Demand Generation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Boost Sales

Demand generation is a critical part of any SaaS marketing strategy. But here’s the thing: it’s not just about creating content or sending automated emails. B2B buyers are more discerning, more informed, and harder to reach than ever before. They don’t respond to cold pitches; they need time, nurturing, and a strong relationship with your brand before considering entering the sales pipeline.

This guide’ll take you through each step of building a demand-generation strategy to create real, measurable results for your business. By the end, you’ll understand what demand generation is and how to leverage it in a way that directly fuels your sales growth.

Let’s jump in.

What is Demand Generation?

Demand generation isn’t just about getting leads; it’s about building long-term relationships with potential customers and positioning your brand as the solution to their problems. Unlike traditional marketing, where you might aim for a quick conversion, demand generation takes time and requires nurturing.

Simply put, demand generation is about creating awareness and interest before the buyer is ready to engage with sales. It covers the entire buyer journey, from when they first hear about your company to when they’re ready to buy.

Think of it like planting seeds—you’re investing in future growth. You provide valuable resources and educational content, earning their trust over time. By the time your prospects are ready to make a decision, they already know who you are, understand the value you provide, and are more likely to choose your solution.

Example:
Imagine a company that sells B2B project management software. Instead of immediately pushing their software, they host a series of webinars on how teams can improve productivity. These webinars aren’t direct sales pitches—they’re focused on delivering value. Over time, businesses attending the webinars become familiar with the brand and start seeing it as an authority in the space. When these businesses are ready to invest in a project management tool, guess who comes to mind?

Key Terminologies to Know in Demand Generation

Demand generation involves many moving parts, and it’s essential to understand key concepts to build a strategy that works. Here are some terms to keep in mind:

1. Buyer Journey

The buyer journey refers to a potential customer’s process before purchasing. Typically, this journey includes three stages:

• Awareness: The buyer realizes they have a problem or need.
• Consideration: The buyer researches potential solutions.
• Decision: The buyer chooses a solution and makes a purchase.

Aligning your content with each buyer journey stage is critical to guiding potential customers from awareness to decision.

2. Sales Pipeline

The sales pipeline is the structured series of stages a lead goes through before becoming a customer. Think of it as the roadmap from when a potential customer shows interest to when they become a paying client. By tracking where prospects are in the pipeline, you can understand how effective your demand generation efforts are at moving leads forward.

3. Marketing Automation

Marketing automation uses software to automate repetitive tasks like sending follow-up emails, tracking user behavior, or segmenting leads. It allows you to nurture leads at scale without sacrificing personalization, making it a cornerstone of any successful demand generation strategy.

4. Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a highly personalized approach that creates targeted marketing campaigns for specific high-value accounts. Instead of marketing to the masses, ABM allows you to tailor your messaging to key decision-makers, making it particularly effective in B2B demand generation.

Difference Between Demand Generation, Lead Generation, and Demand Capturing

At first glance, demand generation, lead generation, and demand capturing seem like the same thing, but they serve different purposes in the SaaS marketing funnel. Let’s break them down:

Demand Generation

Demand generation is about creating interest and awareness before the customer engages. This happens long before someone becomes a lead or is ready to buy. You’re not just trying to sell them something—you’re helping them solve a problem by providing valuable content and resources.

Example:
A cybersecurity company runs a blog that educates readers on the latest cybersecurity trends and threats. The blog doesn’t push their product directly but instead positions the company as an expert. As a result, readers return to the site, subscribe to the newsletter, and eventually view the company’s solutions as the natural choice when they’re ready to purchase.

Lead Generation

Lead generation is the next step in the funnel. Once you’ve generated interest, the goal is to capture that interest by collecting contact information. This allows you to nurture the relationship further and guide them towards a sale.

Example:
The same cybersecurity company might offer an in-depth guide on “How to Set Up a Secure IT Infrastructure” in exchange for an email address. Now that the prospect has expressed interest, the company can continue to nurture the lead through email marketing, webinars, and case studies.

