Learn The Difference Between a Demand Generation Company And a Lead Generation Company

 Companies have explored numerous lead generation marketing strategies to increase brand awareness and generate more leads in the last few years.

Of all, demand generation services and lead generation services are the ones that make up for a large chunk of inbound sales. 

But often, marketers tend to use both terms interchangeably when both are different.

The fact is that while both share some similar traits, the way they approach things is different. However, having a clear understanding of both terms helps create better campaigns and thus generate more leads.

So, let’s get to know some of the major differences between lead generation and demand generation and how a demand generation company that provides the best lead generation services can help generate B2B sales leads.

What is demand generation?

Demand generation is all about creating demand for your product in the market before gathering leads or pushing for conversion. Organizations wanting to expand their customer base can leverage this strategy. It’s not a one-step strategy but a process in itself.

Demand generation makes use of data-driven strategies to create awareness.

It helps introduce new visitors to your business, who mostly qualify as high-quality leads when done perfectly.   

In fact, lead generation is one of the many available demand generation strategies.

Some of the best examples of demand generation services are: Content syndication, thought leadership content, brand awareness campaigns, event promotion, display ads etc.

Some of the best demand generation companies will help you reach a vast audience, creates buzz, and drives traffic to convert to a particular website.

What is lead generation?

Lead generation focuses on converting audiences into prospects who might be interested in your company’s product and services.

It is ultimately the result of good demand generation campaigns.

There are multiple ways to convert leads into customers. The actual ideas that demand generation companies implement depend on the company’s needs and the type of business it is into.

Some of the best examples of lead generation include gated content, social media, white papers and case studies, webinars and infographics etc.

What’s the difference between demand generation and lead generation?

It can be said that while demand generation is based on marketing campaigns and helps create demand for your company, lead generation is based on campaigns that help collect information about potential customers and then turns them into leads.

They differ in purpose as well. While the purpose of demand generation is to create excitement about your company’s product or service and make people want to buy from you, lead generation aims to capture information about potential buyers to generate high quality leads for your company.

One of the major differences between them is that demand generation is a top of the funnel activity, while lead generation is a the bottom of the funnel activity.

Demand generation is a marketing strategy that contributes to bringing awareness before the B2B marketing lead generation kicks off. At the same time, B2B lead generation involves attracting, nurturing, generating and converting B2B sales leads.

Who does demand generation?

Generally speaking, both the sales and marketing teams execute demand generation activities, but it all depends on where each activity sits in your sales strategy.

The process involves doing in-depth research about your market, creating and promoting your content, and fine-tuning the customer experience with your brand.

This isn’t it. There are other activities, such as lead nurturing and customer retention, that the sales teams need to take care of.

This is where demand generation companies can help by bringing their expertise in finding ways to align with other teams across your organization to help you conquer new markets.

Who conducts B2B lead generation?

B2B lead generation is a process managed by sales and marketing teams. They either work in tandem or individually.

Though for B2B lead generation service to be effective, it is preferred that the sales and marketing teams are closely aligned, involving both inbound and outbound efforts.

The best lead generation companies help businesses reach the ideal prospect by giving warmed up and qualified leads.

The importance of data in B2B lead generation and demand generation

Be it demand generation or lead generation, launching any of them can be quite tricky. Some of the best lead generation services opt for a data-driven approach as it allows firms to see what works and what does not — and why. This also helps device effective campaigns based on the metrics that matter the most.

Take away

As marketing can never be a one-size-fits-all approach, companies need to identify the best lead generation service or the best demand generation service that can help them with marketing lead generation. Marketers need to understand that demand generation and lead generation services need to walk hand in hand to help an organization grow in the right path and drive sales. 

If demand generation strategies help you attract high-quality leads, lead generation marketing helps nurture them into satisfied customers.

Be it creating brand awareness, demand generation or lead generation, to drive greater B2B sales leads, a well crafted cross-channel marketing strategy is essential. Tying all of this with your People-Based Marketing solutions can enhance the success rate of your marketing campaigns.

A more advanced version of cookie-based marketing is people-based marketing that leverages technology to market to people across channels. Marketers, as well as some of the best lead generation companies, swear by it as it is one of the best B2B marketing lead generation techniques.

Comspanies may as well get in touch with some of the best lead generation service providers are also PBM servicesproviders and HQL service providers, to give their campaigns a push.