Most SaaS companies don’t have a traffic problem. They have a demand problem. 

You can throw money at ads and churn out blog posts, but if no one actually wants what you're selling, you're stuck. 

Demand generation solves that problem. It gets your brand top-of-mind before buyers even start looking. 

What Is SaaS Demand Generation?

SaaS demand generation is a marketing strategy focused on building brand awareness and interest in a software-as-a-service product. 

It involves creating a consistent flow of high-quality engagement across channels your audience actually uses—LinkedIn, search, newsletters, events, and offline touchpoints like conferences or billboards.

The goal is to pinpoint a persistent problem and educate your audience on new ways to solve it. Meanwhile, you position your brand as a trusted solution and generate latent demand over time.

Demand Generation vs. Lead Generation 

Unlike lead generation, which aims to capture contact information (like form submissions or demo requests), demand generation creates interest first. It sets the stage for lead gen by warming up your audience with content, social proof, and educational material.

Let’s put them side by side:

How Does This Work in Real Life?

There are large-scale and small-scale dem gen campaigns. Let’s have a look at some practical examples. 

Quick Case Study #1: A Small Campaign

Debbie Moran from RecurPost shared a good example of a successful B2B SaaS demand generation campaign. 

She explained that their blog post, "How to Automate Tweets on Twitter," attracted 720 readers in a month. The post then directed them to explore RecurPost’s pricing and features, resulting in a 20% increase in trial sign-ups.

Quick Case Study #2: A Big Campaign

If you drive through San Francisco, you might see Artisan’s billboard screaming, “Stop Hiring Humans.”

We went for a bold, pricey, and provocative move to gain attention in a saturated tech market.

Was it worth it? A big yes.

Here are the results of our campaign:

• 

  Recognition in San Francisco surged from 5% to 70% among new acquaintances.

  
  
• 

  197% brand search growth, ranked second among the fastest-growing AI companies by Ahrefs.

  
  
• 

  Major outlets wrote about us: SF Gate, Breitbart, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, HubSpot, etc.

  
  
• 

  A Reddit post reached 35,000 upvotes, and a tweet about the campaign amassed 250,000 impressions.

  
  
• 

  1000s of sales meetings booked.

  
  

Automate your outbound with AI employees

Equip your team with the best-in-class outbound tools and our AI BDR Ava, who automates your entire outbound workflow.

Yes! I want to book a demo.

Understanding the SaaS Demand Generation Funnel

The SaaS demand gen funnel has four stages:

1. 

   Awareness

   
   
2. 

   Consideration

   
   
3. 

   Decision

   
   
4. 

   Retention & Expansion

   
   

Let’s look at each of these in detail. 

Awareness Stage: Capturing Interest

At this stage, you want to get on people’s radar. You’re not trying to sell, but to start a conversation, show up in their world, and “plant a seed.”

SEO-Driven Content That Answers Real Questions

We have an article on our blog titled How AI for Sales Forecasting Can Revolutionize Your Business. 

It ranks for search, answers real problems, and casually introduces your tool. You're not shouting “buy now,” you're saying “we understand you.”

Another piece that attracts early interest is our listicle, The Ultimate List: 30 Best Tools for Startup Success. We use it to smartly introduce our tool, without a hard sell, so that when prospects start trialing products, we’re on the shortlist.

Thought Leadership That Builds Trust

If your founder has a story to tell or strong takes about the industry, share it. 

Posts like “What I Wish I Knew Before Scaling My First SaaS” or “Why We Stopped Chasing Features and Focused on Fixing This One Thing” catch attention and build credibility fast—especially on LinkedIn.

You can also ride the wave of hot topics to grow your reach. Or design news hook campaigns like Artisan did.

We convinced the internet that we replaced our CEO with AI with the most ambitious April Fool’s campaign. In two days, we already amassed 150,000+ impressions across LinkedIn, X, and Instagram and 50,000+ video views.

Social Media That Actually Feels Social

Your social media shouldn’t feel like a billboard. Use bite-sized demos, mini how-tos, memes, infographics, and behind-the-scenes clips. 

Using humor won’t hurt your credibility. Just look at how well Semrush pulls it off:

Why does it work?

People don’t want to be sold to; they want to be entertained or helped. If you can do both, that’s demand gen gold.

Brand Campaigns That Make People Look Twice

Try fun pre-roll YouTube ads or Spotify audio spots that speak directly to common frustrations. 