Demand Capturing

Demand capturing focuses on converting prospects who are actively searching for a solution. This is where you target potential buyers who are in the decision-making stage and ready to purchase.

Example:
When someone searches for “best cybersecurity software for small businesses,” the cybersecurity company might run paid ads that direct them to a landing page showcasing the benefits of their product. At this stage, the buyer knows they need cybersecurity software and compares options.

Stat:
ITSMA shows 87% of ABM marketers report a higher ROI than other marketing strategies.

Step 1: Establishing a Clear Demand Generation Strategy

The first step to building a successful demand generation strategy is defining your goals, aligning your teams, and understanding your audience. Producing content for the sake of it is not enough—you need a strategy that drives measurable results.

1. Set Specific Goals

Before creating content, take a step back and consider your goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Do you want to generate more qualified leads? Your goal is to move prospects through the sales pipeline faster. Clear goals give you a benchmark to measure your success against.

2. Align Sales and Marketing

One of the biggest challenges in demand generation is getting sales and marketing teams on the same page. When these teams work in silos, marketing might generate leads that sales deems unqualified, leading to wasted efforts. To avoid this, ensure both teams are aligned on what constitutes a qualified lead and how those leads should be nurtured.

3. Audience Segmentation

Understanding your audience is crucial. Start by creating detailed buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. These personas should include information like job title, company size, industry, and pain points. By segmenting your audience, you can tailor your messaging to speak directly to the unique needs of each group.

Example:
If you sell SaaS products, you might create separate campaigns for IT managers and CFOs. IT managers care about product features and security, while CFOs are more interested in ROI and cost-effectiveness.

Step 2: The Role of Content Marketing in Demand Generation

Content marketing is at the heart of demand generation. It’s how you attract, educate, and nurture potential buyers over time. The key is to create valuable content that resonates with your audience at every stage of their journey.

1. Awareness Stage Content

At the top of the funnel, your goal is to make your prospects aware of their challenges. They might not even know they have a problem yet, so your content should be focused on educating them.

Types of Content: Blog posts, educational videos, infographics, and industry reports.

Example:
A SaaS company publishes a blog titled “10 Common Project Management Mistakes That Slow Down Teams.” This content helps potential customers recognize the inefficiencies in their current processes without immediately pitching the company’s project management software.

2. Consideration Stage Content

As prospects move into the consideration stage, they’re looking for solutions. Here, you can position your product or service as one of the options to solve their problem. However, you’re still not pushing a hard sale—focus on showing how your solution fits into their needs.

Types of Content: Webinars, case studies, white papers.

3. Decision Stage Content

Now, your prospects are ready to make a decision. This is the time to offer product demos, free trials, or consultations that help them feel confident choosing your solution.

Types of Content: Product demos, free trials, testimonials.

Related Read: Content Marketing Strategies for SaaS

Step 3: Leveraging Inbound Marketing for Demand Generation

Inbound marketing is the backbone of demand generation. It’s not about chasing customers but creating valuable content that draws them in. Inbound marketing builds trust by providing relevant and helpful information, making potential customers more likely to engage with your brand.

Let’s break down how inbound marketing supports demand generation:

1. SEO and Organic Traffic

One of the most effective ways to attract potential customers is through search engine optimization (SEO). Over 90% of B2B buyers start their research online, so optimizing your content ensures that your brand is easily discoverable when they search for solutions.

How it Works:
SEO involves optimizing your website and content with keywords your target audience is searching for, like “best CRM for small businesses” or “how to improve B2B sales pipeline.” You capture more organic traffic when your content ranks higher on search engines.

2. Email Marketing for Lead Nurturing

Once a lead has engaged with your content (e.g., downloaded an eBook or subscribed to your blog), the next step is to nurture them through email marketing. Rather than sending constant promotional emails, the goal is to deliver valuable, educational content that moves them through the buyer journey.

