What is demand generation? What anyone involved in B2B marketing needs to know
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 8:32 am
Demand generation is a marketing term that combines "demand" and "generation," and refers to a series of approaches to creating customers.
In today's world, where the Internet has spread worldwide and companies can connect with potential customers all over the world online, and where a huge number of digital tools exist, demand generation is one of the most important issues that marketing departments should address strategically and in the long term.
In this article, we will explain the basics of demand generation, when to get started, and tactics that B2B marketers should know.
What is demand generation?
Demand generation refers to a series of approaches in marketing strategies for creating connections with new potential customers, building trust, encouraging them to consider turkmenistan b2b leads purchasing a product or service, and keeping them engaged long after the purchase.
Specifically, we set up marketing strategies and personas , execute various marketing measures (inbound and outbound), and continue to use the PDCA cycle to verify and improve the effectiveness, thereby creating demand from potential customers (sales opportunities for companies).
In Japan, up until now, the sales department has often been responsible for part of the demand generation area (creating sales opportunities offline), and this may be an area in which the marketing departments of many companies have not yet built up know-how.
Niwayama Ichiro of Symphony Marketing Co., Ltd., who has been involved in B2B marketing in Japan since 1997 and has provided marketing services to major companies in a variety of industries , analyzes that "Japanese corporate marketing is not much different from Western companies in terms of 'research' and 'corporate branding,' but the area of creating opportunities that directly contribute to sales (demand generation) has not yet taken root."
In addition, Niwayama of Symphony Marketing Co., Ltd. also said, "For Japanese companies to improve their performance, they absolutely need an organization called a 'demand center' to handle demand generation."
Demand generation that directly translates into profits
Demand generation is merely a concept and a general term for activities. It does not refer to a specific measure, so important marketing measures change with the changing environment from time to time.
As you know, COVID-19 broke out in 2020, affecting many companies. According to a survey by Marketing Charts in the United States, B2B marketers maintained their demand generation budgets by reallocating budgets from events and other activities.
The number of companies that increased their demand generation budget was more than twice as many as those that decreased their budget, and the main motivation for this was "emphasis on profits." The purpose of demand generation is to create demand . Because it is an area that is directly linked to sales and profits, it shows that they were able to flexibly change their measures without wavering from their purpose, no matter how the business environment changed.
The impact of COVID-19 on demand generation(Reference: Marketing Charts )
In addition, the top channels and tactics for which marketers will increase their budgets in 2021 are " account-based marketing programs (ABM) ", "high-quality lead programs (late funnel, HQL/SRL)", "inbound marketing on corporate websites", and "email marketing". Tactical trends will also continue to change.
Background of the need for demand generation
During the period of high economic growth and in the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese companies were on an upward trend in the economy, where buyers would purchase highly functional products and services if they manufactured them. However, as developing countries that were competitive in terms of product functions and price range began to manufacture similar products and services, the relatively expensive products of Japanese companies lost their international competitiveness.
At the same time, overseas companies have been aggressively entering the Japanese market, and an increasing number of Japanese customers are choosing foreign products.
In recent years, the advent of the Internet, the explosive spread of smartphones, and the increase in web-based media and platforms have made it possible for buyers to easily access information that was previously only held by sellers, enabling buyers to select products and services based on their own company's issues.
As the purchasing behavior of potential customers has become more complex and trends have changed more rapidly, the difficulty of marketing measures has also increased. Advertising, SEO, exhibitions, branding, etc. have become more specialized, and it has become necessary to bring holism into each measure, so the concept of demand generation, which centrally manages marketing measures, is becoming more important.
Due to the need to respond to such changes in the external environment, corporate purchasing managers value relationships of trust with sellers. Looking at purchasing data from B2B companies, it is clear that the most common pattern is to purchase products from sellers with whom they have had contact for the first time, making it increasingly important for marketers to engage in consistent demand generation.
Another factor that may have had an impact is the fact that the use of marketing tools has made it possible to verify online measures. Because the results of measures can be understood through data, improvements can now be made to produce better results.
According to data published by MarketingCharts in 2019 (Demand Gen Report's Demand Generation Benchmark Survey), the number one priority for demand generation among B2B marketers is " improving conversion rates ," followed by "improving the ability to measure and analyze marketing effectiveness."
