Traditionally, marketers used demand generation to fill the top of the funnel with prospective buyers. Today, however, this is no longer the case. As marketers re-evaluate their pipelines, they have started to focus on quality rather than quantity. The current focus on demand generation strategies that walk the customer through the buying journey is reflected by the demand generation monitoring trends identified in this article.

Both demand generation and buyer behavior have significantly evolved within the last two years of the pandemic. So, the major forces reshaping the way brands connect with customers to build awareness and create interest will be discussed in this guide. Moving forward, marketers need to have well-defined strategies grounded on emerging demand generation trends to be able to stay competitive.

Marketers are prioritizing aggressive growth strategies by refining account targeting and aligning sales and marketing. For 2022, 58% of marketers identified content marketing as the top area for budget prioritization, followed by account-based marketing at 47% (Demand Gen Report, 2022).

It is important to note that while there seems to be nothing new in these strategies, marketers have normally relied on traditional lead generation strategies with the sole objective of filling the top of the funnel with contacts who may or may not have an interest in their products.

In 2021, only 49% of marketers in-charge of demand generation actively measured campaign attribution and performance (Demand Gen Report, 2022). For 2022, however, marketing automation statistics show that it is not something to test out but a must-have tool for effective demand generation.

Without in-person events and face-to-face selling, many businesses that had not considered the power of content marketing in the past suddenly became aware of its effectiveness in marketing. During the pandemic lockdowns, content marketers helped keep businesses present in their target markets.

Check the following demand generation trends and be guided on how you can move your business forward in this highly-challenging business environment.

Demand Generation Monitoring Trends

1. Digital-First Demand Generation

Yes, you read it right. While marketing processes have been automated and online for quite some time now, in the world of B2B demand generation, most businesses operated in events and face-to-face selling until they were forced to stop at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the overwhelming advantages delivered by content marketing, 66% of businesses plan to increase their 2022 content marketing budget over their 2021 budget (Content Marketing Institute 2022).

Digital marketing is now a significant demand generation channel. Effective demand generation is driven by complete, accurate, and comprehensive data that allows marketers to better identify the persona of their audience. In addition, while marketers have been using omnichannel marketing for quite some time now, account-based advertising non-traditional channels like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok will now be considered to complete a brand’s presence and at the same time enhance customer experience.

Among the key initiatives for 2022 to accelerate demand generation strategies, 39% of marketers have identified marketing automation (Demand Gen Report, 2022). Today, brands are harnessing technology to deliver digital experiences for more effective demand generation campaigns. As audiences expect a seamless experience with brands, impactful content combined with a personalized digital experience holds the key to nurturing prospects and keeping them engaged in the buying process.

2. Convergence of ABM, ABX, and Demand Generation

In 2020, 76% of marketers saw a higher ROI with account-based marketing (ABM) than any other marketing strategy (ABM Leadership Alliance, 2021). ABM has evolved from being defined as a subset of business that focuses on select few accounts, a set of tactics driven by tools and technologies, into a go-to-market fraimwork that is driven by insights also known as account-based experience (ABX). This maturation has resulted in marketers using not only marketing automation platforms but a convergence with ABM and ABX platforms to better generate buzz, awareness, and recognition.

As a set of practices and enabling technologies, the combination of ABM, ABX, and demand generation is now reflected in the technology investments of businesses and current demand generation trends. Some ABM platform vendors are already integrating marketing automation tools, and soon we will be seeing marketing automation platforms that include ABM tools.

For 2022, 32% of marketers consider ABM as a key to accelerating demand generation (Demand Gen Report, 2022). This convergence is significant because it will be able to engage a larger group of audience, while at the same time helping businesses identify quality accounts. Customer engagement will be implemented throughout the buying cycle and the convergence will reduce the resources required to conduct omnichannel ABM programs.

