7 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Demand Generation Strategy

 

Demand generation is critical for driving new leads and pipelines for any B2B company. However, many demand-generation strategies fall short of their goals due to common pitfalls. Avoiding these mistakes can help boost the effectiveness of your demand gen efforts. 

In this blog post, we will cover the 7 most common mistakes to avoid in your demand generation strategy. Following these tips will help you generate higher-quality leads, increase conversion rates, and maximize your marketing ROI.

Not Having Clear Goals

One of the biggest mistakes is not having clearly defined goals for your demand generation strategy. What are you trying to achieve? More leads? More sales-qualified leads? More opportunities? Increased revenue? Knowing your desired outcomes guide your strategy, metrics, and tactics. 

Be specific in setting quantitative goals. Rather than saying “Generate more leads” say “Increase leads by 20% this quarter.” Use lead demand generation strategy benchmarks to set realistic yet ambitious targets. Track progress to goals and adjust your strategy if needed.

Failing to Identify Your Target Audience

A second common mistake is failing to accurately identify and profile your target buyers. Who are you trying to reach? What are their pain points? How do they research solutions? What messaging do they respond to?

Building detailed buyer personas for your target accounts ensures your demand gen campaigns speak directly to your ideal customers. Segmenting and targeting your campaigns to persona specifications also improves engagement and conversion rates.

Not Knowing Your Customer’s Journey

Another oversight is not mapping your customer’s buying journey from initial awareness through purchase. Where does awareness begin? How are leads generated? What’s the typical sales cycle length? How many touchpoints are needed before a sale? 

Understanding the entire journey, especially the early stages, enables you to create effective messaging and content that connects with buyers at each stage. Meeting them where they are in their journey increases relevance, conversions, and sales.

4 Overlooking Existing Customers  

Generating demand from new prospects is not enough. You also need to focus on existing customers to drive repeat sales, renewals, and expansions. They are some of your best targets for upsells, cross-sells, and add-ons that boost lifetime value.

Make sure your lead demand generation strategy includes tactics like customer win-back and loyalty programs. Surveys, interviews, and mining your CRM data also give insights into new opportunities with current customers.

5 Weak Value Proposition & Messaging 

The heart of any demand generation campaign is the value proposition and messaging. So many companies get this wrong by being generic, relying on tired clichés and buzzwords.

Truly differentiate on the outcomes and advantage you provide targets. Craft compelling messages and content that speak directly to the needs of each buyer persona. Make it abundantly clear why you are distinctly better than alternatives.

6 Not Leveraging Intent Data

In today’s digital world, intent data is a goldmine for identifying and connecting with high-value prospects. Sources include search queries, website behavior, social media, and 3rd party intent signals.

Work intent data into your tech stack and processes. Identify prospects researching solutions, topics, and competitors related to your offering. Use intent signals to deliver hyper-targeted, multi-touch campaigns focused on capturing and nurturing high-intent leads. 

7 Ignoring Multi-Channel Nurturing 

Finally, a common mistake is failing to nurture prospects continuously across multiple channels. The average buyer may see your brand up to a dozen times before they convert. Deliver value at each touchpoint. 

Produce relevant content across email, social media, digital ads, direct mail, and chatbots. Track prospect engagement at the contact and account level. The more they interact, the warmer the lead becomes. Nurture them down the funnel until sales are qualified and ready for contact.