Best Ways To Use Demand vs Lead Generation? Here’s How!

Lead generation and demand generation are two different but interrelated concepts that you can combine to build a solid digital marketing plan. This article shows you how to do it by helping you to:

• Know the difference between demand and lead generation.
• Figure out the players for collaboration.
• Attract and convert in three steps.

Read below to learn how to develop cost-effective marketing campaigns. Let’s go!

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1. Know the Difference between Demand and Lead Generation

Demand and lead generation might sound alike, but they have specific definitions and purposes. Knowing the differences helps you to determine:

• The right strategies for each.
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) to track.
• Target audience.
• Channels to engage your prospects or leads.

What is demand generation? It prompts brand awareness, engages the audience, and builds trust and relationships. 

This long-term strategy’s one goal is to sustain interest in your products and services so that prospects will consider your business once they are ready to purchase. As prospects remain engaged and their interest builds, they go through the lead-generation process, which focuses on converting your brand-aware audience into potential customers. 

Unlike demand generation, lead generation is a short-term strategy that:

• Take advantage of your market’s huge interest in your brand.
• Efficiently uses your resources by prioritizing sales-ready or qualified leads with the money and the willingness to buy.

    How Do Both Relate to the Sales Funnel?

We have established that demand and lead generation have different meanings and roles but are both essential elements of the sales funnel. The customer journey comprises the following:

• Awareness
• Interest
• Consideration
• Purchase
• Retention

Note, however, that B2B markets usually have a longer buying journey that includes evaluation and proposal after the consideration stage.

Demand generation is applicable at any stage of the sales funnel. It is the most effective and critical at the top stages, which are interest and awareness. Lead generation and management occur starting from consideration to the purchase stages. 

2. Figure Out the Players for Collaboration

One of the essential ingredients of an excellent marketing plan is collaboration. To give demand- and lead-generation strategies the best chances of succeeding, it pays to know who does what. 

Here are the primary players:

• Marketing teams. Marketers, such as content creators, writers, and email specialists, are usually responsible for creating demand. They have many levels of interaction.  
• Sales teams. The sales department handles lead generation and management. They are the ones who build deeper relationships with leads and customers, as well as close deals. They are also responsible for qualifying and scoring leads to determine the ones ready for conversion.
• Executives. These are the managers, finance officers, and other decision-makers in the business. Although they are less likely to do marketing or sales, they are responsible for investing in these efforts to drive revenue growth. 

How do they work together?

• Marketers build awareness and interest through paid and organic content creation and promotion. They might also work with designers and developers to build websites and apps that capture lead information, such as names and email addresses.
• The sales department then collates and manages these leads. They qualify and score them based on certain KPIs and internal metrics. Lead managers might turn over sales-ready leads to closers.
• Both marketers and salespeople continue to nurture prospects to push them deeper into the sales funnel. They also use analytics to track their performance. 
• The executives receive and interpret the data and reports. Based on the information, they are able to make better decisions about the campaigns. They can either continue, improve, or end them. 

3. Attract and Convert in Three Steps

Digital marketing is broad, which allows you to implement many lead or demand generation strategies. However, if you are just starting, focus on these three steps:

     A. Use the Website to Easily Attract and Convert Leads 

Can you run marketing campaigns without a website? Yes, because there are social media and press releases. If you want to get the full benefits of online advertising, however, build one. You need it for:

• Search engine optimization (SEO). The pages you optimize deliver significant exposure for your brand on Google, Bing, and other search engines. While competition is intense online, they also receive millions of traffic daily.
• Paid ads. Your ads need a landing page where your audience can read more information, sign up for your mailing list, or buy products or services.
• Email marketing. A well-designed website captures prospects through lead forms and mailing lists. Your newsletters should also contain your site URLs for further engagement. 

To build a site that drives leads, consider these tips:

• Use simple, clear calls to action. For example, instead of saying, “Click Here,” go for “Download the eBook today,” “Sign up to receive daily updates,” or “Call us for more information.”
• Remove any barriers or friction when signing up. Keep the forms straightforward, such as asking them for their name and email address only. Always give them the chance to opt out. 
• Optimize the site. Follow the web design principles, especially accessibility and usability.

     B. Build Quality Content That Engages the Audience

A well-designed website is only half of the user experience. The other is quality content. Search engines such as Google have outlined the features of a purposeful, user-oriented, SEO-friendly copy. 

Based on these attributes, the most effective types of content for demand and lead generation are:

     C. Identify and Track Your Metrics

You can succeed at demand generation and fail at lead generation and management. However, because they are interrelated, the effectiveness of one partly depends on the other. 

The only way to know if you are getting the desired results for either (or both) is to know your metrics and constantly track them. These include:

Many analytics tools use artificial intelligence (AI) to gather, process, and interpret data in real time. They also generate reports that decision-makers easily understand.

Summing Up

Prospects hardly ever randomly purchase. This action stems from a purpose and need that the prospect has and searching for a benefit. For this reason, your marketing plan should include demand and lead generation. 

Many online tactics help you leverage these two principles, but only someone who knows how to differentiate them can effectively execute these techniques. 

As a leader in brand consulting and conversion optimization, Digital Authority Partners (DAP) can tailor your campaigns to ensure that your business gets maximum exposure, engagement, and revenue. Contact us today to learn more about our strategies.