The 3 pillars to building a demand generation engine that drives bigger growth

You know that buying behaviors are changing, but are you aligning your sales and marketing strategies to meet prospects with the targeted content they want for a self-service experience? If not, remember that your competition is. And they’re just a click away.

Listen to this episode to learn about both practical and revelatory ways to build a demand generation engine. Like this one: Narrowing your audience and targeting your content to a specific market or company type can help improve your market traction. 

Hear why it’s time to ramp up your demand generation efforts and how expert guidance can help set you on the path quicker. It’s how we help clients every day at GrowthMode Marketing.

00:20 Why creating a demand generation engine is so important for growth
01:53 The 3 pillars of demand generation: Strategy, content and distribution
03:23 Strategy: A hyper-focused plan for content and distribution
05:33 Content: The foundation for creating demand
06:23 Distribution: How to show up in the right place to reach your buyers
07:26 Target your ideal customer 
11:04Differentiate from competitors with a unique point of view
15:03 Create a content marketing + demand generation plan 
18:58 How to create and repurpose content for different channels
21:11 Why you should test and learn how your content performs 
21:58 Optimize distribution efforts for content performance and audience engagement
23:17 Why you need a full funnel digital footprint
24:36 How content works to guide prospects through awareness and consideration
27:33 Build an audience with managed channels like podcasts, webinars and email campaigns
29:40 Expand your digital footprint with partnerships and third party channels
33:59 How to manage your demand generation program for continuous success

The Demand Gen Fix is hosted by Deanna Shimota, CEO of GrowthMode Marketing. Listen to our team of marketing experts and featured guests drop knowledge on how HR tech companies can maximize the success of their marketing for today’s B2B prospects. Learn more at www.growthmodemarketing.com.

Transcript

(00:00:01) - Hey, everybody, it's Jenni from GrowthMode Marketing. You're listening to The Demand Gen Fix, the podcast where our team of GrowthModers and our guests discuss the ins and outs of demand generation, and why we believe it's the key to long term sustainable growth, especially in the high tech industry.

(00:00:20) - Hi everybody, it's Deanna.

(00:00:23) - And Greg here.

(00:00:24) - So, it's a new year and a new opportunity to hit those growth goals. If you didn't hit them last year, let's pretend that didn't happen. We're moving forward and it's going to be a different year, right? But I also want to say don't rely on last year's marketing tactics to get you to the next level if what you did last year did not get you there, so if you haven't built a true demand generation engine, it's probably time to look at how your marketing can evolve to support the way that today's prospects learn about new solution.

(00:00:55) - Yeah, everybody does their research online before they even bother to call you, so you have to make sure that you have all the questions answered before they even pick up a phone, or fill out a form to try and connect with you.

(00:01:06) - So yes, it's time to start creating demand in the market for your technology, and it's time to ramp up those growth efforts. So, what exactly goes into a demand generation engine, right? Greg, let's walk the listeners through the unique way that GrowthMode Marketing thinks about this, because I think there are 47 different ways that people define what demand generation even is. And we've obviously put a lot of thought into this, and built out the process of how we build an engine with our clients. And so, it's a bit unique compared to how some others may think about it. It's a good approach that we take. It's an effective approach that we take. So, let's talk about what that entails.

(00:01:53) - Build it out with basically three pillars for the demand generation engine, the first being strategy, and then content, and then distribution. Some people wouldn't necessarily use the terms that we use, but, you know, strategy everybody uses, like that's the key. You start with a good map before you can get to your destination.

(00:02:13) - Absolutely.

(00:02:14) - And I think when you say, oh, there's three pillars to a demand generation engine, it's strategy, content and distribution. Sounds really simple, right? There's obviously a lot more to it. Like you said, strategy. Everyone knows what strategy is, but what do we mean by that? Content, well content is content right? Like I'm producing content, therefore I must be doing a demand generation engine and that's not necessarily the case, and we'll explain what goes into that. And then the distribution, I think that's the one where people are like, I don't even know if she felt what you really mean by that. Maybe it's self-explanatory, but I think with distribution, the high level, and we'll get into more detail on this as we go further into this conversation, but it's like, how do you get all that great content that you just created out in front of the prospects and the buyers and your clients? And distribution is really that kind of tactical piece to say, okay, we're doing this marketing program, and this marketing program, and this one taking an omnichannel approach to show up all the places that our buyers are.

