As we enter 2024, demand generation is shifting from quantity to meaningful connections. The focus is on offering value that meets clients’ needs throughout their decision process.
In other words—quality and flexibility reign supreme in demand generation.
We’ll explore how refining your business approach and using emerging, innovative technologies helps transform demand generation. In addition, this article sheds light on how the power of automation can lead to a deeper understanding of clients—and drive unprecedented value.
Dive in to prepare your enterprise for demand generation excellence and gain insights into staying ahead in a changing environment.
Not All Content Is King
You’ve probably already heard content being called “king” in the B2B world, and that still holds true. But it’s not just any content—it’s the content that delivers value.
Start by building a solid branding strategy, one that communicates your ability to address customer pain points. This should include clear, actionable guidelines that your marketing and creative teams can follow to ensure consistency in your message and brand image.
Mind the Funnel
Before jumping into content creation, take a moment to think about where your prospects are in the buying journey:
Are they just getting to know your brand (Top of Funnel)?
Or are they in the middle of researching solutions (Middle of Funnel)?
Maybe they’re ready to make a decision (Bottom of Funnel)?
The content you create and share should align with your customers’ stages, as providing the wrong content at the wrong time can actually hurt your lead generation efforts.
Your peers are increasingly leveraging content marketing to generate demands in the early and middle stages, with blog posts, videos, and case studies as the top three content types used.
The Inevitable Role of AI
Creating successful demand generation initiatives hinges on leveraging the right technology.
As an industry professional, you doubtlessly already use tools like Google Analytics, marketing automation platforms, or customer relationship management (CRM) systems to track important data like user behavior and campaign performance. And rightly so.
Moreover, INFUSE Insights revealed that content creation has become AI’s single most popular use case, with professionals using this technology to create newsletters, social media copy, and even complete blog posts.
However, 2024’s demand generation challenges require you to broaden your technology investments—and consider the transformative role of AI.
Accelerating Repetitive, Mundane Tasks
Thanks to its automation capabilities, AI has gained a lot of traction, enabling teams to streamline mundane tasks and simply do away with repetitive processes.
Consider connecting automation tools with existing CRM systems to create a seamless workflow with centralized lead data, empowering you to track and streamline progress. In addition, this will help you reach a wider audience and stay top of mind with potential customers.
AI can also be integrated into your nurturing operations, empowering you to send personalized emails, provide valuable resources, and address customer concerns.
Dynamic Customers Respond to Agile Marketing
AI is unlocking new opportunities for businesses to experiment with demand generation strategies that were previously challenging to implement.
While traditional A/B and multivariate testing are effective, they’re often slow, cumbersome, and tiring to the day-to-day marketer.
That’s where AI shines, providing the capabilities needed to quickly fine-tune content—whether it’s headlines, subject lines, or visuals—to achieve faster, more tailored results. Additionally, AI helps organizations fuel innovation and spare their teams the time needed for high-value tasks.
Better Understand Customers to Create Memorable Journeys
AI is the key to taking customer experience (CX) to new heights as it helps you gain real-time insights into customer behavior and enables you to anticipate needs, deliver personalized experiences, and ensure CX delight at every touchpoint.
AI is revolutionizing the way businesses stay competitive by refining marketing strategies with incredible precision. CMSWire notes that companies leveraging AI for customer journey mapping are fostering stronger relationships, which leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
In today’s fast-moving landscape, relevance is key, and AI ensures every interaction resonates, driving improved retention. Beyond just speeding up data analysis, AI uncovers insights that manual methods might miss, giving businesses a unique advantage. It’s how smart companies are staying ahead and generating quality demand in an increasingly competitive market.
Take Leads from High-Quality to Sales-Qualified
Account-based marketing (ABM) has shown some “hard numbers,” according to Gartner.
B2B demand generation through ABM includes a few important tactics. First, finding high-value target accounts helps focus outreach. Then, creating personalized content that addresses the needs and challenges of those accounts captures attention and nurtures interested leads.
Engaging through various channels, like email, social media, and webinars, ensures a steady presence. Focus on using data analytics to allow for ongoing adjustments to strategies based on real-time feedback, improving overall effectiveness.
To tap into the power of ABM for demand generation, make sure you:
Use Intent Data to Identify Target Accounts | Look Beyond Your Website | Leverage Comparison Sites | Build Audiences Based on In-Market Buyers | Monitor Customer Churn |
Intent data helps you determine which accounts are actively researching your products, ensuring more effective ABM targeting. | Buyers often bypass provider websites, so focus on third-party sources where they spend significant time researching. | Utilize intent data from platforms like Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice to detect purchase activity and interest. | Target buyers who are actively researching, as they are more likely to convert in your ABM campaigns. | Identify customers at risk of leaving by tracking low engagement or competitor-related activity. |
In a Nutshell
Demand generation in 2024 is all about quality over quantity.
It’s not about how much content you’re creating—it’s about the impact that content has. By focusing on quality, measuring the right metrics, and staying flexible with your strategy, you’ll set your business up for long-term success.
Half of the companies using AI to create content measure their performance by tracking conversions and leads. By testing and tweaking, you’ll find what works best for your audience. Consider fostering a culture of experimentation to stay ahead of the competition and quickly adapt to market changes.
The rules are changing. Get ready to take your demand generation efforts to a new level.
