Understanding and utilizing Demand Generation can be a great strategy that you can use to generate interest in your product or services. Demand Generation is a mix of sales and marketing tactics and initiatives that are meant to help you develop and nurture long term relationships with customers and also create new opportunities for your small business. This strategy may seem similar to other well known marketing tactics like Lead Generation and Inbound Marketing, however, there is a clear difference between them. Essentially, these two other methods fall under Demand Generation and are ultimately a method for carrying it out. Lead Generation is a strategy that initiates consumer interest into your products or services through the development and use of “leads”, while Inbound Marketing is a tactic that is meant to draw potential customers into your business, rather than pushing it onto them. Both of these methods fall under Demand Generation and are among the many different strategies that can help make it successful for your business.

Even though Demand Generation is an excellent strategy to help your small business generate interest and develop a strong customer base, there are challenges associated with it that, without proper consideration, can lead to your business missing the mark. Here are some of the main challenges you should look out for and consider when using Demand Generation in your business:

1. Potential customers are not visiting your website – In order for your business to generate sales, people need to be able to learn about your company and its products or services. If potential customers can’t find or aren’t aware of your website, Demand Generation isn’t possible because they aren’t aware of your business or its offerings. This means you must utilize an effective blogging strategy, SEO strategy, and social media strategy if you are going to get visitors to your website.
2. You don’t “get” your audience – One of the major components of Demand Generation is understanding and targeting the correct clients that fit into your business and what it offers. Understanding who you should be targeting is essential to developing lasting relationships with customers in order to generate sales. If you are targeting the wrong people, it will be very difficult for you to achieve this major aspect of Demand Generation.
3. Your website lacks conversion opportunities (“lead magnets”)– Even if your website is easily accessible to potential visitors and has great content, if there aren’t any ways for customers to share personal information with you in exchange for the service or product you offer, you won’t be able to connect and eventually do business with them. Having these conversion opportunities placed throughout your website will give visitors the opportunity to provide their personal information if they are interested in your business.
4. The leads you are creating are not becoming customers – Leads are a major part of Demand Generation. If the leads your company is generating aren’t turning into customers, it can be a major problem. Actively coordinating between your sales and marketing teams, along with giving customers ways to engage with you business is needed for them to become customers.
5. You aren’t retaining customers – Even if you are getting new customers to your business, Demand Generation also includes marketing to your already existing customers to ensure they continue using your business. Once you win over a new customer, if you don’t continue to focus on them, you are risking losing their return business.
6. Your business can’t track data and measurements – Demand Generation is only successful if you can accurately track and measure the data you are receiving from your customers. You will be employing different strategies throughout your campaign, so if you can’t effectively track which ones are working and which ones are not, it can hurt your overall performance. To overcome this, define the most important types of data you will be tracking and prioritize them before you even begin. These data measures should be the ones that have the highest impact on your businesses performance.

Understanding and navigating through these challenges will help to ensure your business is successful when using Demand Generation. If you can avoid making the above mistakes, Demand Generation has the potential to have a positive effect on the overall performance of your business by driving in new customers and allowing you to develop lasting and meaningful relationships with ones you already have. The unique approach that Demand Generation offers enables your business to reach the right audience and allows them to easily access what your business has to offer.

If you need any help creating and implementing a Demand Generation strategy, we’re happy to help – just send us an email!

Danielle Foley, Owner
Foley Marketing Advisors
dfoley@foleymarketingadvisors.com