2022: Trends Shaping the Demand Generation Landscape

A recent report by HubSpot found that 35 percent of marketers surveyed are looking to prioritise demand generation activities in 2022 – but what does this mean, and what trends can we expect to see over the course of this year?

To begin, let’s start by defining what demand generation is. Demand generation is a powerful, strategic B2B activity that is centred around generating demand for a specific product or service – this is where it differs from lead generation, which focuses on campaigns that gather information from potential customers and turn them into leads. Incorporating demand generation into your marketing strategy is essential in helping to engage potential customers, increase revenue, and disrupt new markets.

It relies heavily on digital marketing and involves adopting an omni-channel approach, that combines earned, owned, and paid media, to reach audiences across multiple touchpoints – from web and social, to email and events. However, this is not all it takes to execute a successful demand generation campaign. As well as targeting prospects across different mediums, it is equally as important that organisations ensure alignment between their sales and marketing functions. A lack of coordination between the two can lead to blind spots within campaigns. Not only does this increase the likelihood of errors, but it can also negatively impact an organisation’s bottom line.

The power of data

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a huge proportion of organisations implementing digital tools and cloud-based marketing technologies, as a direct result of the rapid digital transformation initiatives that dominated 2020 and 2021. By its very nature, demand generation often requires monitoring data from multiple sources, which in turn, can create difficulty when tracking the success of campaigns.

Taking a data-driven approach, that uses this intelligence to make informed, accurate decisions, will enable organisations to drive the necessary results and extract the most value from their demand generation activities. Harnessing the power of data can help in establishing detailed customer profiles, understanding what constitutes a qualified lead, and when, or when not to target key prospects.

Driving growth with account-based marketing

Whilst there is value in tracking channel data, it is not the only way to measure the effectiveness of demand generation campaigns. Account Based Marketing (ABM), an approach that fuses marketing and sales together, to allow them to target key accounts, is fast becoming a core component within an organisations’ growth strategy. In fact, a recent survey found that 94 percent of respondents now have an active ABM programme – but how can this help to support demand generation?

The key to success is in blending demand generation and ABM. Demand generation typically helps to generate a higher volume of leads and build wider awareness, whereas ABM works better with higher value and more specific accounts – it can also help with providing much more personalised experiences for customers. Whilst there is merit in doing both individually, combining the two will enable organisations to create awareness, and in conjunction, run more targeted campaigns.

Why personalisation matters

Across all industries, customers have now become accustomed to highly personalised, tailored experiences – generalised communication is no longer generating the same ROI as it once was. As a result, organisations have had to pivot towards offering a much more customised approach, and this is becoming a key differentiator for organisations running demand generation campaigns within the B2B space.

Research has found that personalisation not only improves engagement but has contributed to increased profitability. Whether it’s through personalised emails, segmentation, or targeting customers at a specific point in their journey, personalisation should be a key part of your marketing strategy – it may well be the difference between a missed opportunity or a conversion.

Taking a blended approach

Demand generation requires taking a diversified approach to campaigns, and the organisations who demonstrate this, and keep pace with the evolving marketing landscape, will be the ones who gain the most value from their demand generation activity.

To find out how Convertr can help improve your demand generation campaigns, contact us to request a demo.