Thought leadership has the power to prompt discourse and shape opinions in an audience. When done correctly, thought leadership generates demand as followers associate the value of thought leaders with their brand and products.
Therefore, establishing unique voices in your brand and allowing C-Suite members to promote the brand in their own words is a key demand creation tactic in B2B spaces.
Unlike B2C, where consumption is quicker and the decision making process is simpler; in B2B, buying committees may take months to consider purchases—making regular thought leadership essential for influencing their decision making in your favour.
As for content marketing, it is a promotional method that includes all media published by a company, and in the case of demand generation, the main focus is to promote long-term interest with the content being published. While gating is an option for boosting lead generation, this is not necessarily its primary focus.
This is why think pieces, reports, analyses, and guides shine in B2B demand generation marketing. Successful content marketing informs your audience and brings them value, positioning your brand as a helpful and reputable source in your niche.
However, it is important to note that approaching this strategy as 'content = lead generation' may often result in content not living up to its full potential in demand creation.
While lead generation may be attributed to ungated content marketing, this should not be its primary benchmark for success. Make sure content for demand has brand awareness as a key long-term goal from the start to not disappoint stakeholders later on.