Developing a successful customer acquisition strategy can seem like a daunting task. Every business wants to maximize productivity for greater ROI, and you may be left wondering how to create a long-term successful strategy when there are many customer acquisition methods to consider. Even after you’ve picked a method, how do you insure its success? Following these tips can help you avoid failure.

1.     Customer value: Think long-term and forget about focusing on the cost of new leads. Buying cheap leads initially can hurt your customer acquisition plan in the long run. Instead, think about the value of the customer over time. While the up-front costs may be more expensive, your business will reap the rewards of thinking strategically.  Maximize your ROI by thinking long-term.

2.     Track and review: You’ve invested the resources for bringing in new business, now how do you evaluate if it’s working? Research marketing services and programs that will allow you to measure the effectiveness of your plan, but some things you should track are: keywords, referring domains, and organic traffic. This is great insight that will increase your conversion rate and provide you with a stream of customers.  

3.     Engage: After you’ve spent so much time and effort attracting new customers, don’t let it go to waste. Continue to make your now ‘old’ customer feel as special as a new customer. Reward them for being loyal and ask for their feedback, which will help you improve your business. Consumer insight is incredibly valuable and can help you avoid losing customers to a competitor. When new customers aren’t coming through the door, you will want to turn to your loyal fan base.

4.     Think like a customer: Of course you think like your customers. Wrong. It’s easy to forget what it’s like to be on the other end of the buying cycle. Spend time researching how customers use your product or service and how they go through the buying process. Know what hurdles potential customers encounter and address these issues in your customer acquisition strategy. The easier and more pleasant the buying process is, the faster customers will come to you.

After you’ve developed your customer acquisition strategy, it’s important to revisit your goals and revise your plan. The marketplace is always evolving and businesses that don’t spend time improving their strategy will be left behind for newer, hungrier competitors.