It’s not uncommon to discover a need or problem that didn’t even seem to exist and then seek a solution to it. Have you ever had a similar experience? If so, it’s a sign that you’ve already had contact with demand generation — even if indirectly.
This approach is responsible for awakening an interest in purchasing something you didn’t even know about or knew you needed. The best part is that you have the chance to use this approach in your business, increasing your results!
To make this possible, in this text I bring the main elements about demand generation and how it can boost your company’s Marketing. Check it out!
What is demand generation?
Demand generation is tied to an important piece of information: most of your audience is not ready to buy. If 10% of your market is in the decision-making stage, focusing only on those who are ready means ignoring at least 90% of the rest. Right?
In this scenario, demand generation is a strategy that aims to speak to those who are not yet ready to make a purchase. The idea is to raise awareness of the problem or opportunity, educating this potential customer and creating a relationship.
If everything goes as expected, in the end, he will be aware that he has a problem or need and that your business can help. In an analogy, it is like thinking about picking fruit to sell. Think about it with me:
A plantation may have ripe fruit, which is ready for harvesting (picking).
But perhaps they are not enough to reach sales targets. At this point, the harvest is no longer sufficient to meet the necessary demand. This is the ideal time to plant new seedlings of the same variety.
With the necessary attention, plants will be able to develop and eventually bear fruit. In this analogy, the intention of demand generation is to cultivate and generate interest in your business.
However, after a while, you may have reached the full demand for these fruits in your market. One way to avoid stagnation in your farm is to start growing other varieties.
This way you will generate even more demand through new offers!
Demand generation vs. demand capture
When we think about demand generation, it is essential to understand that there are differences between demand generation and demand capture. The main one is in the approach to the public.
In B2B, demand capture focuses on customers who raise their hands, that is, who demonstrate interest in the product or service.
These are the people or company decision makers who are already aware of the needs , have already evaluated the solutions and are only looking to purchase or hire.
In B2C, acquisition is sales to the consumer.
Demand generation, as you have seen, focuses on leading those who are not yet at this stage to the awareness and interest stages. This involves, for example, teaching about the potential customer’s problem or opportunity, and explaining the differences, demonstrating the company’s purpose, positioning and what is unique about it.
Although they are quite different, these strategies are complementary. After all, capturing demand means transforming the public’s interest into concrete results!
Therefore, the ideal is usually to combine these two strategies, generating interest and then capturing people who are ready to make a decision.
In this way, the company integrates Marketing and sales, boosting results!
Benefits of demand generation
Although it is related to awakening market interest, demand generation does not just involve attracting momentary glances or passing curiosity.
Instead, the focus is on building a sustainable path to relationships and achieving results , since generation helps minimize costs for acquiring new customers, accelerate the sales process by constantly generating interest and, of course, when done well, increase sales.
Increased sales
One of the main reasons for generating demand is that this approach favors increased sales. Instead of waiting for customers, the business starts to proactively attract them, consciously boosting sales.
Furthermore, this is a way to avoid market exhaustion. If you only sell to the part of the public that is ready to buy, eventually there will be no more opportunities.
By generating demand, it is possible to create a continuous flow of new contacts and interested parties. This way, you can increase sales in a sustainable way!
Market expansion
Demand generation is also essential to expand the business market, as it stops depending only on customers who are already interested.
To understand better, let’s think about numbers:
Consider that an average of 7.5% of the market is ready to consume your product or hire your service. Another 30% will never become customers, for various reasons. In total, there is 62.5% of the market that is not properly tapped.
With demand generation, on the other hand, it is possible to work on this 62.5%, awakening people’s genuine interest in the business and its solutions.
And, from there, expand your market presence, as it will be possible to attract the attention of more people and go beyond traditional limits!
Building a solid customer base
It is also worth understanding that generating demand does not just mean seeking better numbers.
It’s all about building lasting relationships —just like planting a seed and nurturing it until it sprouts and grows.
This is because in order to generate demand, you need to educate your prospect. By putting them on a learning journey, it becomes easier to build close, lasting relationships.
Because of these characteristics, customers acquired through this approach are more likely to become brand advocates. In practice, there is more loyalty and even referrals from satisfied customers to other interested parties!
Marketing Strategies to Generate Demand
To generate and boost demand for your business, you can use several Marketing strategies — which attract the public’s attention and help make them increasingly aware of needs and opportunities.
Discover the main strategies:
Inbound Marketing
Inbound Marketing, or Attraction Marketing, is essential for attracting potential customers and educating those who are still in the early stages. To achieve this, the best option is usually to use Content Marketing.
Just as a good conversation can last for hours, relevant content can capture the public’s attention and generate interest. In this sense, it is essential to know the profile of the person of interest very well in order to be able to speak directly to them.
Influencer Marketing
Another strategy to consider is Influencer Marketing, which involves forming strategic partnerships with influencers. This is a way to get your message across to a wider, more engaging audience.
This strategy also allows you to take advantage of the relationship that already exists between the influencer and the audience they are talking to. This makes it easier to spark interest in a new part of the market.
Targeted advertising
While organic engagement has a lot of influence on demand generation, it doesn’t have to be done in isolation. Instead, it’s worth leveraging paid media, such as through targeted advertising.
Through demographic and behavioral data, for example, the company can create campaigns to reach the right audience at the ideal time!
The role of content and mental triggers
As you have seen, Inbound Marketing is essential for generating demand. This is mainly because content plays a decisive role in the success of the strategy.
Through it, it is easier to educate the public and truly capture their attention. Creating relevant and valuable materials, for example, makes the target audience feel benefited.
Depending on your strategy and audience stage, mental triggers can also help. There are several types available, such as scarcity, urgency, and exclusivity triggers. By using them strategically, you can amplify the impact of your content and encourage immediate action!
The use of data and technology in demand generation
Despite all the benefits of demand generation, it is only possible to reap the results with strategic and targeted action. Therefore, data analysis is the true compass that guides this approach!
With the data in hand, it is possible to assess the size of the market and demand, understanding what the brand can achieve in terms of capturing demand and how much interest will need to be generated.
And, from there, outline different cycles for capturing and generating demand. In general, capture cycles are longer. However, it is common to have fewer objections, which saves the sales team time.
But for all of this to really work, it is necessary to rely on data, including to evaluate segmentations of the base and know which customer profile is most difficult to generate demand for.
With the information collected and evaluated, it is possible to make more effective and strategic decisions, increasing the chances of success!
Count on Enjoy Minder to generate (and manage) your demand!
You have just seen that demand generation is essential to boost results. By combining it with demand capture, the business sells more, expands in the market and has more sustainable results!
Therefore, it is worth using the Marketing strategies of a specialized agency related to this approach!
Do you want professional, qualified and experienced help to generate demand for your business? Contact the Enjoy Minder team and find out everything we can do together!
