Content Drives Social Media
Social media is driven by content, which means the type of content you share will impact your success on social media and how social media helps your business. There are different types of content that serve different purposes, and every business should choose the right content for their business goals. With this in mind, there are two widely confused marketing concepts: demand generation and lead generation.
Demand Generation vs Lead Generation
Demand generation is marketing that creates a demand for or interest in your product. Lead generation is used to collect specific information about clients and to eventually turn them into sales leads. The purposes for both are the same: to get people to buy from you. With lead generation, however, the purpose of the marketing and the results of the marketing efforts are different.
Lead generation is geared to make people want your content. The result or business goal is the information you gather from them. When you look at it this way, the difference between lead generation and demand generation is really one of data vs perception. Which one do you feel is more important to your business?
Unfortunately, B2B marketers often use these terms interchangeably which results in one content marketing strategy that is expected to deliver leads and drive demand. It doesn’t work that way, however.
These two marketing operations need to be approached in different ways.
Content You Should Use for Lead Generation
Lead generation is used largely for gated content. You advertise and promote your content to a wide range of people, usually on social media, and anyone who is interested is driven to a landing page. On the landing page, there is a form fill or registration form which needs to be completed in order to access content. Those who aren’t really interested in your content won’t bother, but a small segment of the people you reach will be. They’ll be willing to exchange their information for your content, even knowing that they’ll be a sales target in the future.
The people who exchange their information likely believe your content will greatly help them or may be passionate about the subject matter. This gate weeds out unlikely buyers and provides you with more solid leads.
Lead generation is more suited to detailed content. People expect a little more when they have to fill out a form which is why ebooks, reports, and other long-form content are used for lead generation. Webinars and panels are also forms of lead generation.
It’s also useful to have a lead management tool in order to track and manage the leads you generate.
Content You Should Use for Demand Generation
Demand generation typically focuses on brand awareness and brand positioning. To generate awareness, you need to remove any barriers between people and your content, which is the complete opposite of gated content. In this instance, the wider you cast the net and the more people you draw in, the better.
Content that works for demand generation has wide appeal. Blog posts, lists, videos, and other accessible resources are well suited for demand generation. These are classified as inbound marketing efforts. Demand generation content typically performs better than lead generation content on social media, which is really the point.
Search engine optimisation can play a big role in demand generation because the focus is more long-term than short-term. Blog posts and websites that rank high in search will place your business or service at the forefront of people’s minds for the particular subject matter they searched.
How to Choose Between Lead Generation and Demand Generation
As demonstrated, lead generation and demand generation have different approaches to content. They aren’t, however, mutually exclusive and can overlap. Leads you’ve gathered can be targeted in order to increase demand among that same list. Excellent content can also result in increased demand for your product or service.
If you have to choose between one or the other, the first thing you should do is determine how you want social media to add value to your business goals. If you’re focused on brand awareness or community building, you’ll want to focus on demand generation. If you see it as a sales tool, lead generation may be your best bet.
Small businesses or entrepreneurs might begin with demand generation for its broader applicability, especially if there is no sales team or marketing department. Larger companies may get more value out of lead generation.