Demand Generation
Demand Generation

Demand Generation That Drives Real Interest

Demand gen is about more than collecting clicks—it’s about creating real interest in what you offer. For startups, it means building awareness, educating your audience, and turning curiosity into action.

This page walks you through the basics so you can start building campaigns that actually bring in leads—and help your business grow.

    Demand Generation That Drives Real Interest

    Demand gen is about more than collecting clicks—it’s about creating real interest in what you offer. For startups, it means building awareness, educating your audience, and turning curiosity into action.

    This page walks you through the basics so you can start building campaigns that actually bring in leads—and help your business grow.

      Tips for developing your startup’s demand generation strategy

      (Click linked headings for guidance)
      • Know Your Audience
        Start by deeply understanding your target audience—their needs, pain points, preferences, and buying behavior. This knowledge forms the foundation of your strategy.
      • Customer Segmentation
        Segment your audience based on relevant criteria, such as demographics, behavior, and purchase history. This allows for more personalized and effective marketing efforts.
      • Content Development
        Create valuable, educational, and engaging content that aligns with the interests and challenges of your target audience. Content can include blog posts, eBooks, webinars, videos, and more.
      • SEO and Content Marketing
        Optimize your content for search engines to increase organic traffic. Regularly publish high-quality content that addresses specific keywords relevant to your industry.
      • Social Media Engagement
        Leverage social media platforms to engage with your audience. Share content, participate in discussions, and build relationships with your followers.
      • Email Marketing
        Develop targeted email campaigns to nurture leads and keep your audience informed. Personalize your messages and use segmentation to send relevant content.
      • Paid Advertising
        Use paid advertising channels like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn Ads to reach your audience quickly. Set clear objectives and budgets for paid campaigns.
      • Lead Generation
        Implement lead generation strategies such as gated content, landing pages, and lead magnets to capture contact information and build your email list.
      • Marketing Automation
        Utilize marketing automation tools to streamline lead nurturing processes, send personalized content, and track customer interactions.
      • Website Optimization
        Ensure your website is user-friendly, mobile-responsive, and optimized for conversions. Create clear calls-to-action (CTAs) to guide visitors.
      • A/B Testing
        Continuously test and optimize your marketing efforts, including email subject lines, landing page designs, and ad copy. A/B testing helps you improve results.
      • Analytics and Metrics
        Track and analyze key metrics, such as website traffic, conversion rates, email open rates, and ROI. Use data to refine your startup’s demand generation strategy.
      • Sales Alignment
        Collaborate closely with your sales team to ensure seamless lead handoff and alignment on target customer profiles and messaging.
      • Budget Allocation
        Allocate your marketing budget wisely, considering the channels and tactics that yield the best results for your target audience.
      • Legal Compliance
        Ensure that your startup’s demand generation practices comply with relevant regulations, including data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR) and advertising standards.
      • Adaptability
        Be prepared to adjust your startup’s demand generation strategy as market conditions, customer behaviors, and industry trends evolve.

      Tips for developing your startup’s demand generation strategy

      (Click linked headings for guidance)

      Know Your Audience
      Start by deeply understanding your target audience—their needs, pain points, preferences, and buying behavior. This knowledge forms the foundation of your strategy.

      Customer Segmentation
      Segment your audience based on relevant criteria, such as demographics, behavior, and purchase history. This allows for more personalized and effective marketing efforts.

      Content Development
      Create valuable, educational, and engaging content that aligns with the interests and challenges of your target audience. Content can include blog posts, eBooks, webinars, videos, and more.

      SEO and Content Marketing
      Optimize your content for search engines to increase organic traffic. Regularly publish high-quality content that addresses specific keywords relevant to your industry.

      Social Media Engagement
      Leverage social media platforms to engage with your audience. Share content, participate in discussions, and build relationships with your followers.

      Email Marketing
      Develop targeted email campaigns to nurture leads and keep your audience informed. Personalize your messages and use segmentation to send relevant content.

      Paid Advertising
      Use paid advertising channels like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or LinkedIn Ads to reach your audience quickly. Set clear objectives and budgets for paid campaigns.

      Lead Generation
      Implement lead generation strategies such as gated content, landing pages, and lead magnets to capture contact information and build your email list.

      Marketing Automation
      Utilize marketing automation tools to streamline lead nurturing processes, send personalized content, and track customer interactions.

      Website Optimization
      Ensure your website is user-friendly, mobile-responsive, and optimized for conversions. Create clear calls-to-action (CTAs) to guide visitors.

      A/B Testing
      Continuously test and optimize your marketing efforts, including email subject lines, landing page designs, and ad copy. A/B testing helps you improve results.

