Brand Awareness, Lead Generation, and a Balanced Marketing Strategy

“I know brand awareness is important, but I need to prove out our marketing with leads,” says industrial marketers everywhere.  The pressure to prove out marketing spend with measurable results is real, and unfortunately impressions alone don’t cut it. So how can marketers make room in their strategies and budgets for both brand awareness and lead generation? First, acknowledge that brand awareness and lead generation are not competing strategies but instead, they’re connected stages of the same marketing funnel.

Most of the market isn’t ready to buy today

At any given time, only 3-5% of your target market is actively in the market for new equipment. This means a ‘sign up for a demo’ or ‘request a quote’ strategy is leaving 95% of future demand in the dark.

Keep this in mind when approaching new media opportunities. There’s an instinct by marketers to dip their toe in, “I’ll start small and focused to show what success looks like.” Instead try reframing this sentiment to “I’ll start small and broad to identify and condition my audience.” Broadly targeted programs are typically more affordable and allow you to confirm the reach into a new audience (future demand) while identifying those who may be ready to engage (active buyers). 

Build recognition now for better leads later

Is a lead who responds “I’ve never heard of you” really a good investment? Maybe, but now you’re back at the beginning of the marketing funnel. Industrial purchases are commonly motivated by need, such as a specific customer project. And when those needs arise, buyers move quickly, often taking 3 months or less to complete their purchase. Taking the time to build recognition now will position your lead further down the funnel when they buying need arises.

A brand campaign that doesn’t deliver a lead isn’t necessarily a failure. If attributed correctly, you may see this audience reappear later, when they’re further along their buying journey. The goal of a brand awareness campaign isn’t to move your prospects to buy, instead it’s to ensure your brand is top of mind when your prospects are ready to begin their buying journey.

Allocate for a balanced marketing budget

Allocate your marketing budget according to how well the market knows your brand and how well they know you for the strategy or solution you’re promoting. Let your program build and take a journey with your customers.

1. New to a market or audience: Invest heavily in a brand awareness strategy that conditions your audience, explains how you’re different, and creates recognition. Brand awareness at this stage can come in many forms such as display advertising, video advertising, content marketing, a social media strategy, or anything that tells your story and keeps your name in front of the audience.
2. Positioned for growth: Build pipeline with a lead generation strategy that grows your audience and moves high-intent prospects.
3. Established and familiar: Even established companies shouldn’t overlook brand awareness. Buying teams change all the time and new decision makers climb the ranks. Maintain a balanced strategy of on-going brand awareness with pipeline filling lead generation.

Full-funnel metrics

We’ve talked about the customer journey, marketing goals, and budgeting but there’s one more important consideration when setting your marketing strategy. Campaign performance metrics are what you’ll share to justify your marketing channels and validate your marketing spend. This is where lead generation seemingly wins - a qualified list of prospects is a measurable form of campaign ROI and the quickest path to a sale.

But our job as marketers is to lead a customer on a journey and our campaign metrics should reflect that.

• Top-of-funnel: impressions, reach, brand search volume
• Mid-funnel: click-rate, engagement-rate, content consumption, repeat visitors
• Bottom-of-funnel: inquiries, leads, conversion rate

Present a complete set of campaign performance metrics to emphasize the connection to the customer journey and remove the pressure from lead generation metrics alone.

Wrap It Up

Remember, brand awareness and lead generation should not be competing for your marketing dollars. Instead, they represent two stages in a complete marketing funnel. Your marketing should move through a journey with your prospects and meet them wherever they are, beginning, middle, or end.