In the world of B2B sales, a lot gets said about what demand generation is.Some companies say it is similar to lead generation; others liken it to nurturing. We believe demand generation includes both of these aspects but is also much more.
However, we don’t think it needs to be complicated either. We have therefore condensed what we think demand generation is into four simple steps. Before we get to the steps, let’s quickly go over the three requirements you need to have before you begin.
3 Requirements for B2B Demand Generation:
- Sales content that educates, verifies and finally convinces the customer to transact
- The right technology to track digital consumption and content repurposed and pushed across media types
- A well-trained inside sales team
With these requirements in place, you can now begin the process of demand generation. So, what is demand generation? Here’s our definition:
Demand generation is the group of sales and marketing tactics focused on driving and closing business. These tactics include: sourcing marketing qualified leads, taking marketing qualified leads to sales qualified, nurturing prospects not ready to buy until they are, and supplying the closer with content they need to close.
To execute successful B2B demand generation, here are four simple steps:
- Put prospects in the pipe (using reps, tools, SEO, SEM and social media).
- Profile, qualify and engage your prospects (using marketing automation and CRM platforms).
- Address one sales objection or buyer stage need at a time (through digital content marketing).
- Push content or nurture until business is closed.
If you would like to know more about B2B demand generation, you can check out our demand generation resource page here. Please feel free to contact us with any questions.
