DemandGen 2.0 is a simple, yet powerful new framework that can be implemented by virtually any DemandGen organization today. It restructures the DemandGen org around four focused motions — each with a clear mandate, clean KPIs, and no overlap.
Jump to the Framework →Even with ABM, it is becoming increasingly clear that traditional DemandGen tactics are not optimized for the new behaviors and patterns emerging with prospects in the marketplace. Here's where the friction lives.
Alignment meetings focus on marketing performance and lead quality. Sales people do not want to discuss brand awareness motions since those efforts do not immediately help them close deals. The result: unproductive conversations that frustrate both teams and leave top-of-funnel undefined.
PMM produces long-form assets — whitepapers, reports, blog posts — ideal for middle and bottom of funnel. But these formats are at odds with what prospects want on social. Simply sharing a link to long-format content no longer produces results. Content production was the top pain point in both 2023 and 2024 surveys of DemandGen leaders.
BDRs target and engage directly with prospects. Having a good reason to reach out makes their efforts more successful. Sharing a link to an article is not ideal — people want to stay on platform. Snackable content shared directly in messages dramatically improves success rates, especially as this function faces relentless automation pressure.
The majority of paid media budget goes to leadgen campaigns featuring landing pages with gated assets. The success rate of this aging formula has been declining for years. Fixing it requires a new approach — one that meets prospects where they already are, on platform, without friction.
Declining top-of-funnel performance across all channels
Ongoing struggle to produce engaging TOF content at scale
Declining ability to generate quality leads from gated assets
Declining lead quality even when volume targets are met
Continued deterioration of funnel acceleration metrics
Continued growth and dominance of social — especially LinkedIn
Dramatic shift in buyer behaviors and content expectations
Increasing regulation around data privacy and contact capture
More time on social. Increase in mobile device use. At least 30% of your potential audience is browsing on mobile at any given time — and growing. Your content and campaigns must be designed for this reality first.
The decline in leadgen success is not a blip. Gated landing pages, off-platform redirects, and letter-size PDF assets are becoming obsolete. Continuing to invest in these motions produces diminishing returns.
Prospects consume content across all stages of the funnel — top, middle, and bottom — randomly and on their own timeline. 6sense research confirms they do not share contact information until they are approximately 70% into their buyer journey, meaning they remain anonymous for 3–7 months.
Not as a novelty — as a core operational capability. AI enables DemandGen teams to produce content at a scale and speed that is otherwise impossible, unlocking the ability to engage anonymous prospects consistently over time.
Not long-form whitepapers. Not gated reports. Snackable, mobile-friendly, ungated content published directly on social. Content is the engine that primes the ABM pump and warms anonymous prospects who are not yet ready to connect.
In late 2022, I decided to take a closer look at LinkedIn, as it had become the dominant B2B platform. We were spending a large portion of our DemandGen budget advertising on this platform and I wanted to better understand how prospects were actually engaging.
I became hyper-active on LinkedIn — using it multiple times daily on phone, iPad and desktop. I spent time learning, reading, and exploring AI and the various marketing topics I was focused on, taking screenshots of ads appearing in my feed.
"I grew my personal network with people sharing interesting information across an increasingly wider range of topics — startups, SEO, design, personal branding, finance and more. This expansion completely altered my LinkedIn feed, transforming it into an amazing source of useful information."
I soon became addicted to carousels — mobile-friendly, short-form PDF documents readable in about a minute. Today I have over 1,500 carousels and over 2,500 infographics, all neatly organized and categorized. This research formed the foundation of DemandGen 2.0.
What prospects are actually doing on LinkedIn:
The vast majority of engagement is invisible — they read, they research, they evaluate. Silently.
Carousel posts achieve 100–300+ likes, dozens of meaningful comments. The best earn 700+ likes — organic.
More often sharing privately than publicly — feeding the dark social and dark funnel that ABM can't see.
Prospects are actively comparing vendors — long before they're ready to talk to anyone in Sales.
Live events on relevant topics pull real engagement from exactly the audience DemandGen wants to reach.
A subtle but profound split of the marketing funnel into Top (prospect growth) and Bottom (lead nurturing). Four distinct motions. Clear KPIs. No overlap. Implemented by any DemandGen org today.
CBM is a new function focused exclusively on feeding and driving top-of-funnel activities. It produces ungated, mobile-friendly, snackable content published directly on social — specifically LinkedIn. CBM assets are never gated.
CBM aligns its efforts with the PMM roadmap and overarching business goals. The goal is to grow the ABM pipeline of target accounts, increase lead quality, improve conversion rates, and accelerate pipeline. CBM is given direct admin access to social media accounts and partners with Paid Ads for boosting.
DemandGen 2.0 refocuses ABM to drive middle-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel marketing activities only. ABM is no longer involved in any top-of-funnel activities. Instead, ABM focuses on the needs of prospects at the account level.
ABM now converts warm CBM anonymous prospects into leads using gated assets, then nurtures those leads with emails and webinars to the bottom of funnel. The team can focus entirely on sales enablement — eliminating unproductive TOF conversations with CRO and Sales.
Paid media supports CBM by boosting all organic posts. LinkedIn has throttled the reach of organic company posts — without boosting, publishing posts would be largely pointless. Paid can also run broader ads independent of or aligned with organic posts.
BDRs sit at the intersection of DemandGen and Sales, engaging directly with prospects. CBM content gives them better reasons to reach out. Sharing short, snackable content directly in a message — or sharing an on-platform link — dramatically improves engagement and success rates.
This approach combats the relentless automation pressure this role faces. Genuine, valuable content shared in outreach creates human connection that automation cannot replicate.
New, snackable content at scale. Ungated. On-platform. Building awareness with the 70% who are still anonymous.
Convert warm CBM prospects into qualified leads. Nurture to close. Sharp focus on pipeline and sales enablement.
Boost organic CBM posts. Run account-targeted and retargeting ads for ABM. Extend reach without changing the strategy.
Give BDRs the ammunition to reach out with genuine value. CBM content makes every touch more relevant and more human.