What is demand generation?

Demand generation is building demand for your offer by helping and educating your market, long before anyone is ready to buy. Instead of only harvesting what is already searching, you create awareness around a problem and position yourself as the logical partner to solve it. That way you build preference, so companies already know and trust you when they do buy.

How does demand generation work?

Demand generation targets the large group that is not actively searching yet, but does have the problem you solve. You make them aware and help them forward, without trying to sell right away. In practice you do that by:

• Sharing valuable insights that genuinely help your market move forward.
• Being visible in the places where your ideal customer hangs out.
• Building trust with content that shows you understand the problem inside out.

That way demand for what you offer grows even before there is a concrete buying question. The full approach is set out in our guide on demand generation.

What is the difference with lead generation?

Demand generation creates demand, lead generation harvests that demand. With lead generation you collect the contact details of people who already show interest. With demand generation you work on the phase before that: you make sure companies recognize the problem and associate you with the solution.

The two reinforce each other. Without demand generation you keep chasing the same small group that happens to be searching now. With demand generation you broaden your market, so more qualified leads enter your funnel. At Customer Impact we work exclusively in B2B and never for a webshop, precisely because B2B buyers often orient themselves for months before getting in touch.

How do you get started with demand generation?

Start with the problem of your ideal customer, not with your own product. People who are not searching yet are not waiting for a sales pitch, but they are open to insight that helps them forward. So share knowledge that provides value, even if it does not immediately lead to an enquiry.

Do not count on quick figures. Demand generation works over the long term and is harder to measure than a direct lead, which makes it tempting to cut. Yet it is exactly this built-up preference that makes your lead generation more efficient. As a small, fast team we link marketing and sales so the demand you build flows smoothly into real conversations. In doing so we steer on customers and revenue, not on vanity metrics like reach or likes.