The retail industry is a dynamic and ever-changing landscape. Today, with the rise of e-commerce, changing consumer preferences, and technological advancements, retailers must constantly adapt and innovate to stay competitive.
With intense competition from both traditional and online retailers, brands must differentiate with unique products, services, and experiences.
Consumer preferences and behaviors are also constantly evolving, making it challenging for retailers to stay relevant and appeal to their target audience.
In the world of retail as with any industry, acquiring new customers is a critical component of driving growth and staying competitive. But with so many channels and tactics available, it can be challenging to know where to focus your efforts.
Customer Acquisition Strategies for Retailers
Here are some top customer acquisition strategies your retail brand should focus on for 2023:
1. Define Your Audience
You need to start with your audience. By understanding your customer base and prospective audience, you can maximize your advertising efforts and return on investment to drive more sales.
Types of audiences and attributes to consider include:
- Demographics Audiences: characteristics such as age, gender, income, education, and occupation.
- Geographic Audiences: location, such as city, state, or region in order to tailor messaging to local interests and preferences.
- Lifestyle Audiences: lifestyle, values, and interests.
- In-Market Shoppers and Behavioral Audiences: Behavioral audiences are defined by past behaviors, such as purchasing history, browsing history, and engagement with online content.
- Lookalike Audiences: created by identifying customers who share similar characteristics to your existing customers.
- Pre-Mover and New Mover Audiences: consumers who are in the move journey are 90% more open to trying new brands.
- Retargeting Audiences: created by targeting customers who have already interacted with your brand in some way, such as visiting your website or adding items to their cart.
- Seasonal Audiences: defined by specific times of the year, such as holidays or seasonal events.
2. Leverage Social Media
54% of consumers say they have made a purchase after seeing a social media ad. (Source: Hootsuite)
With the influx of social platforms, social media marketing has become an integral part of customer acquisition for retailers.
Social media platforms, such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, offer retailers an ideal opportunity to reach a wider audience and increase brand awareness. Specific audiences can be developed for each platform based on age, gender, demographics, interests, behaviors, shopping behaviors, and more.
3. Use Email Marketing
80% of retailers say email marketing is their most effective channel for customer retention. (eMarketer)
Email marketing can be a highly effective way to reach new customers, particularly when personalized to your customer segments. In fact, personalization is one of the most effective email marketing strategies for retailers.
Create personalized email journeys for your retail customers using purchase history, browsing behavior, and demographics. Personalized emails have been shown to have higher open rates and click-through rates which ultimately lead to more conversions.
Personalized emails have an open rate of 29%, compared to 17% for non-personalized emails. (Statista)
4. Use Direct Mail
According to a study by the USPS, 54% of consumers say that they have purchased a product or service as a result of receiving a direct mail piece.
From introducing new products to providing personalized recommendations, direct mail can help retailers connect with consumers at every stage of the shopping journey.
- Introducing New Products: Direct mail can be a great channel for retailers to introduce new products to consumers who may not have heard of their brand or product offerings. By providing an eye-catching design and a clear message, direct mail can pique a consumer’s interest and encourage them to learn more about the product.
- Providing Personalized Recommendations: Direct mail advertisements can also provide personalized product recommendations based on a customer’s purchase history or browsing behavior. By using customer audience insights to create targeted messaging, businesses can offer products that are relevant to the consumer’s interests and needs.
- Offering Promotions and Discounts: Direct mail is also great for offering promotions and discounts that incentivize customers to make a purchase. By providing a limited-time offer or exclusive discount, businesses can encourage customers to take action and make a purchase.
- Encouraging Repeat Purchases: Direct mail is also an exceptional way to encourage repeat purchases by reminding customers of products they have previously purchased or by offering personalized product recommendations based on past purchases.
5. Advertise with CTV
CTV advertising can improve purchase intent by up to 31% (AdColony).
Connected TV (CTV) has become an increasingly popular advertising platform for retailers in recent years. With millions of households using streaming devices to consume video content, CTV provides retailers with a powerful and engaging way to reach their target audience.
- According to eMarketer, 87.4 million households in the US use CTV, representing 69% of all US households. This provides retailers with a vast audience to target their advertising efforts to.
- According to a study by Innovid, CTV ads are viewed 98% of the time, with an average viewability rate of 80%. This demonstrates the high level of engagement that CTV can provide for retailers.
CTV can also be integrated with other marketing channels, such as email or social media, to create a cohesive customer experience and increase the effectiveness of the campaign. By using CTV in conjunction with other channels, retailers can create a more comprehensive omnichannel marketing strategy that engages customers at every stage of their journey.
According to a study by The Trade Desk, integrating CTV with other channels can lead to a 42% increase in ad recall and a 58% increase in purchase intent, compared to using CTV alone. This demonstrates the value of integrating CTV with other marketing channels to create a more effective advertising strategy.
6. Target Movers
Movers spend about $11,000 on products and services during a move (Porch Group Media)
Movers represent an ideal audience for retailers – movers spend a lot throughout their move and are open to establishing new relationships with brands. Many retail marketers are using mover marketing strategies to increase the effectiveness of both their customer acquisition and retention programs.
According to the Retail CMO’s Perspective on Mover Marketing Report:
- Retailers with mover marketing strategies are over 2.5x more likely to see significant increases in both customer acquisition and retention.
- Nearly one-quarter of retail organizations are planning to implement a mover marketing strategy in the coming year compared to just 15% of all other industries.
- 88% of retail marketers say that the effectiveness of mover marketing is increasing.
- 68% of retail marketers focus their mover marketing efforts on digital channels. 43% of those who use mover marketing more frequently in digital channels rate the impact of mover marketing on overall marketing performance as an 8 or higher compared to just 25%.
These are just a few of the many acquisition strategies retailers can use to attract new customers and drive growth. By testing different tactics and measuring the results, retailers can find the strategies that work best for their brand.
Customer Acquisition Solutions for Retailers
Looking to acquire new customers and drive growth for your retail business? Our customer acquisition solutions can help! By leveraging advanced targeting and segmentation techniques, we can help you connect with the right customers at the right time, across multiple channels. With our data-driven approach, you can optimize your marketing spend, reduce acquisition costs, and increase ROI. Ready to take your customer acquisition strategy to the next level? Contact us today to learn more!
