You’ve heard it time and time again, in so many meetings, said by so many different members of the leadership team.

“We need more leads!”

Or

“Where did our leads go?”

Or

“How can we get more leads, fast?”

This is classic lead generation talk in a time where lead generation, as it existed before, is being turned on its head. And that is all because of consumers and how, where, and when they now find solutions to their problems.

Before we get into more, let’s talk about what lead generation is.

I know that we have all heard of lead generation, but let’s define what it is and why it’s been a heavy focus for businesses up until now.

Lead generation is using what you know about your audience (which is found in a variety of different ways with a lot of data to back it up) to get said audience into and down through your marketing funnel into the sales process and eventually converting them to a sale. This isn’t a new concept and it’s the way many businesses have operated. Lead generation has changed overtime as digital marketing grows but the strategies behind lead generation remain consistent no matter the medium.

Inbound (people coming to you via social and content, landing pages, email marketing, etc etc etc) and outbound (PPC, cold emailing, sponsorships, etc etc etc) strategies are all bucketed under lead generation as a whole.

It’s been a heavy focus for businesses up until now because for the most part it was reliable, easy to track, and easy to understand ROI.

So where is marketing as an industry going now, if it’s not more into lead generation?

As an industry, marketing is beginning to change the way that it operates and that is due to the customer and the customer journey. Gone are the days where people allowed businesses to brute-force sell them goods and services through things like actually knocking on doors, cold emails and phone calls, mega trade shows with flashy (but message-empty) displays, and gating content and value online in exchange for personal information.

Social media, COVID, social issues, and a change in demographics have all played into the change from a lead generation to a demand generation model in marketing. Consumers (and there are consumers in both B2B and B2C) have a much different customer journey than they ever have before.

The old customer journey went something like this – awareness > consideration > selection > purchase > loyalty, all with a more even movement cadence and predictable outcome.

The new customer journey? It might as well be a funnel with spaghetti noodles moving in, out, and around the funnel. The availability of information has made finding solutions easier, and COVID gave people the time to learn how to do the research they wanted and needed to do before transacting with a business.

How does demand generation satisfy the customer in the new customer journey?

Demand generation works by understanding your audience and the problems your business solves for them, and works to find ways to add value and build trust. Demand generation tactics include things like (free) ebooks, articles, infographics, educational documents, explanations videos, webinars, podcasts, interviews, and more. It uses your content as the vehicle to open the relationship with your audience where and when your audience is looking for solutions to their problems.

All of this works to build a relationship with your audience. People do business with people they like, know, and trust and demand generation finds ways to build that relationship with your audience in ways that add tremendous value. Adding value shows your subject matter expertise as well, so it’s a win-win for you.

So how does demand generation come into play for marketing and marketing strategy in 2023?

The harsh truth is that demand generation is here to stay. If you haven’t been focusing on creating content before now, it’s not too late but you will have to ensure your strategy is lock-tight so you don’t lose any more time and lose out with your audience.

So what can you do right away to ensure you work on creating a strong demand generation strategy, brimming with content that adds value to your audience and creates a strong foundation for your marketing in 2023?

1. Simply talk to your audience and ask them their problems or what they want you to talk about! This is a way to get information fast, and will help you begin to pivot your content toward what people want and need (read: value!) as soon as you can.
2. Focus on making your customer top of mind – and create content by putting yourself in their shoes. What is their problem and how do you solve it?
3. Analyze ways people are already finding you (whether it’s social data, website traffic, or looking into SEO) and double-down in those areas.
4. Revisit your marketing strategy and make sure your personas are correct and up to date. Nothing worse than finding out your marketing efforts are focused on a persona that is no longer applicable.
5. View your competitors and see what they are doing that gets higher engagement, and take inspiration from that. I am not saying rip off their content, but rather use it as a way to “listen in” to what people are saying.

After you use these tips for quick wins, take the time to revisit your marketing and content strategies to ensure they are aligned and working on ways to move toward demand generation as your marketing strategy.

If you need help with Marketing Strategy or Content Strategy development, check out our Amazon book on Marketing Strategies and as a free gift – download our Content Strategy Slide Deck to help you out! If you need more muscle behind your marketing, we’d love to help. Contact us today to learn how we can help you punch above your weight class and knock out your marketing next year.