Demand generation

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Demand generation" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Demand generation is the focus of targeted marketing programs to drive awareness and interest in a company's products and/or services.^[1] Commonly used in business-to-business, business-to-government, or longer business-to-consumer sales cycles, demand generation involves multiple areas of marketing and is really the marriage of marketing programs coupled with a structured sales process.^[2]

There are multiple components of a stepped demand generation process that vary based on the size and complexity of a sale. These components include, among other things: building awareness, positioning relevance, supporting validation and mitigating customer evaluation. Useful demand generation methodologies include AIDA (attract Attention, maintain Interest, create Desire, get Action), developed by E. St. Elmo Lewis, an American advertising advocate.