Accelerate Business with Both Demand Generation & Lead Generation

I was struck by a discussion on the difference between Lead Generation and Demand Generation -  "Lead Generation is Crippling Demand Generation"  The two terms are often used interchangeably - but they are absolutely different.  I had this discussion just yesterday with a marketing leader.  

Before you build a launch plan, recommend specific marketing content and campaigns, you need to know what the organizations objectives are?  How will the ROI of this investment in marketing be measured?  Additionally, where is the marketing funnel working, and where are the "leaks", where your prospects are opting-out of the purchase process?

Lead Generation is characterized by offering up relevant content to prospects.  If a prospect fills out a form to download your white paper, case study, comparison guide, or archived webinar...they are characterized as a "lead".  There are all sorts of leads, however, in different stages of the purchase process.  The quality of the lead can be measured by the rate at which they convert to sales readiness.  A lead is not simply a job title at a specific type of business.  A lead is a hand-raiser - a prospect who has a problem that you can help them solve.  The quality of the content, how well the title and summary engage a prospect (who has a problem your solution can solve) is imperative.  

Demand Generation requires more broad distribution of content and messaging.  All of your content cannot be gated behind a registration form.  Building awareness with potential buyers (early in the purchase process) is important.  Snippets of your content and messaging must be integrated across your website and social media conversations.  Ensuring that your organization builds a reputation for leadership in your space will get you on the "shopping list" when prospects are ready to actively shop.  

Development of a comprehensive Content Marketing Strategy integrates content across both Demand Generation and Lead Generation.   Executing on both will accelerate the ROI of your marketing exponentially.