Elements of a Modern Demand Generation Plan, Part 2: Program Translation

In part one we built the buyer-targeting context: objectives, a buying-process profile, baseline conversion estimates and reverse funnel maths. Part two translates that analysis into an executable demand generation programme.

The programme is one large model, but it is easier to build as three smaller ones, each aimed at aligning buyer behaviour with the marketing and sales funnel: engagement, acquisition and nurturing. Budget, KPIs and marketing technology sit around and underneath all three.

The engagement model

Buyers spend a large share of their time in the earliest part of the process, recognising a problem and thinking it through before they formally search for a supplier. The engagement model aims to meet them there: to help shape the answer to "what kind of solution should I be looking for?" and to connect that early research with your objectives.

Start with the buying-process profile and map it against channels. Much of early education now happens through online content, so a large part of your reach should come from inbound channels: organic search, paid search, social and community, all fed by useful content. Demand is always on, so the programme should be too, rather than switching on and off with campaign dates.

Outbound still matters. Sponsored events, webinars and well-chosen lists work best when they are "semi-interruptive": genuinely educational, and aimed at people who are later in their early research and therefore more likely to respond. A useful way to organise the model is a grid with the buyer's stages of consideration on one axis and inbound and outbound channels on the other. Each cell is a place where you need content.

Trade shows: the most semi-interruptive channel of all

Few channels illustrate the semi-interruptive idea better than a big industry show, and the gambling industry runs some of the largest. Suppliers of slot machines, online casino platforms, sports-betting data and payments plan their year around ICE, now held at Fira Barcelona Gran Via, and G2E at The Venetian Expo in Las Vegas. Visitors choose to walk the halls, so the interruption is welcome, but only if the stand offers education rather than a pitch.

The best exhibitors treat the show as a full demand generation programme in miniature: an engagement model before the show (content and meeting requests aimed at operators who are already researching), an acquisition step on the stand (a reason to identify yourself, such as a benchmark report or a product demo), and a nurturing track afterwards. Our guide to ICE Barcelona and G2E Las Vegas as demand-gen events walks through that plan.

The acquisition model

Reading content does not create demand by itself; what buyers do next does. The acquisition model converts anonymous interest into known respondents. It has three jobs: make sure every engagement stream flows into the nurturing stream; estimate how much each channel contributes, so the funnel maths holds; and set up offers that turn prospects into respondents.

The key is catalyst content: the piece that says, in effect, "if you are researching this, here is exactly what you need next". It bridges early research and a formal search, it asks for a light registration, and it is the first step of nurturing. Map the acquisition model on paper so you can see every flow and dependency.

The nurturing model

Once a buyer is known, the nurturing model moves them from respondent to sales-ready lead. It has four parts that work together:

1. Core nurturing logic: lead stages mapped to the buyer's process, with a clear information goal for each stage.
2. Content: purposeful pieces that move the buyer forward and back up the logic. Our layered approach to lead nurturing explains how to structure it.
3. Progressive profiling: capturing a little more demographic and behavioural information at every interaction, so the dialogue is two-way.
4. Scoring: combining fit and behaviour into a score that decides when a buyer moves to the next stage. Scoring models are never right first time; plan to refine them. See expected value in lead scoring.

Technology last, not first

With the three models designed, choose and configure the technology: marketing automation, CRM, website and blog platforms, and analytics that can see across systems. Technology should support the strategy, not dictate it. Our review of how far marketing automation has come compares the main platform types.