(00:03:18) - That's the key, right? So, I guess we could probably just dig right into these and just start going in some detail.

(00:03:23) - Yeah, let's do it, so let's talk about strategy. And maybe we talk about it really high level just to give you, like the you know, here's the key takeaways from this, but then we can really, like, go back to them and dig in deeply, I think. So, if we start with strategy I mean this is where you should get hyper focused and lay out a plan of action. I like to say it's the compass that provides direction for every decision around the content in the distribution.

(00:03:53) - If you skip this piece, then you're going to lack the focus of the plan, right? The plan of action. It's going to help you break through the clutter in this crowded space.

(00:04:04) - There are a lot of companies, surprisingly, out there that they do skip the strategy, or they halfhearted do the strategy, or they might do a strategy and then they ultimately, like, put it aside, forget about it and run with their marketing.

(00:04:18) - And that's where the random acts of marketing happen, is didn't stay on task. So we look at the strategy is like, okay, this is your blueprint for success. You got to stick to it. You got to regularly visit it and do a gut check to say, are we sticking to the strategy, or are we getting off track and doing random acts of marketing here? So, the strategy is really important. Please don't skip the strategy. If you think you have your strategy really well mapped out and you do awesome. Sometimes we talk to organizations where they think that they've really taken their strategy far, and we look at it and we're like, it needs some tweaking. There's an issue here and here, and to really get hyper focused we need to narrow in on them.

(00:05:02) - Yeah, next is the content part. That's the fun part right? Everybody likes the creating the content part. You need to have that strong, focused content. That's the foundation of the demand generation engine, but you have to be hyper focused and you can't be everything to everyone.

(00:05:16) - That's something that comes out of your strategy and the research behind the strategy that helps you to get that focused message, so you can tell a consistent story to a really specific audience, and then tell them the similar story, or the same story repeatedly.

(00:05:33) - Yeah, if marketing were that easy, right? Like you just put it in front of them once and all of a sudden they have brand recognition, and they remember, and they can recall it, right? You need to tell that consistent story over, and over, and over, because at the end of the day, that repetition is what builds that memory for people about your brand. And then, of course, you know, we've got the distribution and that is really about showing up wherever your prospects show up, and this is how we get the content out there. So, it doesn't mean go do every single marketing tactic that's out there and show up literally everywhere. It's really about where are your ideal customer profile companies hanging out, and where are they consuming information? And so, there's no silver bullet.

(00:06:23) - I get asked all the time, what are the marketing tactics that are working? What should we absolutely be doing? Should we be doing paid ads? Should we be doing email campaigns? Should we be doing XYZ? And the answer is not the same for everybody. There is no silver bullet, unfortunately. I wish there was. It would make our jobs a lot easier. Ultimately, it's about being able to show up where a specific audience isn't. That audience varies from company to company, and customer profile to customer profile.

(00:06:55) - Yeah, so like we said before, you always have to start with the strategy, and one of the places we like to start is with an ideal customer profile to really define the audience that you're going after. And this is not your total addressable market. It's not just any HR tech buyer that's out there. You need to focus on a specific audience. Maybe it's a specific market, or a specific type of company that you go after, so that every single piece of your content and even your distribution, right, is going to be built around this.

(00:07:26) - Like, where is this person getting their information, or what's important to them? So, you really need to work on defining who that ideal customer profile is.

