Free means worthless? The opposite is true: good free content, built into the right strategy, can generate revenue in the long run. The key term is demand generation. Here you will learn what demand generation is as a process and a strategy, and how to use it successfully for your company.
A good explainer video, interesting studies to download, a useful tool, an engaging webinar: who is not pleased to come across real content gems during an online search, and free of charge at that? They are quickly recommended, the provider is remembered, and perhaps the email address is even given in return for the free download.
A win-win situation, because the free use pays off for the provider: it is the first step towards winning customers and keeping them in the long term.
All these content treasures are small, useful building blocks for creating brand awareness and making a positive impression on users.
And that makes them a key to successful demand generation.
Benefits of demand generation at a glance
- Win more attention for your products and services
- Generate qualified leads directly through your content
- Increase brand awareness for long-term success
- More revenue thanks to increased demand
Demand generation: what is it?
In short, demand generation is a strategy, or a complex process, in which marketing and sales activities spark customer interest in products or services and create stable demand over the long term. Its success can be measured not only by meeting predefined KPIs but also directly by revenue growth.
As an end-to-end approach, demand generation can act at any point of the marketing funnel, turn prospects into valuable customers with suitable measures, and retain those customers in the long term.
How can demand generation be implemented successfully?
As with any marketing strategy, you first have to set goals to be reached within a certain period. While downloads, views and the like are quick to capture, other successes such as
- purchases after using trial versions,
- bookings of follow-up events,
- repeat clients
- and brand awareness
can only be measured after some time or in the long run, yet they are a central part of measuring success.
Generating demand with tailored B2B content
If you want to convince customers of your products or services sustainably, you have to know your target group and keep an eye on their problems, wishes and needs. In B2B in particular, besides low-threshold surveys or general statistics, the classic customer conversation and exchanges at events are decisive for staying up to date on what moves each industry.
Once the need is understood, produce really good content that meets your target group where they are, and place it so that it gets found.
That applies to your company website as well as to social media channels, targeted mailings, SEO and advertising. Placing your content on well-known industry portals can help potential customers find your offer.
Quality content is the ticket into companies
Do not save in the wrong place when it comes to the quality of your free offer. Mid-sized and large companies that buy services, software or other products in larger volumes usually first build a broad picture of what the market offers. They compare and like to use free versions before deciding on a bigger purchase.
Perhaps your leads already value your informative company blog and your expertise. Or they are enthusiastic about the free trial of your software. And if they use your studies for talks and presentations or have attended your webinars, the next step to becoming a customer is no longer very big.
Generating B2B leads and converting them into loyal customers
Besides high-quality content, lead generation is one of the most important components: it is about first winning the contact details of prospects through content, products or services, who can become real customers with further measures.
Ideally, marketing and sales work closely together here, to win as many qualified leads as possible on the one hand and to respond precisely to customer wishes on the other.
That is the best way to find out which service and which product features B2B customers would be willing to spend money on. It is not just about as many companies as possible knowing and using your free offer, but about as many of them as possible being ready to become real customers.
Best practice for your demand generation
Various measures are suitable for successful demand generation. Here is what you can do in concrete terms to generate demand that increases your success sustainably:
Create brand awareness and win the target group's trust
For many buying decisions, trusting the general quality of a brand is enough to choose one of its products. To build this brand awareness in your target group, establish a consistent brand identity, if you have not already done so, and maintain it.
To do so, you need to know the values that potential and active B2B customers appreciate about your company. You can find them out through targeted questions, whether in short, low-threshold surveys, market research or customer interviews. Use these insights to sharpen your brand profile further. That way prospects and new customers also internalise these values and trust your brand when it comes to their next purchase.
Close collaboration between marketing and sales
At least as important as knowing the challenges of demand generation is knowing who is responsible for it: marketing or sales? Both. Lively exchange between the teams is needed: sales depends on marketing generating usable contacts that become ready-to-buy leads through consistent lead nurturing. Conversely, feedback from sales helps adapt marketing activities to the needs customers express.
Publish quality content that addresses customers' problems and questions
Every solution needs a problem. Perhaps even one your B2B customers do not yet know they have, until they discover your offer, which conveniently solves the newly recognised problem straight away. That shows your company thinks ahead and supports customers competently with solutions. As you can see, originality and creativity are called for here.
Suitable content for demand generation
- Expert articles on your company blog
- Explainer videos with real value for your target group
- Studies with statistics and graphics to download
- Engaging podcasts on B2B topics
- Webinars with well-known industry experts
The right place for such solutions is your website, for example: here you can address your B2B customers' questions and problems in a way that suits your audience and serve them the solution on a silver platter. Further channels such as social media accounts act as signposts for potential customers: post frequently asked questions or a concise statement of the problem, and offer the link to the solution.
Targeted mailings with relevant content: send your audience what interests them
Lead nurturing is part of sustainable demand generation too: deepening the customer relationship through smart contact management. So do not just send generic mailings and newsletters, but what your contacts are really interested in. Especially if you offer complex services to companies, it is important to know your customers and meet them where your products or services come into play.
You can draw on insights already gained from your leads' and customers' user and buying behaviour, and ask about interests in a targeted way through automated or personal measures. How to measure the result is covered in our article on demand generation KPIs.
Conclusion: demand generation leads to sustainable revenue growth
With free content you can generate not only attention but also revenue if you approach it through the demand generation process. Develop quality content your B2B audience loves and can find easily, for example in your content hub. When marketing and sales work closely together and customer care is linked with meeting customer wishes, you can retain customers in the long term and grow revenue sustainably.
