What is the customer acquisition process like?

The definition of customer acquisition process is relatively simple. It’s about converting people into paying customers. Something that is achieved through a set of strategies, activities and techniques that you will use to make the world want and buy your products and services not just once, but many times.

Why is it important to understand the customer acquisition process as a strategy?

Having a comprehensive customer acquisition strategy that goes beyond the classic sales funnel is crucial because customers are lost. Even the most engaged customers with your brand can succumb to a competitor’s one-off offer, boredom, or fashion. So no company can rest on its laurels or rely solely on its current customers. It is necessary to have a process capable of attracting, persuading and converting more, much more and all the time.

And that requires a strategy.

Creating a customer acquisition strategy in 6 steps

Well, now that you know the importance of approaching customer acquisition strategically, let’s look concretely at how you can do it. From our point of view, it is only necessary to take six fundamental steps to create that strategy that we do not stop talking about.

(01) Define your goals

You need to figure out exactly what you want to achieve with your customer acquisition process. And, yes, we know what you’re thinking: “What am I going to want? Customers!”

Of course, that’s the ultimate goal. But to plan a truly effective customer acquisition strategy, you’ll need to be much more specific. Start by asking yourself these questions:

• What kind of customers am I looking to acquire? Are they people of a specific age? Do they identify with a particular gender?
• Once they are customers, how will I retain them?  After all, an acquisition strategy focuses not only on attracting new customers, but on retaining them.
• How many customers do I need to acquire, taking into account turnover and my current growth rate, to reach my company’s revenue goals?

(02) Identify your customers

Again, to get to the bottom of the matter when it comes to identifying your customers, there are a few questions you can ask yourself:

• Who is my ” ideal” customer? We’re talking about demographics, such as age, gender, or location. These details will go a long way in deciding how to plan and structure your marketing efforts, so it’s important that you have them.
• What are my clients’ problems? Knowing this will help you make all your brand communications reflect those problems and how your company can solve them.
• What does my customer want? You also need to know what motivates your audience, so you can offer it to them.

(03) Set KPIs

KPIs (key performance indicators) are key metrics that will tell you if your customer acquisition process is on track.

Here are some of the metrics you can consider:

• Impressions: How many pairs of eyes your marketing messages reach.
• Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of people who saw and clicked on your ad. If your impressions are high, but your CTR is lagging behind, you may need to modify your ad’s messages.
• Conversion rate: The number of conversions on your site, divided by the number of visitors. Conversion rate is the most important metric of a customer acquisition strategy.

(04) Consider customer acquisition channels

A customer acquisition channel is a platform through which you can locate and get new customers. We already talked about the importance of localizing these channels when we explain techniques to implement A/B Testing.

The most popular customer acquisition channels include:

• Paid search (SEM and PPC): involves paying to place an ad on a search engine, such as Google.  An upward trend.
• Organic search. This method involves optimizing content for search engines (SEO) by using keywords specific to your industry.
• Social networks. Posting regularly, interacting with your followers, and curating content your audience will love are great, free ways to acquire customers. Influencer marketing is a good complement to this approach.
• Email. Creating a good contact list and then communicating with them with news, exclusive updates and personalized discounts is an ideal way to acquire customers and build loyalty.

(05) Design a strategy for each channel

When you know which channels you’ll be focusing on, you can shape the design of your customer acquisition process. It’s about going from the most general to the most specific.

Keep in mind that there is no universal guide here valid for all cases. The right customer acquisition strategies for each company will depend on its objectives, audience and specific KPIs, as well as the acquisition channels preferred by customers. That is why it may be a good idea to have the help of professionals at this time of the creation of the strategy. If you think you need help in this regard, contact us and we will be happy to help you.

However, we leave you some examples of customer acquisition process in which you can get inspired:

• Retargeting via email, for example in the case of abandoned carts.
• Creation of lead magnets.
• Produce and promote video content, which is one of the most successful formats today and which, according to all experts, will continue to be so.
• Social Media Surveys and Contests

(06) Evaluate KPIs and Update Strategies

A customer acquisition strategy is not a static effort, but a living part of the business, a perpetual process of optimization and iteration.

It is therefore necessary to set a deadline and audit the effectiveness of campaigns. Are people really downloading the lead magnet? Do your subscribers open the emails you send them? And do they click on the links they contain? This information will tell you what’s working and where you need to make the necessary adjustments to your strategies to run even better campaigns.

At the end of the day, a customer acquisition process pursues sustainable growth, a goal we at Ideafoster know well.