Demand generation seems to be the hot topic for B2B marketing. Here’s why I think it’s a misleading and dangerous myth to pin your business growth hopes on (and what you should focus on instead).
In case you’re not familiar, demand generation is the belief that a content-driven approach can ‘create’ demand for your products or services. Wrap some tech around it and you have an efficient way to generate a constant flow of leads and shepherd them through your sales process.
No need to wait for the market to decide what it needs – go out, shake the tree, and make the demand happen.
It’s an enticing image that puts you at the controls of your destiny. How does it measure up to reality?
How demand generation really works in B2B
So why might framing this as demand generation be unhelpful? Let’s go back a few years.
I spent a lot of my career in operations and business management roles. A prime target for a demand generator you’d think. What was my reality?
Cost control was always a priority. Any spending reduced profit for my business unit. This affected my remuneration and reputation. I certainly wasn’t seeking new ways to spend the company’s money.
Security, however, mattered. A lot.
I wasn’t looking to have my life disrupted. I had enough to worry about keeping clients, the board and staff members happy while trying to maintain some level of work-life balance.
In short, there was no demand without a problem or a major change in the business. Repeated screw-ups or a need to take on significantly larger projects might make me think it was time to look at better process or management tools, for example.
And in case you’re wondering, I was if anything towards the less risk averse end of the spectrum among my peers.
Your reality is not your customers’ reality
As a marketer the benefits to your prospects of whatever you’re selling might seem so blindingly obvious that they’d be stupid not to buy it. This is your reality. You need to understand the level of preoccupation and indifference your content is truly up against.
I’m not saying that the right content can’t help capture demand – and perhaps even marginally stimulate it. But I wonder how many B2B businesses are really producing content that’s up to that task. Stuff that’s so well grounded in the everyday realities of the target customers that it’s impossible to shut it out and not have to think about it.
‘Here’s why you need what we do’ isn’t a winning content formula, in my view. The cynical business manager that I was would have seen right through such an obvious selling ploy and been on my guard.
Does it matter what you call it?
You could say ‘demand generation’ is just another marketing label and could equally well be ‘brand building,’ why does it matter?’ But having been a copywriter for over 11 years I believe what you call things does matter. It sets expectations.
The term implies you can just publish content and create demand that isn’t otherwise there.
Try looking at things from your prospects’ perspective.
Build a content model that helps capture the demand that’s already there. Work really hard to understand the factors (practical and emotional) that drive that reality. This is harder and more nuanced than it sounds.
If circumstances create demand by stimulating prospects to explore new and better solutions, you’d better know what those circumstances are. You’d better also understand what success looks like through your prospects’ eyes.
If the aim is simply to get ‘on the radar’ of your prospects with a particular piece of content I’d suggest focusing on their lives and challenges. Leave your product or service as a footnote until they’ve demonstrated real interest and intent.
If you want a more down to earth conversation about trends in B2B marketing just get in touch.