Are there specific channels you would consider fundamental to a successful Demand Generation strategy?
The one channel I would say is fundamental is SEO. Aside from SEO, there are too many variables to classify a channel as fundamental (e.g., business objectives, budgets, etc.).
From my experience, it's imperative to have a testing mindset for demand generation. If you view demand gen from that lens, you too would agree that it is more impactful to test channels based on your goals and the problems you are solving for your customers. This will then illustrate what channels are more impactful for your business and a successful demand generation strategy.
Specifically focusing on “foundational” channels, I would recommend three: SEO, email, and CRO. Depending on the business, there may be adjustments to this, but the channels I outlined below are applicable across the board.
Search engine optimization (SEO). Your SEO strategy is for playing the long game. You may be able to gain some quick wins depending on where your website is from an organic perspective, but it’s an investment in future wins. Produce content that adds value and is written for the users who would consume it - not just for the purpose of ranking. Write content in service of your customers and potential customers.
Email. Email is often underrated, but it is foundational to a demand generation strategy. Be sure the emails you send are valuable to the recipient. This branches out to lifecycle marketing motions, but email is the one tactic that I would say is a must.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO). I’m a firm believer in website testing. This may take the form of A/B testing or multivariate testing. Preferably this is done with a testing tool that can help you do smarter testing.
Sure there are other channels such as paid search, ABM, and out-of-home to name a few, but I wouldn’t consider those required or foundational. All other channels outside of SEO, email, and CRO would be additive depending on the demand gen strategy; they build upon the foundation you have established.
This is a great question - however, there's no one-single channel - maybe other than your website - that is critical towards the success of a demand gen strategy. Each campaign and audience is different - sometimes Facebook is a cash cow, sometimes it's a waste of money. Same with LinkedIn. Paid Search is generally effective, but can also be expensive depending on your budget and goals.
At the end of the day, there are only so many levers to pull - however, the one that should be consistent in a successful campaign is good strategy (knowing your audience intimately), and having powerful and differentiated messaging supported by strong and valuable content.
I have lengthen explanation in the other questions digging into each channel and the importance of it. For the sake of time, here are the channels that are critical to demand gen:
Organic/web
Paid digital
Email
Events
Webinar
Direct Mail
Field events
CxO & Top Accounts
When creating a go-to-market strategy, first follow the data to nail down the bread-and-butter channels that produce the results needed. From there, back out of your goals (ex: ARR through leads) to understand how much investment (whether time or money) you need to make in order to hit your goals with those alone.
The second bucket is experimentation! While knowing your mature channels that have been optimized to generate ARR is important - diversification is just as vital. You never know when a disruption will occur or the business will change which requires demand generation marketers to always be experimenting. I set aside time and money every quarter to test new vendors, channels, etc. in order to always be learning. This will expose new channels to drive ARR and make you less reliant on what 'has always worked'.
All that to say - I have lived the start up life where we don't have channel performance data to go off since everything is brand new! If you are at a start up or a business that recently pivoted strategy, not having any data to know 'what works' is often the reality so just test, test, test and get scrappy. Watch the performance - pour gasoline on what is working and pivot away quickly from what is not.
The channels that are 'fundamental' really depend on the business and company goals, but I'd say across from companies of all sizes I've worked at I've always driven impact with email, face-to-face events, organic (SEO) and webinars. I have worked at companies where paid search is king and others where we couldn't crack the code for the business model / audience. Depending on the business goals, we can't forget about key awareness digital channels like audio, CTV, display, paid social and other aspects of OOH.
The mix truly depends on company goals, the industry, target audience, etc.
Paid search
Paid social
Content syndication
Sponsored events
Partner co-marketing
SEO
Top Demand Generation Mentors
