Proven Demand Generation Campaigns To Start Getting Better Leads In eLearning
Do you need help with getting as many leads as you would like? Then it's clear that a lead generation campaign is in order. However, the problem with simple lead generation campaigns is that you're not getting the attention you need from your target customers. Content strategy is key, and if you haven't got one, things are not looking promising. As a result, you are either getting low-quality leads or no leads at all. What can you do to solve this? Incorporating a demand generation campaign is an easy fix.
You see, when you start focusing on demand gen, you gain better control of brand awareness. Ultimately, you can attract the attention of your ideal audience instead of collecting unqualified leads. As you get more eyes on your eLearning company from prospects, you'll have an easier time converting them into leads later on.
Curious to learn more about creating successful demand generation campaigns in eLearning?
Let's dive right in!
Demand Generation Vs. Lead Generation: What's The Difference?
Demand generation and lead generation are two main marketing methods that eLearning marketers use to get the attention of consumers. Then they try to transition these consumers into paying customers.
But what is demand generation, more specifically?
Demand gen as a method is used to create awareness for an eLearning brand. On the other hand, lead gen transforms the brand-aware audience into paying customers. As a data-driven marketing strategy, demand generation is ideal for eLearning companies that want to build awareness and interest around their products or services.
What's great about demand gen is that marketers deliver content and start conversations throughout the customer journey. So, it's of utmost importance that you account for every touchpoint in your demand generation campaign.
But first, you must understand the demand generation funnel in the eLearning niche. The above funnel can be your guide to developing content for your target prospects.
So, make sure to focus on things like:
- Sharing blog posts that answer questions
- Posting entertaining and informative videos
- Creating fun and educational infographics
- Capturing attention on social media by starting conversations
By doing all the above, you give your target audience plenty of opportunities to research your eLearning brand and learn more about it.
Never forget that the sole purpose of demand gen campaigns is to generate demand. So, be clear about what prospective customers are looking for in every step of the way. This allows you to build content strategies and messages around it. Demand generation campaigns are all about getting attention—not converting. The conversions will come afterward, when you put your lead gen campaigns in action.
Demand Generation Campaigns: Strategies And Examples To Improve Your Audience
To grow your eLearning brand, you need to create demand. Hence, you have to educate your prospects by introducing them to a challenge. That challenge has to exist for them, but they might not know it yet. Then you can explain why they must invest in a solution like yours to solve that challenge.
As you can understand, when it comes to demand gen, the timeline between the campaign and making a sale tends to be a bit longer. After all, you have to convince your audience that a problem actually exists. And then you can let them know why your eLearning solution is the best.
Let's think of demand generation campaigns as a more proactive approach to getting in front of your target audience.
Here are some proven demand generation strategies you can use to get more quality leads.
1. Informative Content
Today's buyers might not even want to download your content. That means they are less likely to see what you have to say. As a result, they won't get your business value because they never laid eyes on your content. Therefore, these guys are less likely to buy from you. That's when demand generation comes into play!
eLearning marketers can leverage demand gen by using similar tactics to lead generation techniques. What's different is that demand generation removes the gates or makes them optional. By doing so, you prioritize creating and distributing ungated, valuable content to your ideal buyers. Your main goal is to educate prospects and generate affinity with your eLearning brand. That means not necessarily capturing contact details. Instead of generating leads, you're going to focus on generating revenue with inbound demand generation.
Publishing informational content allows you to educate your audience and showcase your expertise. By creating informative demand gen content, you help answer the questions eLearning buyers are asking. Plus, you get to provide solutions to the problems they're experiencing.
With your demand generation content, you can:
- Rank higher on Google
- Reduce PPC costs
- Create brand affinity
- Demonstrate credibility
- Create trust
- Generate demand
Here are some of the different types of demand generation content you can use:
- Blog articles
- Case studies
- eBooks
- Webinars
- Organic social posts
- Lead nurturing emails
- Video
At the end of the day, you want to create engaging educational content that ensures that your target market knows who you are and why your organization matters.
Creating successful demand generation campaigns is not only about increasing brand awareness. It's also about increasing consumer interest and educating potential customers. Thus letting your target audience know about your top eLearning solutions and products in a relatively subtle way.
2. Partner With Industry Influencers
Branded content partnerships with influencers are key to running successful influencer marketing campaigns. If you want to expose your brand to potential customers and boost credibility with target audiences, it's a great and really cost-effective method.
Influencers that have built a substantial audience of people who follow and take cues from them are an excellent opportunity for you to boost your brand awareness. Depending on the location or the niche of the influencer, they can have from a few hundred to millions of followers. It's not always necessary to find influencers in your niche. Maybe there's a micro-influencer in a specific niche, and you might have an eLearning product or service that this specific audience can use. You can easily team up with that influencer and decide on a strategy to create demand together.
Innovative eLearning brands are integrating influencer marketing into their full-spectrum demand generation strategies. It's an interesting tactic for those who want to reach new audiences and build brand equity. Plus, it can help you attribute revenue and measure ROI.
Unless you're working with a high-level brand ambassador, you'll want to design and develop your content strategy and position before contacting them. Also, make sure to find an influencer whose content and values align with the strategy you choose. When searching for influencers, keep in mind that a larger audience doesn't always guarantee better results.
There are times when smaller influencers generate more engagements than macro- or mega-influencers. Don't forget to invite influencers to events and user conferences. It's great for creating pre-event buzz, building more awareness, and attracting leads. Another option could be promoting branded content in "reels" and "stories." You can even use influencers to create software walkthroughs and engaging educational videos!
3. Host A Webinar
Did you know that 60% of marketers use webinars as a content marketing tool today? Webinars have proven to be one of the most effective marketing tools for many years. No wonder their popularity skyrocketed during the pandemic since it was the only way to connect with prospects and customers.
