Has customer acquisition been a big problem for you? Are you worried that your customer acquisition strategies are not attracting the big customer base that you want? Well, you are not alone. However, you will soon be out of this temporary fix.
In this article, we will tell you the secrets to using digital marketing as the pathway to improving your customer acquisition efforts. You will be catching up with your competitors in no time. Are you ready to begin?
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing is a collective name for strategies that aim to promote a business and in the process increase its visibility across the internet. It uses several digital channels like social media, email, websites, and so on, to reach and engage with potential customers. Now, why is it so important in the business world of today?
First of all, digital marketing broadens the horizon. In simpler words, it increases accessibility, making your business visible to even the most unlikely people. This is opposed to traditional marketing in which you have to meet with people and talk to them or rely on ads in newspapers. Digital marketing harnesses the power of the internet to be a global village.
For instance, on social media platforms, you can interact with your target audience in real-time via spaces on Twitter, live videos on Instagram, and posts on Facebook. What’s more? It is cost-effective and even yields a higher return on investment than the more stressful traditional marketing.
It only gets better from there; you can measure your growth, the successes and failures. With SEO, for example, you can track every view and click, and even discern how many of the clicks yield a positive response. This way, you can figure out which strategies work and get rid of the ones that don’t.
Now, let’s dive into the details.
Ways Digital Marketing Can Contribute to Customer Acquisition
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is only gaining more popularity each day and anyone who wants to scale their business needs to understand it. In the simplest words, well-executed SEO means your website will appear on the first page of Google’s search results.
What does that mean for your business? It means that when people search for what you have to offer, they find you almost immediately.
Think about it. When searching for something on Google, do you ever go past the first page? The answer is likely no and the same goes for your potential customers. Have you ever wondered how those top pages make it there?
Well, first, you have to tweak your content to be more user-friendly and helpful. You will use strategies like keyword research to make sure you have exactly what your customers want. With proper SEO, your website will climb the ranks, have better visibility, and attract all the customers you need.
The best part about SEO is that you are unlikely to attract people who don’t want what you have since they searched for it, so, you have even better chances of converting.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is everything that its name suggests, it is about using valuable information to reel in potential customers and improve your customer acquisition strategy. It’s like bait except it has to be something that will help your audience.
You have to create engaging and informative content frequently to keep customers coming back until you accumulate a loyal customer base that trusts in your information. When they trust what you have given for free, chances are they will be willing to try the product or service you have to offer for a price.
To further drive this point home, imagine this scenario. If every time you have a question about a subject, there is a website that provides you with the correct answer for free, would you hesitate to patronize them if they have something to sell?
That is exactly how your customers feel. But always remember to be consistent and keep your content relevant.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is noisy and overloaded with information, the only way you can stand out to your potential audience is to consciously tailor your online presence to their needs. That is where social media marketing comes in.
Many businesses have recognized social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the gold mines that they are, you shouldn’t be left behind. Why are businesses all over these platforms anyway?
It’s because they are where everyone is. Social media is where trends are formed, conversations are started, and most importantly, where you will find a lot of your customers. So, are you a part of those conversations? To thrive in the jungle that is social media, you need to create content- conversations, trends, challenges- that your target audience will want to engage with.
Create brand awareness, form genuine connections, and form a loyal customer base. That’s how customer acquisition works on social media.
Email Marketing
Email marketing can be seen as a more intimate form of digital customer acquisition, at least to your existing customers and that is the best part. It includes newsletters, helpful tips in their inboxes, and promotions. The charm of email marketing increases when you can make your emails look like a friendly chat.
Email marketing is one of the forms of digital customer acquisition strategy that has been around for a long time. So, why is it still thriving? Because nothing beats a chat with an old friend now and then. That is exactly what you want your emails to feel like.
Put some effort into crafting them and infusing a bit of personality and you will have customers that are willing to hear from you every time.
Furthermore, with email marketing, you are in it for the long run. As with growing a plant, you have to be consistent to nurture those relationships until they realize their true potential which is to grant you a return on your investment.
PPC Advertising
PPC stands for Pay-per-click. What does that mean? Think back to the last time you searched for something on Google. Was there an ad there somewhere? What about when you are scrolling through some of your favorite social media platforms? That’s PPC advertising.
With PPC advertising, you have to bid for ad placement in search engine results or on social media sites in hopes of getting a prime spot. This depends on how much money you’ve budgeted for marketing costs. This is why PPC advertising is best used as a boost than the main digital marketing strategy.
So, how does PPC advertising help with customer acquisition?
Well, getting a prime spot on whatever medium you choose places you right in front of your target market. If your ad is the first thing to pop up when customers type in related keywords, what do you think will happen? Chances are they will click and get what they need from you instead of any other page below. This increases your visibility and in turn your profit.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer Marketing is employing the services of famous and trusted influencers to market your product. Have you ever seen celebrities or insta famous personalities promoting or endorsing brands? It’s like telling a friend to tell a friend and to your new customers, your chosen influencer must be that friend.
If you want to choose the perfect influencer, find someone who has a large following in your niche. Get in contact with them and cut a deal. They will help you project your brand and reach your desired customers.
Why does influencer marketing work so well? That is because it is based on trust and authenticity. The customers trust the influencer who in turn trust your business. If at any point this chain of trust is broken, the business may suffer. So, get a friend of the people to vouch for your products and voila, you have customer acquisition under wraps.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing can be seen as a sales team working on your behalf for a cut of your profits. Have you ever read a blog post that seems to be promoting a certain product however subtly? Or some posts that tell you that they may earn a commission if you purchase a product through them? That is affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing involves getting some partners (affiliates) to promote your services or products in return for getting a commission on the sales. Most likely, these affiliates already have a fan base that is interested in what you have, you are simply leveraging their network. Isn’t that cool? It’s a smart customer acquisition method that essentially works itself out.
Conclusion
There you have it, the seemingly complicated but quite simple world of digital marketing (when you get a hang of it) and its impact on customer acquisition.
From SEO, your sure trick to organic traffic to influencer marketing, getting a friend to tell a friend, each of the strategies above has its charm. You now have all this information in the palm of your hands, the secret to success in the digital world. Are you ready to make the next move?