In the field of marketing, many people often confuse lead generation with demand generation, but the difference has a huge impact on business growth and market expansion. Mastering the latter can be the driving force behind lasting success.
The recently concluded B2B Marketing Unplugged event, hosted by ETBrandEquity.com, brought together industry leaders to decipher how companies can master demand generation in the world of B2B marketing. This session was joined by his CMO of Zoom, Debjani Gupta. Nitika Das, Director and Head of Marketing and Communications, Dassault Systèmes. Sudha Shankar, Senior Director of Marketing, Epsilon. Vaishali B. Shivshankar, Head of Marketing for F5 India and his SAARC. Sumit Sethi, Head of Revenue, Times Internet, moderated the session.
At the beginning of the session, Mr. Shankar drew a definitive line between lead generation and demand generation, noting that unlike lead generation, demand generation requires marketers to actively promote the brand. I emphasized that no. “Demand generation is about creating category leadership, not just brand awareness. It's about establishing thought leadership that resonates with consumers and leaves a lasting mark in their minds,” she says. said.
Shankar also cited a recent example, noting that the search volume for the term Gen AI used to be 100-150 searches per month. After ChatGPT was released, Gen AI's search volume skyrocketed to 100,000 searches per month. She believes this exemplifies how brands can create a category, build demand and establish thought leadership.
As Shivshankar emphasized, content is the key to creating demand even amidst the cacophony of advertising. “All content created must resonate with your target audience and be in line with market trends. Continuous evaluation and course correction is necessary to ensure relevance and effectiveness. Shivshankar further emphasized that the impact of leveraging influencers, especially customers and employees, is amplified to reinforce the intended message.
In a cluttered, noisy world, Das says, organizations are aligning their resources to deliver targeted, relevant messages to key prospects, rather than casting a wide net to reach as many prospects as possible. We are steering the direction towards distributing the following. She opined that trust plays an important role in the B2B space, as enterprise her solutions are important investments for brands. “Customers want a partner they value who can effectively address their needs. For our key accounts, we work closely with account directors to drive engagement and growth within each account. We envision a trajectory and plan a one-, three-, and five-year strategy,” she said.
Looking to the future, panelists shared insights on emerging trends poised to shape B2B demand generation. Mr. Gupta said AI and personalization will drive a paradigm shift. He added that as customers become more informed and insightful, personalized communication becomes paramount to ensure a seamless and engaging experience. “At Zoom, we have integrated an AI companion that can help marketers create content when intent is input,” he added.
Using sound and music is one of the surest ways to make an impact with your brand. This increases recall and differentiates your brand in a cluttered market.
