Blog 56: Customer acquisition examples

Consider a scenario, wherein we get the target audience interested in our product. Now, what can we do to eventually acquire them?

Let us look at some real-world examples of customer acquisition. Some of these tactics are called growth marketing and growth hacking initiatives.

Note:

Read blog 45 for differences between growth marketing and growth hacking; blog 95 for growth marketing tactics; blog 54 – for different acquisition channels categorised by media type vis-à-vis parameters (funnel stage, reach, cost, impact, effort); blog 42 and 43 for more on AARRR metrics and marketing funnel;

Below are real-world examples where we list one tactic.

Company: Paypal

· Tactic: Join, get $20 cash back. Earn up to $100 cashback for every 10 successful referrals.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Action (+ referral)

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app

Company: Robinhood

· Tactic: For every successful referral, earn gift stock.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Action (+ referral)

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website

Company: Adidas

· Tactic: Sponsor ads for the search term ‘running shoes’

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Action

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Paid media – sponsored ads (pay-per-click ads)

Company: LinkedIn

· Tactic: Discounts for reactivation or access to paid features.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Action

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app/emails

Company: Microsoft 365

· Tactic: Try-before-you-buy; reduces barriers to purchase and boost customer confidence.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Action

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app/emails

Company: Spotify

· Tactic: Freemium acquisition strategy (limited functionality compared to paid).

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Desire & Action

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app

Company: Udacity

· Tactic: Targeted and customized emails with a click-to-action (CTA) that prompts to read.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Desire & Action

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – Email campaign

Company: Starbucks

· Tactic: Starbucks rewards and loyalty program.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Desire & Action

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app

Company: Ikea

· Tactic: Ikea partners with Lego for storage solutions (source). Attract Lego’s customers.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website; Earned media – PR and media mentions.

Company: Airbnb

· Tactic: Airbnb encourages hosts to leverage social media to increase bookings (source).

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – social media; Paid media – social advertising

Company: Tableau

· Tactic: Targeted articles for audience.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Interest & Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app … content marketing such as blogs

Company: Wix

· Tactic: Share technical knowledge through webinars, tutorials, etc.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Interest & Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app

Company: Apple

· Tactic: Enlist influencers to promote iPhone 12 mini on TikTok (source).

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Interest & Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Paid media – Influencer marketing

Company: Slack

· Tactic: Customer stories and testimonials.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Interest & Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website and social media etc.

Company: Google Cloud

· Tactic: Build a community and team of experts to support customers/target audience.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Interest & Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app/emails

Company: Salesforce

· Tactic: Dedicated customer service to answer queries & shorten sales cycle

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Interest & Desire

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website/app/emails

Company: Oracle

· Tactic: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) ranks site higher on search engine result.

· Marketing funnel stage [AIDA]: Awareness & Interest

· Media type? [O/P/E]: Owned media – website

In our future blogs we will look at other case studies.

Jump to blog 100 to refer to the overall product management mind map.

I wish you the best for your journey. 😊