If you’re leading a B2B tech company, you’ve probably heard marketing teams throw around the terms demand generation and lead generation like they’re interchangeable. Spoiler: they’re not.
What Is Demand Generation in B2B Tech?
The Goal of Demand Generation
Demand generation is all about creating awareness and trust in your market – long before a prospect is ready to buy.
Think of it as warming up the room before you make your pitch. Demand gen activities educate, inform, and position your company as the go-to expert.
Common Demand Generation Tactics
- Ungated blogs, videos, and podcasts
- Webinars that teach (not pitch)
- SEO-driven content
- Social media thought leadership
- Brand campaigns
Example: One SaaS company ran educational webinars based on attendee feedback. This not only boosted engagement but also increased sales-accepted leads by 35% YoY.
What Is Lead Generation in B2B Tech?
The Goal of Lead Generation
If demand generation is about lighting the fire, lead generation is about capturing that heat and turning it into sales opportunities.
Common Lead Generation Tactics
- Gated content (eBooks, reports)
- Free trials and demos
- Paid ads with clear CTAs
- Targeted email campaigns
- Webinar registrations
Example: A tech firm used interactive webinars with strong calls-to-action to drive conversions. The result? A 300% increase in leads per webinar.
Demand Generation vs Lead Generation – Key Differences for CEOs
| Aspect | Demand Generation | Lead Generation |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Create awareness and trust | Convert interest into leads |
| Funnel | TOFU & early MOFU | MOFU & BOFU |
| Content | Ungated, value-first | Gated, transactional |
| KPIs | Website traffic, engagement | Leads, MQL-to-SQL conversion |
When to Focus on Demand Generation vs Lead Generation
When to Prioritize Demand Generation
- Entering a new market or building a category
- Long sales cycles or complex products
- Building brand credibility
When to Prioritize Lead Generation
- Strong existing market demand
- High traffic but low conversions
- Short-term pipeline goals
Pro Tip: The most successful B2B tech companies run both in tandem. One software company combined demand gen with lead gen, shortened its sales cycle by 10%, and saw a 12x ROI on pipeline.
How to Combine Demand Generation and Lead Generation for Maximum Growth
- Create demand with ungated content. Blogs, podcasts, and webinars that educate, not sell.
- Retarget engaged prospects with lead gen offers. Free trials, demos, or gated reports.
- Use data to align sales and marketing. Track how demand gen content feeds leads that actually convert.
- Repurpose content across the funnel. A whitepaper can be split into ungated blog posts (demand gen) and a gated report (lead gen).
- Measure both early and late-stage KPIs. Awareness first, revenue later.
The Bottom Line for B2B Tech CEOs
If you only invest in lead generation, you’ll burn through your audience. If you only run demand gen, you’ll build brand recognition without revenue.
The secret? Demand gen warms the market. Lead gen closes it. Together, they build predictable growth.
Stop asking “demand generation vs lead generation” as if you must pick one. The real question is: how do we make them work together?
Action Step for CEOs
- What are we doing to build demand (not just capture it)?
- How are we measuring the impact of demand gen on pipeline quality?
- Are we striking the right balance between brand-building and lead capture?
Your future pipeline depends on it.
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