Short definition:<\/strong> Customer acquisition is the act of gaining new customers. It includes any method used, both offline and online, to find new customers and encourage them to make a purchase. Common customer acquisition tactics include cold calls and direct mail, and online tactics like email, social media, content marketing, SEO, paid display, and paid search ads.<\/p>\n We\u2019re going to focus on online customer acquisition marketing, specifically paid display, as our data shows that more than half of global marketers are using it as part of their acquisition strategy.<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s look at 6 strategies you should consider to help you generate higher ROI from your new customer acquisition campaign.<\/p>\n The success of your customer acquisition marketing strategy depends heavily on the data you have access to and the technology that makes it all happen. You need to be able to separate new prospects from existing customers, identify prospects that are most likely to convert for your products, and follow them across devices, browsers, and apps.<\/p>\n For all these reasons, look for a customer acquisition solution with a sizeable shopper data pool\u2014the bigger the better. But be sure to read the fine print \u2013 some charge additional fees for access to their data.<\/p>\n Also, make sure your solution has the machine learning technology necessary to do the heavy lifting in terms of analysis and optimization of that large data pool. You\u2019ll need something that can provide a granular analysis of behavioral data and shopping patterns and can fine tune the campaign based on performance against goals. Because of the massive amount of data that needs to be synthesized, and the continual optimization that is required, sophisticated machine learning is necessary to maximize ROI.<\/p>\n To win as many new customers as possible, you want a customer acquisition campaign with the broadest reach possible. For example, are your ads limited to a single network or to exchanges only? What kind of publisher relationships exist, i.e. how many publishers are you able to serve ads on? Do you have access to premium inventory?<\/p>\n Look for a solution with broad publisher reach that will get your ad in front of the maximum number of high quality prospects, in a prominent position, and when they\u2019re actively engaged in shopping.<\/p>\n Customer acquisition marketing programs are typically offered with CPC or CPM-based pricing. The best model for you depends on your business goals.<\/p>\n CPC stands for \u201cCost Per Click\u201d, and it means that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. When you have a specific performance goal, like increasing revenue, traffic or sales, CPC is typically the model of choice.<\/p>\n CPM stands for \u201cCost Per Mille,\u201d or 1,000 impressions, and it means that you pay a certain amount for every thousand impressions gained, regardless of whether someone clicked on your ad or not.<\/p>\n If ROI is an important KPI, consider a solution that offers CPC-based pricing, so you can more closely track performance and results.<\/p>\n Market research data shows that personalized ads lead to more sales and better ROI. In fact, 88% of U.S. marketers reported seeing measurable improvements due to personalization \u2014 with more than half reporting a lift greater than 10%. (Evergage<\/a>)<\/p>\n Many customer acquisition solutions only offer static creative, which means that you build a set inventory of ads that are delivered to groups of people based on rules you define. Others allow some dynamic capabilities but limited to showing best-selling products or a list of products manually provided.<\/p>\n To maximize the performance of your customer acquisition marketing efforts, upgrade to dynamic creative. This allows you to deliver ads personalized for each prospect, based on their unique shopping behaviors and product interests.\u00a0Dynamic creative optimization technology<\/a>\u00a0automatically selects the best color scheme, layout, and call-to-action within your brand guidelines so you can drive conversions from every ad.<\/p>\n Our data shows that nearly half of sales come from products that were never viewed on the site. Which means that if a shopper never saw your ad, they might never have made a purchase.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a smart move, then, to include\u00a0product recommendations<\/a>\u00a0in your acquisition campaigns. With product recommendation technology, you can go beyond displaying a static list of your top selling products and show specific items that a shopper is highly likely to be interested in. If Jane shows a propensity for shoes, an ad featuring your top selling apparel will be ignored. But an ad that includes a variety of footwear may just earn you your next new customer.<\/p>\n Want to make the most of your acquisition budget? Look for a solution with predictive bidding technology. Predictive bidding uses machine learning to analyze large data sets and determine when and how much to bid to reduce the cost of each sale.\u00a0Predictive bidding<\/a>\u00a0also enables you to optimize the model based on your specific business goals, such as ROAS, CPO, or COS.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re a global giant, a mid-sized company, or a small startup, the need to meet ever expanding growth and profit goals makes finding and converting new customers a crucial part of any digital marketing plan. But acquiring new customers in today\u2019s online landscape is not a simple or straightforward task. Prospects are using multiple devices and channels, and they\u2019re exposed to ads and different content constantly. Finding and attracting the right people with the right messages at a reasonable cost can be a challenge.