šŸš€ How to start B2B demand generation from scratch?

3 tactics, 2 traps and 1 tool to start B2B demand generation

Hello founders!

Welcome back to ā€˜Tactical Tips’ by Jerel and Shuo at DECODE, the largest founder community co-hosted across Berkeley and Stanford. Every week, we cover one of our founders’ top questions on how to build, sell and operate 10x better.

Today, we’ll be answering the question ā€œHow to start B2B demand generation from scratch?ā€ and covering insights on understanding your ideal customer profile (ICP), creating a content library, and building a robust middle of funnel.

So, here is advice inspired by Allyson Letteri, Operating Advisor at Bessemer and former VP of Marketing at Handshake.

And ... we’ve curated a YouTube playlist featuring our best founders, operators and investors. 

šŸ”„ Inside this issue:

āœ… 3 tactics to start B2B demand generation
āœ… 2 traps to avoid 
āœ… 1 tool to leverage 

šŸ‘‡Let’s dive in.

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3 tactics to start B2B demand generation

šŸŽÆ Hone in on your ICP

  • Pains: What are the most pressing, painful problems they’re facing that your solution can solve? 

  • Gains: What are the main goals or outcomes they’re looking to drive?

  • Shifts: What's happening at their company that’s making them open to a new solution? (Common shifts include compliance mandates, a crisis or breach, new executives joining the team, or even when the team outgrows old systems.)

  • Blockers: What objections make your buyers resist your solution? (For example, they may not be fully aware of the problem your solution solves or they may think your competitors’ solutions have more features.)

  • Motivators: What considerations will influence them to move forward and buy? (This might include hard ROI data or seeing testimonials about real results from their peers)

šŸ“š Create a content library

  • Develop reusable core content that addresses customer questions at every stage of the buyer journey 

  • Produce 2 -3 pieces in each of these 5 categories:

    • Symptom-related content

      • Help problem-unaware prospects recognize warning signs and hidden costs of the status quo

      • Focus on pain, inefficiencies, and risks they may be tolerating

      • E.g. ā€œSigns your data management is brokenā€

    • Solution-related content

      • Educate problem-aware buyers on available solutions and how to evaluate them

      • Explain trade-offs, common mistakes, and where existing tools fall short

      • E.g. ā€œAI vs Manual: a 2025 comparisonā€

    • Value proposition content

      • Explain what the product does and why it wins

      • Show how the solution delivers better results, stronger ROI, or superior experience; make differentiation obvious

      • E.g. ā€œHow [X] platform cuts costs 30%ā€

    • Customer stories and data stories

      • Provide proof with quantifiable results and real outcomes

      • E.g. ā€œ[X] automates 90% of tasksā€

    • Product content 

      • Show how the product works; demonstrate workflows, use cases, and key functionality that drive value

      • E.g. ā€œ[X] workflow automation demoā€

šŸ› ļø Build a robust middle of funnel (MoFu)

  • Website

    • Homepage needs to speak to potential buyers’ most important concerns

    • Make sure the website speaks directly to your ideal customer, explaining your product’s value and why it’s better than alternatives

  • Events

    • Create experiences to engage prospects who are interested and want to learn more, but are not ready for a sales conversation (e.g. live events, intimate dinners, virtual webinars)

  • LinkedIn

    • Focus on sharing what helps buyers progress in the sales journey (e.g. understanding symptoms, why current solutions are inefficient, how your approach solves problems differently)

  • Earned media and communities

    • Identify where ideal customers gather or whose voices they trust, then show up by contributing content (e.g. guest on podcasts, writing for trade publications or newsletters, share insights in forums)

  • Email marketing

    • Send a monthly newsletter featuring valuable content (e.g. new insights, case studies)

    • Build drip sequences to guide audience towards specific actions

2 traps to avoid

🚨 Ignoring end-user buy-in when crafting messaging

  • If your messaging is off-putting to the end users (they often fear "displacement and burnout"), adoption will fail regardless of executive buy-in

  • Craft two narratives: C-suite → bottom-line gains; End users → less tedious work, more strategic impact

🚨 Pitching when prospects never heard of the product

  • Introducing the product and doing demos to strangers don’t convert 

  • Lead with understanding prospects’ problems and warm them with content that shifts how they think about solutions

  • Align every tactic and channel to a strategy:

    • Who are you targeting? 

    • What actions do you want them to take? 

    • What messages will motivate those actions? 

    • What is the right channel to get their attention?

1 tool to leverage

šŸ“– Best practice on MoFu marketing

  • 70% of the B2B buying process happens before prospects contact sales, and MoFu prospects are typically 30-90 days from making a decision

  • Leverage tools like Kissmetrics for person-based analytics, enabling you to track individual user behavior across devices and sessions.

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Continue learning šŸŽ“

How to build

How to sell

  • Metrics to assess sales pipeline (Read | Listen)

  • Qualities to choose in design partners (Read | Listen)

  • Questions to define ideal customer profile (Read | Listen)

How to operate:

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