(00:07:35) - Yeah, and when it comes to defining, it's really about narrowing down your audience. And a lot of company leaders and marketers, there's a knee jerk reaction like, whoa, don't box us in. We have conversations with clients where we will talk about a specific industry, a specific problem, a specific scenario within their company that really makes them an ideal customer profile. And the pushback is, well, yeah, that makes sense, but we also sell to companies like this, this and this. And like, I just had a conversation this morning with a very smart marketing person that was doing a lot of great work, but he was like, we need to sell into the eight different industries. And I'm like, that's a lot. What if you leaned into one and you did it really well? And the common response is the one I got from him.

(00:08:33) - He's like, well, but we have clients in all of these and we do it really well. And our solution really is vendor or industry agnostic. We can sell into them. And I'm like, yep, you can, but you have to look at it from the perspective of, this is a really crowded market in HR technology. There are over 21,000 HR technology solutions all out there competing for the attention of these buyers. If you go out there and you're trying to be everything to everyone, your messaging is going to be much more broader. So, for example, I talked to CEOs all the time on our HR Tech Spotlight podcast and we'll ask them, who's your ideal customer? What type of companies do you work with? It's not uncommon to hear a response somewhere along the lines of, we can work with organizations from 50 employees to 50,000 employees. That's very broad, and if you step back and think about it from a messaging standpoint, I don't think it should be the same for the company that has 50 employees, as it is for the company that has 50,000 employees.

(00:09:46) - Most organizations, they would come back and say, well, we're not talking to them the same way. And it's like, okay, but your homepage or your website, right? Like, you're trying to appeal to both audiences here and it just becomes that, like, if you're everything to everyone, you resonate with no one. And that's why the ideal customer profile is important, because the reality is the more narrow you can get, the next steps in filling out that demand generation engine get hyper focused, and the results are much better because now, instead of being one of ten vendors that sound the same, you're the one vendor out of ten that's actually speaking the language and demonstrating that I understand your unique pain points for the scenario that you're in, for the industry, that you're in, for the organizational structure that you have, like all those things that you define, now you start building content and engine around that to attract more of those type of companies.

(00:10:51) - Yeah, absolutely. That really ties in with the next point, right? Which is we always push to get a unique point of view, which is something about your company that makes it unique, or an issue, or something like that that you can wrap your arms around.

(00:11:04) - Nobody else is doing it. What makes you unique because you're talking about something different? Software product might not be drastically different than somebody else's, but you're making a stand about something, or certain pain points that no one else is talking about.

(00:11:18) - Exactly, and when we developed our unique point of view framework, it came out of the reality that a lot of times when you take technology solutions, whether it's in the HR tech space, or other technology spaces, that oftentimes, in the eyes of the prospect, or the buyer have no meaningful differentiation between one another. They're looking at and they're like, yep, the user interface is different. I like this one better. This one’s prettier. This one's more cost effective, but typically a lot of the functionality is very similar. And what we found was happening is organizations, when they couldn't identify like a truly unique, meaningful differentiation in the market, that they started to rely on differentiators that were things like, our exceptional customer service; our smooth, and easy, and quick implementation process; our ability to integrate with multiple other platforms; our flexibility within our solution to customize it right? Like, these are all things you've probably heard before across the market.

(00:12:29) - You've maybe even used them for your own organization,and then at the end of the day, those aren't differentiators. In the eyes of the buyer, those are table stakes. They expect you to have good customer service. That's not a differentiator. And even if when you're hard hearts, you believe, like, we truly have exceptional people; we truly have great customer experience and customer service, and we know that our competitor is terrible at it because we win all kinds of clients from them who come to us and say their customer service was terrible, that's why we're switching is still not a differentiator. You have to be able to build a really good story to show it's different than what they're seeing out in the market. So, that's how we came about developing that unique point of view, because we're, like, there's got to be a way when your product isn't substantially differentiated enough from other competition to be able to break through that clutter and stand out in the crowd. And so maybe the unique point of view, the name could be tweaked a bit.

