Strategic Prioritization in Demand Generation

One of the most common weaknesses in digital demand generation strategies is a failure to prioritize correctly.

Anyone can spend time researching and compiling a long list of potential tactics, but calling it a "strategy" is a different matter. 

However, a document full of ideas that cannot be executed (due to a lack of budget, team, tools, or expertise) is not a strategy. It’s just a wishlist.

Strategy is execution. What your business implements is your real strategy. Unexecuted plans don’t move the needle.

That said, setting clear priorities is not a trivial task. It requires experience, business acumen, and a deep understanding of context. And even then, it’s still an ongoing experiment due to the uniqueness of every market, vertical, and moment in time.

How to Set the Right Priorities

Here are a few examples of the types of trade-offs that often come up when defining a demand generation strategy:

Upper Funnel vs. Lower Funnel

Every strategy should consider both top-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel initiatives. But that doesn’t mean allocating resources 50/50.

In some cases, an 80/20 split might be more effective. Factors that influence this decision include:

• Maturity of the category

• Sales process sophistication

• Stage of the company

• Available budget

Paid Search vs. SEO

Search is essential for any company whose product or service is actively being sought online.

Even in niche categories, if your solution solves a common problem, there’s likely relevant search intent.

But where to start—SEO or Paid Search? We recommend beginning with Paid Search, because:

• It yields quicker results

• It validates real-time search demand

• It generates data that can inform a brilliant SEO strategy

While SEO pays off in the long term, it's also slower and more resource-intensive. It's risky to spend a year on SEO only to discover low traffic potential.

In B2B: Social Selling, Cold Email, Cold Calling, or LinkedIn Ads?

B2B requires different tools, channels, and priorities than B2C. Tactics that work in e-commerce may not work in consultative sales.

B2B demand gen must be guided by professionals with actual B2B experience, taking into account:

• Longer sales cycles

• Multiple stakeholders

• The need for long-term relationship building

Conclusion

Prioritization is what turns vision into action. A strong strategy doesn’t attempt to do everything—it focuses on doing the right things, in the correct order. 

When businesses prioritize strategically, they create space for clarity, execution, and real results that align with their goals and resources.