Why These 9 Demand Generation Marketing Fundamentals Matter
Curious why you should zero in on these 9 game-changing fundamentals of Demand Generation, given the multitude of possible alternatives, similar products, and so-called experts around every turn? It’s not just because we're offering advice backed by 35 years of expertise. Our value proposition goes much deeper. We're taking our product offering a step further by leveraging cutting-edge generative AI to craft a best-in-class strategy that solves your most urgent challenge: scaling customer acquisition without draining your budget.
By fusing wisdom from marketing legends, successful blueprints from industry-leading companies, and innovative campaigns with our own treasure trove of experience, we've refined the art and science of Demand Gen into 9 must-know fundamental elements. Consider these your secret weapons to attract new customers, boost revenue, and smash through the 100-scaling barrier like never before.
Cracking the code by focusing on customer value
Our last blog covered the three foundational pillars of knowing who you are, who you serve, and who your true competitors are. Now it’s time to build upon those fundamentals to attract and engage your ideal customers, starting with:
- Identifying and leveraging market trends
- Creating value for prospects and customers
- Engaging prospects and customer
Identifying and leveraging market trends
Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte, launched 20 years ago, is considered the catalyst for the groundswell of support for pumpkin-flavored everything. They turned a great product made with a seasonal spice into a competitive advantage. PSL is now synonymous with Fall, and many brands have capitalized on the trend that Starbucks began. And therein is the lesson: recognize what your audience craves and what your customer needs before they do. And know that even short-term trends can lead to long-term customer loyalty.
Trends impact B2B as much as B2C brands
Whether it’s using a custom-created Zoom background, investing in ABM marketing, or answering supplier sustainability and corporate social responsibility questions, remember that trends impact B2Bs as much as consumer brands, even if they manifest in different ways.
Market trends core competencies
Trends are a practical level to pull when crafting ways to optimize demand gen marketing campaigns. But trendspotting skills are only the beginning. Other core competencies related to market trends include:
- Seasonal marketing
- Adapting to market shifts
- Cultural relevance
- Macro and micro environmental trends
Becoming adept at market trends as a demand gen fundamental means becoming familiar with these core competencies, as well as identifying short- and long-term trends, and understanding the trend adoption curve.
Creating value for prospects and customers
The concept of value creation encompasses many critical areas that impact your CAC in your demand gen campaigns. The commonality of the value creation core competencies is that you will generate the most significant success when your content is high-value and addresses the needs of your target market at their particular step of the customer journey. The best way to think of “value” is to separate it from monetary value. Instead think in terms of perceived value. Consider social value and social status, for instance, which can have a much greater value than the total costs of the deliverable. Exclusivity, like offering early access to a high value product, or incentives only for loyal customers or high-value customers can increase the perceived value of a deliverable.
Remember that the customer journey is more like a playground than a pathway. You cannot predict your prospect's (or customer’s) journey, so stop trying. Instead, think of your content strategy as a playground, where you offer different pieces of equipment to engage when they’re ready to consume it. A great example of value-driven content creation is Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce conference. It’s highly anticipated each year, and it delivers High-quality content as an experience. And it aligns with the belief that content should provide tangible ROI to clients.
Value creation core competencies
As a demand gen fundamental, value creation speaks to your need to continue to create value to meet the specific needs of your prospects and customers, first to get them to buy and then to get them to make repeat purchases. Conceptually, value creation relates to your ability to continue connecting deeper and deeper with your ICP and make offers that resonate with your entire audience as prospects, buyers, and advocates. Different customers want different things, so some strategies like ABM speak to a market segment, and other marketing strategies like upsells that can target your entire customer base.
Core competencies related to value creation include:
- Understanding the buyer’s journey
- ABM principles
- Value-driven content creation
- Value ladder
- Upsells and cross-sell strategies
Integrating value creation strategies into your marketing mix (beyond demand generation at the top of the funnel) helps ensure that you maximize customer lifetime value and reduce churn.
Engaging prospects and customer
We purposefully separate engagement from value creation because it is so critical and often overlooked, even by seasonal demand generation pros. In short, you can increase conversions and lower CAC in any given campaign just by making the touchpoints more engaging. If you want to stand out and attract your ICP, it’s not good enough to check the boxes and create, for instance, a piece of gated content delivered in PDF form. Instead, go the extra mile with your marketing efforts to stand out: present your offerings in an engaging and interactive form. Quizzes, assessments, calculators, and games are a good place to start. This approach results in a higher perceived value while creating a more positive experience with your prospective customer.
Prospect and Customer engagement core competencies
The obvious core competencies related to prospect and customer engagement are interactive content strategies and gamification. Duolingo uses gamification to engage current customers with a daily streak feature. Their interactive strategy isn’t just fun; it delivers additional benefits of user engagement and customer retention. Their customer experience gives users a sense of accomplishment, enhancing long-term relationships, customer satisfaction, and brand loyalty.
But interactive content and gamification are only the tip of the iceberg. Other core competencies related to prospect and customer engagement include:
- Building a Feedback loop
- Testimonials
- User-generated content
- Community building
It’s easy to see how these core competencies can not only increase conversions and lower CAC in demand generation campaigns, but they are also critical to decreasing churn and leveraging your best customers as advocates.
Demand Generation Fundamentals 4-6 recap
Once you’ve clarified who you are, who you serve, and who’s your competition, it’s time to turn your focus to the value you’re delivering all along the customer journey. To recap, to scale your B2B SaaS past 100, you can increase conversions and lower CAC by:
- Identifying and leveraging market trends
- Creating value for prospects and customers
- Engaging prospects and customer
These broad but critical fundamentals enable you to build the best possible assets and campaigns to attract and convert your ideal customer.
What’s next?
Come back for part 3 of this series on Demand Gen Marketing Fundamentals every B2B SaaS Founder needs to know to Scale Past 100. Next, we'll cover "Unlocking Infinite Growth."
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