What's the best way for your business to attract customers?
Attracting new leads for your company has, in some ways, never been easier.
The technology boom birthed a host of brand-new acquisition channels for even the most niche of brands.
However, with increased access comes increased risk: it's far too easy to adopt an approach which is simply ill-fitted to your business.
So let’s take a look at the many customer acquisition channels—and how you can plan the right route for you.
Identify customer demographics
The very first thing you need to identify is who exactly your customer base is. Get specific: boil down age, gender and their general interests to find the common ground which draws these demographics to your brand.
Once armed with this information, you’ll be able to narrow your approach to appeal directly to your target audience. You should then research which platforms your demographic is most likely to use.
Take for instance if you were to use social media. For a teenage audience, you would be best inclined to use TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram, while for an older (or more general) audience you might lean toward Facebook.
University graduates are also more likely to congregate on Twitter, which is worth knowing if your target audience are of student age. Likewise, if your audience is mostly male, there are sites to avoid—just 14.9% of Pinterest users worldwide are men.
You don’t need to use digital platforms to appeal to specific demographics, either. Print advertisements in newspapers and magazines can be just as effective, if not a little more expensive.
For example, if your company sells furniture, then home, DIY and interior design magazines would be an ideal match for your advertisement.
Outline your budget
Attracting clients is notably harder if you have a stringent budget to contend with—but not impossible!
Traditional acquisition tactics like TV, radio and video do tend to come at a higher price.
Though you would be advertising to the mass market rather than a specific demographic, these channels are tried and tested for years and are undeniably effective.
In fact, TV advertising alone is regarded as a far more successful platform than any other media source when it comes to attracting clients.
Yet there are many more budget-friendly options which do the job. Email campaigns and cold calling can be just as effective at bringing leads in.
Keep it local
If you’re a small business that is just starting out, you’re going to want to pool people in from your local community.
The good news is that a localised approach doesn’t need to break the bank. Events and community work that you could attend or host in your area is one way to add reputational value to your company—and at a little cost, too.
To really boost the success rate of this campaign, you should advocate for causes that are close to your heart or that align with your company ethos—like environmental issues or supporting a nearby hospital or school.
Go digital
Although you should never underestimate the power word-of-mouth can have on the reputation of your brand, a digital initiative will elevate your game.
Content marketing is a generously effective method which delivers results for the vast majority of businesses.
An inviting website with an informative blog will drive visitors to your door. Couple this with a watertight SEO strategy and you’ll be able to compete for the top positions in search engines, outrank your competitors and ultimately obtain more leads.
Evidence also suggests marketing emails from companies have an average open rate of 16.97% and an average ‘click through rate’ of 10.29%. Emailing clearly works—so why not use your website to cultivate a mailing list and build a subscriber base, too?
Cost-wise, these initiatives can really vary. You can learn basic SEO yourself as the information is readily available at your fingertips, but for a concrete plan that brings in as many leads as possible, you might wish to seek marketing advice to get the best bang for your buck.
Social media
Social media is home to billions of users all over the world. In fact, over half of the global population tap into their favourite social networking spaces daily, and we do so at an average rate of 2 hours and 25 minutes every single day. In the UK, 66% of the population own a Facebook account. Clearly, social media is an advantageous leverage that delivers lucrative results.
However, there are dozens to choose from and not all will be suitable for your company.
Fortunately, social media marketing can come at a modest cost, though fees will rise depending on how much or how frequently you’re hoping to command advertising space.
The world is your oyster when it comes to customer acquisition channels, but the main thing to remember is to choose the one which harmonises with your brand, target audience and budget. Regardless of price, with the right strategy your customers will come flooding in.