Customer acquisition methods - Instream Group
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Customer acquisition methods

Marketing is constantly evolving, new strategies are appearing, trends are changing, as is the behaviour of the target group. The interest in technological innovations and ongoing analyses of the effectiveness of specific tools translates into profits – it helps to generate and convert leads and, consequently, optimise sales.

What is it about?
Lead generation is a process performed prior to sales, the aim of which is to gain contact with a potential customer and estimate their willingness to purchase. It is about specific people from specific companies who meet the criteria set out for the target group and who have the decision-making power to implement the solutions you as a company has to offer. In the sales business, we call these entities “leads”.

What is it for?
To save time and resources that you invest in meetings with people who are not interested in your product. You only address those in whom you see potential instead of harassing the crowd that is not interested in your business at all.

How?
The question of what to do to catch potential customers out of a random mass of consumers is a challenge for marketing professionals around the world. But do not panic – there are ways that work. Lead generation is about using a whole spectrum of new tools, such as content and collaboration with influencers. It is worth remembering, however, that in the B2B segment, the most effective tool is still an old-fashioned yet timeless email. Trends are changing, more and more is expected from the emails, also in what respects their form, but this channel of communication remains invincible. According to Salesfusion data, as many as 78% of recipients consider email marketing to be the most effective method of customer acquisition. The runner-up is content marketing, appreciated by 67% of recipients.

 

1. Analysis

Developing lead assessment tactics and conducting analysis is always a good idea. In this way, you can find out which channel brings you the most leads that can be converted for sale.

The behaviour of target groups is evolving just as fast as technology. By analysing your potential customers you can better understand your target group’s weaknesses, the challenges they face, their goals, and consumer behaviour. Data analysis will help you to see these changes and respond to them quickly by implementing an appropriate marketing strategy. The numbers do not lie, use them to identify trends. The least you can do is make friends with Google Analytics. If you have sufficient resources, a more accurate and convenient CRM system dedicated to your company will be more convenient.

 

2. Content

What kind of content has the best chance of acquiring potential customers? Here are some proven ways to generate valuable leads by content marketing:

Webinar (online seminar). Find a topic that may be interesting for your target group and plan a webinar. It’s not about selling it. It’s about expanding knowledge of a topic that is already of interest to a potential customer. It is a relatively cheap tool to communicate information to a large group of people at the same time. If you are lucky, content can itself generate leads. However, it is more likely to become a great tool for engaging the target group, which in the future may convert to valuable business contacts.

Research results. Do you do or commission research on your industry? Always publish the results and make them available to your target audience for free. You can also write summaries of reports produced by others and publish them in an accessible, attractive form (remember to include the source). This kind of content is an excellent source of leads. You present yourself to your audience as a competent person who is familiar with the current situation in the sector you operate in.

Case study. It is a story of success – an analysis of a project that has brought benefits to the company. Before a case study is published for marketing purposes, it is worth focusing on what information is useful for our potential client and his needs. What is important? How you helped companies in your client’s industry to solve the problems he is currently facing. It’s easy: if you want an accounting service provider to trust you, you need to show them that you have helped other accounting service providers. Explain what the client’s difficulties were, the actions you took, and the results of those actions. Provide figures, it is always impressive because it is a clear proof of the effectiveness of your methods.

Blog. By creating content for your blog you can make sure that your website is positioned high in the search engine. In this way, you build the visibility of your brand. The good news is that all content marketing techniques work together. Valuable data collected in the research results are also most welcome on the blog. Here too, you can publish videos, webinars, or other content that you find interesting for your target group. The posts from the blog can be then easily uploaded to Social Media.

Benefits of a valuable content:

  • Access to data – Do your subscribers register on the website to read the content? This means that you have their contact details. You can use them as sales contacts or as data to analyse the profile of people interested in your business.
  • Readers’ trust – well-developed content will make you a source of valuable information for your audience. Who do you buy from? From someone you consider to be a trustworthy expert in the field. All the more so because B2B buying is often a big responsibility and a potential source of stress for the decision-maker.
  • Lower cost of reaching the target group – if you have your channel and your target group, you don’t have to use public relations or advertising. You already have access to your audience. You reach it with your content via email and website.

 

3. Web Push Notifications

Web Push Notifications work in every industry, the only requirement being to have a website. Thanks to the Web Push Notifications customers are in constant contact with the brand, regardless of whether they have visited your site recently or not. All you need to do is get an opt-in, i.e. permission to receive notifications. This is requested in the form of a message in the browser, which appears when a user visits a website.

You create the notification message yourself and send it to users. A push up is displayed on all kinds of browser tabs. Clicking on the push notification will redirect the user to your website. Statistics show that as many as 90% of the recipients receive a message, of which 5% to 15% click on it.

What to write in the web push notification? Whatever you want, just be brief and specific. It is worth including a clear call to action. There are tools available to personalise your messages – you can send different messages to different potential customers according to their location or other criteria.

You can integrate push up sending with your system, which works well for different types of CMS and CRM. You can also automatically send notifications with the system you are already using.

