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Demand Generation

Growth

Demand Generation vs Lead Generation: What's the Difference?

Written by
Matter Made

It's normal to ask if there is a difference between demand generation vs. lead generation. On the surface, they sound like two sides of the same coin—like calling your pipeline the Buyer's Journey vs. a Sales Funnel.

But demand gen and lead gen are different concepts.

Understanding that difference transforms the effectiveness of B2B SaaS marketing strategies. It re-focuses your efforts on what matters at the end of the day—the quality of the lead.

At the same time, you'll avoid wasting your limited time, resources, and talent on leads who will never—I repeat "never"—become paying customers.

When you're finished here, you'll know the difference and how/when to use both to get more out of your SaaS marketing.

Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation: The Definition

Demand Generation is the act of deploying marketing campaigns to create demand for a product or service. It uses data to determine when, where, and how to accomplish this effectively.

Lead Generation is the act of leveraging marketing to collect contact information from people who may be interested in your product or service now or in the future.

The Purpose

With demand generation, you create buzz. Get the right people excited and talking about a problem your SaaS fixes. You want them to want you and see you as the solution to their business problems. As demand progresses, you become the missing link to meeting their goals, something they can't do without.

While demand gen does generate leads through landing pages, its purpose is to play the long game. You want awareness and positioning that can only happen over time.

By doing so, demand generation expands your reach and becomes a magnet for your ideal customers.

Lead generation, on the other hand, focuses on capturing identifying information, like an email. This allows you to personalize and continually improve the effectiveness of your nurturing.

Through it, you achieve a higher and faster MQL-to-SQL and Lead-to-Close Ratio in the shorter term. You increase your ability to deliver the most relevant marketing messages and content.

Additionally, that data reveals the precise moment a lead meets qualified lead criteria. This makes it possible to time the hand-off to sales and Speed the Lead expertly.

In the long term, you're gathering both quantitative and qualitative data. This helps you understand which leads are worth your time and energy. What are the signs that a lead is ripe for a conversation with sales?

Now, take this information back to the demand generation side. Through it, you improve your demand generation targeting precision.

And it comes full circle.

You have a clearer understanding of who to target. As a result, you generate demand from the right people, refining your top-of-funnel.

In doing so, you generate higher quality leads. And the cycle begins again, leading to exponential outcomes.

So it's no wonder 78% of marketers say they plan to commit a higher percentage of the marketing budget to demand gen, or at least keep it the same. While the top priority is generating leads, they recognize demand gen is critical to meeting that KPI.

Timing

Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation isn't an either/or proposition. You need both to grow your company effectively, but timing matters.

You have to create the buzz first. Any lead generation efforts will trickle if you're not implementing strategies to generate that demand first.

You can break this timing down into three stages of awareness:

  • Stage 1. Non-aware. They don't even know they have a problem. Top-of-funnel (ToF)
  • Stage 2. Problem-aware. They know about the problem but not how to fix it. Middle-of-funnel (MoF)
  • Stage 3. Solution aware. They know solutions exist but aren't sure which is right for them. Bottom-of-funnel (BoF)

This all comes down to the right message, the right time. One way to achieve this timing is through educational content.

This serves two primary purposes.

  1. It generates awareness. Of the problem, then the solution.
  2. It builds authority. Why should people listen to you in the first place? Content builds your authority and expertise. At the end of the day, they have a reason to choose your brand over another.

You'll focus on creating demand by ensuring the right people see the right content at the right time. To this end, specific content formats work well at each stage.

  • Stage 1. Non-aware. Make it easy and "low-risk" to start learning about their problem. Become present where they are but don't push them. Use long-form guides, blog posts, etc.
  • Stage 2. Problem-aware. Get them to take action toward learning more in-depth information. At the same time, you build trust and authority. Offer white papers, eBooks.
  • Stage 3. Solution aware. Help them finalize their decision. Share case studies, free trials, and demos.

Timing matters. Throwing problem-aware and solution-aware content at non-aware people will bounce right off. Sadly, a lot of B2B companies are doing just that.

Only 2% of B2B companies create non-aware content at ToF. This represents a tremendous opportunity for those who do.

At any given time, many more people don't know they have a problem.

Creating Demand

The gurus can argue all day long about whether demand is created or products merely fill a void already there. Both are true to some extent.

The problem exists. It's real, and it's impactful.

But with so many moving pieces in the typical business, it's not always easy for your future customers to name it, let alone find a fix.

If people aren't talking about the problem, few are aware of how impactful it is. They don't know others share the same frustrations. So it doesn't cross their minds that there could be a better way.

You need to create that buzz. That's where demand comes from.

By doing so, you start a chain reaction.

More leads. Better leads. More Leads. Better leads. Higher and higher revenues. Exponential growth.

Time to Create that Demand

It's all about timing. It's time to take your business to its next growth stage—generate demand, so high-quality leads come to you.

Curious about the power of demand gen? See how Dropbox increased targeting engagement by 6.5X.

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Coming up next:

Blog Post

Demand Generation

The Best Demand Gen Strategies and How to Implement Them

5
min read
min watch

There are many effective demand gen strategies. But knowing which works best for B2B SaaS or your individual business isn't always straightforward.

