Demand Generation Strategies: Biggest Shifts Happening in Marketing Strategy
If we learned anything from 2020, it’s that anything can happen in the world at any time. As a marketer, being flexible and adapting to the ever-changing world as we know it will be your greatest strength. What worked in terms of marketing strategy before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is old news. Even further, what may have been relevant three or even six months ago might no longer be a strategy that works today, right here and now.
Our world is shifting fast. As we move into 2021, we want to be mindful of the biggest shifts in marketing, to monitor how we’re adapting and maintaining relevancy as we fight to compete in our respective markets.
Although proactive planning is important, an ever-changing environment can’t support a 12-month plan. At SmartBug®, our teams focus on strategic plans that are flexible and reach no more than three months into the future for that specific reason.
The Secret Marketing Sauce
You’re probably wondering, “What do I need to know to get started on the right foot this year?” I’ll let you in on a little secret … there’s no secret sauce in the world of marketing. There are, however, trends we’re seeing in the industry that we recommend your team adapt to right now.
As marketers, we spend lots of time educating ourselves, adapting, analyzing (often overthinking), and predicting behavior to hopefully drum up buzz for our brands. We don’t always come out on top—failure is inevitable. But maintaining relevancy in the market means staying on top of strategies that have been tried and tested.
One thing we do know is that, as marketers, generating that “buzz” starts with demand generation. Here are a few demand generation strategies for 2021 that your team needs to be sure they’re paying attention to.
Demand Generation Strategies for 2021 You Need Right Now
You might first be thinking, well, what is “demand generation” marketing? Demand generation marketing is when a company excites customers about its product or service. It generates a “buzz” through the use of various programs and strategies to raise awareness, with the goal of generating new relationships with potential customers.
Demand generation doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a long-term strategy. Inbound marketing is just one of the methodologies that fit into this model. Although inbound marketing is an essential part of demand generation and something you should already be doing for your business—it’s in some ways “old news.”
This blog is dedicated to newcomers in the realm of marketing and focused on how your team needs to catch up! Here are just a few ideas to turn your attention to in the near future.
Account-based marketing is the new B2B.
As a marketer, you’ve probably heard the term account-based marketing (ABM) for some time now, but like many marketers, are simply focused on the idea of full steam ahead, and haven’t stopped to smell the ABM flowers.
I recently began reading Terminus’s ABM is B2B, a book dedicated to explaining how the trend of account-based marketing is, in fact, business to business (B2B). This trend is a fundamental shift in how we’re generating leads and buzz for our brand through account-based marketing efforts. By tossing out the old funnel and focusing on this new tried-and-true strategy, you’ll be able to grow your business through driving qualified leads through a means of specific marketing strategies focused on 1:1 tactics that avoid that one-size-fits-all approach.
Terminus, one of the many partners SmartBug works with, is an end-to-end, account-based marketing technology platform that allows B2B marketers and sales professionals to amplify their ABM marketing. As leaders in the ABM industry, they use this book to highlight the ways the marketing funnel as we once knew it is gone. Instead, the new focus of your marketing efforts should be the ABM funnel.
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