Demand generation is the art of creating enough awareness and interest that your sales team has consistent pipeline. It's different from demand capture (retargeting someone searching for you) and different from ABM (targeting specific accounts).
Good demand gen creates awareness among your target buyer pool, positions your solution as relevant, and drives engagement from people not yet searching for you.
This guide covers the tools that work for B2B demand generation.
What Demand Generation Actually Means
Demand gen is top-of-funnel work. You're trying to:
- Create Awareness: Make sure buyers in your target market know you exist.
- Demonstrate Relevance: Show buyers that your solution addresses their problems.
- Generate Interest: Get people to engage with your content and learn more.
- Qualify Engagement: Determine which engaged prospects are worth sales attention.
Different tools serve different parts of this funnel. Learn how account-based marketing complements demand generation to build a complete GTM strategy.
Core Demand Gen Tool Categories
Marketing Automation Platforms
Purpose: Run email campaigns, nurture sequences, and lead scoring to drive engagement among known prospects.
Top Platforms:
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HubSpot ([pricing varies, check vendor website]annually): Best for mid-market. Integrated CRM + marketing makes it easy to run campaigns. Good for 500-5000 contact nurture.
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Marketo ([pricing varies, check vendor website]annually): Best for enterprise. Sophisticated workflows and segmentation for complex nurture campaigns at scale.
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Klaviyo ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Best for email-focused nurture. More sophisticated email than traditional marketing automation.
When to Use: You have a list of prospects (from content downloads, events, or sales outreach) and want to nurture them toward sales conversations.
Demand Capture and Website Personalization
Purpose: Identify anonymous visitors on your website, learn about them, and personalize their experience.
Top Platforms:
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Drift ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Live chat + chatbot to capture visitor intent. Best for real-time conversations.
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Clearbit ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Identify visiting companies. Enrich them with firmographic data. Feed into your marketing automation.
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Leadfeeder ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Track which companies are visiting your website. Alert sales to high-intent visitors.
When to Use: You want to identify and engage people already visiting your website, not waiting for them to fill out forms.
Intent Data and Audience Building
Purpose: Identify people in your market currently researching solutions like yours, then target them with campaigns.
Top Platforms:
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6sense ([pricing varies, check vendor website]annually): Predictive account scoring. Identify accounts in-market and likely to buy.
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Bombora ([pricing varies, check vendor website]annually): Intent data showing what topics accounts are researching. Use to time outreach.
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LinkedIn Learning: Find decision makers by title, company, and skills. Target them with LinkedIn ads.
When to Use: You want to focus demand gen on accounts currently in-market or actively researching, not the entire addressable market.
Content and Lead Capture
Purpose: Create valuable content and capture prospect information in exchange.
Top Platforms:
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HubSpot (included in marketing automation): Landing pages, forms, content management. Capture leads and route them to nurture.
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Unbounce ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Dedicated landing page builder with high conversion rates. Good for focused demand gen campaigns.
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ConvertKit ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Creator-first platform. Good if you're publishing content regularly and want to build audience.
When to Use: You're creating content (guides, webinars, reports) and want to capture lead information.
Paid Advertising (Demand Gen Angle)
Purpose: Pay to reach your target buyers with awareness and nurture messaging.
Top Platforms:
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LinkedIn Ads ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Target decision makers by title, company size, industry. Best for B2B awareness.
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Google Ads ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Keyword targeting and retargeting. Good if your market is searching for solutions.
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Facebook/Instagram Ads ([pricing varies, check vendor website]monthly): Audience targeting and lookalike audiences. Better for awareness than conversion.
When to Use: You want to reach your target buyer pool even if they're not searching for you yet.
Demand Gen Platform Comparison
| Platform | Category | Best For | Cost | Primary Function |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Marketing Automation | Mid-market | [pricing varies, check vendor website] | Email nurture + lead capture |
| Marketo | Marketing Automation | Enterprise | [pricing varies, check vendor website] | Complex email workflows |
| Drift | Website Engagement | Real-time capture | [pricing varies, check vendor website] | Live chat + bot |
| 6sense | Intent Data | Sales focus | [pricing varies, check vendor website] | Account scoring |
| Bombora | Intent Data | Buying signals | [pricing varies, check vendor website] | Intent data |
| Unbounce | Landing Pages | High conversion | [pricing varies, check vendor website] | Landing page creation |
| LinkedIn Ads | Paid Awareness | B2B targeting | [pricing varies, check vendor website] | Paid awareness |
Building a Demand Gen Engine
Effective demand gen combines multiple tools:
Awareness Layer: LinkedIn Ads, Google Ads, or content marketing to reach your target buyer pool.
