Demand Generation Vs Growth Marketing: Choosing the Right Strategy for Your SaaS

Ever get the feeling that marketing terms are multiplying faster than your to-do list? Growth marketing vs. Demand generation—sounds like they could be the next superhero movie, right? But in the world of SaaS and B2B, these aren’t just fancy buzzwords. They’re two powerhouse strategies that can either send your business soaring or leave you scratching your head wondering where all your leads went.

So, what’s the deal with these two? Do they actually differ, or are we just complicating things for the sake of sounding smart? Spoiler alert: they do differ, and understanding those differences can seriously impact your marketing strategy—and your bottom line.

In this post, we’ll break down growth marketing vs. demand generation into simple, digestible bits. By the end, you’ll know how both approaches can work together to fuel your business, from attracting new leads to converting them into long-term customers.

What is Demand Generation?

Demand generation is a marketing strategy focused on creating interest in your product or service by building awareness, generating leads, and nurturing those leads through the buying process. The goal is to guide potential customers from simply knowing about your brand to taking actionable steps, like engaging with your content or filling out a form.

To measure the effectiveness of your efforts, it’s important to track the right metrics.

The key stages of demand generation typically include:

• Awareness: This is the first step where potential customers learn about your brand and what you offer.
• Lead Generation: Once you have their attention, the next goal is to collect their information—often through lead magnets like downloadable content, webinars, or free trials.
• Lead Nurturing: This stage involves building a relationship with your leads, keeping them engaged and helping them move closer to a purchasing decision, typically through personalized content and follow-ups.

Demand generation isn’t just about collecting as many leads as possible—it’s about finding the right leads and nurturing them into loyal customers.

What is Growth Marketing?

Growth marketing is a strategy that looks beyond simply acquiring new customers—it focuses on the entire customer journey, from the first interaction to long-term retention. It’s about growing your business by attracting, converting, retaining, and expanding your customer base.

Unlike traditional marketing, which might concentrate on just one part of the funnel, growth marketing takes a full-funnel approach. This means every stage of the journey matters—whether it’s bringing in new leads, converting them into customers, or keeping them engaged and loyal over time.

By optimizing each touchpoint, growth marketing ensures that customers not only come back for more but also spread the word about your brand. This approach creates sustainable, long-term growth that goes beyond short-term wins.

Key Differences

Funnel Focus

Demand generation primarily targets the early stages of the funnel—raising awareness and acquiring leads. It’s about getting people interested in your product or service and guiding them through initial steps like signing up for a webinar or downloading a lead magnet.

On the other hand, growth marketing covers the entire funnel. It doesn’t stop at acquisition but continues through to conversion, retention, and even expansion. Growth marketing looks at the big picture and ensures every step of the customer journey is optimized for long-term success.

Tactics & Tools

While both strategies use similar tools, their focus is different. Demand generation leans heavily on content marketing, lead magnets, webinars, and SEO to draw in potential customers. It’s all about building interest and filling the funnel with qualified leads.

Growth marketing, meanwhile, includes these tools but places greater emphasis on tactics like A/B testing, email marketing, and referral programs. It focuses on optimizing the entire customer experience and testing what works at every stage, from acquisition to retention.

End Goals

The goals of each strategy also differ. Demand generation is laser-focused on lead generation and nurturing—filling the funnel with high-quality leads that can be handed off to the sales team.

Growth marketing, however, aims for broader, long-term growth. It looks at metrics across the board, from customer acquisition and conversion rates to retention and referrals, ensuring your business grows in a sustainable and scalable way.

How Demand Generation and Growth Marketing Can Work Together

While B2B demand generation and growth marketing have different approaches, combining them can create a powerful, well-rounded strategy. SaaS demand gen focuses on building awareness and nurturing potential customers over time, ensuring that high-quality leads are consistently flowing into the pipeline.

On the other hand, growth marketing excels at rapid experimentation and optimization throughout the entire customer journey. Once those leads are generated, growth marketing works to convert them, retain them, and drive long-term engagement.

By using B2B demand generation to attract the right audience and growth marketing to refine and improve every step of the customer experience, SaaS businesses can boost both customer acquisition and retention. These two strategies complement each other, helping you generate interest and maintain lasting relationships with your customers.

Which Strategy is Right for Your Business?

The right strategy depends on your business size, goals, and resources. Demand generation is ideal for companies looking to build awareness and generate a steady flow of high-quality leads—especially if you have a dedicated sales team to nurture those leads. It’s a great fit for businesses with complex sales cycles or those focused on long-term customer relationships. If you need expert help, we’ve got you covered with our list of the best B2B SaaS demand generation agencies.

On the other hand, growth marketing works best for businesses aiming for scalable growth across the entire funnel, from acquisition to retention. If your goal is to optimize every touchpoint and increase customer retention through tactics like email marketing and referral programs, growth marketing can help drive sustainable, long-term growth.

For many companies, blending both strategies—using demand generation tactics to fuel the top of the funnel and growth marketing strategies to convert and retain customers—can lead to the best results.

Conclusion

To recap, demand generation is great for building awareness and generating leads, while growth marketing focuses on optimizing the entire customer journey for long-term success. Depending on your business needs, you can choose one strategy or combine both for the best results.

Not sure which strategy fits? Book a call with Bounty Hunter Agency and let’s explore how we can drive your growth.