In this blog post, we will explore the best demand generation strategies for B2B SaaS. We'll look at how to use them to meet your goals and how they'll inform your current or future marketing strategy.

What Are 9 Key Strategies for Demand Generation?

Before I talk strategy, I want to get one concept out in the open. We're going to look at 9 effective demand gen strategies that are very effective for B2B SaaS looking to grow their companies.

But I'm not suggesting you use one of these and run with it. These strategies are interconnected. Implementing each of these together amplifies your demand generation to not only generate more revenues.

And you can do it time- and cost-effectively to generate the positive cash flow you'll need to grow.

1. Define Your Audience for Better Targeting

Create data-backed buyer personas that represent your ideal customer. Use this demand gen tool to connect more efficiently with targeted messaging within these other demand generation strategies.

2. Focus on Full Funnel

Buyers go through three distinct stages of a buyer's journey.

  • Non-aware. They don't know they have a problem or how much it's impacting their productivity, business goals, customer relationships, etc.
  • You have the answer to this problem, but they don't know they have a problem yet.
  • To generate demand, research, plan, create, and publish content to expand awareness of the problem.
  • Use it to guide them into the next stage and capture the lead (email list, etc.) to improve your ability to nurture.
  • Problem-aware. They now know they have a problem. They want to learn everything they can about possible solutions.
  • Engage them with content that helps them explore the solutions.
  • Focus on benefits, not specific SaaS features, which will seem overwhelming right now.
  • Solution-aware. They now need to define and refine the solutions that will work best for them.
  • Allow them to experience the solution with a demo or free trial.

Map out the buyer's journey within your company to enhance the timing and relevance of your messages.

3. Be Omnichannel

According to McKinsey, 94% of survey marketing leader respondents said the move toward a more omnichannel experience has been good for businesses and customers. B2B customers regularly interact with brands across at least 10 channels.

These include various channels:

  • Organic social media and search
  • Paid social media and search
  • Influencers
  • Display ads on Google and Facebook partner websites
  • Remarketing
  • Email
  • Website
  • Apps

To implement an effective omnichannel experience, you must be consistent, targeted, and resourceful. This allows you to work within time and money constraints.

For example, deploying effective analytics, A/B testing, a robust content management system, and automation allows you to streamline content creation and related processes. Eliminate duplicate efforts to maximize ROI.

4. Build a Relationship

Demand generation gets much easier when B2B SaaS companies focus on solving real-world problems. You build authority, industry relevance, and a following of loyal fans/customers.

This becomes a magnetic force that amplifies demand generation.

To build a relationship, listen to your customers and prospects. Build your content messages around their needs, goals, and preferences.

Showcase your willingness to solve B2B problems and how others use your SaaS to meet their goals.

5. Publish High-Quality Content

High-quality content is the substance that turns "strategy" into tangible business results. Use it to communicate thought leadership, authority, relevance, and your unique value proposition (UVP).

Guide and influence by presenting the right kind of content at the right stage of the buyer's journey.

For example,

  1. Someone is not aware they have a problem. Social media posts, blog posts, and videos can help them learn about their problem.
  2. Guide them to the solutions. Leverage valuable content to capture demand through email list sign-up. Checklist, Guide, etc.
  3. Send them solution-focused content via email to nurture that interest into making a decision. Case studies Vs. Content, etc.
  4. Offer them a demo or free trial so they can experience the solution.
  5. Assign the lead to a sales rep. Follow-up with a Sales email sequence (email automation) that includes sales enablement content.
  6. Support and re-engage them to increase retention and CLV through retargeting, social media, email, customer support

6. Streamline Workflows with Automation

Identify repetitive and time-sensitive tasks. Use automation to enhance workflow and improve results.

For example, lead scoring automation tracks a lead's behaviors. It identifies when the MQL becomes a SQL. It can then assign that person to a sales rep to begin email sequences and sales outreach.

This is known as Speed the Lead.

According to Oracle research, lead quality increases by 80% when companies employ automation. And this is just one pivotal moment you can use it to enhance results.

7. Unify Marketing, Sales & Service

A unified marketing, sales & service team communicates one message and accomplishes perfectly timed hand-offs. Achieve consistently delightful customer experiences. People want to share these experiences online.

This sharing feeds the top of funnel. It generates more demand.

8. Target Key Accounts

Key accounts:

  • Are high ROI and CLV
  • Help you generate buzz and demand
  • Show that your SaaS works
  • Give you valuable feedback that helps you improve your product

They've also been working with you for a while, and it may be a name people know. Even better!

Identify key accounts to acquire and retain. While you never want to be too reliant on one account, these are critical for Demand Gen and growth.

9. Optimize with A/B Testing, Tracking, and Analytics

Track, test, and analyze to improve how you apply these strategies continually. Invest in tools to correctly attribute revenues across the buyer's journey—not just the last touch.

Track ROI of your various strategies, channels, and companies to determine which ones you should increase to grow.

This not only improves their effectiveness. It cuts costs to increase ROI.

How to Build a Successful Demand Gen Campaign?

Leverage these strategies to provide real value to customers. This builds credibility that attracts the right people and guides them through the buyer's journey.

Want to know more about how to implement demand gen for your B2B SaaS company? See how Dropbox increased targeted engagement by 6.5X.

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