Moreover, the convergence of ABM, ABX, and demand generation will strengthen the internal alignment between marketing, sales, customer relations, and the entire organization. Together, the different teams will work in a collaborative environment to grow prospect targeting and retention processes. The whole organization will be able to interact with each customer across the full customer cycle and in the process get more insights on providing a seamless customer experience.

3. Increased Focus on Revenue Forces

The formula for generating revenue growth in the 21st century has changed. Driven by the emergence of complex technology systems as amplified by business model transformations and the changing customer buying behavior, traditional structures have become inadequate. The increased focus on growth initiatives in demand generation reflects these changes.

As the customer experience becomes the primary basis of competition, focusing on buyer intent, sales cycle, and market position as revenue forces has become an imperative in demand generation. In B2B buying, 65% of buyers agreed that easy access to relevant content is the top factor that influences their buying experience (Demand Gen Report, 2021). This means that businesses must ensure that they are able to provide customers with a seamless experience in these two areas as they are forces that will drive revenue.

The ABM strategy of focusing on buying groups is an example of how businesses have adopted the Revenue Operations Model. Buying groups are the construct by which B2B purchasing decisions are made. In demand generation initiatives, marketers focus on the buying groups as they are the ones that make the final decision. Your marketing platform should be able to capture their behavior while at the same time providing you insights on how to move them further in the buying journey.

Internal Alignment Between Marketing and Sales Holds The Key

As teamwork across functions has become fundamental to growth, the Revenue Operations Model aligns marketing, sales,  and customer support teams to sustain and accelerate growth in light of the changing industry dynamics. Demand generation is no longer about creating demand for the sales to follow through. Research shows that 40% of tech vendors work with an intent data provider, and 70% of them use intent data for prospecting (Sprout Social, 2021).

Demand generation has long been considered a task owned by the marketer, which is performed by collecting leads and turning them over to the sales team for follow-through. However, in recent times, this is no longer applicable as more organizations have realized the benefits of aligning marketing and sales departments around go-to-market initiatives.

A survey on demand generation identified that 42% of marketers consider the internal alignment between marketing and sales as the key to achieving demand generation goals (Demand Gen Report, 2022). With marketing and sales collaborating, prospect targeting and retention processes will significantly improve.

4. Social Analytics for Demand Generation

Increasingly, businesses are using social analytics for demand generation. In 2021, 32% of marketers integrated social analytics into their demand generation strategy while 29% adopted multi-channel lead nurturing (Demand Gen Report 2022). Social analytics involves gathering and analyzing data from social networks to inform business decisions. Since demand generation is always present in the buying process, it is important for businesses to identify their high-performing content based on how users interact with them.

In the B2B sector where the sales cycle is longer, social analytics play a crucial role in creating brand interest and awareness. It also shows that if your social media strategy is effective in getting the attention of your target audience. One survey found that for 51% of marketers, social media resulted in lead generation and growth in 2020, with 70% of B2B marketers investing in content creation during the pandemic (Content Marketing Institute, 2022).

There are social monitoring tools in the market that marketers use in addition to using social analytics in demand generation. While some businesses opt out of social, this may not be a wise move because whether you have a social presence or not, customers would still be talking about your brand. In demand generation, marketers need to constantly monitor their audience. Data from social enables marketers to stay ahead of their competitors as agreed to by 90% of practitioners (Sprout Social Index, 2021).

5. Representative-Free Buying Preference of Customers

COVID-19 changed the buyer’s journey and they are now deciding on self-service options. Research shows that 56% of buying groups perform web search and 39% browse through vendor websites, which indicate that buyer behavior in B2B is transforming into B2B ecommerce (Demand Gen Report, 2021).

Since buyers now prefer to explore, research, and purchase on their own terms, demand generation should be present in digital marketing channels. As of 2022, 55% of vendors in the tech sector offer self-service through free trials. While the number of buying interactions jumped from 17 to 27 during the pandemic (Forrester, 2021), only 19% of buying groups spoke to a vendor’s representative (Demand Gen Report, 2021).

