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7 Proven Customer Acquisition Tactics Every Business Should Use
Acquiring new customers is the lifeblood of any eCommerce business. But with competition growing fiercer by the day, how do you stand out and attract new buyers to your store? Customer acquisition tactics are the strategic approaches you use to gain new customers and build lasting relationships. While customer retention strategies are undoubtedly crucial for long-term success, a steady influx of new customers is essential for growth, especially in the fast-paced world of eCommerce.
In this article, we’ll explore seven actionable customer acquisition tactics to help you grow your eCommerce business, enhance customer loyalty, and boost your bottom line.
Struggling to Attract New Customers?
If you’re an eCommerce owner, you know that acquiring customers can be an uphill battle. You might spend time and money on digital ads, only to see a fraction of those visitors turn into buyers. Your email campaigns may go unopened, and your social media efforts could fall flat. Sound familiar?
Common challenges that eCommerce brands face when trying to acquire new customers include:
High competition: With thousands of stores vying for attention, it’s tough to stand out.
Rising ad costs: The cost of digital advertising continues to climb, making it harder to achieve a positive ROI.
Decreasing organic reach: Social media algorithms are constantly changing, making it difficult to get your posts in front of your audience without paying for ads.
Lack of trust: New visitors may be skeptical of buying from a brand they’ve never heard of.
Ad fatigue: Consumers are bombarded with advertisements, leading to decreased effectiveness of traditional ad formats.
Without effective customer acquisition strategies, it’s easy to waste resources on tactics that don’t generate results, as outlined in this comprehensive guide on customer acquisition strategies.
Amplifying the Impact: Proven Customer Acquisition Tactics
To solve the problem of lackluster customer acquisition, you need a mix of innovative marketing strategies and proven tactics that are tailored to your business, including five effective customer acquisition strategies. Let’s look at seven customer acquisition tactics that can help you reach new buyers, build trust, and increase conversions, as well as explore 23 effective customer acquisition strategies.
1. Leverage SEO for Organic Traffic
Search engine optimization (SEO) remains one of the most cost-effective ways to acquire new customers. By optimizing your website’s content, product pages, and blog for relevant keywords, you can attract organic traffic from users actively searching for the products you offer.
For example, if you sell eco-friendly home goods, optimizing your product pages for keywords like “sustainable home decor” or “eco-friendly kitchenware” can help you rank higher in search results, bringing in targeted traffic. Regularly publishing blog content that answers common customer questions can also improve your search engine rankings, driving more visitors to your site.
Tip: Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to identify the terms your target audience is searching for.
2. Invest in Paid Ads
While organic traffic is valuable, sometimes you need a quick boost to reach new customers. Paid ads on platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram allow you to target specific audiences based on their interests, behaviors, and demographics.
Google Ads is particularly effective for capturing high-intent users—people who are actively searching for products you sell. On the other hand, Facebook and Instagram ads are excellent for building brand awareness and targeting users based on interests and online behaviors.
Tip: To make the most of your paid ad campaigns, experiment with retargeting ads, which target users who have previously visited your website but didn’t make a purchase. Retargeting can remind them of products they viewed and nudge them toward completing their purchase.
3. Utilize Influencer Marketing
Influencers—whether on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok—can be powerful allies in your customer acquisition strategy. Partnering with influencers who have a dedicated following in your niche allows you to tap into their audience and build trust with potential customers.
For instance, if you sell fitness gear, partnering with fitness influencers who regularly review and promote workout products can expose your brand to a broader, engaged audience.
Tip: Look for influencers who align with your brand values and have an authentic connection with their followers. Micro-influencers (with smaller but more engaged audiences) often provide better ROI than celebrities.
4. Launch Referral Programs
Word-of-mouth marketing remains one of the most effective customer acquisition methods. A referral program incentivizes your existing customers to refer their friends and family to your store, often through discounts, gift cards, or other rewards.
Referral programs work because they rely on the trust between friends and family. When someone recommends your products, new customers are more likely to trust your brand and make a purchase.
Tip: Offer both the referrer and the new customer a reward, such as a discount or free shipping, to maximize participation.
