Demand Generation
Demand generation is the marketing strategy that creates awareness and interest in your product across the entire buyer journey — not just capturing existing demand (lead gen), but creating new demand. It encompasses brand awareness, content marketing, events, and nurturing programs designed to make prospects want your solution before they even start searching.
Here's the demand gen vs. lead gen distinction that matters: Lead gen captures people already searching for solutions. Demand gen creates the desire before they search.
If you're only doing lead gen, you're fishing in a pond that competitors already know about. Demand gen expands the pond — it's why prospects come to you first when they finally have budget.
The RevOps angle: demand gen programs are notoriously hard to attribute. Multi-touch attribution helps, but the real insight is tracking leading indicators: branded search volume, direct traffic, inbound quality, and 'how did you hear about us' responses. If your demand gen is working, prospects should arrive already knowing who you are and why you matter.
The mistake most companies make? Calling everything 'demand gen' when they're actually doing lead gen with extra steps.
Define ItOther Definitions
“Demand generation is a data-driven marketing strategy focused on driving awareness and interest in an organization's products and services throughout the entire buyer journey.”
“Demand generation is the umbrella of marketing programs that get customers excited about your company's product and services without trying to explicitly sell to them. Unlike lead generation, demand generation focuses on creating demand, not just capturing it.”
“Modern demand generation encompasses the full buyer's journey and focuses on creating demand at every stage — from initial awareness through consideration to decision — using integrated campaigns across channels.”
Demand generation is the full-funnel marketing strategy that creates and nurtures interest in your products throughout the buyer journey. Gartner emphasizes the data-driven, awareness-to-interest focus. HubSpot draws the critical distinction: demand gen creates demand, lead gen captures it. Forrester adds the journey perspective — demand gen works across all stages, not just top-of-funnel.
Key demand gen tactics include: content marketing (blogs, podcasts, webinars), brand awareness campaigns, community building, thought leadership, events and sponsorships, SEO for educational content, and account-based marketing (ABM) programs.
The measurement challenge: demand gen has longer attribution windows and more touch points than lead gen. Common metrics include branded search volume, direct traffic growth, content engagement, share of voice, and pipeline influenced by demand gen programs. RevOps teams often implement multi-touch attribution models to connect demand gen activities to revenue outcomes.
MistakesCommon Mistakes
Gating all content and calling it demand gen (that's lead gen)
Expecting immediate attribution — demand gen builds over quarters, not weeks
No differentiation between demand creation and demand capture metrics
Cutting demand gen budget during downturns, then wondering why pipeline dries up 6 months later
Treating brand and demand as separate — demand gen IS brand building with intent
Pipeline dependent on paid channels?
We help build demand gen engines that create organic inbound — so you're not buying every lead from Google.
Experience across
