If you want to elevate your brand and fuel your growth and turn clicks into clients with creative and actionable tactics, we have 7 game changing customer acquisition ideas you’re going to love.
In this guide, we’re going to break down some of the most effective, proven, and time-tested strategies you can use to propel your business and brand to the front of the pack.
We’ll touch on how to build hype around upcoming launches, how to draw more attention to your brand, how to figure out EXACTLY what your audience needs from you, and how to get more of your long-term customers referring their family, friends, and colleagues to your business.
By the time you’re done reading, you’ll have the exact strategies needed to consistently acquire more customers month-over-month, for both B2B and B2C businesses.
If you want to acquire customers, one of the first things you need to do is get people excited and curious about your business and the products you launch.
Building up anticipation for your product launches helps create awareness and FOMO (fear of missing out) but it also drives potential customers to engage with your brand and products.
People who weren’t already aware of your brand go from not knowing who you are to discovering you based on the anticipation that you’re building around you.
The buzz behind it could even convert them into customers for you.
This strategy works particularly well to move people from the middle of your funnel (where they may be considering a purchase) to the bottom of your funnel where they become customers.
There are quite a few different ways you can build hype and anticipation around your brand, too.
To get started, you can run a social media countdown.
To give you an example of what this looks like, take a look at the countdown that Ahrefs hosted on Twitter to launch the freemium version of their software.
They leaned heavily on curiosity to get people wondering what was coming.
Then, each day, Ahrefs made another announcement updating the number to help gather more attention and get people looking out for the final day’s announcement.
If you have an audience on social media already, this can be a great way to build anticipation.
Likewise, if you have an email list, you can start sending emails each day to give people a sneak peek of what’s coming while dropping the date they can expect it to arrive.
To give you an example, take a look at how YETI recently launched a new product line.
When YETI started announcing their new line of gear cases, they didn’t just say “this is coming”.
Instead, they used creativity to make the announcement and touch on the problems being solved.
In this example, their SideKick Dry Gear Case helps their customers keep their electronics dry while they’re wading and fishing so they used play-on-words to build hype.
They also gave people an easy way to get reminded so they’ll receive a notification when the product goes live instead of having to check back over and over again.
You can also email your subscribers letting them know that the price will go up in a few days and how to buy when the product launches.
This places on the human emotion of loss aversion since people don’t want to spend more later on.
When it comes to building anticipation around your product launches, you’ll want to make sure that you start your announcements early.
You can establish a unique hashtag for your launch and encourage people to use it in their posts, potentially incentivizing them with a discount if they use it.
Likewise, you can offer early bird discounts and exclusive bonuses for the first few customers to help instill a sense of urgency in your audience.
The key here, though, is ensuring that people actually know what’s coming, when it’s coming, how to get it, and why they should keep paying attention to your announcements.
Get this right and your launches will be far more successful.
The next strategy works similarly to building anticipation around your launches but, in this case, you’ll want to launch limited edition products.
Since they’re limited edition (and limited in production), you’re able to create a sense of scarcity which can help increase the product’s perceived value.
To see what we mean, take a look at this example from Last Crumb:
This type of launch appeals to your audience’s desire to own something unique or rare while also adding urgency to purchase.
Since they’re limited edition with limited availability, you’ll prompt quicker buying decisions and sell out your inventory faster.
Here’s another example from Last Crumb, promoting their Cadillac Mojito cookies:
This strategy works for a wide range of industries, too.
| Business Type | Limited Edition Strategy | Strategy Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Cookie Brand | Limited Batch Each Day | Offer a unique flavor or variety of cookies each day in limited quantities to create anticipation. |
| Online Course | Limited Seats | Restrict the number of enrollees per course to enhance the perception of exclusivity and value. |
| Fashion Brand | Limited Edition Collections | Release special edition clothing lines or accessories in limited numbers to attract collectors. |
| Book Publisher | Signed Limited Edition Copies | Offer a limited number of books signed by the author, increasing their collectible value. |
| Music Industry | Limited Edition Album Releases | Release special edition albums with unique artwork or additional content for a limited time. |
To see what it looks like for other product types, take a look at this limited edition book launch from Ryan Deiss and DigitalMarketer:
And this stock market trading course from Wisdom Hatch:
To pull this strategy off, there are a few tips you’ll want to keep in mind as you’re planning your strategy.
First, you want to decide whether it’s going to be a time-limited promotion, a quantity-limited promotion, or a special edition promotion, then make the limitation very clear in your marketing.
Then, determine the sale period.
Provide real-time updates on the scarcity of the product as you begin launching. For instance, if there are only 40 units left, remind your audience there are only 40 units left.
Like this example from Liv watches:
Create specific landing pages for your limited edition products.
You can use a tool like ClickFunnels to easily create these pages.