(00:13:31) - That's what we call it, but ultimately what it is, is it's this framework for the story you're going to read throughout all of your content that will resonate with the right HR tech buyers. And the way that we approach it is we focus on, okay, you narrow it down to that ideal customer profile. And now that we have a very specific description of here's who we're going after, we now look at what are the pain points that are very specific to that ideal customer profile. At the end of the day, I want to say it ends up being what, a 10 to 15 page document where we've got these pillars that we have identified of, like, these are overarching major pains for this type of buyer. And then we keep going deeper and deeper into that pain until it's really finite. The next step we end up tying it back to their solution to say, okay, you have pain x, y, and z. Here's how our solution solves them, and what comes out of that is a unique point of view framework that then sets the stage to be able to go and create that content marketing and demand generation plan.

(00:14:46) - And now from a content perspective, it's got a really good map of the type of topics and the type of pain points and how it all ties back to your technology solution. to be able to go craft the content around it.

(00:15:03) - It really helps you to build that story, right, around your solution and help you to stand out among all the competitors, and even the whole HR tech space, right? Because your budget is your budget, and you're competing against all these other customers, budget is their budget, right? So, they might need other solutions and then they have to weigh, oh, we're going to take this this year, but then we're going to push that one off until next year. It's not just crowded in the actual buyers, it's crowded in how many solutions are out there and how many things people need. That's good there; prioritize yours, so if you're really addressing their needs with the content, and the strategy, and you're going to bubble up to the top.

(00:15:39) - So, that content marketing and demand generation plan, the content plan, it's how will you tell your story.

(00:15:45) - So, you stand out in the crowded HR space. You're defining the key topics that will resonate with those best fit HR tech buyers, targeting your ideal customer profile and only your ideal customer profile. I say that because I have the question of couldn't we do this for ten different ideal customer profiles and just do it really well? It's like, sure you can, but can you realistically execute this on ten all at once? Like we tend to recommend, but like, let's pick one, put a flag in the sand, lean into it, do it really well, grow that customer base, show that it truly works to focus your marketing, and then replicate that because you now have a model of how to get really good with one set of customers, you can do that again, and again, and again with the different ideal customer profiles that you might define for your organization. And then of course, you got the demand generation plan piece of that whole plan, and that is how will you get content in front of your ideal customer profile.

(00:16:53) - So, it's really about mapping out what tactics will be used and where will that content be placed. And I think it's really important to talk to your actual customers, and those type of companies that fit that ideal customer profile to actually ask them, where do you go to consume information? What voices in the industry do you listen to? How do you research things? Because that'll give you a lot of great information to come back and create that demand generation plan to say, oh, you know what? They listen to these three podcasts. How do we get involved with those podcasts? And they read these publications and they show up at these events, and you basically shape your strategy around what they're telling you; where they're hanging out. And so you start to appear like you are showing up everywhere because you're showing up everywhere. They're hanging out and they're going to research things.

(00:17:53) - So, content is kind of the fun stuff for most people, right? It's at the core of your demand generation engine. It's kind of where sometimes people get, I don't want to say stuck, but they get excited with creating things.

(00:18:04) - So, then they start creating things, and then you got to make sure that it ties back to the strategy. Like we said in the beginning, sometimes you just got to put the brakes on and say, hold on a second, are we doing content for content's sake, or are we actually following the strategy? It's got to be optimized by sweating the content. We have to break it out. The way we look at it is we start with a cornerstone piece, a big content piece, maybe a case study or something like that, and then you break that out into smaller cobblestone pieces. So, you would have a similar story, but maybe just a chunk of it told from a slightly different angle. It addresses a different pain point for your ICP. Work through the content like that. So, you're kind of maximizing the main piece that you've created and then breaking it into little smaller, more digestible chunks.

(00:18:50) - Yeah, and when you're thinking about cornerstone content. Yeah, you can create a really robust case study and slice and dice it,

(00:18:57) - but an easier example to envision how that would work could be like, let's say you work with Forrester and you create a 25 page research report that has really good information in it. Well, now that you've got that report, don't just put it up on your website, put a landing page there, make them fill out a form and then they get it. You're not going to get the full value out of it if you do that and topic for a different day, but we would argue like, don't put the form on it because you don't want to prevent people from consuming the content that you want them to consume, right? But you take that research report knowing not everybody is interested in reading a 25 page report. Some people, they're really analytical. They like to go really deep. They have the time to do it. They're going to love that, but then you've got to think about the other people who are like, just give me the cliff note version, right? Or tell me some tidbits here and there and spoon feed it to them.

