Demand Generation
Demand Generation is A marketing strategy focused on creating awareness and interest in a product to build qualified pipeline, encompassing inbound content, outbound campaigns, events, ABM, and paid media.
Demand generation is the engine that feeds the pipeline. Unlike lead generation (which focuses on capturing existing intent), demand gen creates the awareness, education, and urgency that makes prospects want to buy in the first place. It's the long game that makes every other revenue motion more effective.
Demand Gen vs Lead Gen
This distinction matters because it changes how you measure success:
- Lead gen: Gate everything behind a form. Measure MQLs. Optimize for volume. Quick wins, but leads are often low-intent.
- Demand gen: Create ungated value. Build brand affinity. Measure pipeline influence and revenue impact. Slower but compounds over time.
Demand Gen Channels
- Content marketing: Blog posts, podcasts, reports, newsletters that establish expertise and attract the right audience
- Events: Webinars, conferences, dinners. High cost per lead but high intent and relationship value.
- Paid media: LinkedIn ads, Google search, programmatic display. Scalable but expensive, especially in B2B.
- ABM campaigns: Targeted account-level campaigns that combine multiple channels. See ABM.
- Outbound: SDR sequences, cold calling. Some teams consider this demand gen; purists don't.
Marketing Ops builds the infrastructure demand gen runs on. RevOps connects demand gen activity to pipeline and revenue outcomes, closing the loop that tells marketing which programs actually work. For lead qualification, see MQL.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between demand generation and lead generation?
Lead gen captures existing demand by gating content behind forms to collect contact info. Demand gen creates new demand through education, awareness, and brand building. Modern B2B marketing needs both, but companies that only do lead gen eventually run out of in-market buyers to capture.
How do you measure demand generation?
Pipeline sourced and influenced by demand gen programs, not just MQL volume. Track pipeline contribution by channel, cost per opportunity (not just cost per lead), and revenue attributed to demand gen campaigns. The shift from lead metrics to pipeline metrics is what separates strategic demand gen from spray-and-pray marketing.
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