The demand generation marketing playbook is an evolving guide for marketers who are implementing a demand-driven approach to their marketing strategies. The marketer’s role has changed from being the one who creates ads to the one who creates demand. Marketers should think of themselves as spies, detectives and architects. They should also have the courage to fail quickly, learn fast and move fast.
The demand generation marketing playbook is a dynamic document that requires continuous updating and monitoring of performance, ROI and KPIs.
To help you begin your journey with the 7 stages of the demand generation marketing playbook, we’ve outlined them below:
Stage 1: Market Research
Before you start executing your demand generation marketing playbook, you need to understand the market in which you operate. What are the key trends that are impacting your market? What are the industry problems and pains? What products and services are your competitors offering? What’s your company’s unique selling proposition (USP)? And what is the potential of your market?
By conducting a thorough market research, you’ll be able to understand the current state of your market and identify your target audience. Understanding your target audience can be challenging, especially if you are targeting people from different industries or are B2B companies.
You need to understand who your target audience is and what problem they are trying to solve. This will help you position your product or service so that it resonates with your target audience.
Stage 2: Buyer Personas Creation
The buyer personas are fictitious characters created to represent your ideal customers. They provide marketers with a holistic view of their ideal customers and help them to create highly targeted content. They help marketers to create content that resonates with the needs of their customers and connects with them on an emotional level. They help you to segment your audience based on their needs and pain points so that you can create a marketing strategy that is highly relevant to each segment.
Stage 3: Identifying Buyer Pains
Every buyer has a problem that needs to be solved. Understanding the pain points of your target audience will help you create demand for your product or service. By identifying the pain points of your target audience and creating content that addresses these pain points, you can trigger the buying cycle of your target audience and increase your sales. You can create multiple touchpoints on various channels such as web, social media, email, blog, etc.
Once you have identified the pain points of your target audience, you can create content that addresses these pain points and educates your target audience on how your product or service can solve their problem.
By educating your target audience, you can create awareness about your product or service and trigger the buying cycle in your target audience.
Stage 4: Content Ideation and Creation
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 80% of customers have made a purchase based on an experience they’ve had with a brand. This means that the majority of customers do not buy because they have the need or because they have identified a problem. They buy because they have been influenced by the company and their products in some way.
Marketers can use content to create demand for their products and services and get their target audience to take the next step towards becoming customers. The goal of your demand generation marketing playbook is to create content that is sticky, relevant and resonates with your target audience. The best way to create sticky and relevant content is to identify your target audience and their pains then brainstorm ideas that can be turned into content.
Stage 5: Go To Market Strategy
For marketers, this is the fun part. Now that you have created demand for your product or service, you need to go to market with it. The go to market strategy is a marketing plan that outlines the approach you will take to generate leads and promote your product or service.
It will include the following:
- The marketing channels you will use for lead generation
- The content you will use to create demand for your product or service
- The sales and marketing team that will be responsible for lead generation
- The broken down sales funnel
- The lead management and nurture process
The go to market strategy will help you manage your demand generation efforts effectively and create a marketing plan that is aligned with your resources.
Stage 6: Marketing Channels & Tech Stack
With your go to market strategy in mind, you can now decide which marketing channels and tech stack you will use for your demand generation efforts. The marketing channels you choose to distribute your content are very important. You need to select channels that are aligned with your company’s objectives, almost like a strategy. The marketing channels you choose will depend on your product or service and your target audience.
For example, if you have a high-end product, you might want to use a direct-to-consumer eCommerce website. If you have a B2B product, you might want to use trade shows and events to attract leads.
By carefully selecting the marketing channels you will use, you can create a seamless customer journey and increase your conversion rates.
Stage 7: Measurement & Optimisation
Although you are creating demand for your product or service, you must understand that you cannot rush the sales cycle. There is no silver bullet that can help you hack the sales cycle and turn leads into sales immediately. It takes time for customers to make a purchasing decision, and you need to be patient. With that being said, you need to monitor the progress of your demand generation efforts and track the metrics that are important to your company.
You need to track the following:
- The number of leads generated from each marketing channel
- The number of leads that are being generated
- The conversion rate of your leads
- The revenue that these leads are generating
- The return on investment (ROI) of your demand generation efforts
- The time it is taking for your leads to turn into customers
By monitoring these metrics, you can make necessary adjustments to your demand generation strategy and increase your overall lead volume with the right mix of marketing channels and content.
For help on getting your demand generation of the ground, feel free to reach out to us.