Example:
A prospect who downloads a whitepaper on cybersecurity can be nurtured with a series of personalized emails, such as:

• An article explaining “5 Ways to Secure Your IT Infrastructure.”
• A case study showing how your software prevented data breaches for a client
• A demo invitation or free trial offer of your cybersecurity solution

This approach keeps the prospect engaged, gradually moving them toward purchasing.

Related Read: SaaS Email Marketing Strategies 

3. Aligning Content Strategy with Buyer Stages

Inbound marketing is most effective when your content strategy is tailored to prospects’ specific needs at different stages of the buyer journey. Your content should evolve as it moves from awareness to decision.

• Awareness Stage: Focus on educational content like blog posts and infographics to help prospects understand their challenges.
• Consideration Stage: Provide more detailed content, such as webinars or case studies, that demonstrate how your solution addresses their pain points.
• Decision Stage: Provide content that instills confidence, such as product demos, customer testimonials, or pricing guides to help close the deal.

Related Read: SaaS Inbound Marketing Strategy 

Step 4: Using Marketing Automation to Streamline Demand Generation

As your demand generation efforts scale, manually managing every single lead or campaign becomes impossible. This is where marketing automation comes into play. By automating repetitive tasks like email sequences, lead scoring, and segmentation, you can nurture leads at scale without losing the personal touch.

1. Automating Lead Nurture Sequences

Marketing automation allows you to set up workflows that trigger specific actions based on a prospect’s behavior. For example, if someone downloads an eBook, you can automatically send them a series of follow-up emails designed to educate them further and move them down the funnel.

How to Implement:
Start by creating an automated workflow that responds to key triggers. For example:

• Trigger 1: Prospect downloads an eBook → Send a follow-up email with related blog posts.
• Trigger 2: The prospect clicks a link in the email → Send a case study related to their industry.
• Trigger 3: Prospect attends a webinar → Send a product demo invitation.

By automatically delivering relevant content based on the prospect’s behavior, you keep them engaged without the need for manual follow-up.

Example:
A company selling project management tools might have an automated nurture sequence like this:

• After a lead downloads a “Project Management Best Practices” guide, they receive an automated email series offering a case study, a demo invitation, and an offer for a free trial of the project management software.

This process builds trust over time and increases the chances of conversion.

2. Lead Scoring and Segmentation

Not all leads are created equal. Lead scoring allows you to assign points to leads based on their engagement with your content, helping you prioritize which leads are closer to a purchase decision. For example, a lead that downloads a whitepaper and attends a webinar might score higher than someone who only subscribed to your newsletter.

How it Works:

• Assign point values based on specific actions (e.g., downloading an eBook = 10 points, attending a webinar = 20 points).
• When a lead reaches a certain score threshold, they get passed on to your sales team for follow-up.
• Lower-scoring leads can continue to be nurtured through automated campaigns until they’re ready to engage.

Segmentation is another crucial aspect of automation. By segmenting your audience based on factors like behavior, demographics, or engagement level, you can more effectively tailor your messaging to different groups.

3. Automating Personalized Experiences

One of marketing automation’s biggest advantages is that it allows you to deliver personalized content at scale. Tools like HubSpot, Marketo, and Pardot let you track how each lead interacts with your brand and adjust the content they receive accordingly.

Step 5: Implementing Account-Based Marketing (ABM) for Targeted Demand Generation

While inbound marketing helps you cast a wide net, Account-Based Marketing (ABM) takes a more targeted approach. ABM is about focusing your efforts on high-value accounts and personalizing your outreach to meet their needs. This approach is efficient in B2B settings where the decision-making process involves multiple stakeholders and longer sales cycles.

1. Identifying High-Value Accounts

The first step in ABM is identifying the key accounts you want to target. These should be businesses that fit your ideal customer profile (ICP)—companies that stand to gain the most from your product or service and represent significant revenue opportunities for your business.

How to Implement:
Use data-driven tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator or ZoomInfo to identify high-value accounts based on criteria such as company size, industry, location, and their stage in the buying process. Once identified, you can develop a highly tailored marketing strategy to engage those companies.