In today's world, where the Internet has spread worldwide and companies can connect with potential customers all over the world online, and where a huge number of digital tools exist, demand generation is one of the most important issues that marketing departments should address strategically and in the long term.
In this article, we will explain the basics of demand generation, when to get started, and tactics that B2B marketers should know.
What is demand generation?
Demand generation refers to a series of approaches in marketing strategies for creating connections with new potential customers, building trust, encouraging them to consider turkmenistan b2b leads purchasing a product or service, and keeping them engaged long after the purchase.
Specifically, we set up marketing strategies and personas , execute various marketing measures (inbound and outbound), and continue to use the PDCA cycle to verify and improve the effectiveness, thereby creating demand from potential customers (sales opportunities for companies).
In Japan, up until now, the sales department has often been responsible for part of the demand generation area (creating sales opportunities offline), and this may be an area in which the marketing departments of many companies have not yet built up know-how.
Niwayama Ichiro of Symphony Marketing Co., Ltd., who has been involved in B2B marketing in Japan since 1997 and has provided marketing services to major companies in a variety of industries , analyzes that "Japanese corporate marketing is not much different from Western companies in terms of 'research' and 'corporate branding,' but the area of creating opportunities that directly contribute to sales (demand generation) has not yet taken root."
In addition, Niwayama of Symphony Marketing Co., Ltd. also said, "For Japanese companies to improve their performance, they absolutely need an organization called a 'demand center' to handle demand generation."
Demand generation that directly translates into profits
Demand generation is merely a concept and a general term for activities. It does not refer to a specific measure, so important marketing measures change with the changing environment from time to time.
As you know, COVID-19 broke out in 2020, affecting many companies. According to a survey by Marketing Charts in the United States, B2B marketers maintained their demand generation budgets by reallocating budgets from events and other activities.
The number of companies that increased their demand generation budget was more than twice as many as those that decreased their budget, and the main motivation for this was "emphasis on profits." The purpose of demand generation is to create demand . Because it is an area that is directly linked to sales and profits, it shows that they were able to flexibly change their measures without wavering from their purpose, no matter how the business environment changed.
The impact of COVID-19 on demand generation(Reference: Marketing Charts )
In addition, the top channels and tactics for which marketers will increase their budgets in 2021 are " account-based marketing programs (ABM) ", "high-quality lead programs (late funnel, HQL/SRL)", "inbound marketing on corporate websites", and "email marketing". Tactical trends will also continue to change.
Background of the need for demand generation
During the period of high economic growth and in the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese companies were on an upward trend in the economy, where buyers would purchase highly functional products and services if they manufactured them. However, as developing countries that were competitive in terms of product functions and price range began to manufacture similar products and services, the relatively expensive products of Japanese companies lost their international competitiveness.
At the same time, overseas companies have been aggressively entering the Japanese market, and an increasing number of Japanese customers are choosing foreign products.
In recent years, the advent of the Internet, the explosive spread of smartphones, and the increase in web-based media and platforms have made it possible for buyers to easily access information that was previously only held by sellers, enabling buyers to select products and services based on their own company's issues.
As the purchasing behavior of potential customers has become more complex and trends have changed more rapidly, the difficulty of marketing measures has also increased. Advertising, SEO, exhibitions, branding, etc. have become more specialized, and it has become necessary to bring holism into each measure, so the concept of demand generation, which centrally manages marketing measures, is becoming more important.
Due to the need to respond to such changes in the external environment, corporate purchasing managers value relationships of trust with sellers. Looking at purchasing data from B2B companies, it is clear that the most common pattern is to purchase products from sellers with whom they have had contact for the first time, making it increasingly important for marketers to engage in consistent demand generation.
Another factor that may have had an impact is the fact that the use of marketing tools has made it possible to verify online measures. Because the results of measures can be understood through data, improvements can now be made to produce better results.
According to data published by MarketingCharts in 2019 (Demand Gen Report's Demand Generation Benchmark Survey), the number one priority for demand generation among B2B marketers is " improving conversion rates ," followed by "improving the ability to measure and analyze marketing effectiveness."