A recent study has discovered that the cost of acquiring customers (CAC) has risen by 60% over the last five years. One of the reasons for this increment is a lack of a robust customer acquisition plan.
Many businesses publish content on social media and run ads to get new customers. But they don’t have a well-thought-out plan or blindly follow other brands; strategies, which leads to a high CAC. This article will explore combining online and offline strategies for getting new customers, boosting revenue, and building a loyal customer base.
What is a customer acquisition Plan?
Brands develop and utilise customer acquisition plans to acquire new customers, gather leads, nurture their interests and needs and eventually convert them into paying customers.
It brings cohesion to business processes. Many brands find a customer acquisition plan integral to brand discovery, accelerating the customer journey and establishing a positive customer experience.
Online Customer Acquisition Strategies
These strategies primarily include leveraging popular digital mediums to get customers.
Below are some prevalent online strategies for acquiring new customers.
1. Content Marketing
Content marketing is an approach that incorporates creating and disseminating online content (like blog posts, emails, videos, etc.) to generate interest in a brand’s product or services.
For example, Dunzo—a Bengaluru-based startup, shares fun and timely content on Instagram. Razorpay—a payment gateway, has also nailed content marketing. They regularly publish helpful blog posts, whitepapers, guides, and customer stories.
Today, customers expect brands to create content. Moreover, content marketing is a cost-effective way to educate customers, build trust, and develop relationships. According to Demand Metric, marketing generates three times more leads than outbound marketing and costs 62% less.
To start content marketing, you must first create an effective strategy, and it should outline your goals and target audience. Next, determine the content types and promotional channels. Then, create a content creation process and build a content calendar. Also, remember to distribute the content on all digital touchpoints and measure its performance regularly.
Your goal should be consistently creating quality content: publishing one blog post or a weekly YouTube video.
2. Email Marketing
Email marketing is a type of marketing that includes sending emails to a contact list. You can use it to notify customers about new product releases, provide helpful content to educate them, build a consistent relationship, etc.
The following statistics show email marketing’s excellent return on investment (ROI).
- Litmus's report shares that 41.5% of brands say that email marketing has been critical for the success of their business.
- CMI’s 2022 Content Marketing Report shares that 68% of B2B marketers used emails to distribute content.
- 81% of small business owners rely on email marketing as their primary channel for acquiring customers, and 81% use it for custom retention.
To begin email marketing, you need a detailed email list of the customers, impactful email content, a tool to send emails and the performance of the email campaigns. You can build the email list by capturing your website’s traffic with special tools. Then, send sales emails to convert subscribers into customers.
Also, You can offer exciting discounts, limited-time offers, seasonal offers, etc.
Offline Customer Acquisition Strategies
In today’s digital world, online customer acquisition strategies are a must-have. But, startups need an omnichannel approach to prosper, especially in the early-growth stage. It involves physical presence and face-to-face interaction.
So, below are some offline strategies you can use.
1. Events
Event marketing is promoting a brand through in-person events and real-time engagements.
For example, Google holds an offline conference for developers, and the conference features educational lectures combined with the promotion of their products.
Events allow you to promote your offer and develop relationships with existing and potential customers. They can help you boost revenue by fostering customer loyalty. Customers who have a great experience interacting with you are more likely to trust the brand.
Startups can conduct conferences, seminars, or product launch events. You can use online marketing strategies such as email marketing to promote the event. You should arrange it so people can watch the event offline and online. Remember to combine product promotion content with acceptable educational content for maximum impact.
2. Print Ads
Print advertising is a tried and tested customer acquisition strategy that is still effective. Be it giving an ad in your local newspaper, sending direct mail, or distributing pamphlets at events or markets.
Here are three reasons to use print advertising:
- It can help you target a particular set of people through niche publications.
- Provides the opportunity to engage and captivate audiences through copywriting, images, and taglines.
- You can integrate your digital initiatives with print ads through QR codes and links to your social profiles.
Although print ads may seem outdated, they are still a classic way of finding and acquiring new customers. Moreover, you can even use it to boost your online marketing methods.
Start Implementing Both Strategies
Now you know online and offline customer acquisition strategies, it’s time to include them in your customer acquisition plan. Out of the strategies mentioned in this article, your choice depends on the company’s specific goals, limitations, and strengths.
Also, while creating your customer acquisition plan, remember to focus on long-term goals and build a loyal customer base who value your product and services.
If you want to learn more about such strategies, connect with other entrepreneurs, and know their unique plans and marketing tactics, join us at Scalix.
Scalix is an integrated platform exclusively for supporting startups. We host regular virtual sessions, AMAs, and expert hours with top industry professionals. We also provide a vibrant network where entrepreneurs can strive to achieve their business goals. Reach out to us!
