“How do I generate more qualified leads?”
This is often the very first question I hear from founders and their investors. And often marketers are all too happy to oblige with lots of ways to generate demand (and spend money).
Don’t get me wrong — qualified leads are hella important when you’re building your business. But when you ask this question before you’ve really done your homework, you’ve got the makings of sadness, frustration, and wasted dollars.
To build demand, first you need to really (really really) understand your market. Sounds obvious, right? But too many organizations skip their vegetables and go right to dessert. It’s temporarily satisfying (Look! We’re “doing* marketing now!”), but ultimately it’s empty calories.
Before putting in place your demand generation plan, you’ve gotta have a very strong thesis on three things.
Customer Pain — What specifically is the problem your prospect wants to solve? Who in the organization is affected? What are the consequences of not solving it? Are they annoying? Or intolerable? Are there financial consequences? Whose budget do those hit? Who is responsible for solving it? Who will be a hero when it’s solved? And so on.
Competitive Alternatives — If they don’t go with your solution, what will they do? Nothing? Adjust to a manual process? Buy another solution? What are the honest pros and cons of these alternatives? You must be clear-eyed here. And don’t be the guy who says, “we’re the only ones doing what we do; there are no alternatives.” There are always alternatives.
Unique Differentiation — What makes your solution so special? How important is your specialness in their world? Are you truly unique? How sustainable is your advantage? What would your competitors say about your advantage.
Clear, data-backed answers to the above questions will have a massive impact on your the ROI of your marketing investments. Without them, you’re shooting your arrows (dollars) at the target blindfolded.