Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation: What's the Difference?

Demand and lead generation are both vital tools in modern marketing for discovering new prospects. Even though it’s important to understand the differences between them, it’s more advantageous to grasp how they can complement each other for maximum results. In this article, we’ll explore the distinction between demand and lead generation, and how we can use them to drive customer-based growth in unique ways.

Grasping the Differences Between Demand Generation and Lead Generation

Demand generation aims to build brand awareness and authority with as many people as possible. Through this tool, you can reach audiences and build trust with prospects by positioning yourself as a thought-leader in your industry. Demand generation capture’s audiences’ attention by making them aware of a problem and educating them about how you can provide the solution. It attracts onlookers with free resources like blogs, articles, and webinars and gets them excited about what you have to offer.

Lead generation focuses on using demand to capture information on a more specific audience of qualified leads. This tool continues to nurture the target audience about the benefits and solutions you offer, differentiates you from competitors, gathers lead contact information, and converts potential buyers into customers. Lead generation typically uses gated content like white-papers, eBooks, survey reports, and landing pages with lead generation forms.

Which is Right for Your Business: Demand Generation or Lead Generation?

Now that we have a better understanding on what demand and lead generation mean, we can better decide which would be more beneficial for your business. We’ve broken down the goals and impacts of each below to make landing on a marketing strategy easier.