Demand generation has been an integral part of marketing for a long time now.   But, over the years, the strategies have undergone a change. There are many new tactics and tools that have evolved.   In this post, we will talk about 4 old school demand generation tactics that you can still use and drive crazy results.  

Must Read: 9 demand generation books every marker should read

1. Email Blast to Cold emailing

On an average, I get 50 emails in a day. A few are relevant, but others are newsletters, promotional, social or direct emails. While I tend to ignore most of them (unless, of course, the subject line stood out), direct emails do catch my eye.   What I want to say is – direct emailing still works! However, the strategy has changed.  Earlier cold emailing meant email blast, which meant, sending the same one-size-fits-all email to every lead. This worked in because inboxes weren’t as flooded as today.   There is absolutely no doubt it is difficult to get attention to your email today and for this purpose, marketers have tweaked this strategy to be more targeted.   The traditional marketing funnel is now completely inverted and cold emailing starts with identifying target companies.

New cold emailing funnel

  For cold emailing to work for demand generation, you need to  

• Know everything about your audience
• The exact account you want to target
• Decision makers in the companies
• Pain points and challenges faced

  And, using all this information, write an email that resonates with your quality leads. The email is never about you, but them.   Why? Because –   Personalized emails improve CTR by an average of 14%. They increase conversions on average by 10%. Lets analyze one of the introductory emails that you can send for demand generation –   

Hey [name],   I hope that this email finds you well. I know you are busy, so I wont take up a lot of your time. The purpose of this email is to introduce myself, as I enjoy connecting with people who work in the same industry.   My company, XYZ Corporation, specializes in the production of widgets. I am a big supporter of your company and keep close tabs on all your latest news.  

 If you have the opportunity, don’t hesitate to reach out via email. Of course, you can also connect with me via Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.   

Thank you for taking the time to read my email. I hope we cross paths in the future!   

Cheers, Jane Doe XYZ Corporation    This is a purely relationship-building email and you can continue to nurture the relationship and push it forward as planned.

Must Read: 9 demand generation books every marker should read

2. Telemarketing

Maureen Beattie on Integrate confesses   Telemarketing was not always included in my arsenal, but proven success over recent years has turned me into a telemarketing supporter.  The power of conversation and human touch with the right call center can yield rewarding results.   She is not the only one.  According to research, one percent of cold calls ultimately convert into appointments. That said, a few other research shows that 78% percent of decision-makers have actually taken an appointment or attended an event because of a cold calling.  All this clearly shows that telemarketing might be an old demand generation strategy or technique, but it is not DEAD. That said, the discrepancy points out to the reason of why telemarketing does not fetch an impressive ROI for many – not many know how to work a telemarketing strategy effectively   Most of them dont understand the very basics –

• You need to follow up. 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up
• While you need a sales script to guide you on the call, it is best to avoid reading it out. Focus on having a conversation and learning about the prospect
• Follow up with emails, calls, send the required information and answer their queries. You NEED to nurture after telemarketing.

If you follow these three pointers, telemarketing will yield a positive ROI.  

3. Content Syndication

Content syndication is both an old as well as new demand generation technique.   One of the best ways to generate demand and keep prospects flowing is to work with third-party media partners that can syndicate (re-publish) your high performing content.   It did work in the earlier times, and it works now. What changed is the smartness of search engines. So, you may have issues relating to duplicate content or SERP ranking if you dont follow the best practices.   Whether you opt for free content syndication or paid services, always request your partner to use the rel=canonical tag. It basically informs Google where exactly original content is and help them rank the content accordingly.   NoIndex Tag – As the name suggests, this tag tells Google engine bots to NOT index the page. In short, this will remove the syndicated copy from search results and hence, your organic traffic will not be affected.   But, these could be difficult to agree on. In that case, you should almost always ask for a backlink.

Must Read: Demand Generation Books Every Marketing Expert Should Read

4. Blogging for the audience

Blogging wasn’t as popular as today, but it worked well in attracting leads from prospects. After all, search engines, back then, did not fetch millions of results for a single word.   And, even though, search engines throw millions of results at you today, blogging is still the most effective way to generate demand.   All you need to do is understand your audience and create content for them.   

AUDIENCE. AUDIENCE. AUDIENCE   You should continuously strive to know more and more about your target audience. Because of the difference between blog content that converts and one that doesn’t lie in relevancy to your audience.   The best way is to map your content on the buyer’s journey. You can make use of tools like Quora and Yahoo Answers to know exactly what your audience is talking about or want to know. Its also important to keep a record of client questions on forums and social platforms for your industry, communications to your sales department, as well as questions on customer feedback channels such as surveys and reviews.   There are 4 old school demand generation tactics that work REALLY well today.   Are you using them? What have been your results? We would love to hear from you.        

Must Read: Demand Generation Strategies Which Work!

Vikas Bhatt

Vikas Bhatt is the Co-Founder of ONLY B2B, a premium B2B lead generation company that specializes in helping businesses achieve their growth objectives through targeted marketing & sales campaigns. With 10+ years of experience in the industry, Vikas has a deep understanding of the challenges faced by businesses today and has developed a unique approach to lead generation that has helped clients across a range of industries around the globe. As a thought leader in the B2B marketing community, ONLY B2B specializes in demand generation, content syndication, database services and more.