AIMultiple ResearchAIMultiple Research

How to Increase B2B Demand Generation in 2024?

By implementing a successful demand generation strategy, B2B companies can establish themselves as industry leaders, foster better alignment between marketing and sales teams, and drive sustainable growth and revenue. 

According to a study, more than half of the B2B companies favor investing in short-term demand generation rather than long-term brand awareness (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Split between brand awareness and demand generation investments among B2B companies worldwide as of November 2021

Source: Statista

To create demand, companies should follow a set of best practices. In this article, we explain B2B demand generation, its importance and best practices for achieving it.

What is B2B demand generation?

B2B (business-to-business) demand generation is a set of marketing strategies, tactics, and activities aimed at creating awareness, interest, and demand for a company’s products or services among other businesses. 

The main goal of B2B demand generation is to:

  • Identify potential customers
  • Generate high quality leads
  • Nurture those leads
  • Ultimately convert them into paying clients or customers

What are the differences between B2B demand generation and lead generation?

B2B demand generation and lead generation are related concepts in the context of B2B marketing, but they focus on different aspects of the marketing and sales process. Here are the main differences between the two:

1- Scope

  • B2B demand gen is a broader approach, encompassing various strategies and tactics designed to create awareness, interest, and demand for a company’s products or services among other businesses. Demand generation covers the entire marketing and sales funnel, from building brand awareness to nurturing leads and closing deals.
  • Lead generation, on the other hand, is a specific component of demand generation. It focuses on the process of identifying, capturing, and collecting information about potential leads who have expressed interest in a company’s products or services. Lead generation aims to generate a database of prospects that can be nurtured and converted into customers.

2- Objectives

  • The main objective of B2B demand gen is to create a consistent pipeline of high-quality leads by raising awareness, generating interest, and establishing a company’s presence in the market. This can include activities such as content marketing, digital marketing, account-based marketing, and trade shows, among others.
  • In contrast, the primary goal of lead generation is to capture and collect the contact information of potential customers who have shown interest in a company’s products or services. This is usually achieved through tactics such as gated content (e.g., ebooks, whitepapers, webinars), online forms, or event registrations.

3- Focus

  • Demand gen focuses on creating a holistic approach to marketing and sales that aims to engage, nurture, and convert potential customers throughout the entire buyer’s journey. It involves both inbound (e.g., content marketing, SEO) and outbound (e.g., cold calling, direct mail) marketing techniques.
  • Lead generation is more focused on the initial stage of the buyer’s journey, specifically identifying and capturing leads. It is primarily concerned with tactics and strategies that drive prospects to provide their contact information, which can then be used to nurture and convert them into customers.

What are the measurements for B2B demand generation?

There are several key performance indicators (KPIs) and demand generation metrics that businesses can use to evaluate the effectiveness of their B2B demand gen initiatives:

  1. Lead generation: Number of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) and sales-qualified leads (SQLs) generated.
  2. Conversion rates: Visitor-to-lead conversion rate, lead-to-opportunity conversion rate, and opportunity-to-customer conversion rate.
  3. Cost per lead (CPL): Average cost of acquiring a lead.
  4. Customer acquisition cost (CAC): Average cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses.
  5. Lead nurturing metrics: Email open rates, click-through rates, and content engagement.
  6. Pipeline value: Total value of opportunities in the sales pipeline generated by demand generation efforts.
  7. Return on investment (ROI): Comparison of the revenue generated by the demand generation efforts to the costs associated with those efforts.
  8. Sales revenue: Revenue generated from deals that originated from demand generation campaigns.

What are the benefits of B2B demand generation?

1- Increased brand awareness

Demand generation strategies like content marketing, digital marketing, and trade shows help to build brand awareness among target audiences, making it more likely that potential customers will consider your business when they’re ready to buy.

2- High-quality lead generation

By using targeted and personalized marketing tactics, demand generation can help businesses generate a consistent pipeline of high quality leads who are more likely to convert into customers.

3- Shorter sales cycles

Effective demand generation strategies help educate and nurture potential customers, providing them with the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions. This can result in shorter sales cycles, as prospects are better prepared when they engage with the sales team.

4- Improved conversion rates

By focusing on attracting and nurturing the right leads, demand generation efforts can lead to higher conversion rates at different stages of the sales funnel, ultimately resulting in more customers.

5- Enhanced customer relationships

Demand generation strategies, such as account-based marketing and lead nurturing, help businesses build and maintain strong relationships with their customers. This can lead to improved customer retention, loyalty, and advocacy.

What are the best practices for a successful B2B demand generation strategy?

1- Define clear goals and objectives. 

Start by setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your demand generation efforts. This will help you align your marketing and sales teams and ensure that your demand gen strategy is focused on achieving meaningful outcomes.

2- Understand your target audience. 

Research and develop detailed buyer personas by outlining: 

  • The demographics
  • Job roles
  • Pain points and needs of your ideal customers 

This will help you create targeted messaging and content that resonates with your audience.

3- Develop a content marketing plan.

Create a comprehensive demand generation marketing strategy focusing on content marketing that addresses the needs and challenges of your target audience at each stage of the buyer’s journey. This can include blog posts, whitepapers, ebooks, webinars, and case studies, among other formats.

Check our article for content marketing challenges and how to overcome them.

4- Optimize your website and landing pages.

Ensure your website and landing pages are user-friendly, visually appealing, and optimized for search engines. Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide visitors to take the desired action, such as downloading gated content or filling out a contact form.

5- Leverage multiple marketing channels.

Utilize a mix of inbound and outbound marketing tactics, such as SEO, PPC advertising, social media, email marketing, and events, to reach and engage your target audience effectively. 

The graph below shows the impact of diverse marketing channels and strategies leading to top-of-the-funnel demand generation (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Most effective top-of-the-funnel demand generation tactics according to B2B marketers as of March 2022

Source: Statista

6- Implement account-based marketing (ABM).

Focus on high-value accounts with personalized content and messaging to drive better engagement and conversion rates. This targeted approach can yield higher ROI compared to broad-based marketing efforts.

7- Nurture leads effectively.

Develop lead nurturing campaigns that provide relevant and valuable content to your prospects at different stages of the buyer’s journey. This will help build trust, establish your brand as a thought leader, and guide leads toward conversion.

8- Align marketing and sales teams.

Foster collaboration between marketing and sales teams to ensure a smooth handoff of leads and better conversion rates. Share insights, establish common goals, and create a process for regular communication between the two teams.

9- Measure and analyze results.

Track key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of your demand generation efforts. Regularly analyze the data and adjust your strategy as needed to optimize performance and drive better results.

10- Test and optimize.

Continuously test different aspects of your demand generation campaigns, such as email subject lines, CTAs, and ad copy, to determine what works best for your audience. Use the insights gained from testing to optimize your efforts and improve performance.

If you have questions or need help in finding vendors, we can help:

Find the Right Vendors
Access Cem's 2 decades of B2B tech experience as a tech consultant, enterprise leader, startup entrepreneur & industry analyst. Leverage insights informing top Fortune 500 every month.
Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
Follow on

Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

To stay up-to-date on B2B tech & accelerate your enterprise:

Follow on

Next to Read

Comments

Your email address will not be published. All fields are required.

0 Comments