You already know your company needs a customer acquisition strategy, and you’ve tried to put one in place. But, it’s not working and you don’t know why. While there could be several reasons why your strategy isn’t effective, there are some mistakes that nearly every business makes at least once. Here are the top reasons why your customer acquisition strategy is failing.
You’re Using the Wrong Channel
Sure, social media is a great way for some companies to target new customers. In fact, it’s one of the top channels for B2C retailers and real estate, but despite the hype, it’s not the right channel for everyone. If you’re a construction company for instance, social media might not be the best channel to find customers. You may need to overhaul your marketing campaigns to better target customers who need a construction company, especially if you’re a B2B construction company.
To determine whether you’re using the wrong marketing channel, it’s important to develop a customer persona that determines where your customers are mostly likely to encounter your marketing materials. Maybe you should try trade magazines and shows instead of social media. Or perhaps direct mail is the most effective channel for your industry. Take the time to really analyze your target audience instead of just going with whatever is most popular at the time.
Your Delivery Model Isn’t Right for Your Business
The delivery model is how your product or service is delivering value to your customers. For example, many mobile apps offer a “freemium” model, which allows customers to use the basic features of their app for free, but must pay to use advanced features. This is a good model for companies that are based online and can reach millions of people. It’s not a great model for B2B sales or companies whose products don’t have a lot of features.
Consider how you’re delivering value to your customers and revamp your model if it’s not effective. If you’re selling your product mostly to enterprise customers, for instance, they don’t need a freemium level because they have a budget for required software. Show them how you can solve a problem they have and they will pay for your product. Don’t undervalue your product or service by giving it away to people who will pay for it.
You Aren’t Pinpointing Your Customer
With all the data available today, you should be able to narrow your customer down to exactly who you want to target. It’s accessing that data that can be challenging. There are third-party lead generation companies that can analyze data on your behalf to identify customers that are most likely to buy your product or service. This data is invaluable in creating a persona that allows you to funnel your marketing budget to the very people who have a problem you can solve. Without narrowing your persona, you’re basically fishing with a net instead of a spear. You’ll get a lot of fish you don’t want just to find one or two that are keepers. Wouldn’t you rather they all be keepers?
Conclusion
If your customer acquisition strategy isn’t working, you’re probably making at least one of these mistakes. Fortunately, they’re all correctable and once you get yourself on the right path, you’ll see your customer acquisition rates soar.
