conversions. But what is even more beneficial is content syndication. It can be defined as a strategy in which similar businesses guest post on each other’s websites. Not only does this give them an advantage of partnership marketing but they reach out to a much wider audience.

 5.     Leverage the power of social media

It goes without saying that the businesses that are not tapping into the benefits offered by social media are losing big time on profits and business opportunities. In the modern business landscape, social media has emerged as the primary platform for business promotion. Video marketing is one of the most popular social media marketing tool being used these days. Therefore, using it for demand generation and all other marketing techniques is crucial to the success of any business.

 6.     Improve your email strategy

Do not keep sending bulk emails because those either end up in spam box or are never read. Instead, work on the optimization of your email strategy. Everything from the subject line to salutation should be well written. Leverage the power of personalized emailing to get maximum results.

Businesses in the world of late are experimenting a lot with strategies that might help them grow and be successful. Changing business landscape means a change in strategies and which is why you might be wondering if it is the right time to go from demand generation to account-based marketing. We are not here to tell you which one is better but we will discuss the key differences between the two strategies and help you find what is right for you.

What is Demand Generation?

Demand generation is a wider concept with a much wider audience as a target. It can be defined as a process of reaching out to as many prospects as possible in order to increase brand awareness among them. In simple words, a general message is sent across multiple channels with an intent to get the attention of leads. Their behavior is then tracked down by the CRM to know their level of interest. The idea is to create a demand for your services or products among your potential customers. The outcome, in this case, is response oriented.

What is Account-Based Marketing?

Account-based marketing (ABM), on the other hand, is a more specific and targeted approach. It is a process where the lead in question is researched and tracked. Profiling is done in order to know their needs and potential and later, they are targeted with customized strategies. In other words, a lead is first qualified and then pursued under ABM. This technique is much less elaborate than demand generation with surely less output quantitatively but the quality is often found to be superior.

The Difference

1.     The Sales Cycle

One major difference is that the sales cycle under ABM is much shorter than that in demand generation. In demand generation, marketing and sales work separately. Marketing first qualifies the leads and then send it to sales. However, in ABM, sales and marketing come together to qualify the lead, thereby shortening the sales cycle.

 2.     Reaching Out to the Potential Customers

When it comes to reaching out to the potential customers, ABM gives more personalized touch than demand generation. While demand generation targets the audience collectively without knowing their needs, ABM targets the prospects that are more likely to convert.

 3.     The Content

As ABM is a more personalized approach than demand generation, the content used in both strategies differ. ABM creates personalized messages targeted at specific prospects keeping in mind their requirements. However, in demand generation, the messages are more general and are only aimed at creating general awareness of business services and prospects.

What makes ABM stand out?

1.     Sales-marketing coordination

This most important factor that many businesses are moving to ABM is that in its sales and marketing work more closely. This not only shortens the sales cycle but also improves the number of sales-qualified leads.

 2.     Deep account profiling

ABM is about researching and giving a personalized touch to the business. This is the reason it relies greatly on deep account profiling to identify the key initiatives and challenges. This allows the marketing team to focus on good personalized content.

 3.     A steady mix of campaigns

Next, ABM relies on a mix of campaigns to achieve results rather than focusing on one particular strategy. It includes offline campaigns, high-end direct mail campaigns, calling, and online promotions. ABM is about using the best of all strategies to achieve the results.

 4.     Customized programs

Lastly, the programs implemented under ABM are more specific and customized. For example, there are account-specific events conducted to target a prospect. Outbound sales are critical to the success of ABM, which is why the efforts are personalized to fit in the customer needs.

Businesses in the world of late are experimenting a lot with strategies that might help them grow and be successful. Changing business landscape means a change in strategies and which is why you might be wondering if it is the right time to go from demand generation to account-based marketing. We are not here to tell you which one is better but we will discuss the key differences between the two strategies and help you find what is right for you.

What is Demand Generation?

Demand generation is a wider concept with a much wider audience as a target. It can be defined as a process of reaching out to as many prospects as possible in order to increase brand awareness among them. In simple words, a general message is sent across multiple channels with an intent to get the attention of leads. Their behavior is then tracked down by the CRM to know their level of interest. The idea is to create a demand for your services or products among your potential customers. The outcome, in this case, is response oriented.

What is Account-Based Marketing?

Account-based marketing (ABM), on the other hand, is a more specific and targeted approach. It is a process where the lead in question is researched and tracked. Profiling is done in order to know their needs and potential and later, they are targeted with customized strategies. In other words, a lead is first qualified and then pursued under ABM. This technique is much less elaborate than demand generation with surely less output quantitatively but the quality is often found to be superior.