      Analytics and Metrics
      Track and analyze key metrics, such as website traffic, conversion rates, email open rates, and ROI. Use data to refine your startup’s demand generation strategy.

      Sales Alignment
      Collaborate closely with your sales team to ensure seamless lead handoff and alignment on target customer profiles and messaging.

      Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
      Implement a CRM system to manage and track leads, prospects, and customer interactions. This helps you maintain organized and up-to-date records.

      Budget Allocation
      Allocate your marketing budget wisely, considering the channels and tactics that yield the best results for your target audience.

      Legal Compliance
      Ensure that your startup’s demand generation practices comply with relevant regulations, including data privacy laws (e.g., GDPR) and advertising standards.

      Adaptability
      Be prepared to adjust your startup’s demand generation strategy as market conditions, customer behaviors, and industry trends evolve.

      A good demand gen strategy takes planning, smart use of data, and the flexibility to adjust as you go. Get that mix right, and you’ll consistently attract the right people, keep them engaged, and help your business grow.

      A good demand gen strategy takes planning, smart use of data, and the flexibility to adjust as you go. Get that mix right, and you’ll consistently attract the right people, keep them engaged, and help your business grow.

      Basic Resources

      Helpful Links to Kick Off Your Demand Strategy

      Basic Resources

      Helpful Links to Kick Off Your Demand Strategy

      Social Lead Gen

      How to Generate Leads on Social Media - From HubSpot

      Lead Gen vs. Demand Gen

      How to Pivot From Lead Gen to Demand Gen: a CMO's Guide - From Cognism

      Lead Gen

      A Beginner’s Guide to Lead Generation - From Get Response

      Lead Magnets

      What is a Lead Magnet? 20 Lead Magnet Ideas and Examples [+ Step-by-Step] - From HubSpot

      Customer Acquisition

      What Is Customer Acquisition? How to Measure + Strategies - From HubSpot

      Lead Gen

      Five Steps to Generating & Converting More Leads - From Convince & Convert

      Lead Gen Intro

      An Introduction to Lead Generation - From HubSpot

      Lead Gen Tools

      The Top 22 Best Lead Generation Tools of 2025 - From Salesforce

      Lead Gen Funnel

      How to build a lead generation funnel - From Zapier

      Lead Gen Ideas

      Creative Lead Generation Ideas to Try - From HubSpot

      Advanced Resources

      Further develop your startup’s demand generation strategy

      Advanced Resources

      Further develop your startup’s demand generation strategy

      Bow Tie Funnel

      The Bow Tie Funnel: How to Optimize the Sales & Marketing Funnel for Growth - From One IMS

      Lead Gen with AI

      The AI Advantage: Three Ways to Supercharge Lead Generation, According to ZoomInfo - From HubSpot

      Conversion Killers

      10 Conversion Killers & How to Fight Them - From GetResponse

      Inbound Lead Gen

      Lead Generation Strategies to Start Attracting Business Leads the Inbound Way - From HubSpot

      Demand Gen Campaigns

      11 best practices for creating a high-ROI demand generation campaign - From User Gems

      Lead Gen

      Why B2B Lead Generation Is Dying A Slow Death (And What To Do About It) - From Forbes

      Lead Gen Plugins

      The 18 Best Lead Generation Plugins to Add to Your WordPress Site - From HubSpot

      CTA

      The Call-To-Action: Six quick checklists to help the busy marketer improve conversion rate - From MedLabs

      Growth Marketing

      What Growth Marketing Really Means (+22 Strategies to Do It Right) - From WordStream

      Website Traffic

      33 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website - From HubSpot

      SaaS Funnel

      The B2B SaaS Sales Funnel: How Your Brand Can Optimize It to Boost Conversions - From HubSpot

      Email Lead Acquisition

      Email Capture: 7 Surefire Ways to Acquire Email Leads [+Tools] - From HubSpot

      Lead Conversion

      Seven Tried-And-Tested Ways To Convert More Leads To Boost Your Business - From Entrepreneur

      Lead Gen Guide

      How to Turn Your Website Into a Lead Generation Machine - From Salesforce

      Lead Qualification

      How to 8x increase your sales with automated lead qualification - From Get Response

      Lead Gen Slowdown

      How businesses can get leads during and after a big slowdown - From News4SA

      Software Leads

      How to Generate Leads For Software Companies - From saleshandy

      Forms

      Designing Lead Gen Forms that Actually Generate Leads - From CallRail

      CTA

      49 Call-to-Action Examples You Can't Help But Click - From HubSpot

      CRO

      20 Ways to Effectively Increase Your Conversion Rate - From HubSpot

      Conversion Funnels

      How Conversion Funnels Create a Better Customer Journey + How to Optimize Yours - From HubSpot