(00:19:55) - So with that cornerstone piece in this case, the research report, what you do with that is you take it and you slice and dice it up into those cobblestones. And like you were saying, Greg, those are bite sized pieces of content, so that research report now becomes 20, 30 pieces of content that you use across different channels. So, you might be able to create many case studies out of that report and a ton of social media pieces. And you can create a couple of webinars out of it, and maybe some podcast episodes. And you get the point is, you're looking at it and saying, how else do we use this content? So, instead of going and having to create like a unique piece of content every time you're looking at it and saying, how do we leverage what we've already created to get more mileage out of it? Because people consume content different ways. And again, going back to that repetition, how do you tell the story over, and over, and over? You repackage and repurpose content to tell the story until it absorbs with an individual. You have to perform iterative testing on it.

(00:21:10) - Don't just create content pieces and let them be like, look at how they're performing for you. Find out what works. Find out what type of content seems to get a lot of legs, and what topics people seem really interested in, and do more of that, and find out what doesn't work as well. Like, if there's different types of content you're creating, and let's say you've got an Instagram account. Nobody's looking at the Instagram account. Stop wasting time and redirect those content efforts to something that is working, and do less of the things that don't seem to resonate as well from a topic perspective and from a content type perspective.

(00:21:57) - And same with distribution, right? That's what you were touching on a little bit with the Instagram comment. If that avenue; that method of distributing it isn't working, don't do that anymore. Because other people “are” doing it doesn't necessarily mean it's the right thing to do for you, so make a good, logical decision of what content you're going to do and where you can distribute.

(00:22:17) - Yeah, you know, and that's a good point because I think there is a lot of marketing that happens simply because like, oh, I see our competitors are doing a lot on social media, therefore we need to do a lot on social media. But here's the thing just because they're doing it doesn't mean it's impactful for them. And if you're seeing like you're trying it and you're doing it and it's not impactful for you, who cares if your competitors doing it, stop doing it. Reinvest in something that is going to be more meaningful. Another thing to look at from the content perspective is how do you build out a full funnel digital footprint. So, one of the things I strongly believe, with the way that today's B2B buyers go through their decision process and make purchases, means you need to make your digital footprint, i.e. your marketing that is out there that people can find when they go on the internet; your best sales rep. And what I mean by that, it's not replacing your sales team.

(00:23:16) - Obviously, you still need them, but today's prospects are engaging much, much, much later in their purchase decision process with a sales rep. They're making up to 80% of that purchase decision before they're willing to have that conversation, which means your digital footprint, i.e. your marketing, your content that they can find has to get them to that 80% of yes, I want to work with this organization, and that's really important. From a full funnel digital footprint standpoint, what you're doing is you're looking at it and saying, how do we create content for each stage of the prospect funnel? Some companies are really good at making top of funnel content, so they have lots of brand awareness, but then you go to their site and you can't find out enough information for that consideration stage, or that decision stage, and that's a mistake. And some organizations are the opposite, where they've got really good case studies, and ROI calculators, and things that if you're actively considering and making a decision on the budget, they have those tools, but they don't have any content that supports the awareness stage.

(00:24:31) - And quite frankly, if they don't know you exist, they're not gonna buy from you.

(00:24:35) - The three legged stool, the next leg is distribution, which ties in with what the. I was just saying about creating your whole digital platform, right? Because part of that is distributing your content. So, through your website, that's like your digital storefront, like, the go to. Eventually people are going to end up there; they're going to get driven there. So you have to go deep there with that content, and for all of those different stages of the funnel, they're getting to your website. They're sort of aware of you, but you still need that kind of top level information that can get them a little bit to know who you are, what you're about, and then create some of that other content that's in the middle of the funnel, and then obviously the bottom of the funnel stuff, so that you have basically a pillar based marketing strategy. So, all your content is interconnected and linked up so that you have a plan of where these prospects can go as they're learning more about you and getting to the next stage.

