Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation

Over the course of his career, Justin Bumann has employed multiple integrated marketing techniques. Justin Bumann draws on an in-depth knowledge of demand generation, as opposed to lead generation, and he leverages this knowledge to make strategic marketing decisions.

While demand generation and lead generation both work to increase a company's customer base, the way in which they go about doing so differs from the outset. The primary difference lies in each strategy's purpose. 

Demand generation aims to increase awareness of the company and interest in its services throughout the purchase life cycle. It includes content targeted at each stage of the buyer's decision-making process, beginning before the buyer has an interest in the product. By placing awareness of the product in the individual's mind, the business introduces itself as an authority that the buyer may remember when thinking about making a purchase.

The demand generation process continues as the business places targeted content before the consumer at each stage of purchase contemplation. Ideally, this process takes the buyer to an active purchase.

Lead generation, by contrast, aims to generate interest in and communication with the potential customer. Goals of such content include capturing shopper contact information and determining the shopper's level of interest, so as to target future outreach material. It tends to be a longer and more open-ended process as compared to demand generation, and its goal is to establish a relationship and loyalty rather than to drive a single sale.