If you are conversant with digital marketing, then you should be familiar with some of its terms. Out of the marketing terms we are exposed to, the words “lead generation” and “demand generation” should ring a bell. Many sales and marketing personnel commonly use the terms interchangeably, which is not a surprise because anyone can easily mix the words up. In this article, we will define “lead” and “demand” generation, their differences and give examples of both of them.
What is Demand Generation?
Demand generation is the set of marketing activities you carry out to generate brand awareness for your product or service. The aim is to build interest, trust, and hopefully future customers within a targeted audience. Digital Demand Generation, for instance, is the first step of a sales funnel, which is the gateway to other activities down the funnel.
Steps to Take to Start Demand Generating
Before you create those demand-generating materials to attract visitors to your landing page or website, you must consider the target audience and the type of content you are putting out there. We will discuss identifying your target audience and inspecting your content in this section:
- Buyer Persona
Before casting your net into the sea, called the internet, carry out your due diligence on which kind of fish (people) you want to attract. This step is very crucial because it lets you understand who your ideal buyer would be. One way to start is by identifying what pain point your service or product tackles?
Is it a gender-specific one, or applies to all genders? Is it designed for a particular class of people or most of the public? A niche product or an everyday product? Some of these questions can help you build the ideal customers.
With the help of surveys and existing data, you can pinpoint these people to their gender, age, income, relationship status, and education. The more data you have, the more confident you are in yourself that you will attract a good amount of them to your site.
- Content Inspection
You should heavily inspect the current materials and the ones you will create before launching them as demand generators. The contents are not to be gated content but free and valuable.
The contents should touch the pain point of the visitors and give them relief after reading or listening to it. You should also make sure you are not giving out all you know or all the service you can provide, but enough to bring about awareness and curiosity about your brand.
Common Examples of Demand Generation
In creating digital demand generators, utilize various social platforms and not just one. What this does is it opens you to reach more people who are not on other platforms. One good way to do this is to rank the social channels your target audience uses often and go for those first.
As time goes on and you get your footing in the industry (if a newbie) or expand well, you can concentrate on other channels. Now that we have cleared that, let’s look at some examples of demand generators:
- Guest Post or Guest Appearance on Podcast
Utilizing an established platform in the same niche or industry as yours is an excellent way to start. Using this platform exposes you to the audience of that website or podcast. And if you leave a convincing or worthwhile impression, then you may find some of those audiences visiting your website.
- Advertising on Industry Media channels
Like the first, this means the blog or podcast, or video will call out the name of your product or service you offer to bring about awareness.
- Giving Out Free Resources
Access to free resources that help create curiosity in the visitors by partially meeting their needs can be a powerful tool. Some good examples can be a mortgage calculator on the homepage, a free ebook that shows you how to check for a simple leak and fix it, or maybe a free trial.
(Note that some of these free resources will ask for details after use. That’s the way to convert a visitor to a lead. If the resources ask for your details before you can use them, that’s not a free resource anymore but a gated resource. We will discuss this later in the article.)
- Create a Post Interviewing Experts in the Industry
Getting expert quotes or interviewing experts helps to improve your authority in that industry. If the experts share the article or podcast on their platforms, it will bring about brand awareness and improvement in industry trust of your brand.
What is Lead Generation?
Lead generation is changing prospects into qualified leads who eventually buy the product or service. Lead creation is the natural next step after the demand generation. The purpose is to categorize, nurture and entice prospects into becoming leads before passing them off to the sales team.
Source: terakeet.com
Common Examples of Lead Generation
Unlike demand generation, lead generation online caters to those who already show interest in the brand. So the resources used in lead generation are primarily to get contact information or any form of info on the new prospects. Some examples are:
- Ebooks/White Papers or Reports
Having gated copies of these materials is a lead generator. Gated materials are resources you need to put down your details to access. A quick example, if you want to download an ebook and the site asks for your email address and name. Gated resources of any kind need you to part with some details to access them.
- Content Upgrade
Some websites will have you read an article, and when you get to a particular stage, they ask for your details. It’s fondly called content upgrade, and it’s available to those willing to part with their names and email. Sometimes this site also asks for a tiny amount of money to register.
They can also come as an additional feature. Some sites allow you to read about 30-40 percent of a report or white paper for free online but may ask for more details or for you to register to download the entire document or white paper.
- Email Marketing for Leads
This method is one most of us know. Immediately you register with a blog or service provider. Expect emails to come your way. Various studies have shown that email marketing is very effective, and that’s why they remain popular.
- Webinars
Webinars are also another lead generator. They require you to sign on for added information about a product or service.
SignalHire and Lead Generation
As for SignalHire, the site can help with lead generation if looking to recruit or do business with other companies online. The filter feature has set it apart in collecting leads who can become paying customers or new employees. SignalHire search feature is comprehensive, allowing you to search by title, skills, location, or job position.
Below is a step-by-step guide on using the search filter on the website and the chrome extension.
- Step 1: Go to SignalHire.com and register with your business email (it’s free)
- Step 2: After registering, you will receive five connects, which you can use to search for people online.
- Step 3: Sign in, and the site will take you to your homepage. On the left-hand side, you will see a search metric. On it, you have “Location,” “Title,” “Keywords,” “Fullname,” “Manage Profiles,” and “Advanced search.”
Source: SignalHire
- Step 4: Start your search by putting one or multiple locations. Use a title already in the system or choose the “Title Boolean Search” and create a string of titles. Keywords can be a list of skillsets you want to search for or words you want in the person’s resume. An example is if you are looking for keyword marketing. You will have a list of jobs with the marketing tag on them.
Source: SignalHire
Using the numerous filters can help you narrow down your leads to your target audience.
Final Word
In conclusion, there is a difference between lead generation and demand generation. While demand generation brings in the visitors by creating buzz and awareness, lead generation turns the visitors through nurturing into qualified leads. Both are crucial aspects of marketing and should be understood to get the best from them.
Image source: pixabay.com