      Lead Gen with QR Codes

      12 Ways to Drive Leads With QR Codes (& Without Coinbase's Super Bowl Budget) - From HubSpot

      Squeeze Pages

      How to Create Squeeze Pages That Generate Tons of Leads - From HubSpot

      Lead Management

      What is lead management and how do you do it right? - From Zapier

      Marketing Funnel

      How to Boost Profits by Optimizing Your Marketing Funnel - From Harvest

      CRO Tools

      28 Conversion Rate Optimization Tools for Research, Feedback, Analytics & More - From HubSpot

      CTA Tools

      How to Write a Killer Call to Action: 8 Tips & Ideas - from Wordstream

      CRO

      Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): 8 Ways To Get Started - From HubSpot

      Crafting a CTA

      50 Effective “CTAs” (Calls to Action): Tips and Examples - from Grammarly

      Lead Gen

      5 Keys to Capturing Qualified Leads, Closing Deals, and More - From Sendoso

      Lead Magnets

      The 26 Best Lead Magnets Working - From BirdSong

      Conversion Rate

      20 Ways to Effectively Increase Your Conversion Rate - From HubSpot

      Quality Leads

      Leading The Pack: How Brands Drive Quality Leads - From MediaPost

      Lead Scoring & Analysis

      How to analyze and score leads with OpenAI's GPT and Zapier - From Zapier

      Demand Gen Strategies

      Demand Generation Marketing: Pros and Cons of Each Strategy - From Mailchimp

      Lead Gen Mistakes

      10 Lead Generation Mistakes Marketers Need to Avoid - From HubSpot

      Third-Party Demand Gen

      How to Troubleshoot Your Third-Party Demand Gen Program - From CMS Wire

      CRO

      Conversion Marketing: Breaking Down The Art and Science Behind It - From VWO Blog

      Lead Magnets

      What are lead magnets and why do they matter? - From Emma

      Conversion Funnels

      How Conversion Funnels Create a Better Customer Journey + How to Optimize Yours - From HubSpot

      Valuable tools that can help you develop your startup’s demand generation program

      Valuable tools that can help you develop your startup’s demand generation program

      HubSpot

      HubSpot offers a comprehensive inbound marketing and CRM platform with tools for creating, automating, and measuring demand generation campaigns.

      ActiveCampaign

      ActiveCampaign offers marketing automation and email marketing tools to create personalized demand generation campaigns and lead scoring.

      Unbounce

      Unbounce is another landing page builder that offers A/B testing and optimization features for demand generation landing pages.

      LinkedIn Ads

      LinkedIn Ads enables B2B marketers to create demand generation campaigns targeted at a professional audience.

      Quora Ads

      Quora Ads can be used for demand generation by promoting content and engaging with a highly targeted audience.

      Adobe Engage (formerly Marketo)

      Marketo, part of Adobe, provides marketing automation tools to create and manage demand generation campaigns, lead nurturing, and customer engagement.

      Brevo (formerly sendinblue)

      Brevo provides email marketing and marketing automation tools suitable for creating demand generation campaigns and lead nurturing.

      Zapier

      Zapier is an automation tool that can connect various apps and platforms to streamline and automate your demand generation processes.

      Typeform

      Typeform makes it easy for startups to create interactive forms, surveys, and quizzes that look great and are fun to fill out. It’s a simple way to collect feedback, capture leads, or learn more about your audience.

      Salesforce B2B Marketing Automation (formerly Pardot)

      Pardot, also part of Salesforce, is a B2B marketing automation platform that enables you to create targeted demand generation campaigns and track results.

      Drip

      Drip is an e-commerce CRM platform with automation features designed for creating personalized demand generation campaigns and workflows.

      Google Ads

      Google Ads can be used for paid advertising campaigns to drive demand and traffic to your website or landing pages.

      SEMrush

      SEMrush offers SEO and competitor analysis tools that can inform your demand generation strategy and improve online visibility.

      Mailchimp

      Mailchimp is an email marketing platform with automation features that can be used to create and execute demand generation email campaigns.

      Leadpages

      Leadpages is a landing page builder that can help you create high-converting landing pages for demand generation campaigns.

      Facebook Ads Manager

      Facebook Ads Manager allows you to create and manage demand generation campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.

      Apollo.io

      Apollo.io helps businesses find leads and automate outreach.

      Don’t let marketing slow you down—or drive you nuts. If you’re stuck, swamped, or just tired of Googling everything, Mathlete Marketing has your back.

      Don’t let marketing slow you down—or drive you nuts. If you’re stuck, swamped, or just tired of Googling everything, Mathlete Marketing has your back.