From Start to Finish: The Process of Effective Demand Generation

Generating demand requires more than the occasional TV commercial and billboard. The economy is quickly transitioning away from outdated outbound advertising to inbound marketing through tech conduits. 

Today’s demand generation largely takes place on the internet. Here’s an inside look at demand generation meaning and the best approach to maximizing demand.

Generating Demand the Right Way

Truly effective demand generation programs expand on brand awareness, bolstering company authority by providing thought-provoking content. It is such thoughtful content that catalyzes viewers to take action, ultimately spurring conversions as paid customers. The challenge lies in developing the optimal marketing strategy to heighten awareness and interest.

Successful business owners and marketers are quick to testify that effective demand generation makes their marketing message that much more authoritative. The best approach to demand generation holds significant weight with target prospects, ramping up interest and ensuing revenue. 

The challenge of boosting audience awareness of the brand requires more than merely capturing the attention of prospective customers. The most effective strategies for increasing brand awareness make lasting impressions of the business, creating a rapport that makes customers inclined to return to the source of authority to fulfill their needs or desires. 

As an example, posting positive and authentic reviews of your business to your website or other components of your online footprint provides social proof that the value offering is worth the upfront cost.

Focus on the Content Strategy

The subtleties of the content displayed to an online audience matter a great deal. Carefully optimized content makes the brand appear to be a legitimate authority in the industry and niche. Use content to establish your business as an industry expert and you’ll use that initial rapport as a launching pad to success. 

The best content is informative, providing answers to questions and solutions to concerns that customers commonly pose. Use your content to establish authority and legitimacy, be patient as your credibility builds and your business will be viewed as a trustworthy brand.

Recognize the Value of Partner Marketing

The recent transition from in-person shopping to online shopping during the pandemic has expanded opportunities for businesses to make positive first impressions through digital marketing. Pandemic shopping that is tech-centric has left a lasting imprint on the masses, meaning enterprises that primarily center their attention on digital marketing with the assistance of strategic partners will rake in the revenue.

Consider partnering with another business to help your company connect with a more curated target audience. Such a prescreened audience is invaluable as it has an inherent interest or need for your product or service. The right partner has developed a niche to help zero in on the target internet audience that your business is to target for sales conversion. Third-party businesses will help shine the spotlight on your value offering at the optimal point in time.

Assess Your Demand Marketing With Metrics

Inbound marketing has advanced to the point that it is now possible to assess the success or failure of a marketing effort with the use of metrics. Metrics provide a sense of what components of a demand generation marketing campaign are working the best and those that are failing. Track performance indicators to prevent leads from drifting to the competition and you’ll maximize your customer acquisitions all the more. 

Customer acquisition cost is one of the most insightful demand generation metrics as it quantifies the cost of acquiring a customer. The bottom line is your business needs and deserves to know how much money it is sinking into marketing efforts to land new customers. Keep a close eye on this metric along with other key metrics and you’ll have a clearer understanding as to whether it is better to pivot to new channels, reanalyze your advertising investment spend, or make other changes.

Aside from customer acquisition cost, additional demand generation metrics that are important to businesses include:

• Revenue generation as compared with budget investment
• Customer lifetime value
• Cost per lead
• Average sales cycle length

The revenue generation against budgeted investment metric provides insight into campaign profitability, informing you of how much money was spent on the campaign. The average sales cycle length is the length of time prospects take to move to the bottom of the sales funnel for conversion. 

Customer lifetime value is important as it gauges the money the average customer spends with the business. Cost per lead is similar to the acquisition cost metric yet provides additional information regarding the financial investment made in a lead. 

Keep a watchful eye on these metrics, implement the necessary changes, and your demand generation effort will succeed.