5. Offer Free Trials or Samples
Another excellent way to reduce customer hesitation and encourage purchases is by offering free trials or samples of your products. Free samples allow potential customers to experience the quality of your product without committing to a purchase. This tactic is particularly effective for beauty, food, and subscription box businesses.
Tip: Promote your free trial or sample offer through social media ads, email campaigns, and your website’s homepage. Ensure that the offer is clearly highlighted and easy to access.
6. Build an Email List for Long-Term Engagement
While social media reach fluctuates and paid ads come at a cost, email remains one of the most reliable and cost-effective customer acquisition channels. Building an email list allows you to communicate directly with potential customers, share exclusive deals, and nurture relationships over time.
To grow your email list, offer a valuable incentive in exchange for signing up—this could be a discount code, free shipping, or access to exclusive content. Once users are on your email list, you can send targeted emails that encourage them to complete their first purchase.
Tip: Use personalization in your emails by addressing the customer by name and offering product recommendations based on their browsing behavior.
7. Collaborate with Other Brands
Collaborations with complementary brands can expose your business to a new, relevant audience. By partnering with non-competing brands that share your target demographic, you can run joint promotions, giveaways, or co-branded content campaigns that benefit both parties.
For example, if you sell athletic wear, you might collaborate with a brand that sells fitness supplements or equipment. Cross-promoting each other’s products to your respective audiences can lead to increased brand awareness and new customer acquisition for both companies.
Tip: Look for brands that share your values and have a similar customer base. Collaborations should feel natural and mutually beneficial.
How These Tactics Boost Customer Acquisition
Implementing the right customer acquisition tactics can significantly transform your business by leveraging customer acquisition strategies for business growth:
Increasing website traffic: SEO and paid ads drive new, targeted visitors to your site.
Boosting trust and credibility: Referral programs and influencer partnerships create a sense of trust, highlighting the importance of brand awareness and making it easier to convert new customers.
Improving conversion rates: Offering free trials or samples reduces risk for new customers and encourages them to try your products.
Building long-term relationships: Email marketing keeps your brand top of mind and helps nurture potential customers toward making a purchase.
By combining these tactics, you create a robust customer acquisition strategy that not only brings in new buyers but also builds lasting relationships that can lead to repeat business.
Measuring the Success of Your Customer Acquisition Tactics
To ensure the effectiveness of your customer acquisition tactics, it's crucial to track key metrics:
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The total cost of acquiring a new customer
Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who become customers
Time to Conversion: How long it takes for a lead to become a customer
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue you can expect from a customer over their lifetime
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising
Regularly analyzing these metrics will help you refine your customer acquisition tactics and allocate your resources more effectively, especially when developing an effective customer acquisition strategy.
How Unblocked Brands' Passport Solution Enhances Customer Acquisition
As you implement these customer acquisition tactics, engaging with your audience in real time becomes crucial. That’s where Unblocked Brands' Passport solution comes in. Passport enables eCommerce brands to send push notifications without the need for a dedicated mobile app, making it easy to engage with new and existing customers at the right moment.
Here’s how Passport can help with your customer acquisition efforts:
Instant Notifications: Engage with potential customers instantly through push notifications that highlight new products, flash sales, or special offers, following best practices for push notifications.
One-Click Engagement: Passport requires no app downloads—customers can sign up for notifications with a single click, reducing friction and boosting participation.
Increased Conversion Rates: With personalized notifications, you can re-engage users who’ve visited your site but haven’t made a purchase, helping drive conversions.
By offering seamless, real-time engagement, Passport helps you stay connected with your audience, improving your customer acquisition results.
Take Action to Boost Customer Acquisition Today
Acquiring new customers doesn’t have to be a daunting challenge. By leveraging SEO, paid ads, influencer marketing, referral programs, and the other tactics we’ve explored, you can attract new buyers, build trust, and drive growth for your eCommerce store.
To take your customer acquisition strategy to the next level, sign up for a free trial of Unblocked Brands' Passport solution at unblockedbrands.com. With Passport, you can engage your audience through push notifications that enhance customer acquisition and increase conversions.
