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Objective

Customer acquisition

Winning new customers at a cost the business can sustain.

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Customer acquisition is about winning new customers at a cost the business can sustain, and ideally customers who stay. An integrated plan uses paid media, search, partners and direct offers to reach people ready to try or to switch, and tests what each one really adds, so that the budget follows the customers it brought in rather than those who would have come anyway.

What matters when choosing

  • A clear cost per new customer the business can afford, set against what that customer is worth over time.
  • Incrementality tests with a holdout group, not only the platforms' own attribution.
  • Offers and partners that bring the right customers, not just the cheapest first purchase.
  • Clear partner terms: who gets the credit, how fraud and duplicates are handled, and how partners disclose the relationship.
  • A first experience after sign-up that turns new customers into lasting ones.

Questions to ask vendors and agencies

  1. How many of these customers would we have won without this spend, and how will you show it?
  2. What does a new customer cost in each channel, and how long do they stay?
  3. Where will we find people who do not know us yet, beyond those already searching for us?

Common mistakes

  • Crediting every sale to the last click, and so overpaying for customers who were coming anyway.
  • Buying first purchases with deep discounts that attract people who never return.
  • Pressing the same small audience harder instead of reaching new people.

Typical disciplines Digital advertising Search (SEO and paid search) Affiliate and partner marketing Direct marketing Sales promotion Events and experiential

Platforms that fit (10)

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  • SemrushServes Customer acquisition
    Strong match100
  • AhrefsServes Customer acquisition
    Strong match100
  • Google AdsServes Customer acquisition
    Strong match100
  • Meta Ads ManagerServes Customer acquisition
    Strong match100
  • Zoho CRMServes Customer acquisition
    Strong match100
  • AppsFlyerServes Customer acquisition
    Strong match100