Demand generation. It’s not an easy task but it comes with effective outcomes if done correctly. There are many channels and strategies you can use which almost makes the task more daunting. Many B2B marketing organizations will be caught up in the huge pool of options and not produce results. There is a lot of time spent on creating valuable and quality content and then ensuring the campaign is performing well. It is the best method for success but it’s not always easy to get the right leads, take the opportunities when they’re available to you, and create satisfied customers.
The rule of thumb with demand generation is to do less but do it properly. So what does that mean exactly? What is the right way?
Offer Something Lucrative for Free
This has been a strategy used for decades. Give your potential clients something free. Something useful that they cannot resist. You may want to step outside the norm on this though. So many companies are using eBooks so it’s not as exciting to receive a freebee anymore. Offer a useful tool that makes your potential customer’s life easier.
The new free stuff people will subscribe for include:
- Tools that are interactive.
- Checklists that help them organize their day.
- Calculators.
- Courses that are education.
- Certification programs.
Re-purposing Content
There is a lot of work that goes into creating content. It takes hours to write, get the facts, create incredible headlines, figure out what your target audience wants to know about, and more. This is why you should go ahead and reuse the content. Make it worth your while and use it for a variety of channels by doing a bit of tweaking to make it fit. This is going to maximize what you get out of your content.
A great example of this is turning a 10,000-word eBook into a few smaller articles for your blog. Perhaps creating a few Facebook posts that summarize various chapters of your eBook. You can of course add some of this information into your monthly newsletters too. You can even make a video out of the concept of articles. Add pictures that coincide with your content and add background music. Post it on Facebook, Instagram, and wherever else you choose.
If you’re creating great content, you might as well reorganize it to work for you repeatedly. This saves you a lot of time and money. It also keeps your brand message consistent.
Offering Social Proof
Your business is going to need to prove itself through social media and other digital methods. A great way to do this is to highlight your customers. You can do this through your content creation. Why does this work? It shows other potential customers that you have a great product or service that people are happy with. A statistic from Demand Gen Report’s seventh Annual B2B Buyers Survey says that 67% of B2B buyers have trust in recommendations from their peers.
Highlight how happy your customers are across all your marketing channels. This is a great method to be used through the whole marketing funnel. It makes you more real and reputable to people who are unaware of your business but have an interest in purchasing from you. Share customer stories and testimonials. You might even want to see about video testimonials or stories; this can have even more impact.
A/B Testing Marketing Emails
If you do demand generation emails but you’re not seeing a benefit to it, you are wasting precious resources. It’s important to do A/B testing on your emails so you know what works and what does not. Email has been found to give you the highest ROI when compared to other marketing channels. Of course this is only the case if you do it right.
There are email-marketing tools that will help you make the most of your emails. When you do split testing (A/B testing), you will start by testing disruptive elements and progress through to the least disruptive.
You’ll want to test elements such as sender, the subject line, preview text, what the messages says, main and supporting images, the design and colors as well as CTAs.
Content on Your Site that is Personalized
If you’ve got people coming to your site or social platforms, you want to ensure all obstacles or friction are removed. Do you have all the right information that they need? Do they have easy access to get that information?
It’s important that you have content, which will help the buyer through the ‘sales funnel.’ Having the right content placed in the right spot can have a major impact. It can make or break a person wanting to buy what you’re selling. If they weren’t sure, they become sure. Alternatively, if they really wanted to buy and content was misplaced, they may leave you for good. It’s important to remember this when you’re creating your website.
Consider what the lead goes through when they’re on your site. Are they getting the content they need and is it in the right order? Your content should be smart and help you accomplish your sales goals. Your website serves a function. It is a store that should be designed to invite people in, give them information, show them value, and make them want to buy. Your content has the power to do this, use it wisely.
Nurture Your Clients
It’s great to generate many leads, having plenty of followers and people who subscribe to you. It’s important that you nurture everyone. Every demand marketer that will excel knows the importance of full-funnel lead nurturing. While you used to do this through emails and SMS, technology allows you to extend out to a variety of channels and mediums.
Getting to know your audience and what they want out of life is an important part of the funnel. When you know what prevents a person from purchasing or not, you can create a message that could turn them around. You can make them see the value in your company and products/services again. This is going to help you gain a higher closing rate per lead. You have to pay close attention to your customers and find out what they need to hear from you. This should be easy as you have your business for longer. It takes a few minutes but brings you closer to a sale every time.
Demand generation is all about highly targeting your audience. You send strategic messages that hit the right heartstrings on the right people. You streamline your marketing efforts so you spend less while maximizing your sales. It isn’t easy to develop but the reward is worth the effort you put into it. If you’re going to spend money for online marketing, you want results. These practices are the most effective means to get those results.