For example: “Still using 14 Chrome tabs to manage your pipeline? We’ve been there. There’s a cleaner way.”

There are some pretty solid YouTube ads from the likes of Semrush, Usercentrics, and Monday:

Consideration Stage: Educating and Engaging Prospects

Once someone shows interest, the real work begins. At the consideration stage, you want to retain trust and help prospects see how your product solves their specific challenges. 

Educational content, live webinars, case studies, and targeted email sequences play a huge role here.

For example, a SaaS company might run a webinar titled “How AI Assistants Can Cut Your SDR Workload in Half,” giving potential buyers real insight into the benefits of its product before they ever speak to a rep. 

HubSpot is one of the best examples here, offering a series of free webinars and positioning themselves as a trusted resource long before the sales conversation starts.

A short case study showing how a customer went from 2 booked meetings a week to 12 after using your product? That’s gold. 

Right after landing pages, case studies are some of the most convincing pieces of content.

Even a well-crafted onboarding email series tailored to their industry can move the needle.

Your SDRs and BDRs play a big role here. Their job isn’t just to follow up. It’s to guide. 

They ask the right questions, offer the right content at the right time, and help prospects figure out if they’re a fit. 

But sometimes, even the best SDRs and BDRs have too much on their plate. That’s why Artisan’s AI BDR, Ava, could be the most productive new hire on your team. She prospects and segments leads based on your ICPs, keeps data clean with ongoing enrichment, and manages email warmup and deliverability. 

Decision Stage: Converting Leads into Customers

At the decision stage, it’s all about removing friction and making the "yes" easy. SaaS companies that win here are the ones that make their value proposition obvious and the next step crystal clear. 

Here are four proven strategies to close the gap:

• 

  Optimize free trials: Make onboarding smooth, highlight “aha” moments fast, and offer guided walkthroughs if needed. 

  
  

For example, Notion shortens its free trial learning curve with interactive guides and embedded videos that help new users unlock value in the first 10 minutes. That kind of early momentum keeps people engaged and more likely to convert.

• 

  Make the best out of the demo experience: Customize it to the prospect’s use case. Don’t just show features, show outcomes.

  
  
• 

  Use personalized outreach: SDRs should follow up with specific insights tied to the prospect’s pain points or goals. They can also send “Product A vs. Product B” comparisons or ROI calculators to make product value obvious.

  
  
• 

  Strong calls to action: Go beyond generic buttons like “Buy Now.” Use CTAs that feel helpful and specific, like “Check how it works for B2B SaaS teams” or “Get a free lead audit.” Make the next step feel easy and worth it. 

  
  

Here’s a good CTA example from a HubSpot article:

Retention and Expansion: Driving Long-Term Growth

Demand gen doesn’t stop when someone makes a purchase. The focus just shifts to driving long-term engagement.

Keeping customers happy, engaged, and growing with you is your new goal. Here’s how smart sales teams keep the funnel healthy post-sale:

• 

  Customer success programs: Proactive onboarding, regular check-ins, and support that actually solves problems.

  
  
• 

  Upsell and cross-sell campaigns: Triggered by usage data or milestones, offering more when it makes sense.

  
  
• 

  Loyalty perks: Early access to new features, exclusive webinars, and sneak peeks for power users.

  
  
• 

  Referral programs: Turn happy customers into advocates with rewards and recognition. A great example here is the Dropbox referral program, where Basic users get 500 MB of free space per referral, while Plus users earn 1 GB per referral.

  
  

• 

  Ongoing education: Newsletters, in-depth webinars, and training content to help users generate more value over time. Live streams are also a brilliant idea. 

  
  

Take Figma. They host regular live streams where attendees can ask questions and receive real-time tips, keeping users engaged and learning.

The Role of BDRs and SDRs in SaaS Demand Generation

What Do BDRs and SDRs Do?

BDRs and SDRs ensure that qualified leads make their way through both the sales and marketing funnels.

• 

  BDRs typically focus on outbound prospecting, identifying and reaching out to new customers through various channels like cold calls, emails, and social media.

  
  
• 

  SDRs engage inbound leads, nurturing them until they are ready to speak with a sales rep, turning MQLs into SQLs.

  
  

How BDRs and SDRs Contribute to Demand Generation?