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re running an online customer acquisition marketing campaign, or planning on launching one, there are several things you can do to maximize your ROI.<\/p>\n But first, let\u2019s define things.<\/p>\n Short definition:<\/strong> Customer acquisition is the act of gaining new customers. It includes any method used, both offline and online, to find new customers and encourage them to make a purchase. Common customer acquisition tactics include cold calls and direct mail, and online tactics like email, social media, content marketing, SEO, paid display, and paid search ads.<\/p>\n We\u2019re going to focus on online customer acquisition marketing, specifically paid display, as our data shows that more than half of global marketers are using it as part of their acquisition strategy.<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s look at 6 strategies you should consider to help you generate higher ROI from your new customer acquisition campaign.<\/p>\n The success of your customer acquisition marketing strategy depends heavily on the data you have access to and the technology that makes it all happen. You need to be able to separate new prospects from existing customers, identify prospects that are most likely to convert for your products, and follow them across devices, browsers, and apps.<\/p>\n For all these reasons, look for a customer acquisition solution with a sizeable shopper data pool\u2014the bigger the better. But be sure to read the fine print \u2013 some charge additional fees for access to their data.<\/p>\n Also, make sure your solution has the machine learning technology necessary to do the heavy lifting in terms of analysis and optimization of that large data pool. You\u2019ll need something that can provide a granular analysis of behavioral data and shopping patterns and can fine tune the campaign based on performance against goals. Because of the massive amount of data that needs to be synthesized, and the continual optimization that is required, sophisticated machine learning is necessary to maximize ROI.<\/p>\n To win as many new customers as possible, you want a customer acquisition campaign with the broadest reach possible. For example, are your ads limited to a single network or to exchanges only? What kind of publisher relationships exist, i.e. how many publishers are you able to serve ads on? Do you have access to premium inventory?<\/p>\n Look for a solution with broad publisher reach that will get your ad in front of the maximum number of high quality prospects, in a prominent position, and when they\u2019re actively engaged in shopping.<\/p>\n Customer acquisition marketing programs are typically offered with CPC or CPM-based pricing. The best model for you depends on your business goals.<\/p>\n CPC stands for \u201cCost Per Click\u201d, and it means that you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. When you have a specific performance goal, like increasing revenue, traffic or sales, CPC is typically the model of choice.<\/p>\n CPM stands for \u201cCost Per Mille,\u201d or 1,000 impressions, and it means that you pay a certain amount for every thousand impressions gained, regardless of whether someone clicked on your ad or not.<\/p>\n If ROI is an important KPI, consider a solution that offers CPC-based pricing, so you can more closely track performance and results.<\/p>\n Market research data shows that personalized ads lead to more sales and better ROI. In fact, 88% of U.S. marketers reported seeing measurable improvements due to personalization \u2014 with more than half reporting a lift greater than 10%. (Evergage<\/a>)<\/p>\n Many customer acquisition solutions only offer static creative, which means that you build a set inventory of ads that are delivered to groups of people based on rules you define. Others allow some dynamic capabilities but limited to showing best-selling products or a list of products manually provided.<\/p>\n To maximize the performance of your customer acquisition marketing efforts, upgrade to dynamic creative. This allows you to deliver ads personalized for each prospect, based on their unique shopping behaviors and product interests.\u00a0Dynamic creative optimization technology<\/a>\u00a0automatically selects the best color scheme, layout, and call-to-action within your brand guidelines so you can drive conversions from every ad.<\/p>\n Our data shows that nearly half of sales come from products that were never viewed on the site. Which means that if a shopper never saw your ad, they might never have made a purchase.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.criteo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/paid-display-acquisition-stats-for-glossary-min.png\")
<\/p>\n1. Perform a data and technology check<\/strong><\/h4>\n
2. Quantify your reach<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3. Choose the right pricing model<\/strong><\/h4>\n
4. Use dynamic creative<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.criteo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/kinetic-design-example.png\")
<\/p>\n5. Take advantage of product recommendation technology<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.criteo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/sales-unseen-products-for-glossary-min.png\")
<\/p>\n6. Use predictive bidding to optimize spend<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Summing it up: how to develop a winning online customer acquisition strategy<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
Customer acquisition definition<\/strong><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n1. Perform a data and technology check<\/strong><\/h4>\n
2. Quantify your reach<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3. Choose the right pricing model<\/strong><\/h4>\n
4. Use dynamic creative<\/strong><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n5. Take advantage of product recommendation technology<\/strong><\/h4>\n
<\/p>\n