What is demand generation, and how do you implement it?

I’ve scaled Rocket SaaS from $0 to £2,400,000 in annual recurring revenue in 4 years.

How did I do it? Demand generation marketing. 

In this week’s email, I’ll explain what it is and how you can implement it into your brand. 

Demand generation isn’t some fancy new concept; it’s been around forever. At its heart, it’s about building awareness and creating interest long before a buyer is ready to purchase.

Most of your audience doesn’t know they need you yet. Around 95% of potential customers aren’t actively looking to buy. They’re not researching solutions or exploring options because they don’t even realise there’s a problem to solve.

That’s where demand generation comes in: educating your audience, sparking curiosity, and helping them identify challenges they didn’t know they had - all without hard-selling or relying on outdated tactics.

Let’s break it down.

What Is Demand Generation?

Demand generation is about positioning yourself as the go-to authority in your space by giving your audience what they actually want:

• Educational content that’s truly helpful. Think webinars, tutorials, blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and videos that teach your audience something valuable about their industry, pain point or goal.
• Transparency. Make pricing and key product information easily accessible - no gated PDFs, no forms, no annoying hoops to jump through.
• A buyer-led approach. Instead of aggressively pushing your solution with aggressive cold calling or spammy cold emails, focus on nurturing trust through great content. Let buyers come to you when they’re ready.

How Do You Implement Demand Generation in Your SaaS Business?

Demand generation isn’t something you can delegate to one hire and hope for the best. While a Head of Demand Generation can provide leadership, the founders or subject-matter experts need to shape the strategy and bring credibility to the brand.

Here are some key things to consider:

Create a Demand Generation Strategy

Your demand generation strategy should laser-focus on understanding your audience and delivering the right value to them, long before they consider buying your product.

Define your target audience. 

Create an ideal customer profile made up of detailed attributes such as industry, company size, pain points, goals, decision-making roles, and purchasing behaviour.

Do proper market research 

Use surveys like Pollfish, interview your existing customers and run internal workshops to figure out your target audience’s main goals or pain points. 

Decide on your content topic/s

Based on your research, decide what content your audience is going to engage with. The problem or goal should align directly with what your solution addresses or helps accomplish. For example, at Rocket SaaS, our main topic for demand gen is How to get SaaS leads. We create a ton of content around this topic. 

Decide your channels 

Where does your audience hang out? For B2B SaaS, it’s most likely LinkedIn, but it could also be YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc. 

Build a Content Calendar

Consistency is key. Plan out a mix of formats: videos, blogs, social posts, newsletters, webinars and podcasts.

Here's a suggested frequency for a B2B SaaS content calendar:

• Daily: Share actionable LinkedIn posts, like "3 ways to identify inefficiencies in your [industry] team's workflow".
• Weekly: Publish a blog post such as "The hidden cost of inefficient processes in [industry] businesses"
• Bi-Weekly: Release a video tutorial or podcast episode on topics like "How to streamline [industry] onboarding without overhauling your entire system."
• Monthly: Host a webinar or Q&A session focused on deep-dive educational topics, e.g., "The future of automation in [industry]: What you need to know."
• Quarterly: Publish a free, in-depth resource like an industry benchmark report or playbook, e.g., "The [industry] Leader’s Guide to Optimising Team Productivity in 2025."

How Long Should You Wait to See Demand Generation Working?

Demand generation is a long-term strategy. While it can take 6-12 months to see significant results, you may notice early indicators of success within the first few months. These could include increased brand awareness, higher engagement on your content, and growing website traffic.

Remember, demand generation isn’t about quick wins. It’s about building trust and staying top-of-mind so your audience turns to you when they’re ready to buy. Patience is key.

Metrics to Look Out For

Although demand generation doesn’t always produce immediate, attributable ROI, there are several metrics that signal progress:

Awareness Metrics

• Website Traffic: Growth in unique visitors and repeat visits indicates that more people are discovering your brand.
• Brand Searches: An increase in searches for your company name or products shows your visibility is improving.

Engagement Metrics

• Content Engagement: Track views, likes, shares, and comments on your blogs, videos, and social posts.
• Webinar Attendance: Monitor sign-ups and attendance rates for your educational events.
• Time Spent on Page: Longer sessions mean your audience finds your content valuable.

Lead Nurturing Metrics

• Newsletter Sign-Ups: A growing subscriber base shows interest in your ongoing value.
• Download Rates for Ungated Content: Indicates that your resources resonate with your audience.

Pipeline Indicators

• Demo Requests: A slow but steady increase shows that your demand gen efforts are driving interest over time.
• Sales Conversations: Track the number of inbound leads, mentioning they discovered you through content or events.

By focusing on these metrics and allowing time for your strategy to take root, you’ll see how demand generation builds sustainable growth for your SaaS business.

Why You Can’t Measure Every Dollar Spent

Demand generation doesn’t follow a tidy, linear path. People rarely see an ad, click, and immediately buy. Instead, they interact with your brand across multiple touchpoints—watching a video, reading a blog, seeing a LinkedIn post—before making a decision months later.

This means you won’t always be able to trace every dollar spent back to a direct sale. And that’s okay. The goal of demand generation is to build trust and visibility over time, creating a foundation that influences buyers when they’re ready, not just when you’re tracking.

Who’s Nailing Demand Generation?

HubSpot

HubSpot has mastered ungated, valuable content. Their free resources, like their videos, guides, templates, and detailed blogs, are all designed to help businesses without asking for anything in return. This approach positions them as a trusted authority while building long-term goodwill.

Cognism

Cognism leans heavily on thought leadership and makes its founders and team highly visible. They publish ungated guides and run educational webinars that share actionable advice for sales and marketing teams.

Rocket SaaS 

We practice what we preach. Instead of spamming inboxes or hiding behind gated content, we focus on creating demand through high-value insights and free resources, teaching our target audience how to get SaaS leads using mediums such as this newsletter, regular webinars, LinkedIn posts, and the SaaS Marketing Weekly podcast. 

Demand generation works when you shift from “How can we sell to them?” to “How can we help them?” It’s about education, transparency, and trust.

Until next week!

Ryan James, Founder @ Rocket SaaS

P.S. Struggling to generate SaaS leads? Apply for a free SaaS marketing strategy call with me.

Also, don't miss our upcoming SaaS marketing masterclass with Ryan James and Joe Mclaughlin on 24 September. Reserve your spot here: https://bit.ly/4lXS2V4