How to Decide Between Demand Generation vs Lead Generation & 8 Methods to Increase Your Marketing ROI

Marketing is a complex and ever-evolving field, with many different strategies and techniques to achieve success within the B2B buying journey.

One of the most important components of any marketing strategy is lead generation, which involves identifying and collecting information from potential customers who have expressed an interest in a product or service. 

However, it’s important to understand that lead generation is just one part of a comprehensive marketing strategy. Demand generation, which focuses on building awareness and interest in a product or service, is equally important for driving growth and revenue. 

In this article, we’ll explore the differences between demand generation vs lead generation, and highlight some of the most effective strategies for each.

Key Points

• Demand generation compliments lead generation. Without one, the other becomes harder.
• Content Marketing, SEO, and other strategies discussed in the article can superpower your demand generation and lead generation efforts.
• There are many parallels between both demand generation and lead generation. It’s just a matter of applying the strategies in a specific way to achieve the desired outcome.

What is the difference between lead vs demand generation?

Lead generation is the process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a product or service. This process involves gathering information about prospective customers, such as their contact details and their level of interest in the product or service. By doing so, we can create a database of leads that can be further nurtured and converted into customers.

Demand generation, on the other hand, is the process of creating awareness and interest in a product or service among potential customers. The goal of demand generation is to generate interest and excitement in the product or service, which can lead to increased demand and ultimately an increase in sales. This can involve various activities, such as content marketing, social media advertising, events, and other forms of marketing and advertising.

It’s important to remember that lead generation and demand generation are both essential components of a successful marketing strategy. By combining these two approaches, we can drive sales and revenue and ultimately achieve our business objectives.

What is a demand generation funnel vs a lead generation funnel?

Advertising is the art of capturing the public’s attention and driving business growth. 

A demand generation funnel, also known as a marketing funnel or a sales funnel, is a visual representation of the buyer’s journey from the awareness stage to the purchase stage. Demand generation is generally a top of funnel marketing effort. It is a powerful tool that can be used to build brand awareness and generate interest in a product or service. To drive business growth, it is important to convert prospects into paying customers. The demand generation funnel is designed to do just that. It typically includes several stages, such as awareness, consideration, and decision, and involves various marketing strategies such as content marketing, social media marketing, and advertising.

On the other hand, a lead generation funnel is focused on collecting contact information (such as email addresses and phone numbers) from potential customers. It is a specific type of marketing funnel that starts with a lead magnet, such as a free e-book or webinar, and then progresses to a landing page where visitors can provide their contact information in exchange for the lead magnet. The goal of a lead generation funnel is to generate leads and build a database of potential customers who have expressed some level of interest in a product or service. Check out this post by Neil Patel on the topic of a lead generation funnel to learn more about this.

To succeed in advertising, it is important to understand that both the demand generation funnel and the lead generation funnel are critical components of a successful marketing strategy. By working together, these funnels can drive business growth and maximize ROI. I urge you to read on to learn more about demand generation funnels and lead generation funnels to learn how you can use them to grow your business.

What are examples of demand generation?

Content Marketing

One of the most effective demand generation strategies is content marketing. By creating informative content that is relevant to your target audience, you can establish your brand as a thought leader in your industry and build trust with potential customers. Valuable content can take many forms, such as blog posts, whitepapers, e-books, videos, and infographics.

Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising is another effective demand generation strategy. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitter offer powerful targeting options that allow businesses to reach their ideal audience. By creating targeted ads that are designed to attract and engage potential customers, businesses can generate interest and drive traffic to their website or landing pages.

SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). By optimizing your website for keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for, you can attract more organic traffic to your website. This can be an effective demand generation plan because people who find your website through search engines are often actively looking for solutions to their problems or needs.

SEO is our superpower at Trailblazer Marketing. Feel free to schedule a complimentary, no-strings-attached strategy call to get a better sense of where you can make improvements in your inbound marketing efforts.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is another effective demand gen strategy. By collecting email addresses from potential customers and sending them targeted and personalized emails, businesses can nurture leads and build relationships with potential customers. Email marketing is particularly effective for businesses that have a long sales cycle because it allows them to stay top-of-mind with potential customers over time.

Our team runs demand generation campaigns for clients on a weekly basis. These demand generation campaigns have been a great investment for our clients due to their massive ROI and quick results. 

Feel free to reach out for guidance on how to improve your email marketing strategy.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a relatively new demand gen strategy that involves partnering with influencers in your industry to promote your product or service. Influencers have large and loyal followings on social media and can be effective at generating interest and driving traffic to your website. By partnering with influencers who have audiences that match your target market, you can leverage their credibility and authority to reach potential customers.

Webinars and Events

Webinars and events are another effective demand gen strategy. By hosting webinars and events that are relevant to your target audience, you can generate interest and engagement in your product or service. These events can be used to provide valuable information, showcase your product or service, and connect with potential customers. Webinars and events are particularly effective for businesses that have the goal of B2B demand generation.

Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is a demand generation strategy that involves encouraging your existing customers to refer their friends and family to your business. By providing incentives and rewards to customers who refer new business to you, you can generate new leads and increase brand awareness. Referral marketing is particularly effective for businesses that have a loyal customer base and provide exceptional customer service.

