#1 thing to know about Demand Generation in 2021 | Market-ting

#1 thing to know about Demand Generation in 2021

Many people look puzzled when we bring up this subject matter of demand generation. They have heard of lead generation, and even inbound and outbound marketing, but demand generation is an unfamiliar term for many of the potential clients we speak with daily. So let’s start there.

Demand Generation – The keyword is ‘generation’ of course, and that is the production of something new. You are trying to accomplish that with lead generation and inbound and outbound marketing tactics also; however,  To create demand, you will be taking potential clients on a longer educational sales cycle of talking to their pain points and challenges, and then educating them on why they need to know more about YOU as the best-kept secret.

A lot of our clients tell us “isn’t that exactly what lead generation is?” Not exactly, but close, but with lead generation, the prospective client already realizes they have a problem, and they’ve already started searching out solutions to fix that very problem. Again, with Demand Generation, you’ll take a phased approach to educate and provide prospects with rich stories and information on why they have some major conflicts and why you are the solution.

Back to the main point, what is the #1 thing to know about Demand Generation in 2021?  Well, it’s pretty straightforward, content is still king, but it’s not just any old recycled content that everyone is publishing. To break the mold in 2021, and cut through the typical filler copy, you have to create content that is customized to your brand/client persona. Study who the top clients might be, find out specific struggles or challenges they might be having, and create rich, original content through mediums that let you speak from a subject matter expert perspective.  So DON’T do this:  Send out a copy and paste email to prospective clients. Don’t send out general email or email newsletter blasts. Don’t post generalized social media posts that don’t connect with anyone in particular or go beyond the surface level.

DO do this!

 

Create a podcast or go on a podcast to talk about what it is you do, what most of your client personas miss when they don’t have the advice or help of someone like you, and tell the story of why you are the perfect solution to their problem.

Post a use case or case study about particulars that prospective clients need to be aware of, the troubles that some clients potentially have, or how you came up with a solution for issues they maybe didn’t even understand they had (like a really bad logo design, or a website that channeled 1996).

Target your social media When we talk about targeting the social media you post, we mean to know who your client persona is, think about the things they are NOT thinking about currently, and target them with those items. Skillfully you’ll be able to eventually touch them through these mediums through re-marketing efforts that target what they search out while online. Remarketing gives companies subtle hints on what they need to buy, or invest in.

Communicate through video and enhance the awareness of your company by creating SME-focused videos talking about the unseen needs of the industry, what can help set your client personas apart from their competition, and talk about stories of how you have changed the business of others in the industry.

We hope this information has been somewhat helpful for you. This is however just a snippet of demand generation. The full cycle is really a mix of sales and marketing and should be more thought out in a process using the S.M.A.R.T. method.  For those that don’t know this acronym that is Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-Bound. I haven’t spoken about SMART before and think I should go in-depth a little bit more….on my next blog. Stay tuned for that. If you would like to know more about how we help small and medium-sized businesses reach their goals of achieving brand excitement, cohesion, grab client attention, and generate leads in a multitude of ways, let’s talk. What can a bigger SMARTER brand do for you?