It’s easy to get customers to your ecommerce store; all it takes is paid ads, social media efforts, maybe some money toward influencer placements. What’s not easy is creating acquisition ecosystems that grow predictably without draining more budget than projected revenue.
Many ecommerce businesses start off utilizing any means necessary to get easy or fast returns, only to find themselves stagnant or overly spending at scale. Sustainable acquisition means developing multiple channels that can provide customers consistently without crazy costs. It’s not as sexy as going viral, but it’s the difference between sustainable stores and those that crash and burn.
Knowing What Your Acquisition Costs Actually Are
Customer acquisition costs are more than what you pay per click or impression. Many stores look at their paid spending and think they understand acquisition costs when in reality, they’re missing big components. Creative costs, landing page construction costs, testing budgets, failed rollouts—everything contributes to what each customer costs you in the long run.
Here’s the kicker: your CAC needs to make sense relative to what customers spend over time, not just their initial purchase value. $50 doesn’t look good as an acquisition cost if average order value is $40; however, it’s worth it if they spend on average three times at $60 each. The numbers need to make sense with your specific business model, not generalized, industry standard metrics that don’t apply to you.
Starting Off With Paid Channels When Needed
Paid ads are the fastest way to get customers, which is why many new businesses run straight into a Facebook ad or Google Shopping campaign before they even fully launch. Where this causes problems is when paid turns out to be the only successful channel. Algorithms change, costs fluctuate, and the acquisition economics no longer add up.
A smart paid strategy means testing various platforms to best understand where your customers exist and what messaging resonates with them. Facebook may be a slam dunk for one type of product, while Google decimates for another.
TikTok may yield phenomenal success rates—or destroy your entire account. However, you will never know unless you test them all; and the most successful brands test strategically instead of throwing caution (and cash) to the wind. Many brands find that working alongside a D2C Ecomm Marketing Agency helps through this phase of marketing, avoiding costly mistakes while finding opportunities for sustainable growth.
Building Organic Channels That Compound
Organic acquisition takes time—SEO, content marketing efforts, a social presence—but ultimately pays off down the line. An article that ranks for an important keyword brings customers time and time again months or even years later. Compelling social content carries weight beyond the time of posting.
That’s the hard part: patience. Most stores give up early on if they don’t see returns within the first few months. Everyone needs content that revolves around what prospective customers will search for and care about—which means not only product-focused content but also educational resources that help bring people into the fold before they’re even ready to purchase.
Using Email as an Acquisition Strategy
People think of email in terms of retention, not acquisition; however, email works great for both. In an ecommerce context, email information means you can reach out to people who visited your site, maybe even added something to their cart but didn’t purchase. If you have their email, you can reach out when they’re more willing—or when they might get something irresistible.
Pop-ups and email list generation get a bad rap—and many deserve it. But helpful generation that actually promotes value (a coupon that means something, helpful information, advanced notice of a sale) converts browsers into potential buyers. However, it must seem fair to all and not pushy.
Systems of Referral/Word-of-Mouth
While your customers talking about your store to others does not cost you any acquisition fees, it rarely happens by happenstance. A great product helps; however, it’s best when people are incentivized to share their experiences effortlessly—and effectively—and with rewards. Referral programs, social sharing incentives—the post-purchase experience better be so good that people want others to know.
The best ways to turn existing customers into advocates without spending additional acq costs is fairly simple—a value for their time to bring in friends they actually value. Complicated point systems or rewards that require excess referrals before anyone can get anything usable only frustrates users and goes unused.
Learning How To Balance Multiple Channels
Ideally, no one channel should account for excessive acquisition. Paid ads today might bring in the bulk of customers; however, what happens if the cost suddenly skyrockets or the platform shuts down? When you’ve built organic search, email programs, social support and referral efforts simultaneously contributing small amounts from the get-go, you’re not hinging your success on one source alone.
It takes time to build this level of diversified effort. You can’t wisely run six channels from minute one after launch. Start with what will provide the fastest results (usually paid options), then diversify with what takes longer to build but pays off in the long run. As organic options develop, they lessen over reliance on paid spend and improve overall economics.
Focusing on What Matters Most
Vanity metrics like impressions and reach or engagement rates feel good but won’t build a business. Instead, conversion rates, CACs and equity levels matter more than anything else. Track what’s most valuable in conjunction with prospective revenue versus what’s merely impressive on reports.
Attribution gets tricky with multiple channels running at once; for example, a prospect sees one of your social posts and then later on searches your brand, clicks on a retargeting ad and purchases. Which channel gets credit? The right answer is all of them contributed but most models give it to one specific touchpoint. Knowing this will help you navigate where you want to invest best.
When To Scale or Pull Back
Sustainable acquisition means knowing when channels are performing well enough that you can scale spend for better returns—and when they aren’t performing well enough that it’s not worth continuing investment. Just because a channel worked last month or last quarter doesn’t mean it’s performing at the same level now; consistent review through testing should keep CACs low as you grow.
If channels aren’t performing well enough at the start to scale, sustainability comes with better performance options later on which results in wasted budget on unproven campaigns from jump—or worse—investing more into channels already hitting diminishing returns because of unforeseen economics. Sustainable growth is best—not explosive growth followed by crashing revenues when economics no longer work.
Creating Systems That Work
Quick wins are nice when building a foundation; however, sustainable acquisition requires systems built to continue earning returns as your business grows. This means documented processes, consistent testing and the patience to allow longer term channels to develop while cashing in on shorter term revenue from paid channels along the way.
The businesses that thrive don’t rely on hacks or short cuts; instead, they build multiple acquisition channels, track performance metrics that matter most on paper, then adjust based upon what’s real instead of what they hope for. While it’s less sexy than overnight growth stories, it’s what’s truly sustainable month after month—predictably—over time.