(00:25:24) - Yeah, it's all about creating content like go deep with the content, provide the answers that people seek, regardless of which stage in the decision process they're at, right? Like, not everyone that comes to your site is ready to make a decision. So, you've got to have that awareness stage content. And not everyone that comes to your site is there to read your blog or listen to your podcast. They're there to do serious research about your product, and understanding if it will fit their needs. So, create that deep level of content. And going back to what you said, Gary, creating a pillar based marketing strategy. It's really about creating an interlinked network of related content and content loops. And the reason they say that, if you think about it, if someone's coming to your site, it's one thing if they're like, I want to know specifically about this technology, they come straight to your site, they go in and they dig in it. Most people that come to your site probably aren't that specific, right? Like, they might have did a Google search.

(00:26:25) - They might have typed in some questions, but they land on your site, and the goal is to have such great content on your site that is interlinked, so they read an article. They get done with it. They see at the bottom. You might also be interested in and oh hey, there's more content on this topic. They start clicking on that and instead of going back to Google, back to the search results and clicking on the next one, you're going deeper and deeper into the content on your site. That's a good thing. That's how you create that brand awareness, credibility, and trust, and ultimately that affinity for your brand and your technology. So, that's important. That's how you need to think about your website. Next, you need to think about manage channels, and when we're talking demand generation, it's important to recognize that 95%, or more of companies are not in market at any given time. And if you only focus on marketing to people that are in market right now, you're ignoring the vast majority of companies who, by the way, might be in market at some point,

(00:27:32) - and they made 80% of that purchase decision before they reached out. So, if you weren't in front of them, huge missed opportunity, you're gonna have a hard time hitting your growth targets. But with managed channels, the goal is to build an audience that continues to follow your content and engage. So, you're not necessarily like, well, we're doing a podcast so that we can uncover buyer intent and close those individuals, right? Like, that's not how you think about managed channels. How do you think about managed channels is we're doing a podcast targeted to our ideal customer profile, and we're going out there and promoting it and repurposing all of that content into cobblestones to expand the reach of what we're talking about, because we want to build an audience who wants to listen to it; who wants to consume that stuff and continues to come back to engage again and again with you. These are the channels that you control what you publish, when you publish and how often you publish that content. And I use podcasting as an example, because it's a really easy one to wrap your arms around and thinking about building an audience,

(00:28:45) - but there are so many different ways to build an audience. It doesn't have to be a podcast. You can do webinar series, you can have email campaigns that regularly go out and you build up that subscriber list. You can have webinar series, and the list goes on and on on the different things that you could potentially do with that.

(00:29:03) - And the last is, uh, third party channels, right? In the early days, I worked at an agency that was also a PR agency. So, the third party channel always reminds me a little bit of PR. Like, I wasn't the PR guy, but I could see how the PR folks worked it back then. Finding all these different places where your prospects are going to be, just like they would try to find the editors that were going to carry the story that got to the readers that they wanted to reach. So, it's always interesting because there's so many ways to crack this nut, and think about, like, oh, we could partner with this blogger or this influencer, or we could maybe become a guest on this podcast.

(00:29:41) - But at the end of the day, it's all of these things. It's how do you expand your digital footprint beyond your own content? What kind of partnerships can you create to build credibility and more awareness, and tap into relevant audiences that are interested in what you have to say?

(00:29:55) - Yeah, and that's the key. There is tapping into relevant existing audiences. So, it takes time to build up your own audience that wants to consume your content. Take a podcast series, for example. You don't start putting out episodes and the people just flock to you. Unless you're a celebrity podcaster and have that platform that already exists. For most B2B companies, when you're putting a podcast out, it's a slow burn. It's going to take a while to build up that audience, and to build up interest and awareness that that even exists, but if you tap into those third party channels, what you're doing is you're saying, okay, they have the audience I want. That's where my people, my companies that I want to target are hanging out.