(To get started now, click here to begin your free ClickFunnels trial.)
When you join, you can choose from a wide range of professionally designed landing page templates that are ready to plug into your launch promotions:
Then you can customize the pages using our intuitive drag-and-drop visual editor to ensure each page matches your brand perfectly.
Once you’re done, you can start promoting these pages across your social media platforms, email list, and even in paid advertising campaigns.
The key with this strategy, though, is to make sure it’s truly limited edition.
If you fake scarcity with these launches, your audience will figure out fairly quickly that they’re not actually limited and you’ll make it harder to convert them on your limited edition launches in the future.
If what you’re launching is truly limited, though, this can be a highly effective way to acquire new customers for your business.
When it comes to grabbing attention and converting that attention into new subscribers and customers for your business, it’s hard to beat free resources.
These don’t have to be difficult to create, either.
To get started, you can use a small portion of your full product suite that people can use and get value from on their own.
Then, once they’ve experienced a small portion of your product or offer they are more inclined to want to become a customer for the full experience.
By offering free tools and resources that are useful to your target customers, you are providing immediate value to them.
This can help build trust and position your company as an expert in your industry.
As an example, take a look at this free Profit Margin Calculator from ClickFunnels.
The calculator is designed to help business owners (like yourself) see what type of profits should be generated based on their cost of goods and how much they’re marking them up.
Ahrefs is another company that provides great free resources to help acquire new customers.
Take a look at the example below:
When you search Google for similar tools, you’ll end up on one of Ahrefs pages and their wide range of free tools — while their competitors are charging for similar.
Then, as you browse through the page, you’ll notice a pitch for their full-featured subscription-based offers and tools.
When done the right way, using free resources is a great way to grab attention.
As long as your free resource delivers on the promises you’ve made, gives them a positive engagement with your company, and lets them know how to get more, you can use these free resources to bring in more paying customers.
The key, though, is meeting your audience where they’re at when they start their search for a paid service or product like the one you offer.
For instance, in the ClickFunnels example, if a business owner is curious about their gross profit margin, chances are high that they could use a marketing funnel in their business to increase their profit margins even further.
They would be able to click here to start their free trial of ClickFunnels to determine whether or not it’s a suitable tool for their business and their goals.
Likewise, in the Ahrefs example, when people are looking for SEO tools, and stumble onto the Ahrefs keyword research tool, it’s highly likely that they’re going to need other SEO tools to grow their business.
By offering a full suite of SEO tools that solve the user’s problems, Ahrefs has a high probability of converting those visitors into free trial customers and full-paid customers down the line.
A quiz or survey funnel is another great way to capture attention and direct it where you want it to go.
By running these, you’re able to get your audience to engage with your business, and collect amazing feedback about who they are, what they want, and which problems they’re willing to spend money to solve, while also giving you a path to convert them into a new customer.
They’re easy to use, too, especially when you’re using a tool like ClickFunnels.
(Click here to start your free ClickFunnels trial now.)
When you’re a ClickFunnels member, you can load pre-built survey and quiz funnels from our database of templates and then edit them to fit your specific needs.
Take a look at the example below to see what that looks like:
When a visitor lands on your quiz funnel, they’ll be taken through the steps from filling out the quiz to getting their results, thanking them for their participation, and then being taken through the rest of your sales funnel.
In the example above, visitors can be directed to your email list where their results will be sent.
Afterward, you can stay in touch with them via email to direct them to sales pages for products they’ve said may be relevant to them or to blog posts where you can continue warming them up to the potential of purchasing products and services from your business.
These funnels work incredibly well because they’re based on psychological drivers.
People want self-actualization and meaning in life. They want to find out what they truly want, what they’re capable of, and what inspires them.
A quiz helps them figure out the answers to those questions and give a defined result at the end.
For your business, each response in the survey provides incredibly valuable data about customer preferences, needs, and behaviors. This information can be used to tailor marketing efforts more effectively and help you develop products that meet the specific needs of your target audience.
To help you see what these look like in the bigger picture, take a look at the example below from Ramit Sethi’s “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” quiz funnel.
It starts on the homepage where users are prompted to take the quiz:
Then, as visitors opt-in by clicking the button, they’re led to the survey.
Each question will help them find their rich life while also giving Ramit incredibly valuable feedback on how he can serve his audience at the highest level possible.
Once a visitor has completed all of the questions, they’ll be prompted to input their name and email address in order to receive the results.
Then, those results will be emailed directly to them.
After opting in, though, they’ll be redirected to a thank you page letting them know that their results are on the way while introducing them to a couple of Ramit’s low ticket offers.
In this example, those offers are his book where he teaches people how to live a rich life, and his coaching program that shows people how to get paid what they’re worth and enjoy every second of life.