Example:
A B2B cybersecurity firm might target large healthcare organizations that need advanced security solutions to protect patient data. By identifying key accounts in the healthcare sector, the firm can craft personalized messaging that speaks directly to these organizations’ pain points.

2. Tailored Content and Personalized Outreach

ABM is all about personalization. Once you’ve identified your key accounts, it’s time to develop content and campaigns that speak directly to their unique challenges. This might involve creating customized landing pages, personalized email sequences, and even account-specific ads.

3. Aligning Sales and Marketing for ABM Success

ABM requires close collaboration between your sales and marketing teams. Unlike traditional marketing, where the goal is to generate as many leads as possible, ABM is about creating a highly focused campaign for a few high-value accounts. This means your sales and marketing teams must be aligned on account selection, messaging, and follow-up strategies.

Best Practices for Effective Demand Generation Campaigns

To ensure your demand generation campaigns deliver the best results, here are some key best practices to follow:

1. Focus on Personalization

Today’s buyers expect personalized experiences. Whether it’s email marketing, content recommendations, or ad campaigns, the more relevant your messaging, the more likely it is to resonate with your audience. Use data from previous interactions, demographic details, and behavioral insights to tailor your communication. Personalization goes beyond just addressing someone by their first name—it’s about delivering content that solves their unique problems and speaks to their current needs.

For example, if a prospect recently downloaded a white paper on “Best Practices for Cloud Migration,” follow up with an invitation to a webinar on advanced cloud strategies. This level of personalization demonstrates that you understand their needs and are invested in providing value.

2. Multi-Channel Marketing for Comprehensive Engagement

A successful demand generation strategy requires more than just relying on one channel. Today’s B2B buyers interact with brands across multiple touchpoints—from social media to email to search engines. To maximize your reach and engagement, you need to be present wherever your audience spends time.

Example of a multi-channel approach:

• SEO: Drive organic traffic by optimizing content for relevant keywords.
• Email Marketing: Nurture leads with targeted, personalized content.
• Social Media: Build brand awareness and engage with your audience through thought leadership posts and discussions.
• Paid Ads: Use Google Ads, LinkedIn ads, or remarketing campaigns to capture demand and reach high-intent users.

A multi-channel strategy lets you engage prospects at every stage of their buyer journey, ensuring they receive your messaging wherever they go.

3. Consistent Lead Nurturing with Valuable Content

Lead nurturing is at the heart of demand generation. Once someone shows interest in your brand, you can’t stop there. Effective lead nurturing involves consistently delivering valuable, relevant content. The goal is to guide prospects through the sales funnel, providing helpful information at every stage until they’re ready to engage with sales.

You can nurture leads with a variety of content, such as:

• Automated email sequences that offer case studies, whitepapers, or webinars.
• Personalized product recommendations based on their behaviour.
• Invitations to exclusive events or demos that align with their needs.

The key here is to be helpful, not pushy. The more value you provide without expecting an immediate return, the more trust you build with your prospects.

4. Align Sales and Marketing Teams

One of the most overlooked aspects of a successful demand generation strategy is the alignment between sales and marketing. If your marketing team generates leads that sales doesn’t consider valuable, there’s a disconnect that will waste time and resources.

Here’s how to foster collaboration:

• Create a shared definition of a “qualified lead.” Both teams should agree on what makes a lead worth pursuing.
• Establish a feedback loop. Sales teams can provide feedback on lead quality, which helps marketing adjust their targeting and messaging.
• Use a CRM system that both teams can access to track lead progress and monitor sales funnel velocity.

When sales and marketing collaborate, the entire lead-generation process becomes smoother and more efficient. Both teams will have a clearer understanding of your ideal buyers and how to best engage them.

5. Use Data and Analytics for Continuous Improvement

The beauty of demand generation is that it’s an ongoing process. But to improve, you need to measure what’s working and what’s not constantly. Relying on data-driven insights allows you to fine-tune your strategies and optimize them for better results.

