In the ever-evolving landscape of B2B marketing, creating demand has become one of the most critical yet elusive goals. Demand creation refers to strategies designed to generate interest and awareness of a product or service long before potential buyers express direct intent. For B2B companies, it is a vital tool for driving pipeline growth, influencing purchasing decisions, and enhancing overall go-to-market strategies. To build an effective demand creation engine, businesses must implement a mix of creative content, paid and organic distribution, and a data-driven approach that aligns marketing goals with sales outcomes.
In this blog post, we will explore key demand creation strategies that B2B companies can leverage, including live shows, content repurposing, targeting through account-based marketing (ABM), and leveraging dark social.
Building a Live Show as a Core Strategy
One of the most effective ways for B2B companies to foster demand is by offering consistent value to their target audience through educational content. A live show can serve as the cornerstone of this approach. Chris Walker, a well-respected voice in demand generation, emphasizes the importance of offering high-quality consulting and industry insights through weekly events or webinars. These events can drive demand by positioning your company as a thought leader and trusted resource for your target customers. Walker explains that offering the best free consulting to your audience is crucial, as it creates a continuous feedback loop between you and your potential buyers.
A live show allows you to repurpose content into different formats, maximizing your reach. This content can be transformed into a podcast, LinkedIn posts, YouTube videos, and even email newsletters. Repurposing your live event content into multiple formats ensures that your insights reach your target audience through different channels, enhancing visibility. Moreover, by putting this content on platforms like YouTube and converting it into shorter clips, such as YouTube Shorts, you can improve your organic reach through Google search.
Customizing Your Demand Creation Strategy Based on Account Tiers
In the B2B space, not all potential buyers are created equal. Companies need to segment their target accounts based on deal size and customer lifetime value (CLTV) to tailor their marketing efforts. As part of a demand creation strategy, businesses should segment accounts into strategic, tier-one, tier-two, and tier-three categories. Each segment will require a different approach. For instance, companies with high annual contract values (ACVs) may benefit from more personalized demand creation strategies, such as ABM. This allows for highly targeted outreach using customized content and focused engagement campaigns.
On the other hand, tier-three accounts, which may represent lower-value deals, could be addressed through more scalable, broad-based strategies like programmatic advertising on LinkedIn and Facebook. By understanding where the value lies in your customer segments, you can optimize your marketing spend and increase the chances of generating meaningful demand across all customer tiers.
Using Content and Paid Distribution Effectively
Many B2B marketers struggle with content creation and distribution. According to Chris Walker, the issue stems from businesses often creating content that appeals to their internal stakeholders rather than content that helps their customers solve real-world problems. Companies need to focus on creating content that resonates with their target audience, and they should include their customers in the content creation process to ensure it is relevant and engaging.
Once the right content has been created, its distribution becomes just as critical. Paid and organic distribution strategies are essential for ensuring your content reaches the right people. Paid channels like LinkedIn, Facebook, and even display advertising can be excellent vehicles for this. These platforms allow you to target your key decision-makers precisely, ensuring your message lands in front of the right audience. Paid media can also be supported by organic efforts, such as engaging your audience on LinkedIn or through influencer partnerships. However, one of the primary challenges marketers face today is measuring the effectiveness of these efforts, especially when it comes to attributing ROI directly to organic or paid demand creation efforts.
Unlocking the Power of Dark Social
Dark social has become a prominent concept in modern marketing. It refers to the channels where users share content privately, such as direct messaging, Slack groups, or private LinkedIn conversations. Although these interactions are challenging to track, they play a crucial role in shaping how buyers learn about products and services.
To make the most of dark social, B2B companies should create shareable, valuable content that buyers want to distribute among their peers. One effective way to track the impact of dark social is through self-reported attribution on forms, a method that Chris Walker advocates. By asking “How did you hear about us?” on key forms, you can capture critical insights into which channels are driving demand creation and understand what content resonates with your audience. Although self-reported attribution is not perfect, it helps marketers gain directional insights into how buyers learn about their products.
Investing in the Right Channels for Maximum ROI
A fundamental principle of demand creation is the balance between demand capture (where intent is already shown) and demand creation (where intent does not yet exist). Many B2B companies over-invest in demand capture strategies such as Google Ads, but Chris Walker warns that this approach can be limiting. Relying too heavily on paid search or lead generation campaigns can mean missing out on opportunities to engage prospects earlier in the buyer’s journey.
An effective demand creation strategy focuses on getting your brand in front of prospects before they are even in the market. This can include tactics such as podcasts, video content, and influencer partnerships that position your brand as a trusted resource. These efforts, although difficult to track, are essential for long-term pipeline growth. Companies should shift some of their budgets away from purely demand capture strategies and toward demand creation channels, which can provide a stronger foundation for future growth.
Creating Predictable Pipeline Growth
The ultimate goal of demand creation is to create predictable pipeline growth at a lower cost. Many B2B companies, however, find it difficult to generate consistent pipeline because they lack effective demand creation strategies. A major roadblock is the tendency to focus too much on short-term metrics like MQLs, which may not provide a complete picture of demand creation’s impact.
Instead, Walker advises that B2B marketers look at broader business performance metrics such as sales velocity, cost per pipeline, and customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback periods. By focusing on these metrics, marketers can get a clearer understanding of how well their demand creation efforts are working over time. Long-term investments in content, brand, and community-building efforts often pay off by driving consistent demand, even during economic downturns when advertising budgets are cut.
Conclusion: The Shift from Lead Generation to Demand Creation
The shift from traditional lead generation to demand creation is no longer optional for B2B companies looking to grow in today’s market. A comprehensive demand creation strategy that includes live shows, content repurposing, dark social, and personalized account-based marketing can drive significant long-term benefits. By focusing on building trust, educating the market, and positioning your brand as a thought leader, you can generate consistent demand and achieve predictable pipeline growth.
The key to successful demand creation lies in being patient, as it often takes time for these strategies to yield tangible results. But with the right mix of creative content, targeted outreach, and data-driven insights, B2B companies can set the stage for long-term success.
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