Here are the roles BDRs and SDRs play in driving effective demand generation:

• 

  Outbound prospecting: BDRs reach out to potential customers through cold emails, LinkedIn outreach, and cold calls, creating new opportunities by introducing the product to people who may not be aware of it yet.

  
  
• 

  Lead qualification: After making initial contact, SDRs qualify leads to determine if they’re a good fit for the product, nurturing them and guiding them through the sales funnel to increase conversion potential.

  
  
• 

  Collaboration with marketing: Sales and marketing teams work together to make demand generation efforts worthwhile. Marketing provides resources and content, while sales offers insights into what resonates with prospects.

  
  
• 

  Targeted follow-ups: BDRs and SDRs make sure to follow up fast and keep prospects engaged as they move through the funnel.

  
  
• 

  Data tracking and analysis: By setting KPIs and tracking metrics, interactions, and responses, BDRs and SDRs refine messaging and adjust strategies to improve long-term demand generation results.

  
  

Automating and Enhancing SDR & BDR Efforts with AI

AI can increase the effectiveness of SDRs and BDRs by automating tasks, personalizing outreach, and improving overall productivity. 

Here’s how AI supports each stage of the demand gem process, with examples from Artisan:

• 

  Automating outreach: AI streamlines the outreach by automating cold emails, LinkedIn messages, and follow-ups, allowing SDRs and BDRs to reach more prospects in less time. 

  
  

Ava, Artisan’s AI-powered BDR, automatically finds prospects based on your ICP, populates campaigns with selected leads, and launches follow-up via LinkedIn and email. Artisan also integrates with Salesforce and HubSpot. 

• 

  Personalizing messaging: AI analyzes prospect data and online behavior to create personalized, relevant messages that resonate with leads. 

  
  

Ava automatically generates hyper-personalized sequences based on your ICPs, referencing social media, website visits, and other important data to make outreach feel tailored.

• 

  Lead research and qualification: AI tools identify quality leads by gathering and analyzing data from multiple sources. 

  
  

Ava gathers insights from over 300 million B2B contacts worldwide, enriching lead profiles with intent data to prioritize leads with the highest likelihood of conversion.

• 

  Optimizing follow-up timing: AI optimizes the timing of outreach by predicting the best moments to follow up based on prospect engagement and intent signals. 

  
  

Ava automatically schedules multi-channel follow-ups, so your team stays on top of prospects and increases conversion rates.

6 Key SaaS Demand Generation Strategies

Let’s look at some specific, actionable strategies for generating demand for your products and services. 

1. Email Marketing and Lead Nurturing

43% of B2B SaaS marketers cite email as delivering the highest ROI. Fundamentally, it’s a way to guide someone from “kind of interested” to “ready to buy.” 

Here’s how to use SaaS email marketing campaigns to nurture leads:

• 

  Lead magnets: Give something valuable in exchange for an email (e.g., HubSpot’s ROI report).

  
  

• 

  Newsletters: Send consistent updates with tips, product updates, and curated content. Inspire yourself with Really Good Emails, which showcases the best email design and resources on the web, or use pre-made email templates to ease your daily progress.  

  
  

• 

  Personalized outreach: Create more tailored, behavior-based emails triggered by user actions (e.g., “noticed you signed up but haven’t used feature X yet”).

  
  

2. Content Marketing and SEO for SaaS Demand Generation

Educational content (blog posts, how-to guides, and white papers) helps people find your product while solving their problems.

It’s not just about organic traffic here. It's about attracting the right kind of traffic.

Here are two great examples of educational content:

• 

  Ahrefs blog provides deep, actionable articles and how-to guides that pull in marketers and SEOs. 

  
  

• 

  HubSpot’s State of Marketing reports are data-packed annual reports that offer insights, trends, and benchmarks. They’re widely shared and referenced and position HubSpot as a go-to source for marketing knowledge.

  
  

3. Paid Advertising and Retargeting

When done right, paid ads and PPC quickly bring qualified traffic to your SaaS product, especially when combined with solid retargeting strategies.

Here are the main paid ad best practices: 

• 

  Retarget visitors who bounced or signed up but didn’t convert.

  
  
• 

  Use lookalike audiences on LinkedIn or Meta to reach similar users.

  
  
• 

  Test messaging by segment (e.g., BDRs, SDRs, decision-makers, VP-level).

  
  
• 

  Use video/demo snippets in ads to give people a feel for the product before clicking.

