The terms "demand generation" and "inbound marketing" are often used interchangeably, but they actually represent subtlety different approaches to marketing. In order to understand the difference, it's important to first understand the goals of each type of marketing.
Demand generation is all about creating awareness and interest in a product or service. The goal is to generate leads that can be converted into sales. It casts a wider net and its goal is to attract potential customers to the top of your sales funnel. In contrast, inbound marketing is all about converting visitors into customers or subscribers that come down the ever-narrowing sales funnel.
So which approach is right for your business?
In short, both. However, from a content development and strategic perspective, you have two different tasks. Demand generation is about producing content that raises your brand awareness such as curated news, blog posts, pillar pages, and social media posts, infographics, videos, events. This type of content is designed to draw potential customers to your services and solutions. Inbound marketing is the type of content that converts those visitors into sales. Therefore, sales pitches, value propositions, features and benefits, AIDA marketing pages, and product detail pages, fall more in line with the latter.
Examples of Demand Generation Marketing
Demand generation is a comprehensive strategy for generating more qualified leads and capturing higher-quality opportunities. Demand generation marketing tactics include content marketing, email campaigns, webinars, identifying new channels and partnerships, searching out influencers to collaborate with, web optimization, targeted social media posts, and campaigns with measurable outcomes such as video views or website visits, events, and trade shows. Demand generation encompasses many diverse activities; however, these strategies all revolve around the primary objective of increasing brand awareness in the marketplace and converting potential customers into firm buyers.
Examples of Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing focuses on pulling in visitors toward a website or product through relevant content. In terms of copywriting, this often involves the use of persuasive language to encourage visitors to take desirable actions such as making a purchase or downloading an ebook. Inbound marketing copy is tailored to match the key motivations of readers and combines effective storytelling with hard-hitting calls-to-action (CTAs). In addition, it appeals to the audience's emotions and details tangible ways in which customers can benefit from engaging with a particular business. Inbound marketing copy is designed to maximize conversion rates, leading to increased sales and expanded exposure for businesses.
Where Do Demand Generation and Inbound marketing Overlap?
It is obvious that Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing have a lot in common, as both strategies focus on providing relevant content to potential customers while they are making an informed decision. Demand Generation is focused on reaching out to potential customers with personalized messages or offers that encourage sales conversions. Whereas, Inbound Marketing works to draw customers to your business using content marketing, SEO practices, and other digital channels in order to create relationships with them. Both Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing are intertwined as Demand Generation look to give prospects the information they need when choosing from various options, while Inbound Marketing helps drive more qualified leads through more targeted engagement tactics.
Where to learn more about demand generation and inbound marketing?
Resources on demand generation and inbound marketing are widely available. For the experienced professional, sites like Content Marketing Institute, Copyblogger, and Moz provide valuable guidance on how to refine and optimize your approach. Resources with diagrams and case studies are crucial in demonstrating qualitative improvement over time, such as those offered by Hubspot. Additionally, a good web search and no doubt marketers can find helpful links to webinars from up-and-coming digital marketing agencies which offer deeper insight into present trends. As demand for these services grows, learning more about demand generation and inbound marketing is becoming ever more important for marketing professionals.
To summarize, both Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing strategies are employed to construct your sales funnel and ultimately drive product sales. While they may appear similar at first glance, recognizing the distinctions between them will assist you in developing content that is specifically tailored for each task. When this combination comes together successfully, it can deliver remarkable results!