Conclusion

Implementing effective demand generation strategies such as content marketing, social media advertising, SEO, email marketing, influencer marketing, webinars and events, and referral marketing can help businesses to create interest, awareness, and excitement in their products or services, which can ultimately lead to increased sales and revenue. Always keep in mind that a well-executed demand generation strategy can make a significant difference in a company’s success.

What are examples of lead generation?

Lead generation is the lifeblood of any successful business.

There are many parallels between demand generation and lead generation. Many strategies used in demand generation are valuable for lead generation efforts as well. Though, in lead generation, many best practices in marketing automation B2B can be used to make marketing efforts more efficient.

The practical application of these strategies just differs a bit. Continue reading to learn about innovative strategies to improve your lead generation efforts.

Landing Pages

Landing pages are specific web pages that are designed to capture a visitor’s information through a lead capture form. Landing pages can be used to offer visitors something of value, such as a free e-book or webinar, in exchange for their contact information. The key to an effective landing page is to make the offer clear, compelling, and relevant to the visitor’s needs.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is another effective lead generation strategy. By providing valuable content and offers, businesses can nurture leads and build relationships with potential customers over time. Email marketing is particularly effective for businesses that have a long sales cycle because it allows them to stay top-of-mind with potential customers.

As I mentioned in the past section, our team runs demand generation campaigns for clients on a weekly basis. These demand generation campaigns have been a great investment for our clients due to their massive ROI and quick results. 

Feel free to reach out for guidance on how to improve your email marketing strategy. On the house.

Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising is yet another effective lead generation strategy. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and TikTok offer powerful targeting options that allow businesses to reach their ideal audience. By creating targeted ads that are designed to attract and engage potential customers, businesses can generate interest and drive traffic to their website or landing pages.

Referral Marketing

Referral marketing is a lead generation strategy that involves encouraging your existing customers to refer their friends and family to your business. By providing incentives and rewards to customers who refer new business to you, you can generate new leads and increase brand awareness.

Webinars and Events

Webinars and events are effective lead generation strategies that involve hosting webinars and events that are relevant to your target audience. These events can be used to provide valuable information, showcase your product or service, and connect with potential customers.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is another effective lead generation strategy. By creating valuable and informative content that is designed to attract and engage potential customers, businesses can establish their brand as a thought leader in their industry and build trust with potential customers.

Chatbots

Finally, chatbots are an innovative lead generation strategy that allows businesses to engage with potential customers in real-time. Chatbots can be used to answer common questions, provide product recommendations, and collect contact information from potential customers. The key to this is providing value before asking for something.

Your chatbot can only provide value if it’s able to answer questions that your site users ask.

The current wave of innovation in AI has led to the creation of many innovative AI website chatbot companies, such as SiteGPT (our favorite), Chatbase, MagicChat, and more!

We recommend that you use an AI chatbot tool for your website to improve your conversion rates through your chatbot.

Conclusion

If you want to generate leads, you need to use effective lead generation strategies such as landing pages, email marketing, social media advertising, referral marketing, webinars and events, content marketing, and chatbots. By using these strategies, you can collect contact information from potential customers and build a database of leads that can be nurtured and eventually converted into paying customers.

So, what strategy wins for demand generation vs lead generation?

Marketing is a fascinating discipline, full of nuances and complexities. 

As I explained in this article, demand generation is the process of building interest and excitement around a product or service. Its purpose is to generate demand for a particular offering. The goal of demand generation is to attract a potential customer and build brand awareness. It is not primarily about collecting contact information but rather about creating a positive impression and building excitement.

On the other hand, lead generation is the process of collecting contact information from potential customers who have shown interest in a product or service. The goal of lead generation is to build a database of potential customers that can be nurtured and eventually converted into paying customers.

Both demand generation and lead generation are essential parts of a comprehensive marketing strategy, but they require different strategies and tactics to be effective. To drive revenue and growth, you must strike a balance between creating demand and generating leads.

The Battle Plan

If you need help with building a demand generation and/or lead generation plan and with understanding your B2B buying cycle, consider scheduling a complimentary strategy session with our team of digital marketing trailblazers.

Lead generation and demand generation are both crucial components of a comprehensive marketing strategy. While demand generation focuses on creating interest and awareness in a product or service to attract potential customers and build brand awareness, lead generation aims to collect contact information from potential customers who have expressed interest in a product or service.

Businesses can use a variety of tactics to generate leads, such as landing pages, email marketing, SEO, social media advertising, referral marketing, webinars and events, content marketing, chatbots, and more (get creative and try stuff that others aren’t trying). The key to effective lead generation is to offer something of value to potential customers in exchange for their contact information, such as a free e-book or webinar, and to nurture those leads over time with targeted and personalized communication.

Ultimately, the success of a marketing strategy relies on finding the right balance between demand generation and lead generation tactics and tailoring them to the specific needs and goals of the business.

By understanding the differences between these two approaches and implementing a variety of effective lead generation and demand generation tactics, businesses can build a database of potential customers that can be nurtured and eventually converted into paying customers, driving revenue and growth.