Discipline 04 · Demand Generation
Demand Generation: predictable demand and a repeatable acquisition process.
In technical B2B, only a small share of target companies is actively looking for a supplier at any given time. Demand generation makes sure your company is known and relevant to all the others before the need arises, and that active demand reliably reaches you.
In short
Demand generation combines demand creation, building a need, with demand capture, picking up existing demand. It includes account-based marketing, LinkedIn Ads, Google Ads, retargeting, outbound, content distribution, event and webinar campaigns, partner marketing and nurturing. We don't sell leads. We build the process that reliably generates qualified conversations for your sales team.
Definition
Demand generation is the systematic building of demand among companies that are not yet ready to buy, combined with reliably capturing existing demand. It is decisive in markets where only one to five percent of target companies are actively searching at any time.
01 · Starting point
Why reach rarely helps in technical B2B.
If a company has 800 relevant target customers in the DACH region, reach is not a sensible goal. Precision is.
A common mistake is to carry over methods from consumer marketing: as many contacts as possible at the lowest cost per lead. In a market with long buying cycles and four to seven people involved, the result is a list sales can do little with.
The second mistake is a fixation on active search. Whoever only works the few companies searching right now competes with every other supplier for the same enquiries and pays accordingly.
Effective demand generation therefore combines three things: a defined list of target accounts, continuous presence across the whole buying committee and a clean transition from interest to conversation.
Signs that a system is missing
- Enquiries come in waves and cannot be forecast.
- Marketing reports leads, sales finds no conversations.
- Nobody knows which target accounts are already showing interest.
- Campaigns launch without suitable landing pages.
- Trade fairs and webinars are not followed up.
- Outbound runs without an ICP or aligned messages.
02 · Scope
Eight building blocks of an acquisition system.
Not every building block is needed in every market. The channel strategy defines which combination works for your segment.
- Strategy
Demand generation strategy
Channel mix, budget split between demand creation and demand capture, targets per stage and a test plan for the first two quarters.
- Accounts
Account-based marketing
Selection and prioritisation of target accounts, account research and coordinated engagement of the buying committee through ads, content and sales.
- Paid media
LinkedIn Ads, Google Ads, retargeting
Search advertising for active demand, LinkedIn and paid social for B2B to build demand, retargeting across the whole buying process.
- Outbound
Outbound campaigns
ICP lead sourcing, lead enrichment, LinkedIn outreach and email outreach within the legal framework, aligned with your sales team.
- Content
Content distribution
Getting expert content, case studies and white papers to where the buying committee researches: search, LinkedIn, trade portals and newsletters.
- Events and partners
Event, webinar and channel campaigns
Campaigns around trade fairs, your own webinars and industry events. Partner marketing with distributors, integrators and sales partners.
- Conversion
Conversion funnels and nurturing
Landing pages, staged offers and nurturing tracks for contacts who are not yet ready to buy.
- Operations
Campaign operations
Campaign set-up, tracking, budget management, quality assurance and a monthly report from a single source.
03 · Account-based marketing
Three tiers of account-based marketing.
Account-based marketing is often the most effective starting point in technical B2B, because the number of relevant target companies is limited and marketing and sales work the same list.
| Tier | Scale | Engagement | Suited to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:1 · Strategic ABM | around 5 to 20 accounts | Individual content, research per account, close alignment with key account management | Large single orders, framework agreements, group customers |
| 1:few · Cluster ABM | around 20 to 100 accounts | Content per cluster with the same industry or the same problem | Segments with comparable requirements |
| 1:many · Programmatic ABM | several hundred accounts | Target account lists in LinkedIn and Google, scaled content, intent signals | Broader target markets with a clear ICP |
Guideline values for orientation. In practice the tiers are often combined, for example a 1:1 programme for the most important accounts and 1:many for the rest of the target market.
04 · Approach
How demand is built.
No channel starts before its landing page is ready. Traffic to an unsuitable page costs budget without results.
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01
Accounts and channels
Target account list based on the ICP, channel selection based on actual research behaviour and budget split between building and capturing demand.
- Target account list
- Channel selection with rationale
- Targets per stage
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02
Content and offers
Content that is useful before the enquiry: selection criteria, comparisons, calculation bases, case studies. Plus staged offers from guide to consultation.
- Editorial plan for two quarters
- Offers per buying stage
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03
Campaigns and outbound
Build of search and LinkedIn campaigns, retargeting and outbound sequences. Exclusion lists often matter more than audience lists.
- Campaign structure per channel
- Ads and assets
- Outbound sequences
- Test plan
-
04
Conversion and handover
Landing pages per campaign goal, form logic with qualifying questions and a defined handover to sales with response times.
- Landing pages
- Qualification criteria
- Handover process
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05
Steering
Monthly review along the chain from impression to proposal. We optimise for qualified conversations and pipeline, not click prices.
- Monthly report with recommendations
- Metrics up to the proposal stage
- Quarterly re-planning
05 · Metrics
How progress is measured.
| Stage | Metric | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Demand creation | Reach and engagement in target accounts | Meaningful in combination with later stages |
| Research | Returning visitors from target accounts | Early indicator of emerging demand |
| Active search | Enquiries with clear purchase intent | Most important short-term metric |
| Qualification | Share of enquiries accepted by sales | Shows whether the right companies are being reached |
| Pipeline | Number and value of proposals triggered | The actual proof |
| Closing | Order value per channel over 6 to 12 months | Measurable with a delay, but the most robust figure |
The full chain can only be evaluated with a connected CRM. See Revenue Operations & Intelligence.
06 · Services in detail
Individual services within this discipline.
These services have their own page because clients often ask for them specifically.
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Google Ads
Search campaigns for capital goods with precise keywords, rigorous exclusions and matching landing pages.
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LinkedIn Ads
Campaigns for long buying cycles that reach the entire buying committee over months.
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Account-Based Marketing
Coordinated engagement of defined target accounts across marketing and sales, from selection to meeting.
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B2B Lead Generation
Demand, qualification and handover as one process, measured by proposals rather than form fills.
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Outbound Systems
Account research, lead sourcing and compliant outreach via LinkedIn, phone and email.
Frequently asked
Frequently asked questions about Demand Generation.
Do you sell leads?
How quickly does demand generation work?
What media budget makes sense?
When is account-based marketing worthwhile?
Do you do cold email outreach?
Do you also create the content?
Further reading
Relevant next steps.
Working together
Let's talk about where you stand.
In a 30-minute first conversation we identify where your growth is stuck and whether working together makes sense. You then get an honest view of a realistic scope.