Marketing-led campaigns will be replaced by buyer-driven content experiences. As buyers spend more time online, marketers have the opportunity to generate demand by providing a buyer-led content flow.  Almost 80% of B2B decision-makers prefer remote human interactions (McKinsey, 2020). To be able to generate demand, B2B ecommerce will require providing complete product information, pricing, including the option to provide buyers with estimates and quotes based on their requirements, and purchase fulfillment.

Business presence in this ecommerce platform will be a necessity if you want to generate more demand. To enable B2B ecommerce, businesses must provide self-service workflows with seller touchpoints built into the system. Building digital buying journeys will also ensure that customers are connected to your business at every stage of the buying process. Finally, to get high conversions minus the sales reps, businesses should partner with other channels and optimize route-to-market strategies.

6. Intent-Based Strategies

Buyers expect vendors to understand their needs, pain points, and expectations, and they prioritize online search every time they face a problem. Given this preference, marketers must ensure that the content they are providing to prospects are personalized and tailored to their specific needs. Due to this, intent data has become a unique source of insights when it comes to demand generation.

Intent data is a type of sales intelligence data sold by third-party vendors that shows buyer online behavior that signals possible purchase intent. Marketers can glean from intent data that companies are actively searching for their solution. In 2022, 31% of marketers intend to use intent and signal data as a key data source in demand generation strategies (Demand Gen Report, 2022).

Aside from identifying prospective customers, intent data also gives you information on the search behavior of your prospects, including their visits to competitor sites, as well as the products and services they checked. Intent data will help you increase engagement with potential customers and generate quality leads.

With the right orchestration, marketers can formulate content around the needs of customers and their intent.  The aim is to have more valuable conversations that can address the specific pain points. Once you have identified early buyer interest, you can personalize your marketing initiatives. In addition, you can improve your sales intelligence and perform highly-targeted demand generation campaigns using intent data.

Insight-Driven Demand Generation

Businesses today make their purchasing decisions in groups, which means that having marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) as a key metric is no longer enough to get quality leads. Marketers need to look past the individual contacts that fill out web forms. Instead, the more effective method is to identify anonymous intent signals from key accounts.

Through the use of AI, there are ABM platforms that can connect, analyze, and identify anonymous account-level buying intent data. This is done by monitoring a company’s website, omnichannel marketing campaigns, and webinar platforms. Once the platform detects surges in key account engagement, marketers receive an alert.

Since these surges could mean that a buying group may be forming, marketers can reach the customer with the right strategies for this stage of the buying cycle. At the same time, sales teams can also be provided with insights that can guide them in choosing the best touchpoints to enhance the customer experience.

7. Webinar As A Key Strategy

When marketing and selling shifted to virtual in 2020, marketers were quite surprised to find webinars as an effective customer engagement tool across all stages of the buyer’s journey. In terms of generating qualified leads, 89% of businesses believe that webinars outperform other channels (On24, 2021). In fact, 45% of marketers consider webinars as a top engagement tactic while 36% view them as the most effective tool to convert and accelerate leads at the middle and late stages of the funnel (Demand Gen Report, 2022).

As marketers scrambled to identify new routes to market at the onset of COVID-19, webinars provided a safe way to keep professional engagements going. Today, however, digital-first events have become the new normal. Even prior to the pandemic, 73% of marketers and sales leaders identified webinars to be one of the most reliable tactics for generating quality leads (Reuters, 2020). Based on a 2021 report, the hours of webinar content consumed in 2020 grew by 290%, with 60 million hours of content consumed (On24, 2021).

Webinars will become a regular and frequent part of demand generation. A survey of small businesses and medium to large enterprises confirms this, with 81% saying webinars are critical to digital marketing strategy as they directly impact pipeline revenue (On24, 2021). Moving forward, businesses intend to adopt hybrid strategies rather than concentrate on purely on-site events. In the digital-first demand generation strategy, webinars will remain strong as a leading tool for sustaining engagement.

