What is Demand Generation? Breaking Down the 3-Step Process

 

 

 

What is demand generation?

Demand generation, aka “demand gen,” is a catch-all for any activities meant to develop and discover leads with strong purchase intent. These activities include lead generation and brand promotion, the long-term nurturing of leads, and lastly the narrowing-down of the list via qualification. These three steps - lead generation, nurturing, and qualification - are all essential components of a strong demand generation strategy. We'll introduce methods to apply in each step below. 

 

 

Why demand generation is crucial in 2021

Amid the pandemic, old in-person methods of connecting with new customers have become difficult if not impossible. Even before the spread of COVID-19, the buyer’s journey had been rapidly changing as the internet became the main source for finding information. In the past, people would make purchasing decisions based on analog ads and word of mouth advertising, but now consumers’ behavior is shaped by what they view online and the underlying algorithms that control what they’re exposed to.

 

Especially with the oversaturation of products on the market, online consumers often struggle to choose the product best suited to them. To survive in the face of intensifying competition, your brand has to provide an extra “something” that captures the hearts of buyers, in addition to a good price and quality. Demand gen supplies that “something.” Think of it as a shortcut to increasing your sales opportunities!

 

 

3 Steps for Demand Generation

 

1. Lead Generation

The first step, lead generation, is exactly what it sounds like: conducting marketing activities to acquire new leads with a high potential to become paying customers. The goal is generally to collect personal information of new leads so that your sales team can approach them eventually. You can do this online by encouraging conversions - get potential customers to fill out an inquiry form, download resources off your site, subscribe to your email newsletter, register for a webinar, and so on. In terms of offline methods, you could gain lead info by exchanging business cards at an exhibition or seminar. In this section, however, we’re going to focus on methods that can be accomplished without meeting in person.

 

Website Optimization

The first method for lead generation is website optimization. This means to design a clear flow for potential customers to be able to visit and reach conversion by filling out an inquiry form or downloading resources.

 

First of all, since you need potential customers to visit your website(s) (corporate site, owned media, service sites, etc.), you have to increase the web traffic through targeted ads and SEO. Though SEO is thought to be the main method for attracting users to your website, it takes time to grow your rankings and SEO is always changing, so I don’t recommend relying solely on this. Naturally, you can expect faster results with a diverse array of marketing channels - like by adding social media and/or email marketing as well.

 

You should also go back and review the user experience and flow on your current website(s). Double-check that there are multiple clear pathways to conversion. For example, how self-explanatory and quick is it to go from your homepage to the inquiry form? Or to download a whitepaper from your site? You want to eliminate any friction that may be discouraging users from submitting forms. Evaluate the forms themselves- do they have any unnecessary fields? By shortening the length of a form, you can easily increase the CTR (conversion rate) and gain more leads.

 

> Introduction to Whitepaper Writing

> The Complete Guide to Website Content Creation

 

Virtual Trade Shows

Virtual trade shows have been attracting attention as a new method for lead generation in the past few years. Especially since the start of the pandemic, as in-person events are canceled one after another, more companies are electing to participate in the online alternative.

 

Even as vaccines are distributed and we move on from COVID-19, it appears that virtual trade shows are here to stay. For one, they are more cost-effective for the participants since it costs much less to host - and we can expect participation fees to drop as a result. Plus, in physical trade shows, you can only give your pitch to the few that approach your booth, but online, you can speak to tens or hundreds of people at a time, and get more people interested faster.

 

Another great advantage of online events is that you can link viewers to your website, offer a free consultation or a demo of your product and immediately convert a handful of these leads into opportunities.

 

Webinars

Webinars, or online seminars, are another kind of low-cost yet effective way to gather new leads. In a webinar, typically, a member of your team will share their expertise on a subject that is relevant and interesting to viewers.

