Demand generation
Demand generation creates and captures interest across a market, targeting a profile rather than named companies and accepting whoever responds. It is the counterpart to ABM, which starts from a defined account list and pursues those companies whether or not they have shown interest.
What is the actual distinction?
Whether the target is a list or a profile. Demand generation says who we want to hear from and waits. ABM says which companies we intend to win and goes after them. The channels overlap almost entirely, which is why the two get conflated in practice.
Do you have to choose?
No, and most teams that treat it as a choice regret it. Demand generation fills the top of the funnel and surfaces accounts you would not have listed. ABM concentrates effort on accounts that are worth disproportionate attention. The sensible question is the split, not the either-or.
When does ABM stop making sense?
When the addressable market is large and deal sizes are small. If you need two thousand customers at $8,000 each, naming and pursuing them individually costs more than it returns. ABM economics depend on a small number of accounts being worth a lot.
See mid-market ABM for where that line actually sits.