What's more, modern webinar platforms give you the opportunity to go over advanced data analytics and reporting. With their enhanced ease of use and rich feature sets, you have all the tools you need to engage audiences. But it's not just about which platform you use. To host a successful webinar that drives leads and conversions, there needs to be strategic thinking and flawless execution behind it.
And now, the best part: people love attending webinars, as it saves them time and can better fit their schedules since they can even watch webinars on demand. As hybrid work goes mainstream, more and more businesses are going to turn to webinars and virtual events!
There are several webinar best practices you can leverage to ensure your webinar helps generate demand for your eLearning products and services:
- Schedule carefully
- Engage your audience with promotional outreach and reminders
- Make sure your visuals shine
- Partner with a customer, analyst, or Subject Matter Expert
Of course, before your live webinar, you need to make sure that your computer and headset are working properly and that the webinar platform is correctly set up. It's recommended to do a dry run and have everything in check.
And don't forget to follow up after the event. Make sure to plan your communications strategically and craft your messages carefully. The best approach is to add value to your target audience by providing links to the webinar recording and relevant resources.
4. Podcasting Stirs Demand
Did you know that 50% of US homes are podcast fans? It's safe to say that someone can build a solid relationship with your eLearning brand via your podcast. Just make sure to talk about the topics your audience is interested in. If anything, a podcast helps you increase your market share.
First off, you need to identify your target audience. Of course, it's of utmost importance to find your place in the podcast marketplace. And, trust me, there's much competition out there, as more and more podcasts pop up every day. So, you need to be strategic about your branding. What's your unique selling point? What are you going to talk about that others don't?
The best way to host a successful podcast for demand generation is to create thought leadership content. But even if your content quality is great, you still need to promote your podcast to your target audience. So, making alliances and teaming up with other platforms, influencers, and big publications is key. Also, measuring your audience growth is another aspect that will help you be more effective with your podcast outcomes.
To sum up, if demand gen is your main podcast strategy, then your goals should focus on the following:
- Audience growth
- Thought leadership
- Industry authority
By positioning yourself as a thought leader in your niche, you get to grow your eLearning brand's audience and improve authority in that specific space.
What's cool about hosting podcasts is that it belongs to the passive media. As a result, your audience can listen to your podcast as they walk the dog, mow the lawn, or drive to work. Ultimately, podcasts fill up the time people wouldn't spend reading blog posts or watching videos anyway!
5. Insightful And Original Reports
When you want to introduce your eLearning product or service as a perfect solution to a prospect's problems, you better back up your suggestion with valid research and statistics. And, when there aren't many convincing stats online, you can create original reports on your industry to close the gap.
Reports on challenges your audience faces help back up your suggestions. But they are also an actual means to an end. What's great about running surveys is that you get the opportunity to collect data from different resources. That way, you can compile comprehensive reports to create lead magnets like eBooks, publish blog posts for organic traffic, post social media content for engagement, etc. What's more, your sales team can use your data report findings to validate their selling points.
You must have noticed that many companies nowadays use reports to sell their services, including HubSpot, MailChimp, LinkedIn, etc. Reports are actually a smart way to improve your search engine rankings by getting quality backlinks. In fact, plenty of businesses share their annual state of marketing reports. Why? Statistics work as motivation for prospects. You can do the same. Just use the data to give a clear image of what's happening in your business. Such a report will help sell your eLearning products and services to potential customers.
Don't want to share this type of content? You can focus on doing a survey on the challenges that your audience is facing.
Need some survey examples? Take a look at these recent surveys we've run for eLearning Industry. You can download them here:
The State Of Employee Experience 2023
The Future Of Work Report 2022: Culture Trends And What Employees Want
eLI Audience Survey 2022: Leveraging eLearning Buyer Insights To Fuel Marketing Strategies
6. Offer A Free Tool
If you're looking for an easy fix to boost your demand generation, you should consider offering a free version of your premium tool.
When you decide to offer a free version of your eLearning tool to specific target audiences, you give them the opportunity to understand your product better. For example, check this top list featuring the best LMS free trials. You'll find plenty of LMS vendors that offer their LMS for free to prospects.
Not only can these vendors increase LMS sign-ups, but they can win more loyal customers in the long run.
B2B SaaS companies often use a free tool to create demand for their product or service. Talking from experience, it's a proven strategy that helps add potential leads to your sales funnel. What's best, later on, you can proceed to motivate free users to make an upgrade and get a premium subscription. All you have to do is show them what they're missing. FOMO has its perks!
Take Grammarly, for example. They use this demand gen tactic perfectly. Even though they offer basic grammar checks for free, they motivate users to move to premium plans by offering extra features, like the exclusive plagiarism checker and other readability improvement features. You can do the same with your LMS free trial offering. Make them bite and sign up for a test drive. Then convince them your eLearning product is worth the investment.
Key Takeaway
If you are one of the eLearning marketers who want to create a sustainable pipeline of workable high-quality leads, you need to take demand generation seriously. And when you want lead generation to be effective, successful demand generation must precede it. After this read, you have learned all the main demand gen campaign components and strategies that work. And now, you can start creating buzz for your eLearning brand in the market. However, it's best to define your goals and buyer personas before you move ahead. Knowing your target audience is the foundation of any successful marketing campaign.
When it comes to defining goals and choosing your metrics for demand generation campaign success, make sure to:
- Increase online engagement
- Boost your marketing-qualified leads
- Speed up prospect-to-lead conversions
- Improve the quality of your leads
- Net more high-value leads
Are you ready to start creating an enhanced customer acquisition pipeline?
Reach out any time you would like to discuss how we can help you improve your marketing efforts.
