The next time your CEO or CFO asks why they should run display ads, your answer should be demand generation.
Demand generation is going to drive the future of B2B businesses. As trust and attention become scarce resources in the AI age, the value these two intangible concepts hold will sharply rise. And here’s where B2B brands need to capitalize on them.
The only way the brands will be able to do that is through marketing positioning, awareness, relationship-building, and PR.
All of that is part of demand generation.
Out of all the roles of DG in marketing, we will focus on two: market positioning and awareness.
Display Ads are part of the larger demand-gen whole.
There’s a lot of confusion about demand generation and lead generation. There are many articles differentiating between them.
Let’s get this difference between them out of the discussion. Lead generation is collecting the data generated through demand generation campaigns. The lead quality that the industry talks about is a direct reflection of the quality of your demand gen campaigns.
But then, what is demand generation exactly?
What is Demand Generation?
Demand Generation is a full-funnel approach to marketing campaigns. It treats each campaign with the singular goal of building trust, awareness, loyalty, and sales.
This strategy follows the AIDA framework. A for Awareness; I for Interest; D for Desire; A for Action.
Demand generation goes beyond sales, too. Including customer loyalty, advocacy, retention, cross-selling, and up-selling in its repertoire.
In short, demand generation is you creating experiences for the buyers that reflect your entire organization. The strategy shows the people who you are, why you do it, how you do it, and what’s in it for them.
What about Display Ads?
Display ads are a small part of demand generation that can help you strengthen your market position, build brand awareness, drive traffic, and communicate value to your buyers, and potential buyers.
It is a strategy that empowers you to make your brand synonymous with an idea or ideas. This helps in generating awareness and perception.
For example, Google is synonymous with web surfing.
Why is that? Because their advertising reflected the product. Their display ads built the perception of the brand by mirroring the solution.
Why do you need display ads and demand generation?
The double jeopardy law of marketing says that an organization’s success can be measured by market share and customer acquisition.
And to gain new customers, you need position and perception.
But many organizations don’t use display ads to do what they’re intended for: to influence the buyer’s decision over a long period. They do not exist to drive sales.
B2B buyers are constantly researching and start their buying journey before they need a solution. That means potential buyers are researching solutions while they are out of market, but B2B buying focuses on in-market buyers aggressively.
It’s the 95/5% stat, by Byron Sharp, it suggests that B2B marketing teams should market to out-of-market buyers, too, and build a relationship with them.
This will help them think of you in appropriate buying scenarios. This is the crux of demand gen and the role of display ads.
To build relationships before they need your solution.
Display Advertising for market positioning and awareness.
Display ads are your first step into demand generation; they serve as an introduction to your brand to a new audience.
While there are many different instances of display ads, some grab attention quickly, while others take time. The impact of each instance is based on the viewer’s context. Some ads will feel more impactful based on their journey in the funnel.
However, they all share one commonality: to influence the buyer over a period of time with consistent messaging and gain trust and mindshare.
Yes, that’s how crucial display ads are.
Display Ads and Market Positioning
A buyer, B2B or otherwise, will buy because they believe in what you do for them. And perceptions will shape that.
They will shape your organization. Brands cannot grow in isolation or through only sales today.
You need the trust of your intended buyers for smoother sales cycles, and trust and perception begin with your positioning. And display ads are vital here.
All advertising is, but that’s a topic for another day. The reason display ads play such a pivotal role in positioning is that they let you control the narrative.
You can choose to showcase your brand in your light. What problems are you solving?
And why are you solving them?
Through consistent copies, you can position yourself in the market and get eyeballs on your brand.
And your copies must reflect your stance. Market positioning is all about proving why you exist. Copies must reflect your solution’s place in the market and what you stand for because copies have the power to shape perception, given enough time.
But the challenge here is, how do you know this campaign is working?
The reality is that this phase is experimental. Ask the person running your paid campaigns, and they will tell you just how uncertain it is. You might expect something and get something else. Or your copy may not have any effect on the potential buyer.
