How to develop a demand strategy

B2B marketing is evolving fast, and so are the expectations for demand generation. With ambitious goals, limited budgets, and an increasingly complex buyer journey, marketers must focus on strategies that deliver revenue and real business impact. Emerging tactics like AI-driven automation, first-party data strategies, and privacy-first marketing are reshaping the landscape. Marketers who leverage these advancements gain a competitive edge, making demand generation more efficient and impactful.

 

Elevate data:

Strategic targeting 

Anteriad’s data solutions take targeting beyond traditional segmentation. By integrating AI-driven intent monitoring, predictive analytics, and first-party data enrichment, Anteriad enables marketers to pinpoint high-value prospects who are actively in-market. Unlike legacy targeting methods that rely solely on demographics, Anteriad’s solutions analyze real-time behaviors, content consumption patterns, and engagement signals to drive precision targeting. Explore our B2B data solutions. 

 

Identify and target your audience

A strong demand strategy starts with understanding your ideal customer. Build precise audience segments using firmographic, technographic, and intent data to prioritize high-value accounts. 

• Firmographic & technographic Insights – Categorize companies by geography, industry, revenue, and technologies used to find those that best fit your solution. 
• Behavioral analysis – Study past interactions to identify common pain points and engagement patterns. 
• Segmentation strategies – Group potential customers based on shared attributes to tailor messaging effectively. 

 

Build your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) 

A well-defined ICP helps marketers focus on businesses most likely to benefit from and adopt their solutions. Include: 

• Company size, industry, and geographic factors 

• Technologies used and budgetary considerations 

• Buying behavior and engagement patterns 
  

 

Gather purchase intent data 

Intent data provides deep intelligence about your prospects, helping you focus on in-market buyers. No matter what you business sells, having intent signals about your audience will allow for more relevant, timeline communications and engagement. Strong intent data should reveal: 

• Content buyers consume (articles, downloads, webinars, etc.) 

• Topics researched and pain points addressed 

• Interest intensity to help you gauge buyer journey stage

• Account-level insights to identify multiple engaged stakeholders 

Explore more on intent-based targeting. 

 

Defining buying groups 

A demand strategy must go beyond a single decision-maker. Buying groups include: 

• Champion – Advocates for your solution internally 

• Influencer – Guides decision-making through expertise 

• Decision maker – Has final purchasing authority 

• User – Engages with the solution post-purchase 

• Ratifier – Approves based on financial/legal considerations 

Engaging the full buying group ensures a stronger chance of winning accounts. 

 

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Accelerate engagement:

Campaign alignment

Successful demand generation aligns campaigns with buyer needs at every stage: 

Understanding audience pain points 

Your campaign strategy should address key pain points and provide clear, actionable solutions. Use data insights to: 

• Identify common challenges within your ICP 

• Develop messaging that resonates with different buyer roles 

• Leverage case studies and customer testimonials to add credibility 
  

 

Selecting the right campaign mix 

Different audiences engage with different types of campaigns. Consider: 

• Inbound strategies – SEO, SEM, organic content, and demand capture tactics 

• Outbound strategies – Email marketing, programmatic display, and LinkedIn outreach (Learn how pairing content syndication and programmatic drives engagement)  

• ABM & personalization – Custom experiences tailored to key accounts 

• Event & webinar engagement – Live and on-demand engagement strategies 
  

 

Personalizing engagement for different buyer roles 

Use intent data and behavioral insights to deliver personalized engagement that speaks directly to each role in the buying group. A CFO evaluating ROI needs different messaging than a marketing director exploring campaign execution. 

• Decision-makers: ROI insights, business impact case studies 

• Technical buyers: Product specs, demos, whitepapers 

• End users: Training guides, feature breakdowns 

A well-aligned campaign strategy ensures every touchpoint reinforces the right message for each stakeholder in the buying process. 

 

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Celebrate impact:

Optimize your demand funnel

Your demand strategy should be agile, continuously refining performance through: 

• AI and machine learning for optimization – Advanced algorithms can analyze behavioral signals, predict lead scoring, and recommend personalized engagement strategies in real time, allowing marketing teams to optimize touchpoints more efficiently.

• Channel audits – Identify underperforming channels with high traffic but low conversions. 

• Predictive analytics – Use data-driven insights to anticipate buyer movement. 

• A/B testing – Experiment with subject lines, CTAs, and content formats to improve results. 
  

 

Smart budget allocation 

A data-driven budget maximizes impact. Focus investment on: 

• High-value accounts that yield the best ROI 

• Multi-channel tactics including SEM, social media, and content syndication 

• Pipeline attribution tracking to optimize spend allocation 

Pro tip: Ensure your spend aligns with sourced revenue goals and continuously adjust based on performance data. 

 

Multi-channel execution for maximum impact 

Top-performing demand programs activate a mix of channels. When optimizing your multi-channel strategy, think about: 

• SEO & SEM – Increase visibility and drive inbound traffic. 

• Social & Display ads – Engage buyers through LinkedIn, programmatic, and retargeting. 

• Email & nurture sequences – Move leads efficiently through the funnel. 

• Webinars & events – Foster interactive engagement and thought leadership. 
  

 

Continuous optimization 

Demand strategy isn’t set-and-forget. Prioritize: 

• Refining ICP & segmentation – Regularly reassess audience fit and engagement levels. 

• Monitoring engagement trends – Adjust strategies based on buyer interactions. 

• Leveraging zero-party data – Use surveys and interactive content for privacy-compliant data collection. 

• Ensuring compliance & data integrity – With evolving privacy regulations, marketers must work with trusted data providers to ensure high-quality, compliant data that meets industry standards. 

• Scaling successful tactics – Expand winning strategies across new channels.

Pro tip: Align marketing and sales insights to accelerate deal closure. 

 

Key performance metrics 

Tracking the right KPIs ensures that your demand strategy is delivering measurable impact. These key metrics provide insight into performance and areas for optimization: Track these KPIs to measure success: 

• Conversion rates
• Cost per lead
• Pipeline attribution
• Average deal size
  
• Customer lifetime value
• Marketing lift – Measure the incremental impact of your marketing efforts by analyzing the difference in engagement, conversions, and revenue between exposed and unexposed audiences. Learn more about marketing lift here.