B2B Marketers: Stop Choosing Between Demand Gen, Demand Capture, and Brand

Breaking News: B2B marketers everywhere have finally discovered the one marketing tactic that guarantees results. 

Just kidding. 

Too many B2B companies are trapped in an either-or mindset when it comes to their marketing strategy: 

“Should we focus on demand generation or demand capture?” 

“Should we prioritize demand gen or brand building?”

This isn’t The Bachelor—you can choose more than one. And truthfully, chances are you need a bit of them all.

The Problem with One-channel Thinking

Here’s the issue with putting all your eggs in one marketing basket: you either struggle now or struggle later.

The Demand Capture-only Trap

If you focus solely on demand capture, you only reach 5% of B2B buyers already in-market and roughly 70% of the way through their buying journey. Sure, this approach can deliver short-term wins when demand is plentiful, but what happens when that well runs dry? You’re left scrambling with an empty pipeline and no long-term strategy to fall back on.

The Brand/demand Gen-only Problem

On the flip side, if you only invest in demand generation or brand building, you’re betting entirely on future buyers while losing touch with accounts ready to purchase today. You might be building a beautiful brand presence but missing out on immediate revenue opportunities.

To Sum it up

Given the lengthy sales cycles and increasingly complex buying groups in B2B purchases, none of these isolated approaches will likely deliver the sustainable growth you’re after. Modern B2B buying journeys involve multiple touchpoints, stakeholders, and decision-making phases that no single marketing approach can adequately address.

The Solution: a Balanced, Synergistic Approach

Instead of thinking “either-or,” start thinking “synergy.” You need:

• Brand to establish familiarity and trust throughout the buyer’s journey. In theory, brand extends to all buying group members at all stages of buying.
• Demand generation to keep your pipeline active and maintain top-of-mind awareness. Shorter term than brand, demand generation comes into effect when aware targeted audiences begin conducting research, right through to the point of entering your pipeline. 
• Demand capture to convert intent into revenue. Efforts that fall under this category ensure you remain prominent as buying groups begin outreach and continue to move through your pipeline. 

But here’s what makes this approach truly powerful: each strategy amplifies the others.

How They Work Better Together

Consider how demand capture performance improves when prospects are familiar with your brand. The data backs this up:

• 82% of consumers select familiar brands in organic search results, regardless of first-page search ranking
• 46% of consumers are willing to pay more for products from brands they trust
• Maintaining consistent branding across platforms can increase revenue by 20% and shorten sales cycles by 23% long term

When a buyer encounters your demand capture efforts, whether that’s a search ad, retargeting campaign, or SEO content, they’re not starting from zero if you’ve invested in brand building and demand generation. They already know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should care.

Similarly, your demand generation efforts become more effective when B2B buying group members can immediately act on their interest through well-optimized demand capture mechanisms. And your brand building creates the foundation that makes both demand gen and demand capture more credible, trustworthy, and compelling.

Building Your Synergistic Strategy

The most successful B2B go-to-market strategies aren’t constrained by either-or thinking. They’re built on the principle that marketing tactics work exponentially better when they work together.

This means:

Aligning messaging across all three approaches so your brand voice is consistent whether someone encounters you through a thought leadership piece, a search ad, or a sales conversation.

Coordinating timing so your demand generation creates awareness that your demand capture efforts can capitalize on, while your brand building provides the credibility that makes both more effective.

Measuring holistically rather than evaluating each channel in isolation. Look at how they influence each other and contribute to your overall pipeline, ROI, and revenue goals.

Investing proportionally based on your business stage, market conditions, budget, growth model, strategic capabilities, resources, and growth objectives, not because you’ve arbitrarily decided one approach is “better” than others.

Be cohesive in your buyer journey when creating your marketing strategy and program. It’s one thing to follow best practices, and, albeit, maybe best practices inform a starting point. However, as understanding of your competitive landscape, market, and buyers grows, so should the tailoring of your marketing efforts. It is on the tailwind of these efforts that discussions around efficiency and ROI should come into focus.

The reality is that B2B buying, despite a deluge of marketing tech, has become more complex, not simpler. Your marketing strategy needs to reflect and address this complexity. That means embracing the power of synergy rather than forcing yourself into artificial either-or constraints or throwing all your eggs into one buyer stage basket. Think “be an orchestra,” instead of “be a 20-minute drum solo,” and you’ll be on the right track.  

Now, time to make sweet sweet music.