Bulletproof Customer Acquisition Tools and Strategies
It’s often cheaper to retain customers than onboard new consumers. In fact, studies show that it’s 10x less expensive to keep a loyal customer than to try and find a replacement.
That’s all well and good, but you can only hang onto a paying customer if you already have them in the first place. So, while keeping existing customers happy is important, acquiring consumers is the cornerstone of retention.
Ok, great — customer acquisition is important. So…what now?
The first step to the successful onboarding of customers is to have effective tools. The second step is to devise a strategy that uses those tools productively.
Below, I’ve outlined several top customer acquisition tools — as well as key strategies that use these tools. You’re welcome!
Customer Acquisition Tools
1. Google Analytics — I had to start this section off with one of Google’s powerful tools. Yes, they have many, but for a business, one of the most effective is Google Analytics.
Google Analytics plugs into the back-end of your website and lets you track and analyze your web traffic. You can see simple things like page views and where your online customers are coming from. However, you can also drill down into a deep pit of analytics, such as bounce rate, time spent on a page, session starts for your videos, and more.
With Google Analytics, you can understand your customers’ behaviors so you can better optimize your site. How’s your email sign-up page working, for example? How about your free trial widget? This analytics tool can tell you if it’s working…or not.
2. MozBar — MozBar is amazing, and that’s not even speaking in hyperbole. It’s an analytics tool, but unlike Google Analytics, it deals specifically with SEO metrics. Essentially, MozBar is a plugin that works with both Chrome and Firefox and lets you track the statistics of online searches and check rankings on keywords. The best part? It gives you numbers in real time.
Wait, that’s actually not the best part (but it’s close). In addition, you can actually look at competitor websites and view their site rankings and what keywords they’re using, too. You can also see the total number of social media likes per page.
So, when it comes time to acquire new customers through content marketing efforts, using MozBar, you can strategize the best topics to write about. If you’re launching or maintaining a blog, for example, it’s possible to ride current long-tail or short-tail waves so you ensure that your website is popping up in organic searches.
3. GetResponse — GetResponse is an email marketing tool that helps you acquire new customers through effective sales messages. If you’re a service-oriented business, this is a great tool to use, as it will help you attract new leads and then convert those leads into paying clients through utilizing email copy that works.
How does GetResponse do it? Glad you asked! The name kind of says it all, but that’s not how it goes about achieving it, of course. Instead, GetResponse provides an email platform that allows you to launch A/B tests and track the analytics on each test. This can help you devise the most compelling subject lines and messages for your brand.
In addition to the A/B testing features, Get Response can also auto-schedule emails, provide you with sequential email abilities, and schedule emails to be sent at a later date.
4. Unbounce — Think of Unbounce as the GetResponse of landing pages. Remember Google Analytics? Sure you do. While that tool lets you glean data-driven insights for your overall website, Unbounce allows you to A/B test specific landing pages.
Unbounce is essentially an out-of-the-box conversion optimization tool. So, if you have any sort of landing page, this tool can tell you what’s working best. It helps ensure that your web traffic does exactly what you want it to do, like click on the right “sign up” page or “free trial” link. It can even aid in the design of your amazing landing pages.
Customer Acquisition Strategies
You now have the tools needed to acquire customers. Now, how do you use them? Below are some tried-and-true customer acquisition strategies that leverage the above gadgets.
1. Content Marketing — Content marketing is the act of drafting and sharing online media, such as blog posts, newsletters, white papers, videos, and more. The content is published on your own website or larger platforms like Medium and YouTube, and works to increase consumer interest.
So, if you sell pet products, for example, you can write engaging blog posts on the best types of dog shampoo. Then, when a customer is interested in disinfecting their canine, they can come across your content and learn more about your brand.
2. Email Marketing — Email marketing has proven to be one of, if not the most, effective way to acquire new customers. However, this type of marketing can be conducted in two ways.
The first is outbound marketing through cold reach-outs. If you have a service-based business, especially if the monthly recurring income is high on a per-client basis, it makes sense for you to curate a list of high-impact customers. Then, use effective email copy to reach out to them and pique customer interest.
The second method is through inbound marketing. This method is comprised of email subscription forms on your website, which houses a scheduled chain of emails that markets to potential customers on the back-end. So, if you give away a free product in return for an email address, for example, you can write an effective email marketing campaign that auto-sends to these addresses in an attempt to convert them to paying customers.
3. Social Media Marketing — The easiest way to market on social media is to promote your content through your existing social media channels. This drives users from various social platforms to your website, where you have an engaging blog post that promotes your product or service. However, for this to work, you need to increase the size of your social presence, just like you would with your email list.
A harder, but more effective way is to invest in social media advertising. Through the use of refined targeting, engaging copy, and powerful images, you can entice consumers who’ve never heard of you to click over to your website where you sell your product or service. If you can get a positive ROI with ad spend, then the sky’s the limit. However, this is easier said than done, which is why there are a ton of digital ad agencies out there to help you succeed.
Conclusion
If you combine an effective customer acquisition tool with an effective strategy, you’ll be onboarding new customers in no time. However, it’s up to you to choose the gadget and the game plan that works for your company and your industry.
Once you’ve started acquiring consumers, it’s time to retain them. Tune into our next post, where we’ll discuss the ways in which you can effectively keep your existing consumers happy (and paying).