But you can change the probability in your favor by optimizing for the right time. And marketing it to your TAM. Not just the high-fit ones, but the ones adjacent to your product/services and the ones in your market.
This will bring out the best in your campaigns.
Display Ads and Brand Awareness
Your brand is your moat. You must have heard this sentence at least once, and for all the right reasons. While market position tells your buyers what and why you do.
Brand Awareness embodies it. It gives the buyers’ minds something tangible to compare your organization against.
And display ads are crucial here.
Let’s look ServiceNow University’s copy. It tells you that you can learn to harness your business skills to unlock new opportunities in tech.
ServiceNow hooks the reader by clearly telling them what they do. For those unaware of the organization, it might be synonymous with business executive upskilling.
Giving ServiceNow a tangibility and a message to be measured against.
But beyond this, positive awareness through clear messaging builds mindshare, which builds trust and impacts market share.
Yes, these are all correlated. And if not for any other reason, it’s related because it increases the surface area of your brand. And if your positioning is correct, it will grab attention. Some of it is precision, and the other is a game of probability.
And in the end, these two serve demand generation perfectly.
Awareness, Market Positioning, and Demand Generation
Display ads build a bridge of trust. One that the buyers require- top leaders live in the VUCA world and have been living in it since before the pandemic.
They are acutely aware of uncertainty. Their predecessors experienced the ’08 crash and Y2K before that. Top leaders know the volatility of the market. That’s why they make decisions that seem close to bizarre.
And demand generation aims to capture the attention of the part that understands this uncertainty. Buyers will choose the one that helps them mitigate their risks and reduce the probability of failure.
These abstract concepts drive decision-making.
But more practically speaking, demand gen influences the buying list.
Demand Gen and the buying list.
The buying list is a brutal reality that every sales-led company must deal with. This is the reason your headcount and CAC are rapidly growing while CLV shrinks.
The buying list is a list of pre-approved vendors that the buying committee has already accepted. That call you scheduled? Yeah, most likely the buyer has been set, but leaders need to fulfill a quota of sales calls to look at other vendors.
You are window shopping without long-term demand. At best, you’re wasting resources, and at worst, you’re driving up costs.
Brand awareness and positioning set you up to be on this list.
Demand generation isn’t just a fancy term for full-funnel marketing. It is, essentially, influencing key decision-makers over a time period so that they think of you as an option.
And marketing is the best function that can do this.
Sales and Marketing alignment
But marketing needs to understand the buyers’ problem. And there’s no one better than your sales team. These on-field consultants now have access to specific pain points of the industry. Not just the ones you read on the internet or research papers.
These problems go beyond market surveys because, at their core, it is a group of people discussing real issues. And when your display ads match this reality, you establish position, awareness, and trust, usually for a long time.
The problem with display ads
But there’s a glaring flaw with display ads. They are saturated, and many B2B buyers are tired of it. Many display ads are self-serving and offer nothing in terms of visual aesthetics or the right messaging.
This is an industry problem that even AI cannot overcome.
Then there’s the problem of advertising networks, which have bot clicks or irrelevant traffic. Display ads are more relevant than ever, and that’s why their saturation has increased.
But there are many agencies that can capture the buyer’s attention.
Choosing the right partner.
Display ads haven’t lost credibility. But yes, the click quality is down. And that’s through no fault of Google Ads or other networks. The internet has been having its AI-powered bot moment.
To circumnavigate this, you need partners like Ciente that leverage context to showcase display ads to the right buyer at the right time, matching interest and intent.
Readership engagement is what fuels it. Display ads aren’t dead, but they do need platforms that know their importance.
Demand Generation is marketing penetration.
Display ads serve demand generation. And while there is a lot of misconception about the role of DG in influencing the buyer, it should not be underestimated as just another strategy in a host of strategies.
Awareness and positioning build trust. And that trust is hard to replicate, especially as uncertainty rises.
If you want to be a problem-solver, you must show you are solving these problems creatively.