The Difference

1.     The Sales Cycle

One major difference is that the sales cycle under ABM is much shorter than that in demand generation. In demand generation, marketing and sales work separately. Marketing first qualifies the leads and then send it to sales. However, in ABM, sales and marketing come together to qualify the lead, thereby shortening the sales cycle.

 2.     Reaching Out to the Potential Customers

When it comes to reaching out to the potential customers, ABM gives more personalized touch than demand generation. While demand generation targets the audience collectively without knowing their needs, ABM targets the prospects that are more likely to convert.

 3.     The Content

As ABM is a more personalized approach than demand generation, the content used in both strategies differ. ABM creates personalized messages targeted at specific prospects keeping in mind their requirements. However, in demand generation, the messages are more general and are only aimed at creating general awareness of business services and prospects.

What makes ABM stand out?

1.     Sales-marketing coordination

This most important factor that many businesses are moving to ABM is that in its sales and marketing work more closely. This not only shortens the sales cycle but also improves the number of sales-qualified leads.

 2.     Deep account profiling

ABM is about researching and giving a personalized touch to the business. This is the reason it relies greatly on deep account profiling to identify the key initiatives and challenges. This allows the marketing team to focus on good personalized content.

 3.     A steady mix of campaigns

Next, ABM relies on a mix of campaigns to achieve results rather than focusing on one particular strategy. It includes offline campaigns, high-end direct mail campaigns, calling, and online promotions. ABM is about using the best of all strategies to achieve the results.

 4.     Customized programs

Lastly, the programs implemented under ABM are more specific and customized. For example, there are account-specific events conducted to target a prospect. Outbound sales are critical to the success of ABM, which is why the efforts are personalized to fit in the customer needs.

Demand generation can be understood as a wider term that covers all activities targeting potential customers, which are aimed at making them aware of your brand and services. But it is not just that. It is more strategical than most of us understand it to be. It is backed by data and is designed carefully to target the audience that is more likely to respond to it. Demand generation can be tough sometimes, especially when you are doing everything you can and it is still not working.

This article highlights some common faults that might be keeping your demand generation strategy from giving the desired outcome. Most often, it is not something that you are not doing but it is something that you are not doing right. Further, there are also suggestions that can help you fix what is wrong.

1.     Not measuring the outcomes properly.

It is important for a demand generation company to measure the outcome of your strategies closely and precisely. You might not want to sacrifice quality over quantity. Therefore, there are good chances that people responsible are not measuring the outcomes properly and because of that your overall demand generation is suffering.

Here’s how you can fix that.

–    Track web analytics

Tracking the goals using Google Analytics helps you identify the valuable on-site user behaviors and lets you know which marketing channel has brought the results. Further, with the help of UTM parameters, call tracking, and multi-channel, it becomes clearer.

–    Watch your CRM

The amount of data passed from web analytics to CRM can be one major fault line. The poor data quality or erasure of important data along the process can give you results that are not necessarily true.

2.     Strategies are based on faulty data.

Limited measurement of outcomes results into another fault, which is bad data and further, it affects the strategies too. So, it is one thing to closely watch. It is important to segment the data. For example, if you have left an open text field rather than a drop-down, the amount and variety of data that you will receive will be overwhelming. A disorganized CRM leads to wastage of data. So, with bad data, it is quite possible that by the time you start with your demand generation campaign, the audience is completely new and the data you have becomes obsolete.

Here are a few tips to avoid this mess:

–    Make sure that the data that goes into your CRM is clean.

–    Further, it is important to segment this data and the needs for it.

–    Next, focus on creating and distributing content to these segments.

–    Based on the new CRM data, refine your campaigns once you have done the above steps.

–    Keep repeating these tactics.

 3.     Narrow Influence

Narrow influence of the demand generation techniques can be a big cause of their failure. It has been observed that even the well-targeted tactics are bound to fail when they focus just on the prospects’ benefit. A situation, sometimes, arises when there is a conflict before sales arrive and the marketing has no idea how to solve it. Therefore, it is suggested that the techniques you use have a wider scope and don’t just focus on the prospects.

In the world of late, only those demand generation techniques are successful that are capable of solving the larger issues of prospects and have the capability to expand methodically. Also, once you have started, it is important to watch the whole process closely. Experts emphasize experimentation a lot in order to find out what works for your organization. The breadth of the strategy and the number of campaigns, creatives, and partners should be watched. Another thing to consider is the potential and investment. All of this combined will give you a strong demand generation strategy.