 

4. Influencers

According to data from the Polish Association of Bloggers and Vlogers, 72% of regular recipients admit that blogs and vlogs are a source of consumer information more important for them than the opinions of friends or family. 53% of regular recipients declare that they made a purchase under the influence of bloggers or vlogers.

This form of lead generation is based on the position and recognition of people who are involved in promoting your brand. Who can be an influencer? A public person – a blogger, journalist, expert with a channel on the Internet, owner of a popular Facebook account. Someone who enjoys some kind of authority among the target audience. This marketing model is based on the two-step flow of communication model, which assumes that other people are the most powerful stimulus. Your advertisement has a chance to be more effective if you funnel it through a person who is known, liked, and credible.

You can publish the influencers’ opinions on your channels in the form of short recommendations – testimonials. In this case, the influencer plays the role of your customer, recommending a product or service that he or she has used.

The influencer can generate offline leads for you by recommending a brand in your environment or by using your internet channels to present your product.

 

5. Cold email

This is not about marketing or sales. Then what? It is about making the first contact with a potential customer who has the chance to develop into a sales relationship over time. Generating leads is the crucial part of this initial stage, so we should focus on the interest of the recipient, not on advertising or sales.

A characteristic feature of cold emails is their personalisation. In an ideal case, the recipient should be convinced that we write only to them. A customized message is more readable, inspires trust, and makes you appear as credible.

To whom?
Cold emails are supposed to reach specific people. By analyzing the market you should first create a profile of the ideal customer. Your potential lead has to be a decision-maker in a company that has not yet had contact with yours. For a cold email to be effective, your product should respond to real problems of this entity. Take this into account when defining your target.

How?
A cold mailing campaign should consist of 2 to 7 messages – first contact and so-called follow-ups. A well-constructed content of the initial and subsequent messages plus sending them at appropriate intervals proves to work. Subsequent emails have a chance to reach the recipient at a better moment and attract his attention. In this way, the valuable information contained in the content makes the recipient grateful that you are writing and not, as you might suppose, annoyed that you are spamming them.

What a proper follow-up message should look like?

For more cold email tips, click here

 

6. SEO or search engine optimization – optimisation of the website for search engines.

Over the last 5 – 10 years, SEO has undergone a fundamental transformation. Positioning methods used to better a website’s visibility in the search engine, today it is no longer effective. So what is? Content. Valuable and unique content with keywords translates to the position of a page in search results. This trend makes the whole undertaking quite time-consuming. SEO is becoming a complex marketing tool in which image, social media, and a number of other aspects related to website traffic are also important.

Today’s objective: generating as many user entries as possible with the aim to increase overall visibility on the search engine.

Desired effect: more user entries, higher sales, better visibility, and brand recognition.

A brilliant source of information about SEO.

 

7. Social Media

According to data collected by Social Media Examiner, 66% of marketers noticed that it is enough to spend only 6 hours a week on Social Media to increase the number of leads generated. How? By maintaining constant contact with consumers. You have the opportunity to build a bond with your customers which can develop into long-term loyalty to your brand. Systematically posting content improves visibility, allows people to get to know, like, and trust you. You can use a strategy of small instant gains, for example, by organising contests with minor prizes or offering discounts on your products or services for those who follow you. Another important feature of social media is the ability to comment, share, and recommend any content you upload. You interact with the recipients and have the opportunity to learn about their needs and opinions. It is a more dynamic marketing tool than a digital ad. By using all the aspects of it, you have a chance to pick out valuable business contacts from the target audience.

Of course, there is also a potential risk. If you only stray a little, you may become an anti-hero depicted in memes, which can permanently destroy your image.

 

8. Step by step

Do you have valuable contact with a decision-maker who fits perfectly into your target group? Don’t try to get everything done by one email. Patience, courtesy, and commitment are great strategies for building relationships. It’s better than instructing a stranger on what to do or what you think they need to remember. Try to make contact by email. Write a short, concise message and be kind. Did you get an answer? Suggest a phone or video call. Did you manage to make an appointment? Offer a personal meeting. You could call this process ‘taming the client’. Try to gradually get closer, give more information, and establish deeper contact. Nobody likes pushy people who take up too much space. This applies also (maybe even more so) to salespeople.

 

9. Time of reaction

The statistics of the Harvard Business Review are jaw-dropping: Companies that have contacted a potential customer within an hour of receiving an enquiry have had 7 times as many business relevant conversations with a decision-maker as companies that responded an hour later and as many as 60 times as those that responded within 24 hours. The market is full of offers similar to yours, if you don’t hurry up, the potential customer will lose interest in your brand and use the services of your competitors. Of course, an hour is an exaggeration, you are rarely able to respond to messages at this speed. However, it is worth knowing that by shortening the response time you give your client a signal that you are committed to building a relationship with them. And that translates into his or her confidence in your brand.

At InStream Group we create effective marketing campaigns based on emailing. We tailor our campaigns to the customer’s needs, perfectly adjusting the message to their individual needs. If you need help in generating leads for your business – contact us, we will help you.

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