Demand generation marketers are under immense pressure. Being tasked with the job of not just managing, but accelerating the sales funnel, is no mean feat. It’s also incredibly important, as the ability to generate demand at each stage of the buyer journey can have a huge impact on your marketing ROI. which is precisely why so many organizations invest so much of their budget in multi-channel demand generation campaigns. By operating across multiple channels, you increase your visibility within the market and, in turn, help to boost demand—much more so than if you dump all of your assets into one marketing stream.
So, how do you go about creating a fully fleshed-out demand gen campaign? Read on to discover six techniques to foster successful B2B demand generation.
1. Thought Leadership
To some, this might seem like a given. Thought leadership is the backbone of what makes marketing successful. However, it happens somewhat passively. As long as you’re promoting your products and content, your buyers will think about your brand. Thought leadership can be leveled up by creating campaigns centered solely around awareness and buyer education. This is when you’ll see a major shift in predictable ROI, usually creating a lasting positive impact on lead generation and conversion.
2. Content Marketing
To some, content marketing is defined as blogging and blogging alone. While writing blog posts is certainly a must in successful demand generation, it’s only a portion of a holistic content strategy. Instead of thinking about content marketing (or demand creation) as an analytics-oriented strategy, think about it as a conversation you’re looking to have with your customers. What narrative can you push that not only conveys your product’s strengths and uses, but also shows empathy for the prospect’s needs and challenges?
A great way to look at content marketing, from a demand generation perspective, is in five parts:
- Product
- Branding
- Buyer
- Search
- Decision
If your content can address each one of those points, chances are you’ll have created demand around your company’s solutions. You might have a content team to hand, but as a demand gen marketer, you can still help to influence the marketing funnel by ensuring that all of the above aspects are addressed when approving content.
3. Social Media Influencing
A good social media strategy often centers around a “push and pull” tactic of sending customers to your website while also keeping them engaged with your social content and pages. Another aspect of social media, when it comes to demand creation, is the idea of influencing the buyer journey. Most of the time, on social media platforms, you’ll be looking for people to engage with and share your content. Influencing takes it a step further and helps persuade your buyers to take the next steps in their decision-making journey. Content that includes an interactive call-to-action is a great place to start. The goal is to blend this strategy into your regular social media approach so that it feels like a natural progression within your specific narrative.
4. Intent Data
You can never get enough data. But the quality of said data? Well, that’s a different story. And at some point, you’ll likely be tasked with acquiring net new information to expand your database, with little insight into the quality assurance of the data on offer. This is why buyer intent is so valuable. It’s a way to target and acquire contacts from your priority accounts that are in the market to make a purchase. Currently, intent data is offered by a number of marketing vendors, and they all boast the ability to boost your lead conversion rates through the data they provide. It’s good to remember that, just like any other information-gathering process, intent still requires a strong marketing campaign strategy that results in consistent follow-up.
5. Lead Scoring
Evaluating and scoring the leads you generate from your marketing campaigns is crucial to their movement through the funnel. Often looked at as a number- or analytics-based process, lead scoring tactics can also be part of your demand generation strategy. One of the most valuable things you can identify when scoring a lead is the consistency at which each prospect engages with your brand. Taking that information and applying it to your future demand generation campaigns can help you remarket to those leads in a more effective manner. You now know what they like about your brand, it’s just a matter of consistently delivering that same content to them in a new light, eventually resulting in a revenue opportunity.
6. Free Trials
Most modern-day B2B tech companies have bundled their solutions into software that can be utilized across multiple seats for their client. This can be a daunting thought when trying to create marketing campaigns. How can you possibly address and influence all of those potential users without over-extending yourself? Utilizing a free trial or demo for your solutions can help build excitement around what you offer, while gaining buy-in from the bulk of the user-base at that account. It’s a great way to leverage the best parts of your software and let it sell itself. Even though some of the prospects might not be ready to buy just yet, this will help them feel more confident about your solutions and might even provoke further research into that space.
If you’re interested in learning more about our comprehensive approach to building a successful demand generation strategy, as well as our full-funnel marketing solutions, check out our solutions page.