While they’re looking at offers they may be interested in, the results from their survey are being sent to their email address.
When those results arrive, the visitor will be greeted with an email similar to the one below.
Since these visitors have taken the time to go through Ramit’s survey funnel, they’re far more engaged than normal subscribers and are likely to be interested in purchasing products or services that help them hit their goals or solve problems.
To learn more about survey and quiz funnels, check out the video below:
If you’re looking to acquire customers without spending money on ads, you’ll need to master the art of driving free, organic traffic into your website and funnels.
To do that, you’ll want to create content that your audience is already consuming.
Even if you’re running an eCommerce brand, creating content that appears in Google’s search results can drive significant amounts of traffic to your store.
If people are actively searching for anything related to your products, you can capture their attention with your content so you’re able to re-engage them later.
For instance, if people are searching for ways to maintain their curly hair, they’ll see results similar to the ones below:
Then, by clicking through to the blog post, visitors will be given content around ways to maintain their curly hair.
As they continue reading through the blog post, an opt-in popup appears with a quiz that will help them dial in their personal hair care routine.
By going through the quiz, visitors will be given a routine that typically includes purchasing products from Holy Curls.
And this all started by creating a blog post and promoting it so that it ranks higher in Google’s search results.
The type of content you create can be anything from a blog post, to images that your audience may want to share, videos that entertain and educate, podcast episodes, and other types of free content.
This content will direct people to the top of your funnel where you can start introducing them to your products and services and the problems you solve.
Then, as they engage with your business more, and more, you can move them into the middle of your funnel where they’ll begin considering working with you.
Afterward, you can present them offers and services to purchase at the bottom of your funnel.
A trend that has been picking up steam and helping businesses acquire more customers is offering virtual reality experiences.
Check out this example from a real estate agent:
Virtual reality allows for detailed, interactive product demonstrations regardless of the product’s size or complexity.
For example, a car manufacturer could use VR to let customers explore the interior and features of a new model without the need for a physical vehicle being present.
A furniture company could use virtual reality to let customers see how a piece of furniture would look inside of their own home.
IKEA uses an app to let people take snapshots of the room they want new furniture in and then go on a virtual tour through their catalog, placing that furniture inside of their home.
If they like what they see and how the new furniture looks, they can place an order directly from the app.
This new augmented reality technology can become a great resource for your business and help your customers dive deeper into their experience with you before making a purchase.
Since VR allows them to explore products in detail, even though they may not be easily accessible, they’re able to be more informed about their purchasing decision.
To give you another example, customers can ‘experience’ a luxury car, a new real estate development, a travel destination, or others, before ever spending money.
These experiences can happen anywhere, anytime, and can easily be shared online, helping you generate more word-of-mouth business and even potentially going viral.
A referral program is another great way to acquire more customers in your business.
When you’ve given someone a great experience, the chances of them wanting to tell people about that experience significantly increase.
By making it easy for them to share their experience with other people, you can capitalize on the goodwill you’ve built with them.
For instance, take a look at the example below from Casper Mattresses:
When a customer receives their mattress and it exceeds their expectations, Casper asks for a referral.
If their customer refers someone, their referral will receive a 25% discount on their mattress purchase and the customer will receive a $75 Amazon gift card.
This strategy works for most types of businesses, too.
Check out this example from Deel:
Deel is using email marketing to remind people about their referral program and let them know what’s in it for them if they share their experience with people they know.
Referral programs like this work because there’s a lot of trust that comes from your best friend telling you to try something that they’ve tried and had a great experience with.
It also helps you reach customers that you otherwise might not have been able to reach.
This leads to a high impact on consumer behavior, helping convert people who have never heard about your business into new customers in a very short time frame.
To implement a referral program in your business, there’s a few key things you want to do.
First, create an easy process for your customers to refer your business.
Second, offer mutual incentives — incentivize not only them but also their referral to join.
Finally, spend time promoting your referral program so people actually know about it.
To help you see what it looks like in practice, check out Uber’s referral program:
Here’s another great example from The Tonic:
Pura Vida sends unique referral codes to people if they want to share the brand with people beyond their friends and family:
The key with these programs is to ensure that there’s something in it for your customer while also including a benefit for the person they’re referring to your business.
Referral programs play a role in your bigger, overall customer acquisition strategies.
When you implement each of the strategies that we’ve given you in this guide, you’ll have an easier time acquiring customers month-over-month and consistently growing your business.
To make it as easy as possible to implement these strategies into your business, use a tool like ClickFunnels to start building the pages in your funnel.
You can use it to create your referral program pages, to build hype and anticipation for your product launches, to launch limited edition offers, deliver your free resources, offer surveys and quizzes, and even deliver your virtual reality experiences.
To get started, you can click here to begin your free ClickFunnels trial now.
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