Say Hello to New Customers: 4 Steps to Get the Most Out of Acquisition Campaigns

With all the changes over the past year, businesses have had to reinvent themselves, adapting their products, services, business style and even their location to fit the changing environment. Many of those businesses have new needs that could benefit from what your business offers.

 

And it’s not just the businesses that have changed, it’s the people, too.

 

The past year has seen its unfair share of layoffs, and the pace of retirement for baby boomers has accelerated. Additionally, many decisions are being made by “buying groups” rather than independent buyers—63% of purchases have more than four people involved (compared to 47% in 2017).

 

Just imagine: There may be a whole new set of prospects you’ve never considered that could benefit from your solution. But if your campaigns are running through the same tired prospect and customer lists, you’ll never know. 

 

What’s more, recent studies have indicated 65% of B2B buyers are more likely to switch vendors.

 

That’s why the time is right for B2B marketers to optimize their acquisition campaigns. The environment has changed and is still changing. Targeting new contacts that haven’t yet engaged with your company can open the door to new revenue and keep your business growing in the uncertain future. Here are four steps to make sure your acquisition campaigns are set up for success:

 

Analyze Your Best Customers

In acquisition campaigns, the idea is to initiate relationships with prospects that are similar to your existing customers. So take the time to understand your current customers—not just their organization, but also the contact’s position or title so you have a full picture of the types of contacts you want to target.

 

Don’t Skimp on Data Quality

Just because it’s an acquisition campaign—and the targets haven’t previously engaged with your company—doesn’t mean it’s a shot in the dark. Start with high-quality data from a reputable provider, ideally one that guarantees their contact validity, and build your audience strategically based on the factors you’ve identified within your current customer accounts. For more targeted acquisition campaigns, B2B marketers can use intent data matched to contact data to find decision makers searching for your company, your competitors, or what you offer. Additionally, identity graphs offer an innovative way to build an audience based on online and offline factors, utilizing data from an array of sources.

 

Build a Relationship

Acquisition campaigns focus on bringing new customers into your fold, so it’s essential that campaigns are planned around building a relationship and winning their trust. Make the content helpful, insightful and relevant. Pique their interest with statistics or trends that address the recipients’ business challenges or offer invitations to videos and webinars that provide insight into how others in their position have solved the same challenges. In short, give them a good reason to engage and inspire them to want to learn more. Your messages shouldn’t be all about buy this now.

 

Make It Omni-channel

Studies show email is an effective way for marketers to introduce their company and services to their targets. But as most of us know, the most successful campaigns are omni-channel—they provide a seamless user experience across all channels in the buyer’s journey. For acquisition campaigns, email along with other marketing efforts in channels, such as social and display advertising, allow you to nurture leads and conduct pinpointed follow-ups based on engagement and results in your buyers’ journeys.

 

Taking it to another level, using an identity graph is a great way to get the full picture of the contact and be able to reach them at scale—effectively and efficiently—with your omni-channel campaigns.

 

One final thing to remember: metrics are good, but the bottom line is better. Don’t be distressed if your open and click-through rates are low compared to other campaigns. Ultimately, you’re looking for long term results and a healthy return on investment. The most important metric is revenue.