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Go-to guide for small business customer acquisition strategies

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The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedMar 20232 min read

Businesses need customers to grow. So, what is your customer acquisition and retention strategy? If you don’t have one, it’s time to think about how you’ll attract new customers and convert them to paying leads. Here are a few customer acquisition strategies for small businesses that won’t break the bank.

What is customer acquisition strategy?

Let’s start by defining the purpose of any customer acquisition strategies. This type of strategy describes the process of sparking interest in your products, converting visitors to paying customers. The strategy should cover all steps of the customer acquisition funnel, from brand awareness to consideration and a completed transaction.

The best customer acquisition strategies grow alongside your business. Your strategies will shift and evolve as your brand grows from start-up to established business. You’ll need to use real-time data about your customer demographics to guide the strategy, with an eye not only on initial acquisition but also retention and satisfaction. Statistics vary by industry, but it’s said to cost five times more to acquire new customers than it does to retain existing ones. Keeping this in mind, retention should always be part of your goals.

How to create your own customer acquisition strategy

Here’s a simple guide to creating your own customer acquisition strategy, step by step.

1. Define your target audience.

Who are your customers, and what are they looking for? What are some of their everyday problems and pain points? How can your business solve these problems? What time of day do they like to shop, and when do they use social media?

2. Set achievable sales goals.

How many leads do you intend to attract and convert each quarter? Are you keeping pace with the competition? When setting goals, use the SMART method to ensure they’re achievable and realistic. This will help drive your strategy moving forward, using metrics like customer acquisition cost and customer lifetime value.

3. Select appropriate marketing channels.

Once you’ve defined your audience, you can select which channels make the most sense for outreach. If your demographic is active on social media, use influencer outreach and other tools. If they prefer traditional mail advertising, send out newsletters. Search engine marketing offers organic lead generation to target a variety of demographics.

4. Collect and assess customer feedback.

Customer feedback is a vital piece of data to help you improve the user experience. Ask customers to fill out surveys once they’ve made a purchase. Use tools like social media, online forums, and in-person marketing surveys to find out what your customers think.

What are effective small business customer acquisition strategies?

Whether your business needs a strong B2C or B2B customer acquisition strategy, try using these tips to accelerate growth.

Offer free trials and giveaways to give leads the chance to test your products and services.
Keep your content fresh with blogs, articles, and social media posts to stay relevant.
Use SEO to ensure your content ranks highly in the search engines for organic lead generation.
Provide video content to appeal to visual learners and boost brand awareness.
Optimize your website’s landing pages to direct consumers to the appropriate products.

Don’t forget about optimizing your user payment experience. When customers don’t see their preferred payment method offered, they will abandon the shopping cart. You can increase conversions by using preferred payment methods including a blend of card and bank payments.

GoCardless is the global leader in bank payments, uniting open banking, payments intelligence, and bank debit using the ACH system. We make it easy to collect one-off and recurring payments directly from your customers’ bank accounts. Win and retain more customers all while getting paid on time, saving time and money, and reducing stress.

We can help

GoCardless is a global payments solution that helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with. Find out how GoCardless can help you with one-off or recurring payments.