 

When it comes to webinars, there are a lot of features you can include to make them more engaging. Like you’ll definitely want to use a webinar tool that has text chat, so the audience can send in comments or questions at any time. This lowers the bar for audience participation because they don’t have to interrupt you or show their face. You also don’t need to be limited to one PowerPoint - I recommend you utilize screen sharing for product demos, and the whiteboard feature to draw out what you’re explaining in diagrams, straight onto the screen. When you finish the webinar, link your guests to a survey and give them a chance to ask any questions you didn’t have time to answer. Then you can hit them back with an email and perhaps even turn it into a conversation, and eventually a sales meeting.

 

Finally, make sure to record every event you host online, because the recording can be reused and recycled as a resource for years to come. Especially if it's on an evergreen (timeless) topic.

 

Lead Nurturing

Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with prospects and customers, by offering useful content and having consistent, positive interactions. The majority of leads you come across are not immediately ready to buy. These hot leads are slim pickings, which is why you cannot afford to only approach this group and ignore the colder leads that need a bit more time or convincing to buy. Research by --- in 2018 has shown that in the B2B sector, when a deal falls through and the sales rep fails to follow-up with that prospect, 80% of the time these lost prospects are sold to by a competitor. Thus, it’s crucial to maintain regular contact with all your leads (and even existing customers).

 

Social Media

For some reason, many marketers make the mistake of thinking that they have to be active on every single SNS platform out there. However, if your target demographic is executives above the age of 40, then most likely, they won’t be spending that much time on Tick Tock. You need to establish which platforms are logically the most effective for reaching your target audience and focus your marketing campaigns on those.

 

Next, to use your SNS to attract new leads, you have to regularly publish high-quality, clickable content. You can share blog posts or eBook-type resources - just remember, the point is to direct them to your website and encourage conversions.

 

With that said, you can’t get a conversion from every website visitor on the first try. This is where lead nurturing comes in - by making frequent SNS posts and the sharing of content a habit, you can build positive relationships with your audience and gain more fans of your brand. So even if 80% of your audience isn’t considering your product yet, you’ll be the first company to pop into their minds once they become aware of their needs.

 

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a tried and true method for lead nurturing. And it’s not limited to sending a newsletter from time to time. If you design possible “scenarios,” or patterns of online actions your leads might take, you can use them as a trigger to send automated step emails (a preset series of emails). Step emails can ensure that your leads are always reminded of you and gently push them to consider your business. Alternatively, you could also create segmented emails, in which you personalize content to each specific target segment you’re approaching.

 

> Six Strategies to Improve Your Email Open Rates

 

 

Lead Qualification

Lead qualification is the final step in demand generation. This is the process in which you narrow down your list of leads to the individuals/companies that fit into your target and are most likely to buy.

 

Typically, hot leads can be extracted by visualizing the purchase intent based on the lead’s online behavior. One method for visualizing their actual level of interest is known as “scoring.” In scoring, you attach points to possible user actions, like 1 point for opening an email, 3 points for downloading an eBook, 5 points for inquiring - and once they reach a specified total number of points, they are considered hot.

 

Before qualification, you also need to update your target and be as specific as possible. Define the main industries, company size, demographic, and geographic regions you want to focus on. Basically, you have to picture what sort of person or company is most likely to buy from you with the shortest sales cycle - and that’s the ticket.

 

While this qualification step can technically be done manually, if you’re willing to spend the time, most companies qualify their leads with marketing automation. By setting your target segments ahead of time, a marketing automation tool will automatically alert you when a lead within your target has become active and hot. This ensures that you never miss your timing to approach.

 

Download our eBook on marketing automation basics here!

 

To Wrap Up

Though demand generation takes time, in the long-term, you will be much more successful in making sales if you narrow down your list to the leads with high purchase intent, that are within your target. And time is money, so don’t waste your time trying to convince cold leads who have little to no interest in buying your product. Focus on approaching only the qualified leads that can benefit from what you have to say. Anyways, try demand generation to streamline your sales processes and close sales more efficiently.