(00:30:41) - How do I tap into that so that I can grow the brand awareness for my organization in my technology, and ultimately drive them back to your managed channels and turn them into your own audience. And so to your point, Greg, yes, you can look at influencers in that industry, and podcasts, and publications. There's a lot of different things from a third party channel that you can tap into, whether it's technology review sites, publications, industry events. Like, there's so much. The key is to show up where your ideal customer profile companies are hanging out and building that credibility. And some of these things you may be able to do for low or no cost. If you are going to be a guest on a podcast, for example, there's no cost to that. I'm sure there are some out there that there are costs for, in fact, I know there are, but a lot of them, they're looking for guests. They're not going to ask you to pay. A lot of opportunities out there are pay to play, though, even ones where you think maybe there wasn't.

(00:31:48) - There's ways to work around being able to tap into those third party audiences. It's not just a pure PR pitch where you're going, and pitching these articles and hoping they publish it. Sometimes you get the article placed because you're paid for it. Sometimes that influencer in the industry wrote about your product, or wrote an article on a topic that's really relevant for you, and just having to use your product as an example because they got paid for it. But that's one of the things you need to look at, like as you build out your digital footprint. Those three things: your website managed channel, third party channels, and collectively, that's how you show up where your prospects are going to learn about things, and show up in front of them, and build out that digital footprint to become your best sales rep, to help get those prospects to that 80%, so they finally are willing to have that conversation with your sales reps.

(00:32:49) - Again, the whole thing goes back to that strategy, and the ICP, and the unique point of view in your content, and demand gen plan, like, all those things are so intimately tied together that, even distribution, you have to know who the person is and what they want to know about in order to find the right distribution channels.

(00:33:07) - It's an old analogy, right? But it's really like fishing. If you're fishing for a bass, you're going to use a different type of bait, or lure than you are if you're going to fish for a muskie, or something like that, and you're going to be in a different part of the lake. And you're going to have a different fishing rod, and the list goes on and on. And it's the same thing with this. Like, you have to have the strategy of how you're going after that thing, and then you have to have the right tools for it, and then you have to do it at the right time. Most of the time you're learning and testing it, and then going back and trying it again. I'm not even a fisherman. I live in Minnesota now.

(00:33:42) - Right? Anyone in Minnesota will get that analogy. I think the thing to take away from this all, like, okay, strategy, content distribution, piece of cake, right? Not so much. There's a lot to do to build out that demand generation engine,

(00:33:58) - but once you've built this all up, it's important to know like you cannot set it and forget it. This isn't a project that you just do and you move on to the next thing. It's a strategy that you've got to fully embrace and commit to for the long term, and you've got to constantly feed the engine. So great, you've built up a whole repertoire of third party channels where you've gotten content placed, or you've participated in podcasts, and Twitter, X, conversations, and all those things. That fades after a while, right? Like, you got to keep doing those kinds of things. You've got to keep putting new content on your website. You've got to keep putting out content to continue to build and engage that audience through managed channels. And you've got to continue to get your name out there in those third party channels. I think the key takeaway is that the key to increasing demand in the market is to build out a highly focused target and large digital footprint, and that is done with a strong demand generation strategy and ongoing execution.

(00:35:05) - And we hope that our conversation today helps you frame up how to think about it, how you build that bigger demand in the market for your tech solution, and you can run with it. And if you find you need help, the team at GrowthMode Marketing is ready and waiting to assist you.

(00:35:21) - Or go fishing.

(00:35:23) - Or go fishing. Love it.

(00:35:28) - Thanks for joining us on The Demand Gen Fix, a podcast for HR tech workers brought to you by GrowthMode Marketing. I sure hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to subscribe for more perspectives on demand generation and B2B marketing strategies. Plus, give us a like. Tell your friends. We'll see you next time.