Paul Paradis, CRO and Co-founder, Sezzle
Attracting customers is the first step for any business. In the physical world, a store must first get customers to walk in the door before it can convince them to open their wallets. This is true in the digital world as well. Unlike in the analog world, however, online stores are not limited by their location to the foot traffic in their physical proximity. Ecommerce stores have a limitless opportunity to attract new customers by reaching them in the right channels and giving them a compelling reason to visit their site.
Attracting New Customers
One way to think about finding and engaging customers online is to view it as the process of finding the tribe for your brand. A tribe is a group of people with a shared set of values, beliefs, or behaviors. Once you find the tribe that needs and loves your product, you can run tests to determine the best way to reach them. In today’s digital age, this can be easier than ever with the right strategies for social media, search engine optimization, and paid advertising.
Acquiring new customers is characteristically more expensive than retainment, but it’s the foundational step in building your customer base and growing your business. The type of marketing that we focus on when the main goal is attracting new customers is referred to as “acquisition marketing.” The goal of acquisition marketing is, on a base level, to acquire – its sole purpose is to get a form of contact from a prospective customer. This can be a phone number, email address, essentially any bit of information you can use to start a conversation, and start them on their customer journey. Once your potential customer hos been entered into your marketing database, you can move forward with introducing your company and its products or services through personalized newsletters, blog articles, and social media posts.
Retaining Existing Customers
Once your target customer has converted, the focus of your effort should be on retention. Consider this relationship a long-term investment, and as such, it should be pursued like a long term relationship. Understand what your customer likes, what keeps them happy, and what could upset them. We want to market to them in a way that allows us to gain insight to who they are and anticipate their needs. This shows our customer that we care, and builds loyalty through personalized expertise in the product or service.
Attracting and retaining customers are both equally important strategies. So your marketing strategy should position your company as an industry leader ready to meet both of those needs.
