4 Powerful Demand Generation Strategies to warm up target accounts
In this article, you’ll find:
- What demand generation is and why it is important
- The two things you need to do before you start with demand generation marketing
- Four strategies you can use to warm up target accounts
Imagine you’re going on a first date, and you ask the person to marry you right away. Sounds crazy, right? Demand Generation Marketing (or just demand gen) works exactly the same way. Pushing your product or service to your target group without creating a relationship, is not the best idea. Even when you believe your service is the most amazing solution out there. It’s not you who has to believe it, it’s your target customer.
Demand gen is more than just getting more leads. The goal is to create interest and increase excitement about your company. It’s about getting high-quality leads that are a fan of your brand and eventually generate high revenue. It takes more time to create those relationships, but the ROI is much higher. That’s where it differs from pure lead generation. With lead gen, you gather as many leads as possible in the hope that a few generate some revenue.
People become interested in your product, not because of that one ad that showed how great your service is, but because they believe your product is the best possible solution to their current challenge.
But how do you create demand? Don’t worry, we got you. In this article, we’ll share four strategies you can use to engage and warm up your target accounts.
Before you start…
- Create a list of target accounts
Make a list of the companies you want to work with. These are your wish list companies. Open your LinkedIn and start researching these companies. Who are the decision-makers? Who are the people who have the power to hire you? Those are either target accounts or the people you want to talk to. Using the Sales Navigator is a must to do this properly. Once you get that list, you can go to step two: setting some clear goals.
- Set up clear goals
By setting goals for your demand gen strategies, you create specific campaigns. Some examples of goals are:
- Connect with strategic accounts on LinkedIn and establish relationships by engaging with their posts. PRO TIP: check Meet Alfred to connect with relevant profiles while you sleep.
- Showcase your niche expertise by creating thought leadership content
- Develop a recognizable brand with a clear voice and mission
- Create demand for your product or service
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Four strategies you can use to engage and warm-up accounts
Collaborate with your target accounts
Include your target accounts in the content creation process. By doing this, you’ll be able to build a relationship and learn more about them and their challenges. This will allow you to gather some unique insights for your content in the future.
Here are some ideas:
- Invite target accounts to your podcast
- Feature them or get a quote for a blog post
- Run market research with them, publish reports, etc.. Curation is a great way to give experts a voice.
- Host an educational webinar together.
- …
Organize events
A diversified event strategy is key to a good demand gen plan. We’re talking about online and offline events. What’s important is that you include these three types of events:
- A lot of educational webinars target a specific vertical or role
- A few webinars to educate target accounts on solving a common problem
- Real-life micro-events with thought leaders to meet, connect and build relationships with target accounts
Engage on social
We already mentioned this but leaving engaging comments on your target accounts’ LinkedIn posts is an essential start when building relationships. Don’t just write “good post”, “I agree with you,” or “interesting thoughts”, but bring value when commenting. You can share your view on the topic and ask a question to the author. This sparks a conversation that you can continue in the DMs later on.
Important here is that you treat your personal LinkedIn profile as another key piece in your demand gen strategy. Thousands of people will see your profile when you become active on LinkedIn. People will look at your profile to decide if they want to accept your connection request, follow you — or consider working with you. You need to treat your profile as a high-converting landing page. It should convey your positioning and value proposition, share social proof, demonstrate what you can accomplish for your prospects, and call them to action.
Create awareness and demand gen ads
The goal of advertising in demand gen marketing is to create awareness and spark interest.
Some ideas for demand gen ads:
- Detailed case studies focusing on the challenges of your target accounts
- Webinars that solve a pain point of your target account
- A niche thought leadership piece
Conclusion
These are four strategies you can use to create demand and generate high-quality leads. Of course, there are more things that you can do. But if you already start with these, you’re off to a great start!
Do you want to know more about demand gen? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
