How to Conquer the Challenges of B2B Demand Generation

Author:	Dianne Kim
Published:	August 24, 2012
Ref. Number:	V0054
Pages:	8

In today’s Web 2.0 environment the B2B marketer must adopt a buyer-centric approach and engage with this new buyer on his terms to be successful. B2B marketers must first stop selling and instead, create engaging content that ultimately drives meaningful dialogue that is highly relevant and well-timed with respect to the customer’s stage in the buying cycle. They must also build an automation-driven, always-on marketing operation to constantly monitor and proactively manage leads through all stages of maturity. This two-pronged approach is a pre-requisite for an effective, scalable and repeatable modern B2B demand generation program.

Key Takeaways

B2B demand generation programs are failing as marketers rush to implement new technology but cling to their old-technology marketing strategies.
Marketers have a fundamental middle-of-the-funnel problem; they are better at generating awareness to fill the funnel and enabling the sales force at the bottom but sorely lack programs and tools to engage buyers in between.
Demand generation activities can no longer haphazardly touch buyers at the top and bottom of the funnel, ignoring the middle.
Marketers need to focus on the buyer, using buyer insights as the foundation to stop selling and start educating.

By adopting an operations mindset, demand generation becomes both scalable and repeatable. An operations mindset is a prerequisite for marketing automation. In this Viewpoint, Adam Needles, author of Balancing the Demand Equation: The Elements of a Successful, Modern B2B Demand Generation Model, provides a framework for building a more effective demand generation program.

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