What’s the Difference Between Revenue Generation and Demand Generation?

One of the biggest myths in marketing is that if you just bring in more leads, you’ll automatically grow your business and scale your revenue.

But that’s not true. Because the leads you need to bring in need to be warm leads, receptive and interested in what you have to share.

In other words, quality is more important than quantity.

And when it comes to bringing in qualified leads, both demand generation and revenue-based marketing are two ways to do just that. But which is better?

Demand Gen vs. Revenue Generation Marketing

As you already know, demand generation is all about making people aware of their pains so that they can then learn about your product or service as the solution to their problem. You want to create interest (and thus, demand) so that their curiosity is piqued enough to reach out and contact you to learn more.

Content marketing is an example of demand generation and can run the gamut from YouTube videos to podcasts to infographics and more. These pieces aren’t designed to sell but are rather designed to position your brand as a recognizable authority in your niche.

In this case, this content isn’t purely designed for revenue generation directly, because in order to generate revenue, you have to create demand. It’s important since it not only does that, but it also differentiates you from your competitors in a way that’s easily understandable to your target audience.

Revenue marketing, on the other hand, directly targets those customers that are ready to make a decision. It’s the next logical step after demand has been generated. The benefit of this approach is that it allows you to predict what your return will be.

This way, you’ll be able to see which of your marketing initiatives are giving you the best “bag for your buck” and make decisions that truly allow your business to grow and scale.

What Do Demand Gen and Revenue Marketing Have in Common?

There’s no either/or in demand gen and revenue marketing. And in a lot of areas, they overlap. Both of them have an innate understanding of customers and where they are in the overall sales funnel.

In addition, both of them are going to leverage a variety of inbound marketing methods to attract and convert customers, even though they approach it in different ways. In both cases, automation is often used to help alleviate the need to focus on more repetitive tasks (like moving customers from an email marketing campaign into a CRM) and allowing the team to focus more on those activities that will continue to grow your revenue streams.

What Do Demand Gen and Revenue Marketing Do Differently?

Although they have a lot in common, there are also some key differences. One of the biggest is focus. Demand starts when the customer is in the Awareness phase of the funnel whereas revenue generation gets them excited and engaged.

It’s also entirely possible that your demand gen and your revenue marketing will target entirely different platforms. And in doing so there will be different definitions on what constitutes a “lead”. Demand gen is designed to make the prospect aware of the issue and to seek out a solution. Leads at this point aren’t warm or receptive to your offer because they don’t know you exist. Revenue generation on the other hand is designed to capitalize on that interest and lead them to a solution.

Which is Better? Demand Generation or Revenue Marketing?

The truth is that one isn’t necessarily better than the other. Both are necessary in order to achieve your marketing goals and objectives, and both should be a part of your strategy. To learn more and start implementing proven steps to make both demand gen and revenue generation marketing work for you, reach out to the experts at Workdom today!