The Essential Guide to Customer Acquisition

Customer acquisition is an essential business practice—the ability to attract new customers is crucial to maintaining any business. 

Customer acquisition and customer retention can increase sales, improve brand image, and increase word-of-mouth advertising. 

What Is Customer Acquisition? 

Customer acquisition is simply bringing in new customers. Whether they are purchasing a good or subscribing to a service, new customers are crucial to a brand’s success. 

To successfully achieve customer acquisition, brands must have an effective strategy that is relevant to their target audience and is correspondent with current trends. Customer acquisition marketing is a strategy that specifically targets new customers.

There are six steps of customer acquisition: awareness, interest, consideration, intent, evaluation, and purchase. 

Awareness

Awareness is the first step at the top of the customer acquisition funnel. Awareness is the first time that a potential customer learns about the brand. 

Interest

Interest is the second and last step at the top of the customer acquisition funnel. It is when the potential customer decides if they are interested in the brand or not. 

Consideration

Consideration, intent, and evaluation make up the middle of the customer acquisition funnel. Consideration is when the potential customer is debating whether or not the brand is reliable. 

Intent

Intent occurs after the lead decides that the brand is better to purchase from than competitors. 

Evaluation

Evaluation involves resources like reviews and case studies to prove that the brand is the superior choice. 

Purchase

Purchase is when the potential customer is ready to purchase for the first time. 

What Is Customer Retention? 

Customer acquisition isn’t the final goal of a successful brand. Customer retention refers to how a brand can convince one-time customers to become repeat buyers.

Customer retention also involves convincing new customers to not try or become loyal to competitors. It revolves around several factors, including product or service quality, brand transparency, and word-of-mouth. 

How to Attract and Maintain a Loyal Customer Base 

An effective customer acquisition strategy is the key to building a consistent group of repeat customers that trust your brand. 

Know Your Target Audience: Identity Marketing

Identify marketing is an innovative strategy that provides access to customers beyond broad information like demographics and online data. 

To successfully perform identity marketing, brands should tailor their marketing strategy to who a person is. Use personalized offers to make the customer feel closer to the brand. 

Reciprocity is another key to identity marketing. Instead of viewing customers as prospects, view them as partners and offer them something that makes them want to interact with a brand. 

The last important aspect of identity marketing is verification. An offer should be personalized and only work for the customer that receives it.  

Guide A Prospect Through the Customer Acquisition Funnel 

The customer acquisition funnel is the process that a prospect experiences, from their first interaction with the brand to the purchase. 

Awareness

Effective Search-Engine Optimization (SEO) practices can help ensure that a brand is reaching potential customers in the first place. 

Interest

Social media pages help stir up interest for prospects. 

Consideration

Building trust is the key to customer consideration. Evaluate your brand image and improve it with brand transparency, positive customer interactions, and word-of-mouth. 

Intent

Keeping their FAQ section up to date will ensure that customers choose a brand over competitors. 

Evaluation

Evaluation involves resources like reviews and case studies to prove that the brand is the superior choice. 

Conclusion

Establishing an effective customer acquisition plan is an important business strategy to attract and maintain customers. 

Marketing strategies should be tailored specifically to reach new consumers.