To me this is the same as “direct marketing” which is where I started in marketing. Even today, I don’t think people have adopted a unified definition of direct marketing. Many think it is the same as direct mail. And it doesn’t matter that direct marketing and direct mail are NOT the same because each company has their own definition.

Whether you call it demand or lead generation or consider it synonymous, we all know what needs to be done. Build awareness for the company/brand, generate leads, nurture them, qualify them.

I find myself addressing the sameness or distinguishing the differences based on who I am speaking with, i.e. job interview, colleague, manager, discussion board.

But perhaps, as suggested by Jen, lead generation is a subset of demand generation.

For example, demand generation may be used to describe driving customers to make e-commerce or retail purchases where leads are not part of the sales process.

For me, demand generation is a broader term that encompasses the full lifecycle of revenue-generating activities – from lead acquisition through customer retention, and ultimately lifetime development of that customer. One could even argue that it includes brand reputation as well.

Lead generation is a component… for many, a very important component…but it exists within a greater demand gen strategy. Lead gen is focused on the direct acquisition of new opportunities. But, many marketers today are being held accountable beyond acquisition to nurturing and accelerating the sale…and beyond (i.e. customer nurturing and development).

What about this? Demand Gen = Awareness + Lead Gen(Aquisition) + Lead Nurturing + Customer Development. That way, when we measure total “demand” in terms of revenue we can start to hold ourselves accountable to not only quantity of leads, but size of lead opportunity, time lead takes to become revenue, total lifetime value of a customer, etc. Thoughts?