Demand Generation & Inbound Marketing
Technology penetration has played an instrumental role in shaping business models, and the daily activities of life. To meet business, market and industry needs in the 21st century, and to be able to advertise your offerings to your target market, technology must be involved in various aspects of business. According to a study by Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, fewer than 0.3% of cold calls by experienced sales executives resulted in a meeting (Dale Lampertz, 2012). This means that, to generate demand quickly, we must consider online marketing.
From strategists and analysts, to designers and developers, there are a lot of opportunities that embracing digital marketing can play in the growth of your start up, or your established brand. One of these opportunities is increasing the amount demand for your services or products, and the other is decreasing the conversion time. By embedding inbound marketing within demand generation programmes, businesses can engage prospects more quickly, reach a wider, yet targeted audience and ensure the right prospects are passed over to their sales teams.
The Demand Generation Landscape
In the last decade, we’ve seen social media and the development of media technology change the demand generation landscape. Gone are the days of broadcasting one message to a huge audience, hoping to generate some sort of demand for your services. Marketers can now personalise and micro target their demand generation strategies like never before. By aligning your content and messaging with your customers’ interests, you naturally attract audiences, connect with stakeholders, and build a culture around your brand (HubSpot, What is Demand Generation?).
How to Know What your Prospects are Interested In
Demand generation is a process of establishing trust between your brand and your prospects. This certainly shouldn’t be rushed, but to reduce the amount of time required to establish this trust, lead generation activities within demand generation programmes should be developed to acquire user information.
A lot of online marketing practices are designed to capture user data and analyse user behaviour. Even just by using Google to browse the internet, cookies are used capture user activity. This data, combined with data captured through specific lead generation campaigns, and the insights that social media platforms provide, means that most forms of digital touchpoints can add value to your business by providing accurate metrics. Some platforms even tell you when prospects are online and therefore when they are attentive to listen to a business’ deals, giveaways or insights. This means you are more likely able to connect with prospects that represent meaningful opportunities.
Types of Content that Should be Utilised in Demand Generation Strategies
Your demand generation strategy should be focused around increasing brand awareness. This means you should be creating content that educates your users and in turn, sparks interest in your brand (LeadBoxer). The content produced should be free, and should be published in the forms listed below:
- Resource pages
- Blogs or articles
- Infographics
- YouTube videos
- Press releases
- Slideshares and guides
- Podcasts and interviews
- Social Meida posts
- Case studies
The Importance of Search Engine Optimisation
If you are publishing your demand generation content on your website, it’s important not to forget search engine optimisation (SEO). There are several aspects and considerations in SEO, but one of the most important areas of focus should be on site SEO. If your website, or platform, is not SEO optimised, our built around the needs of your users, then the content within won’t be shown in Google’s SERP.
Final Thoughts
Inbound marketing is a pivotal facet of demand generation that is needed to secure, not only a high quantity of leads, but also high-quality leads (HubSpot, What is Demand Generation?). Online marketing provides insight into your target audience’s needs , and knowing this means you can create corresponding content that engages and resonates with them. This tailored content, which is targeted to the refined persona of your audience, will lead to increased conversion rates, and a decrease in wasted marketing efforts.
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by Listencat