Some key metrics to track include:

• Lead quality: How well do your leads fit your ideal customer profile?
• Engagement rates: Are prospects interacting with your content (e.g., open rates, click-through rates, and webinar attendance)?
• Conversion rates: How many leads are moving through the pipeline and converting into customers?
• Pipeline velocity: How quickly are leads moving through each sales pipeline stage?

Analyzing this data lets you identify where prospects are dropping off and adjust your tactics accordingly. For example, if leads are stalling in the consideration phase, it might indicate a need for more educational content or clearer product differentiation.

6. Create a Seamless User Experience Across Platforms

As your prospects move through the various stages of the buyer journey, they’ll interact with your brand across multiple platforms and devices. It’s critical to ensure a seamless experience, whether they’re engaging with your content on your website, social media, or email.

This means ensuring your:

• Website is user-friendly and mobile-optimized.
• Email templates are responsive and visually appealing.
• Social media channels provide clear, consistent branding and messaging.

Providing a cohesive experience ensures that your brand appears professional and reliable no matter where or how prospects engage with it. Disjointed experiences can leave a negative impression, potentially causing leads to drop out of the pipeline.

7. Test and Experiment with Your Strategies

Demand generation isn’t static—it evolves as buyer behaviour changes, new technologies emerge, and market trends shift. Regular testing helps you stay on top of these changes and ensures your strategy remains effective.

Here’s what to test:

• A/B testing your email subject lines to improve open rates.
• Trying different content formats, like video or interactive tools, to see which resonates more with your audience.
• Experimenting with landing pages to optimize conversions by changing elements like call-to-action buttons, layout, and design.

Measuring the Success of Your Demand Generation Strategy

You need to track relevant metrics to determine if your demand generation efforts are delivering results. These metrics give you insights into your campaigns’ performance and where improvements can be made.

1. Lead Quality Over Quantity

Getting caught up in the number of leads you’re generating is easy, but quantity doesn’t always equal quality. Focus on attracting high-quality leads—those that are a good fit for your product and are more likely to convert into customers.

To measure lead quality, track:

• Lead scoring to rank leads based on their engagement and fit with your buyer personas.
• Conversion rates to see how many leads turn into sales-qualified leads or customers.

2. Engagement Metrics

Engagement is a key indicator of how well your demand generation efforts resonate with your audience. Track metrics like:

• Email open and click-through rates
• Social media interactions (likes, shares, comments)
• Content downloads and webinar attendance

High engagement levels show that your content is relevant and you’re effectively nurturing leads.

3. Pipeline Velocity

Pipeline velocity measures how quickly leads move through each sales funnel stage. If leads are moving through the pipeline slowly, it may signal that your content isn’t effectively nurturing them or that your sales team isn’t reaching out at the right time.

Use pipeline velocity to:

• Identify bottlenecks where leads are stalling.
• Optimize touchpoints like follow-up emails, content offers, or sales outreach to keep leads progressing.

4. ROI and Campaign Attribution

Ultimately, your demand generation strategy should have a positive return on investment (ROI). Track how much revenue each campaign generates compared to its cost. Use attribution models to determine which channels and campaigns drive the most value.

• First-touch attribution helps identify which campaigns are driving awareness.
• Last-touch attribution shows which efforts directly lead to conversions.

Combining these insights allows you to understand the customer journey better and optimize future campaigns for higher ROI.

Conclusion

B2B demand generation is about building meaningful relationships with potential customers by providing valuable content and nurturing them throughout their buyer journey. It’s not a quick fix—it’s a long-term strategy that focuses on creating awareness, generating interest, and guiding leads toward making informed purchasing decisions. You can effectively engage your audience and drive sustainable business growth by leveraging tactics like content marketing, SEO, email nurturing, and marketing automation. A well-executed demand generation strategy will help position your brand as a trusted resource, ultimately leading to stronger sales and long-term success.

Demand Generation FAQ’s