A broad perspective is needed when marketers set out to make demand generation strategies. Demand generation needs a level of cooperation between the marketing and sales departments.

As a data-driven process, the best demand generation strategy locates and nurtures key prospects over the long term, engaging them through numerous touchpoints and platforms.

A demand generation funnel visualizes how a demand generation strategy fits into the sales and marketing funnel. Since demand generation strives to make a demand for a service or product instead of pushing for conversions out of the gate, it looks a little bit different.

The main difference between a demand generation funnel and a sales or marketing funnel is the focus on educating consumers at a scale, so they will come to you when they are ready, rather than capturing leads and pushing them directly to your sales team.

At its core, a demand generation strategy is about finding and nurturing the ideal types of prospects and relationships, from early reputation and awareness to last conversion.

Understandably, demand generation is confused with lead generation. However, while they include similar strategies, they are not the same.

A demand generation strategy is about establishing awareness and interest in a service or product and nurturing customer relationships for the long term.

Here’s a closer look at the demand generation funnel.

This stage concentrates on establishing awareness demand mainly through education instead of pitching your solution. Typical demand generation best practices include making content such as email courses, checklists, industry news, webinars, and in-depth guides.

At this point, your prospects wish to get to know your brand a bit more. Who you are, your values, and how it can solve their problems. The goal at this stage is to make their lives as simple as possible.

Keep informative with social media posts, in-depth guides, industry news, and similar content.

Are you ready to convert those leads into qualified leads? This is about providing bespoke advice on their needs, company, or industry. Calculators and tools are a good asset at this stage.

Other assets you can use to turn leads into marketing-qualified leads are templates, checklists, and useful content.

Common strategies at this stage involve free trials and demo sign-ups. Depending on your strategy, you might consider social selling or LinkedIn retargeting.

This is where all the hard work pays off: your leads convert to paying patrons. Demand generation is still vital at this stage. The goal is to keep your leads interested and set why you are the ideal solution to their challenge.

Demand generation marketing is lesser-known but no less crucial part of an overall marketing strategy. Keep in mind that you are focusing on establishing awareness and interest in your product. Compared to lead generation, it’s a part of the whole buyer cycle, which is why most of the strategies above are the ones that will affect customers throughout the entire sales process.