Companies often view demand generation and marketing as complementary functions. These two areas of study share some similarities, but each plays a unique role in the purchase cycle. In this article, we’ll define each of these sales-related phrases and discuss how they all interact to produce positive outcomes for your business.
Marketing vs. Demand Generation
Awareness of a company’s products or services is a key goal of demand generation, which is why it employs methods such as strategic advertising, content production, and event marketing. It’s a great way to get in front of potential buyers at the beginning of the purchasing process, where you have the best chance of forming lasting relationships that will ultimately lead to sales. A steady stream of leads that can be turned into paying customers is the end goal of demand generation.
On the other hand, marketing focuses on strengthening connections with current clients in order to increase repeat business. Marketers can strengthen their relationships with their customers and encourage them to make additional purchases through the use of personalised messages and content aimed at specific customer segments. A great way for marketers to boost customer loyalty and bring in more money is to provide existing customers with content and deals that are specifically designed for them.
While marketing tends to cover a wider range of topics, demand generation is more narrowly focused.
Successful advertising strategies often centre on creating new demand. A key part of this strategy is figuring out what your customers want before trying to give it to them. Marketers can win over a larger share of their target audience by providing them with relevant content and pushing relevant offers and services. More so than with more generalised marketing approaches, this one tends to win over customers and keep them as repeat buyers. Using demand generation, your business can zero in on the most promising leads to maximise conversion rates and return on investment.
When it comes to marketing and sales, what role does demand generation play?
Understand that demand creation and marketing are interdependent processes that can’t thrive without one another. The best demand generation firms in India work to increase product or service visibility among new audiences, thereby increasing the number of qualified leads your business receives. Once leads enter your funnel, marketing takes over to convert them into paying customers by sending them relevant, personalised messages and offers. When demand generation and marketing are coordinated, businesses can increase the number of leads they receive and the percentage of those leads that become paying customers.
Demand generation works to bring new leads into the funnel, and marketing works to nurture those leads into paying customers by providing relevant content tailored towards customer segments, so the two functions are distinct but complementary within a company’s sales process. Businesses that want to expand their clientele should prioritise spending money on both demand generation and marketing, as these two areas work together to boost lead quality and the likelihood that leads will be converted into customers.