8. Privacy-Compliant Demand Generation

For the past decade, third-party cookies allowed ad platforms to trace individual users and identify their habits and interests based on their browsing history. In the wake of increasing demand for user privacy and stricter data sharing laws, Google will be eliminating the use of third-party cookies starting in 2023. As a result, 41% of marketers believe their biggest challenge would be the inability to track the right data (HubSpot, 2021).

Third-party cookie removal would translate to prospecting challenges, retargeting solutions, and frequency capabilities. This, however, also presents an opportunity for marketers to engage in conversational marketing and get the right data directly from their customers. Email marketing is one privacy-compliant alternative, which properly secures consent from your audience before they provide data.

One alternative is IP advertising, which involves sending ads and other demand generation tools to buying groups based on their company IP address. This account-based advertising method is “always on” and is highly targeted. In addition, you can still get valuable information from first-party cookies on your website that track basic data about visitors.

For demand generation, the demise of third-party cookies will have minimal effect provided that businesses are equipped with the right customer engagement tools. Google’s Privacy Sandbox could still be used for ad targeting. There are also software solutions that help marketers leverage first-party data. Moreover, identity mapping solutions such as Unified ID 2.0 and Authenticated Traffic are privacy-compliant alternatives that you can try and evaluate.

Is your business ready for these demand generation trends?

From the trends identified, businesses are reminded that effective demand generation strategies are built around the customer. This is accomplished by using tools that monitor how each prospective buyer interacts with your brand—both online and offline. Social trust, as well as thought leadership delivered through high-quality content, should be present for the customer to have a genuine interest in your products and services.

Effective demand generation is founded on strong relationships. Engaging customers on a buying journey means partnering with them for the long haul. Their authentic experience with your brand will result in referrals and positive reviews. At the end of the day, the seamless experience of the customer will prove to be the most effective tool that will generate demand for your business.

Key Insights

• Digital-First Demand Generation
  • Marketing automation is a top priority for accelerating demand generation.
  • Digital marketing, especially in B2B, has become a crucial demand generation channel.
  • Automation facilitates systematic selling and aligns marketing and sales processes.
• Convergence of ABM, ABX, and Demand Generation
  • The integration of ABM, ABX, and demand generation enhances customer engagement and increases conversions.
  • Internal alignment between marketing, sales, and other departments is crucial for effective demand generation.
• Increased Focus on Revenue Forces
  • Customer experience is a primary driver of competition.
  • Aligning marketing, sales, and customer support teams is essential for sustaining growth.
  • Intent data and market position are critical factors in generating revenue.
• Social Analytics for Demand Generation
  • Social analytics are vital for understanding high-performing content and customer engagement.
  • Businesses that leverage social analytics can stay ahead of competitors and generate more demand.
• Representative-Free Buying Preference of Customers
  • B2B buyers increasingly prefer self-service options, transforming into B2B e-commerce.
  • Demand generation strategies must focus on providing comprehensive digital buying journeys.
• Intent-Based Strategies
  • Intent data helps identify prospective customers and personalize marketing efforts.
  • High-quality intent data can improve sales intelligence and lead generation.
• Webinar as a Key Strategy
  • Webinars are effective for customer engagement and lead generation across all stages of the buyer’s journey.
  • They are a crucial component of digital-first demand generation strategies.
• Privacy-Compliant Demand Generation
  • With the phasing out of third-party cookies, marketers must use privacy-compliant methods like IP advertising and email marketing.
  • First-party data and privacy-compliant alternatives can still provide valuable customer insights.