Capture Layer: Website personalization (Clearbit, Drift), landing pages (HubSpot, Unbounce), and intent data (6sense, Bombora) to identify engaged prospects. Discover how website personalization drives demand gen results.
Nurture Layer: Marketing automation (HubSpot, Marketo) to move prospects toward sales conversations.
Sales Handoff: CRM integration to pass qualified prospects to sales at the right time.
Skip the manual work
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See the demo →Sample Demand Gen Stacks
Startup Demand Gen ([pricing varies, check vendor website]annually)
- HubSpot CRM + Marketing ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- Leadfeeder for intent ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- LinkedIn Ads ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
Total: [pricing varies, check vendor website]. Works for 1-2 marketers, 500-2000 nurture contacts, startup.
Mid-Market Demand Gen ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- HubSpot Marketing ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- Bombora for intent data ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- LinkedIn Ads ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- Unbounce for landing pages ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
Total: [pricing varies, check vendor website]. Works for 2-4 marketers, 2000-10000 nurture contacts.
Enterprise Demand Gen ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- Marketo for automation ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- 6sense for intent + account scoring ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- Clearbit for enrichment ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- LinkedIn Ads + Google Ads ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
- Unbounce for landing pages ([pricing varies, check vendor website])
Total: [pricing varies, check vendor website]. Works for 5+ marketers, 10000+ nurture contacts.
Demand Gen Best Practices
1. Define Your Target Buyer Profile
Who are you trying to reach? Title, company size, industry, role?
Example: VP of Marketing or CMO at 100-1000 person B2B SaaS companies in North America.
2. Map Out Your Buyer Journey
Where do your buyers discover you? What content do they consume? What pushes them toward sales conversations?
Example: They discover you through LinkedIn, read your comparison guides, download your buyer's guide, then engage with sales.
3. Create Content That Speaks to Each Stage
Awareness stage: Thought leadership, trend reports, industry benchmarks. (No pitching yet)
Consideration stage: Buyer's guides, feature comparisons, case studies. (Now you're pitching)
Decision stage: Pricing, case studies, ROI calculators. (Ready to buy)
4. Use Intent Data to Time Outreach
Don't just blast everyone equally. Use intent data (from Bombora, 6sense, or website behavior) to identify prospects showing buying signals. Prioritize these for immediate sales outreach. Learn more about what intent data is and how it works.
5. Segment and Personalize
Don't send everyone the same email. Segment by role, company size, industry, or engagement level. Personalize messaging accordingly.
6. Measure Demand Gen ROI
Track:
- Cost per lead (total demand gen spend / leads generated)
- Cost per SQL (total demand gen spend / sales-qualified leads)
- Conversion rates (% of leads becoming SQLs, % of SQLs becoming customers)
- Pipeline impact (demand gen attributed revenue / demand gen investment)
Common Demand Gen Mistakes
Treating all leads the same: High-intent leads from Bombora should be routed to sales immediately. Low-intent leads from content downloads should go into nurture sequences.
No segmentation: Sending the same email to VPs at 50-person startups and 5000-person enterprises kills conversion. Segment by company size, role, and intent.
Wrong channel focus: If your buyers hang out on LinkedIn, spending most budget on Google Ads is waste. Match spend to where your buyers are.
Measuring wrong metrics: Don't measure impressions or website visits. Measure cost per qualified lead and pipeline impact.
Ignoring content quality: Bad content kills demand gen. Invest in quality over volume.
Demand Gen Campaign Examples
Webinar Campaign
You host a webinar on a topic relevant to your buyer pool. Drive awareness through LinkedIn Ads, email to your list, and organic social. Capture attendee info in HubSpot. Nurture attendees toward sales conversations.
Thought Leadership Campaign
You publish original research your target buyers care about. Promote through LinkedIn, distribute via email, and gate the full report for lead capture. Use intent data to identify companies researching this topic and sell to them.
Retargeting Campaign
You track website visitors using Clearbit and feed company info into a retargeting campaign. You create targeted LinkedIn ads for visitors from your top 20 target companies, addressing their specific challenges.
Next Steps
Ready to build a demand gen engine?
- Define your target buyer profile
- Map out their buyer journey
- List the 3-5 content pieces you'll create
- Choose your tools (HubSpot for automation, Bombora or 6sense for intent)
- Set up your nurture sequences
- Launch your first awareness campaign (LinkedIn or content)
- Measure cost per lead and lead quality
- Optimize and scale
Book a Demand Generation Demo to discuss building your demand gen engine.
