Chalique Seabron
Feb 4, 2025
Demand Generation
Why Your Demand Generation Strategy Is Broken (And How to Fix It)
Many Vertical SaaS marketers struggle to prove the revenue impact of demand generation. This blog breaks down how to track marketing-sourced pipeline, align with sales, and connect demand gen efforts directly to revenue growth.
Most Vertical SaaS Companies Think They Have Demand Gen—But They Don’t
Most Vertical SaaS marketers claim to be running demand generation, but what they’re actually doing is glorified lead gen with a few extra steps. They’re optimizing for MQL volume, chasing vanity metrics, and running paid ads designed for immediate conversions instead of empowering independent buyer research.
If your pipeline isn’t growing predictably or if your marketing team is constantly justifying their budget without proving real impact…your demand gen strategy is broken. And no, throwing more ad spend at the problem won’t fix it.
How Do You Know If Your Demand Gen Strategy Is Broken?
If your strategy isn’t producing consistent, high-quality pipeline, it’s failing. Here are the biggest red flags that your demand gen model needs an overhaul:
You’re measuring success with the wrong metrics.
If marketing is still being evaluated on MQLs, cost-per-lead (CPL), or ad impressions, you’re optimizing for the wrong outcome. The only metrics that matter? Pipeline created, win rates, and revenue influenced.
Your inbound conversion volume is dropping—but not in the right way.
Moving from lead gen to demand gen means filtering out low-intent leads. But if your conversion volume is dropping without a corresponding increase in lead-to-opportunity rate, your strategy isn’t working.
Your sales team is still complaining about lead quality.
If sales keeps saying, “These leads aren’t ready to buy” or “We’re wasting time on bad-fit prospects,” your demand gen system is still misaligned.
You’re throwing money at paid ads without a scalable system.
If your paid media isn’t systematically converting into pipeline, you don’t have a real demand gen model—you have a short-term acquisition treadmill that will collapse the second you turn off ad spend.
You’re only capturing demand instead of creating it.
Demand capture (running Google Ads, LinkedIn lead forms, and gated content) is necessary, but without demand creation (educating buyers, building brand affinity, and influencing purchase criteria), you’re just fighting for scraps.
How to Fix Your Broken Demand Gen Strategy
Fixing your demand gen strategy isn’t about running “better” ads or optimizing your lead forms. It’s about restructuring how marketing creates and converts demand.
1. Shift from Lead Gen to True Demand Gen
Most SaaS companies run high-intent paid ads, throw the leads into an automated sequence, and expect magic to happen. This model only works if buyers are already in-market. The real fix? Create demand before buyers even realize they need your product.
Educate your market. Run content programs that focus on industry insights, pain points, and transformation without product pitches.
Dominate where your buyers research. If your ICP hangs out in niche communities, Slack groups, or LinkedIn, make sure they see your content there.
Develop a content engine designed for buyers not algorithms. Thought leadership, customer stories, and industry expertise should drive your content strategy not SEO keyword stuffing.
2. Stop Optimizing for MQLs—Start Optimizing for Pipeline
Marketing’s job isn’t generating leads, it’s generating revenue. That means aligning marketing’s KPIs with sales efficiency and pipeline acceleration.
Track lead-to-opportunity rate, win rates, and sales cycle velocity instead of just MQL volume
Score demo quality based on ICP fit instead of just engagement.
Compare win rates across lead sources to see which channels actually convert.
If your demand gen strategy isn’t directly impacting pipeline creation, you’re not running demand gen, you’re running lead gen with a different name.
3. Align Marketing and Sales Around Demand Signals
Most demand gen failures happen because marketing and sales work in silos. Fixing this requires deep integration between teams:
Define high-intent signals together. What actually makes a lead “sales-ready”?
Map out the buyer journey collaboratively. Where do prospects drop off? What content influences them?
Ensure SDR follow-up matches the buying stage. The biggest pipeline killer? SDRs reaching out too early (or too late) in the process.
4. Fix Your Paid Media Equation
If you’re only running bottom-of-funnel Google Ads and LinkedIn lead gen forms, you’re missing the full picture. The best demand gen strategies balance demand creation and demand capture.
Use paid social for content distribution over direct response.
Invest in video and retargeting to build long-term audience engagement.
Test ungated assets in paid campaigns to drive awareness and trust before asking for a conversion.
5. Build a Scalable Demand Gen Framework
The reason most demand gen efforts fail? They’re random, fragmented, and reactive.
Establish a repeatable demand gen engine that blends organic, paid, and outbound efforts.
Create content for consumption not conversions. The goal is trust not form fills.
Refine and optimize continuously. The best demand gen teams treat marketing like a product. Constantly improving messaging, distribution, and engagement strategies.
Final Thoughts
Your demand gen strategy isn’t working if it’s not driving real pipeline impact. The unlock is shifting away from lead volume obsession and focusing on creating demand, aligning marketing with sales, and executing a structured, scalable playbook.
The companies that figure this out? They stop fighting over scraps in the existing demand pool and start owning the conversation in their category.
If your demand gen strategy isn’t hitting these marks, it’s time to rethink your approach. And if you need help making the shift? You know where to find us.
Wrap Up
Evron is a B2B Demand Generation and Campaign Development Firm for vertical SaaS marketers. We deliver always-on, integrated B2B marketing campaigns for vertical SaaS marketers dealing with missed sales goals, disengaged audiences, and disconnected buyers.
Discover more about Evron at evron.io. Join the GTM and Demand convo on our socials: LinkedIn and YouTube. Listen to The A2B Series Podcast on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
