Demand Generation vs Demand Capture: How to Balance Your Marketing Strategy
In this episode of Unqualified Leads, we go deeper into why B2B marketing can’t just be about chasing MQLs and capturing demand. Backed by fresh studies from Forrester, Bain, Google, 6sense and Green Hat, we break down how today’s buyers behave: 70%+ of the journey is complete before they ever speak to sales, and most already have a shortlist of three vendors in mind.
We talk through what this shift means for marketing strategy, budget splits and campaign choices. We explore why demand capture alone (Google Ads, lead gen forms, gated ebooks) caps growth, and why demand generation, brand storytelling, founder-led content, educating before the search, is now the lever that creates scalable pipeline.
Transcript
Unqualified Leads – Episode 003 Highlights
Introduction & Context
Harry and Daniel open by recalling Episode 2, where they discussed the shift from focusing on MQL volume (Marketing Qualified Leads) toward prioritising SQLs / opportunities.
In this episode, they dig deeper into data, budgeting, campaign types, and marketing strategies aligned with this “new playbook.”
Key Data & Trends
They review several recent studies to support the claim that the buyer’s journey has shifted:
From these, they extract two core insights:
Buyers commonly have a shortlist of vendors before actively shopping.
Over 70% of the decision journey is completed before the vendor is contacted.
Implications: Demand Gen vs. Demand Capture
The traditional emphasis on demand capture (e.g. paid search, lead forms) only addresses ~5% of buyers—those already in market.
The bulk of budget and effort should shift toward demand generation: building awareness before buyers enter the market so that the brand becomes part of their shortlist.
This shift improves the efficiency and effectiveness of demand capture, because when people eventually search / convert, they already know and trust your brand.
Daniel adds: your capture spend should never exceed the demand you’ve created: if you outspend your generation efforts, you’re pushing into an unprepared audience.
Framework: 3 C’s (Category, Competition, Company Stage)
They propose a framework to guide budget split and strategy:
Category
• Established market → tighter margins, higher capture costs, stronger need for brand / awareness work
• Emerging market → heavy education, brand narrative, demand generation
Competition
• Competing with incumbents → need to break through trust / memory
• Competing with peers / startups → more freedom to lean on capture early, but still need brand presence
Company Stage
• Early / bootstrap / seed → heavier demand generation (60–70%), less capture
• Growth / Series B/C → more balanced split (e.g. 50/50)
• Enterprise / mature → brand activations, defense of position, more awareness weighting
They also stress blending brand generation (storytelling, positioning, thought leadership) under the umbrella of demand generation.
Campaign Types & Execution
On LinkedIn, prioritize awareness / engagement campaigns before pushing for conversions.
Then use retargeting / case study / email ads for high-intent audiences.
Be prepared: when shifting budgets, demand capture may initially drop before rising again.
Use leading indicators (engagement from target accounts, share of search, content interactions) to show progress before closed revenue arrives.
They caution: boards often demand immediate ROI (closed deals), but this strategy needs 6+ months to move the needle. Buy-in across all stakeholders is essential.
Closing / Core Takeaways
70%+ of buyers have already done research and shortlisted vendors before contacting you.
You need to be in their shortlist ahead of time.
That means investing more in demand generation / brand awareness and not relying only on demand capture.
When executed, this leads to higher quality pipeline, better win rates, improved efficiency, but only after patience and internal alignment.