  
  

We came across a super interesting video where Steven Cravotta explains how spending $1 on paid ads has helped him scale his business to $30,000 per month in recurring revenue. 

His approach to scaling a mobile app or SaaS business with paid ads has four steps:

1. 

   The setup: Make sure your product solves a real problem and test it organically through platforms like TikTok and Instagram before using paid ads.

   
   
2. 

   Optimization: A/B test key product elements like onboarding and pricing, focus on quality, and use surveys to personalize the user experience.

   
   
3. 

   Scaling paid ads: Start with TikTok ads for low-cost traffic, test various campaigns, and aim for a 3:1 ratio of customer acquisition cost to lifetime value.

   
   
4. 

   Analyze & scale: Review campaign performance, double down on successful strategies, and continue optimizing to scale even more effectively.

   
   

4. Community Building and Social Media Engagement

Communities create word-of-mouth at scale. When users feel like they’re part of something, they stick around longer and tell their friends.

Here are the most common platforms to build a community:

• 

  LinkedIn: Professional audience, great for thought leadership.

  
  
• 

  X and Threads: Quick, opinionated takes and viral threads.

  
  
• 

  Slack/Discord/Reddit: Great for niche product communities and peer support.

  
  

A great example here is Notion’s community on Reddit, which is full of templates, UGC content, and workflows. It drives both product stickiness and demand.

5. Webinars, Podcasts, and Video Content

Video and audio help you build trust quickly. A live event or podcast episode is a more personal, engaging format for explaining your product than text-based mediums. 

Here are the most popular channels: 

• 

  Live webinars showing how to solve a real-world problem (e.g., “How to scale cold outreach using Artisan”).

  
  
• 

  Podcasts like Lenny’s Podcast, where SaaS operators talk shop and build demand without pitching.

  
  

• 

  Explainer videos are also a favorite. According to Wyzowl, they’re the top choice for video marketers in 2025, with 73% saying they use them most often. So, it’s definitely worth considering. Figma’s design tutorials are a great example:

  
  

6. Partnerships and Co-Marketing

Partnering with other companies, creators, or influencers helps you tap into new audiences who already trust your partner.

Here are the top ways SaaS brands do this:

Integration Announcements 

Consider Slack and Notion, where both teams co-promote.

Integrations, such as the one offered by Slack and Notion, act as an opportunity for both brands to co-promote. 

Philip Portman, the force behind SMS marketing app Textdrip, swears by co-marketing collaborations as a scaling accelerator. This was particularly evident in Textdrip’s partnership with Venngage. 

Venngage saw some fantastic results:

• 

  30% increase in email click-through rates

  
  
• 

  25% jump in website conversions

  
  
• 

  15% higher ad performance

  
  
• 

  40% boost in internal content strategy and creation efficiency

  
  

This single collaboration created multiple touchpoints for top-of-the-funnel interest and demonstrated how a well-executed co-marketing effort can build demand while strengthening brand credibility.

Guest Posts and Newsletter Promo

Both of these work because you’re “renting” an engaged audience of a creator. Guest posts tend to be for link-building purposes, while newsletter promos are more oriented towards bringing in new leads. A caveat here is to select trusted creators or companies with an ICP similar to yours.

Devin Reed, one of the world’s top B2B content marketers, uses a smart B2B content marketing strategy in his newsletter by placing promos at both the top and bottom. 

They’re sleek, stand out, and infused with his personal POV:

Influencer Walkthroughs

Here’s another example of partnerships: a LinkedIn creator showing off how they use your tool in their workflow.

These walkthroughs involve a LinkedIn creator showing off how they use your tool in their workflow. The tactic works with both micro and macro-influencers.

The Future of SaaS Demand Generation: What to Focus on Next?

The world of SaaS is always changing. To stay on top, you need to keep pushing the envelope.

You need to balance tried-and-true methods with fresh, new tactics, focus on what clicks with your target audience, provide real value, and keep testing new ideas. Let me say that again: keep testing new ideas.

And then, of course, there’s AI. AI BDRs like Artisan’s Ava are transforming how sales teams run outbound campaigns. They’re allowing for a degree of automation and scale that has never before been possible. 

Automate your outbound with AI employees

Equip your team with the best-in-class outbound tools and our AI BDR Ava, who automates your entire outbound workflow.

Yes! I want to book a demo.