Steps to Build a Demand Generation Strategy

Step 1. Create awarenessWith today's competitive sales and marketing landscape, brand awareness is critical to a steady stream of quality leads. And while it may sound simple, building brand awareness isn't just about getting a potential buyer's attention.

A true and lasting brand awareness strategy leaves potential buyers with a positive and persistent impression of a company, and increases the likelihood that they will trust that company when it offers solutions to customer challenges or needs.

A sure way to increase visibility and credibility with buyers? Customer Reviews. Specifically: recent and authentic reviews.

Businesses should prioritize authentic customer reviews because they offer a brief, peer-reviewed overview of the product and help shoppers narrow their focus. Demand generation services - https://media7.com/for-saas-companies

Learn more about ensuring high-quality, authentic customer reviews in our "Review Quality First" whitepaper.Individually, the reviews act as honest consumer feedback related to real-world use, free from marketing hype. Taken together, customer reviews provide high-level information that helps shoppers quickly sift through the myriad of available products.

Step 2. Develop a content strategyAlong with brand awareness, experience in the construction industry is a key element in generating reliable demand. Industry experience means your brand is seen as an authority in your field from the first interaction with a potential customer.

This type of experience helps build customer trust and sets the stage for important conversations about customer pain points and the solutions your company can offer. A strong content marketing strategy that delivers timely and actionable information at every step of the buying process is the best way to build experience.

Providing content that answers shoppers' questions/concerns as they move through their buying journey builds buying trust and brand credibility. Those customers will remember your brand as a guide within the market and see your business as subject matter experts for future needs.

If you have the marketing resources, develop curated or personalized content to address the needs of a specific type of high-value lead. This could mean leads who convert more reliably or leads who are prepared to spend the most money with your business. Use segment-specific insights to create content and calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide shoppers through their purchase and anticipate questions and concerns common to your pool of high-value leads.

Include messages that break down the hurdles from the first time a potential customer encounters your product or service to their final questions about the purchase. When in doubt, focus on the top reasons buyers consider a product or service provider when they first search.

Step 3. Cultivate high-quality leadsOnce you've made the first contact with a lead, your marketing team hands over the lead's details to the sales team and you congratulate each other on a job well done, right?

Wrong. Healthy and reliable demand generation requires a complete lead nurturing strategy from first contact to decision and purchase.

Marketing teams must work alongside sales throughout the buying process, staying in tune with buyers' questions, concerns, and attitudes. Depending on how strong their resources are, marketing teams need to continue to engage with these high-value leads throughout the buying process by providing helpful content to answer common questions.

Your marketing team needs to focus on the types of content potential customers need, as well as the most appropriate channels to share that information. The goal of this type of targeted nurturing campaign is to reach customers with the right content or assets at a time when that information is most useful to them.

We recommend closely monitoring potential customer feedback to get an idea of??whether your outreach strategies are meeting customer needs. Regularly review lead nurturing tracking performance data.

Step 4. Incorporate account-based marketingAs you start to see a reliable trickle of leads coming from your demand generation strategies, you may want to accelerate high-value leads. This is where an account-based marketing strategy can set teams up for success.

What is account-based marketing?

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategy in which a vendor targets a select group of accounts that represent significantly greater growth or expansion opportunities with personalized marketing and sales support.

Everything in an account-based marketing strategy depends on a deep and reliable understanding of the accounts and the audiences they are targeting. ABM requires marketing and sales teams to strategically select accounts to target and nurture through personalized engagement and support.

Marketing teams should design target company personas based on the high-value customers who are most likely to convert and/or grow. Assess what business goals and values??these target accounts tend to share, as well as what important steps in your buying process precede the purchase.

Use target personas to inform how you market to these potential customers, giving them personalized content that directly addresses their unique pain points and questions.

For step-by-step help creating an account selection process and launching an ABM program, read "How to Establish an ABM Strategy."

Step 5. Invest in partner marketingThe recent rapid shift from in-person to virtual business interactions means an increased focus on digital marketing. Even as businesses begin to return to secure, in-person interactions with customers and staff, it seems likely that the rise of digital interactions is here to stay.

Businesses need to share their message online, but pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns can be difficult to manage alone. Partnering with a third-party provider can allow your company to reach a selected and pre-selected audience.

Many businesses choose to start on some of the broader search or social media platforms, but then struggle to narrow down their messaging. An easier way to quickly get your message to the right people is to find a partner who has already built your desired online audience.

For almost any product or service, a potential customer base is waiting. External partners can show your company's products or services to the right buyers at the right time.

Digital Marketer and B2B marketing specialist. Working at Media7, the best B2B marketing company.