The world of sales and marketing has changed rapidly over the last decade. The pace of change shows no signs of slowing down in 2019. One of the hottest topics of 2018 was demand generation, and the trend looks to continue over the course of the next 12 months.
What is demand generation?
It encompasses all the activities you undertake to create demand for your products and services. It’s different from lead generation, in that it also includes branding exercises and brand visibility. These undertakings can increase demand, without necessarily increasing the number of leads you have. Lead generation is a form of demand generation.
As you head into the new year, you’re going to want to keep an eye on these five demand generation tactics.
Much has been made of influencer marketing over the last few years. Its popularity has even led to some people theorizing it’s on its way out.
Influencer marketing shows promise, provided companies can leverage it correctly. Finding the right influencers and reaching the right audiences is a challenge. Watch for marketers to continue using influencer marketing as one of their core demand generation tactics.
People can’t ask for your products or services if they don’t know they exist. They also may not recognize their own need for such a product or service. Sharing this kind of information is a key demand generation tactic, and it has been for a while.
Content probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but it is changing. Look for increasing syndication, along with newer forms of content. Video and live streaming will continue to be some of the most popular formats for content in 2019.
Another tried-and-true classic, email marketing has been written off by some marketing experts. Others believe email marketing is still the most effective method of generating demand for your products and services.
The numbers back up this assessment. Email marketing has seen less success over the past few years, but it still outperforms almost every other channel.
One reason people have seen less success with email marketing lately is their tactics haven’t been keeping pace with client expectations and demand. Newer email marketing techniques, including personalization, show great success.
Demand generation tactics are nothing without the right tools backing them. That means one of the tactics you should focus on is leveraging technology within your business to help generate more demand.
Automation should be one area you’re looking at. Over the past few years, automation has been utilized for more functions, including demand generation.
Data analysis is another way to drive demand generation forward. Carefully analyze what you’re doing and determine what’s working. Focus on marketing channels that give you great returns, and hone your demand generation strategy with better insight and information.
This may not be one of the common demand generation tactics, but it is important if you want to build your brand and your customer pipeline. You need to understand your customer, their needs, and their journey.
Knowing your customers can help you hone your strategies. This information can help you pick the right content and put it on the right channels to reach the right people. It can also tell you about your customers’ buying processes, their expectations, and even their perception of your brand.
With this information at your fingertips, you can push demand generation forward in your organization.