5 effective strategies for customer acquisition
EMBRACE MARKETPLACES
by Amy Kapolnek
Beauty and wellness brands, especially those that are emerging or substantially growing, are constantly faced with customer lead and acquisition challenges. Soaring costs of paid media on TikTok and Meta as well as escalating fees for influencer partnerships further intensify the struggle to grow and sustain the business. In my roles as a Strategic Advisor & Fractional CMO, I am constantly crafting low cost, high impact customer acquisition strategies to help clients overcome these hurdles and acquire new customers.
In part one of 5 Effective Strategies for Customer Acquisition, I discussed how to acquire new customers by knowing your customer and offered a FREE guide with 15 Questions To Create A Strong Customer Profile.
In part two, I discuss how to use AI in marketing and offer suggestions for the best AI marketing tools. In part three, I dive into the importance of marketing channel diversification and how to diversify your marketing channels.
In part four, I explore why partnerships are important, which type of partnership is best and the benefits of marketing partnerships. In this final part, I examine how to develop an omnichannel retail strategy that incorporates a marketplace model for retail.
Embrace Marketplaces
To acquire new customers, brands cannot rely solely on their own websites. It’s harder than ever for brands to launch and secure new direct-to-consumer (DTC) customers, and for a slew of reasons, including limited marketing budget, limited brand awareness, lack of consumer trust...the list goes on. Further, a brand needs to meet their target audience where they are and the platforms they shop at and trust.
This is why it's imperative to be omnichannel (a.k.a selling through multiple channels) and invest in a solid omnichannel retail strategy that includes traditional wholesale and a marketplace model for retail. By being omnichannel, a brand is not only sprinkling their products and brand in multiple different channels and platforms that their target audience frequents and uses, but it also creates a safety net of revenue in the occurrence that the brand’s digitally-owned or distribution platforms has a disruption. A prime example of this was COVID when retailers were shut down for months on end. Brands that solely relied on revenue generated from their distribution channels either shuttered or were severely hit.
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One platform that is hard to stay away from? Amazon. Love it or hate it, brands looking to grow and secure new customers need to look at it seriously if they want to grow (there are exceptions to this). More likely than not, your customers will be here, and a vast majority of influencers prioritize it for affiliate commission. While the margins might not be great, it’s important to look at it as a brand awareness or marketing tool - one that you are in control of to turn on and off. Customers not only use Amazon as a discovery or research tool (i.e. reviews), but are also more likely to purchase an unknown brand from Amazon because of the trust they have for Amazon (and their return policy).
Other marketplaces, such as live streaming platforms (i.e. QVC-backed Sune) and social shopping platforms (i.e. Flip and TikTok Shop), have also been gaining steam. Consumers increasingly prefer interactive and engaging experiences online. Live streaming and social shopping cater to this demand by providing immersive and interactive experiences that traditional eCommerce platforms and retail stores typically lack. Because of their volume of users, it is relatively easy for these types of marketplaces to reach millions in minutes while transcending generations and genders.
The result? More brand awareness, product discoverability, customer leads and overall higher CLTV (customer lifetime value) with limited effort or budget. Although the future of certain marketplaces, such as TikTok, is unknown due to regulatory factors, it is projected that these live streaming and social shopping marketplaces will continue to grow and be heavily influential in consumers' buying decisions.
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KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS
Consumers are more sophisticated and demanding than ever. They have high expectations, constantly changing preferences and wavering brand loyalty. With acquisition cost at record highs, no better time to invest in understanding the customer.
LEAN INTO AI
As the business world continues to explore how to use AI in marketing, brands can attract new customers by harnessing AI marketing tools in the following two simple ways: quizzes and content.
diversify channels
Every person is on several digital and physical channels every single day. It’s our job to figure out which ones they prefer and meet them there. Oftentimes, this means having to diversify your marketing channels to reach them.
rethink influencers
There is so much chatter about the creator economy, yet not a lot about who that encompasses outside pricey influencers and celebrities. There are whole categories of people who have influence over your customers’ buying power.
the fwrd group
a boutique consulting firm specializing in strategic planning and marketing execution for forward-thinking startups, fast growing small businesses and household namesakes in consumer goods and services.
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