Consumer behavior, like everything else, has constantly evolved over the years. Consumers don’t behave in the same way that they used to before the advent of the internet. Consumers are no longer restricted by the access to information like they used to be. Distances are no longer a factor since people can buy what they want from wherever they want. They can compare the available options to them from the comfort of their homes without visiting stores. Websites are rapidly becoming more valuable than physical outlets for businesses and consumers alike.
Therefore, it is imperative for businesses to adapt to these changing conditions to stay relevant and succeed. How can they do this? The answer is demand generation.
Demand generation
There is more to the term than what appears on the surface. For example, demand generation does not simply mean generating demand. It also includes understanding that you must target potential consumers while understanding their situation because they belong to a different era. They have access to sources of information that were inconceivable a few decades ago. As it has become easier for consumers to access information, it has become easier for businesses to reach out to them by providing relevant information.
Demand generation is on the rise as one of the most popular marketing strategies for companies, especially in the B2B and SaaS industries. It provides a streamlined, consistent, and effective strategy for engaging with prospects way before they become your customers.
Raising awareness
At this stage, selling is not the immediate goal. Instead, it’s to raise awareness by educating potential buyers looking for a solution to their problems. Your job is to help people by answering their questions and generating interest in what you offer. In addition, it can position your brand as a thought leader or a go-to name in your niche if done right.
How can you do it right? By utilizing the advantages that modern-day technologies bring. You can deploy targeted content based on the varying stages of consumer awareness to make consumers familiar with your brand and the services you offer and why they should choose you when there are so many options available.
Developing trust
Consumers are now more empowered than they used to be due to competition and market saturation. Forty percent of buyers wait longer than they used to before contacting a seller. Buyers usually get through 60 percent of the buying journey as they spend time researching before deciding to take action. As a result, companies can not succeed only as sellers.
They also have to establish themselves as reliable advisors to potential buyers who are in the process of finalizing their decision. With more buyers spending more time researching their options than they did in the past, you must build relationships with your buyers and develop trust. Or you’ll leave potential buyers seeking advice from your competitors.
Understanding demands
You cannot create a demand for your products or services without understanding the preexisting needs in the market. The challenge is that people must have a problem to solve—one they’re currently struggling with or one they haven’t yet realized they have yet. This research can help you develop your business by understanding what people expect, so you know what to deliver to stand out.
Demand generation marketing today is not only about creating demand for sales. And it certainly isn’t about manipulating the market or tricking people into buying things they don’t need. Instead, it’s about providing the information people want. So that what you share is well received because it meets your ideal customers’ needs.
Goals of demand generation
Marketing and demand generation teams face enormous pressure to devise marketing efforts with the ultimate goal of generating revenue. So a solid demand generation strategy has to be practical in achieving the company’s purposes. It needs to consistently be revised and improved.
While it is not your immediate goal to sell your product when you’re introducing it to the world, it is undoubtedly the end goal because effective demand generation results in business. If you can generate demand for your product, you will generate leads. It is unlikely for people to be familiar with a product, view it as the preferable solution to their problems, and yet not buy it.
