Straightforward Steps To Effective Demand Generation Funnels

How do you lower acquisition costs and increase customer retention? A Chicago demand-generation agency helps you design the best funnel.

This article covers some of the basic steps the firm performs:

• Define your marketing goals.
• Determine your target audience.
• Create educational content to match their funnel.

Read below if you want to learn more about how to do each! Let’s go!

Are you looking for a full-service digital marketing agency? See the DAP difference below!

1. Define Your Marketing Goals

The objective of any online marketing campaign is income. However, simply saying, “I would like to earn more money,” does not provide the focus and direction needed to develop a successful strategy.

This is especially true with demand generation. Unlike lead generation, this method does not concern itself with making sales outright. Instead, it is a long-term tactic that provides consistent, reliable education to a target audience.

You should pinpoint the element or factor that can bump up or reduce friction in increasing your revenue. For this, you can follow the SMART principles:

For instance, rather than telling your sales department to “boost leads,” make it:

• Specific. Clearly define the objective related to increasing leads. Specify the target audience, the type of leads, or the product/service to focus on. For instance, “Increase qualified B2B leads by 20% for product X within the next quarter.”
• Measurable. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your progress and success. A good example is “Track the number of qualified leads generated through the website’s contact form or lead capture page.”
• Achievable. Given your resources, time frame, and market conditions, ensure the goal is realistic. Evaluate the current lead-generation capabilities. If the website is not optimized for lead capture, improving its functionality and content may be necessary to achieve the desired results.
• Relevant. Align the goals with your overall business objectives and marketing strategies. Consider how increasing leads for a specific product or service will contribute to the company’s growth.
• Time-bound. Set a specific time frame for achieving the goal. This adds a sense of urgency and helps prioritize actions.

2. Determine Your Target Audience

One of the biggest benefits of demand generation is that it helps filter out your massive target market. Only those interested in getting to know your brand and engaging with you go further into the sales funnel.

The problem is that if you do not understand your audience well, you will end up pushing out irrelevant content that will not attract demand.

Take, for example, the B2B and B2C demand generation stages. Contrary to popular belief, their sales cycles are different.

• Completing a B2B digital marketing campaign takes almost a year.
• This is because this market has several decision-makers. This might include a manager, chief financial officer (CFO), IT head, and chief executive officer (CEO).
• Many studies already show that B2B audiences have a better idea about what they want. After all, they usually have the resources and the acumen to know their pain points and challenges.
• As such, they have performed research even before interacting with your brand.
• Overall, their sales funnel includes stages such as evaluation and proposal.

Usually, when businesses want to know their ideal target market, they build a buyer persona. This is not wrong, but you can optimize it using a more data-driven approach and looking at your current customers.

• Who are they?
• How did they find you?
• How do they engage with you?
• What types of content do they read? How long do they stay to read it?
• What do they purchase? How often and how much?
• What is their satisfaction level with your product or service?
• Do they find certain areas lacking?
• What are their demographics? Where do they live, and how much is their average income? Do they have a family, or are they single?

You can get the information by conducting surveys, analyzing customer data from your customer relationship management (CRM) system, or looking into website analytics.

Once you have a clear picture of who your audience is, ask this question: Are these the customers you hope to attract? If not, a Chicago demand-generation firm can help you refine your strategies.

3. Create Educational Content To Match Their Funnel

As mentioned, the primary purpose of demand generation is not to sell but to educate. Doing this empowers the audience to:

• Know what they truly want
• Determine the factors to compare options
• Understand why you are the best choice
• Make the right decisions

Content types come in different formats, though. Which ones should you make? It depends on the funnel.

A typical sales funnel has the following phases:

• Awareness
• Interest
• Intent
• Consideration
• Purchase
• Loyalty

Demand generation usually affects the top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) phases, which are awareness and interest. With these in mind, your possible content types might be:

• Videos
• Long-form blog posts (how-tos, guides, FAQs)
• Infographics
• Press releases
• Webinars and podcasts
• Social media
• Paid ads that link to informative landing pages

The reasons for using them can vary. For instance, you can use long-form blogs to feed your audience with overlooked or new relevant information.

You can then schedule a webinar if they wish to learn more. This is a great avenue to interact with experts, ask questions, and get clear answers.

This webinar will then include a lead-capture link or page. This is where they can provide their name and e-mail address, which you can use to jump-start lead generation and nurturing.

You can also use demand-generation techniques to sustain engagement and interest in the rest of the stages.

Case studies and other white papers, for example, are ideal because they show the real-life application of your product or service. They help decision-makers who are stuck in the intent or consideration part of the funnel. They also support the results of product demos, reviews, and trials to strengthen your credibility.

Summing Up

Demand generation is cost-effective. It can help you acquire new customers, nurture leads, and increase your customer lifetime value (CLV).

However, it can also be complicated. For instance, you must create appropriate content and maintain an effective presence on all customer-facing channels.

Do it right with Digital Authority Partners (DAP). We have decades of experience as a trusted Chicago demand-generation agency. From content creation and management to monitoring, analytics, and optimization, our team can help you create a strategic plan that fits your business goals. Contact us today for more information!