Probably no two terms in B2B marketing get mistaken for each other as often as demand
generation and lead generation. They are often treated as interchangeable.
A Google search for "demand-gen" yields definitions that would make you think they're
the same thing. And I've seen top-tier marketers with 30+ years in this business do the
same.
But demand generation and lead generation are not the same thing. They never have been
and they never will be. They have different purposes. And unlike lead-gen, not everyone
should have demand-gen prioritized.
What Is Lead-Gen Content?
Lead-gen is exactly what it sounds like. Its purpose is to generate leads now, for a
product you have available now. Typically,
lead-gen content talks about your product,
a problem it solves, a pain point it addresses, or a benefit it provides (or some
combination of these).
This content might be
gated content (making it a
lead magnet) or the ask for contact
details might come at the end of the
content. But either way with lead-gen, that ask is
made.
And the content can take many forms. It can be a whitepaper, e-book, blog, product guide,
or almost anything really. Are you with me so far?
What Is Demand-Gen Content?
Demand-gen, on the other hand, doesn't ask for anything (at least not directly). And its
job is to invent a pie or grow a pie.
To use a metaphor, if you sell fast food, the job of lead-gen is to make prospects want
your new plant-based hamburgers now, while the job of demand-gen is to grow the overall
market for hamburgers by touting the benefits of vegan alternatives.
How Demand-Gen Works
Demand-gen is strictly top of the funnel (TOFU), either
awareness or sometimes
consideration, which lead-gen never strictly is. Demand-gen content usually works in
one of two ways.
1. It Creates a New Pie
This is when your brand sells something that's never been sold before, summoning demand
out of thin air for something your target market didn't previously know existed.
This is rare, mind you, but not unheard of. The original iPhone did this.
2. It Grows a Current Pie
This is when you try to grow the pie by selling your product to a new kind of
customer. For instance, it might mean positioning what was once large enterprise
software as an SME solution, and running a TV commercial about it. However, it only
counts as demand-gen if you're the first vendor to this segment. So again, it's rare.
If Demand-Gen Is So Rare, Why Does It Seem Common?
Demand-gen is all over LinkedIn. A lot for something that's rare. And the reason why is
because a lot of the people talking about it there are defining it wrong. They're defining
demand-gen as the opposite of lead-gen, which it isn't.
Demand-gen is a type of top and middle-of-the-funnel activity, but not the only kind.
Demand-gen is a grow-the-pie tactic. It has to be. If it were simply TOFU, "demand-gen" as
a term wouldn't need to exist.
And this is especially important because demand-gen can be dangerous in the wrong hands.
How Can Demand-Gen Be Dangerous?
Demand-gen for a current product is an unassailable good if you're a startup or
otherwise doing something very unique that your addressable market isn't really aware of.
But if you have competitors, you'd better make damn sure that your follow-up content
(for when prospects do a subsequent web search) is good and ready, and that you really are
ready to compete with them, because growing the pie will only mean growing their pie if
you're not.
One Last Thing
Demand-gen is not the opposite of lead-gen, and it's not everything except lead-gen
either, because while all demand-gen content is either awareness, consideration, or both,
not all awareness and/or consideration content is demand-gen.
Demand-gen grows the pie, but many pies are already as big as they're going to get, with
awareness and consideration focused on getting larger pieces of that pie. This is one of
the reasons why I'm not a huge fan of demand-gen as a concept. Awareness, consideration,
and lead-gen are near-always applicable in
content marketing, while demand-gen is
applicable in some instances but not others.
I appreciate the nobility of intention in those who believe in
demand-gen. But if you
don't share it, don't worry about it. The
content marketing funnel can do what
needs to be done.
