No, it’s not the crop of babies who will be born after Gen Z.
In marketing, “demand gen” is another way of thinking about your “lead gen” (or lead generation) activities.
Some marketers think that traditional lead generation strategies are just a little too passive. They often rely on your qualified leads finding you and giving you the information that you need in order to identify them, follow up with them, and convert them.
Other marketers think that traditional lead generation strategies are just a little stale. Current consumers are too savvy to give up their email address without knowing how and why you’ll use that information. They need to see a lot of value up-front before volunteering any personal data.
And then, plenty of marketers have no problem with traditional lead gen strategies; however, it’s always nice to mix up the standard playbook with some new and exciting moves.
That’s where “demand gen” comes in. This theory encourages marketers to back up and think of the old “supply and demand” routine we learned about in Econ 101.
If we can front-load our strategy in such a way that we’re increasing demand for our products, services, or brand—instead of just trying to bring as many people as possible to our website.
The result of those efforts is that we’re starting from a pool of qualified leads. This can save time with figuring out how to convince people to give you their information or following up with people who aren’t ready to commit. The eagerness and willingness will already be there, because that work has come first, not second.
So how do you introduce this method into your current practices?
You focus on promoting:
- Brand awareness
- Educational pieces
- Instructional content
- Relationship growth
Your marketing efforts should familiarize people with your brand and show them why they might need or want your products and services. It’s not a hard sell, and it’s not trying to get them to commit to an action—even sharing their information—right away.
Lead generation can be part of your efforts, in tandem, for when cultivated, qualified leads feel ready to commit. Or you can stick with your demand gen strategy until the knowledge and interest grows to the point where the individual organically takes the next step to reach out.
If you’re interested in learning which demand gen model might work best for your business, you reach out to us anytime.