Demand Generation vs Lead Generation

Updated: Nov 2

Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation — they’re not the same, but they work together to fuel growth.

Simply put:

👉 Demand Gen builds awareness and interest.

👉 Lead Gen captures that interest and converts it into action.

Both are essential to a healthy marketing strategy. The key is knowing when to focus on each and how to measure success.

Demand Generation Definition

Create demand and build a receptive audience for your brand, product, or service.

Convert existing interest into actionable, qualified leads by capturing contact information.

Demand Generation: Top and middle

Lead Generation: Middle and bottom

Demand Generation: A market is unaware of your brand or product

Lead Generation: Market interest established. Looking to capture info from prospects who are ready to learn more and purchase

Demand Generation: Broad awareness, education, authority, and long-term trust-building

Lead Generation: Capturing interest and moving prospects further down the sales funnel toward a purchase decision

Demand Generation: Educational content (blogs, podcasts, webinars), thought leadership, social media, and SEO

Lead Generation: Landing pages with sign-up forms, gated content (eBooks, whitepapers), targeted ads

Demand Generation: Website traffic, social shares, brand mentions, engagement rates, and customer lifetime value

Lead Generation: Leads generated, cost per lead,

lead quality, and conversion rates

I have also created this handy visual reference below, feel free to download!

Which one do you lean on more in your strategy today? Share in the comments below!

Need help with a demand generation or lead generation strategy? Shoot me an email.