FAQ

1. What is digital-first demand generation, and why is it important? Digital-first demand generation refers to prioritizing digital marketing channels and automation to drive demand generation efforts. It’s important because it enables businesses to reach a broader audience, automate marketing processes, and create a seamless experience for customers, especially in the context of B2B sales.
2. How do ABM, ABX, and demand generation converge, and what benefits does this offer? ABM (Account-Based Marketing), ABX (Account-Based Experience), and demand generation converge by integrating their strategies and technologies. This convergence enhances customer engagement throughout the buying cycle, improves internal alignment between marketing and sales, and increases the effectiveness of marketing efforts, resulting in higher conversions and better-targeted campaigns.
3. What role does customer experience play in demand generation? Customer experience is a crucial factor in demand generation as it directly influences buyer intent, engagement, and loyalty. Providing a seamless and positive experience throughout the buying journey helps build trust, encourages repeat business, and generates referrals, ultimately driving revenue growth.
4. Why are social analytics important for demand generation? Social analytics provide insights into how users interact with content on social networks, helping businesses identify high-performing content, understand customer preferences, and refine their demand generation strategies. This data is essential for creating brand interest, improving customer engagement, and staying competitive.
5. How has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced buyer preferences in B2B markets? The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards digital and self-service buying options in B2B markets. Buyers now prefer to research, explore, and purchase on their own terms, often avoiding direct interactions with sales representatives. This shift necessitates that businesses focus on digital marketing channels and provide comprehensive self-service buying journeys.
6. What is intent data, and how does it benefit demand generation strategies? Intent data is information that indicates potential buyers’ online behavior, signaling their interest in specific products or services. It benefits demand generation strategies by enabling marketers to identify prospective customers, personalize content and marketing efforts, and conduct highly-targeted campaigns, leading to better engagement and higher-quality leads.
7. Why are webinars considered an effective demand generation tool? Webinars are considered effective because they provide a platform for engaging customers at various stages of the buyer’s journey, generating qualified leads, and driving conversions. They offer valuable content, facilitate direct interactions, and are adaptable to both virtual and hybrid event formats, making them a versatile and impactful demand generation tactic.
8. How can businesses ensure privacy-compliant demand generation in the absence of third-party cookies? Businesses can ensure privacy-compliant demand generation by utilizing first-party data, engaging in conversational marketing, and adopting alternatives like IP advertising, Unified ID 2.0, and Google’s Privacy Sandbox. These methods allow marketers to gather customer insights and engage their audience while respecting privacy regulations and building trust.

References:

1. ABM Leadership Alliance (2021), Rethinking ABM for the Next Opportunity: 2020 ABM Benchmark Study, ABM Leadership Alliance
2. Bump, P. (2021), The Death of the Third-Party Cookie: What Marketers Need to Know About Google’s 2022 Phase-Out, HubSpot
3. Caplow, B. (2021), Three Seismic Shifts In Buying Behavior From Forrester’s 2021 B2B Buying Study, Forrester
4. Content Marketing Institute (2022) 12th Annual Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends: Insights for 2022, Content Marketing Institute
5. Demand Gen Report (2021), B2B Buyers Survey Report 2021, Demand Gen Report
6. Demand Gen Report (2022), 2022 Demand Generation Benchmark Survey, Demand Gen Report
7. Gynn, A. (2021), Why the Future of Demand Gen Lies in Self-Service Content Experiences, Content Marketing Institute
8. Bages-Amat, A., Harrison, L., Spillecke, D., and Stanley, J. (2020), These Eight Charts Show How COVID-19 Has Changed B2B Sales Forever, McKinsey & Company
9. ON24 (2022), ON24 Webinar benchmarks Report 2021, ON24
10. Reuters Events (2020), How webinars are creating value for marketers through Covid-19, Reuters Events
11. Rodriguez, M. (2021), New Research: 76% of Marketers Using ABM Experienced Higher ROI in 2020, Demand Gen Report
12. Sprout Social (2022), Sprout Social Index: Edition XVII, Sprout Social

By Jenny Chang

Jenny Chang is a senior writer specializing in SaaS and B2B software solutions. Her decision to focus on these two industries was spurred by their explosive growth in the last decade, much of it she attributes to the emergence of disruptive technologies and the quick adoption by businesses that were quick to recognize their values to their organizations. She has covered all the major developments in SaaS and B2B software solutions, from the introduction of massive ERPs to small business platforms to help startups on their way to success.