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How Much Does It Cost You To Acquire Your Customers?
July 25, 2007

When it comes to online advertising, there are many choices that sound appealing, look fun and interactive, but how well do they perform?  Driving traffic to your web site is paramount to its success, and ensuring you have the customers you desire is a mix of research, marketing, and common sense (although I do know of a baby products manufacturer that advertised on porn sites and was quite successful).   The least expensive form of customer acquisition is customer referral.  Word-of-mouth from satisfied people gives more credibility to your business than almost anything else.  Next* (in ascending order) are:

• search engine optimization: how well your site performs in the list of search engines like Google, Yahoo, etc.  Does it pull up first, or is it buried well into page 20 or even page 120?  If your site is optimized properly, then this can be a very inexpensive way to attract customers.  Here are some guidelines for what to watch out for...
• free links program:  by setting up a free link exchange, you drive traffic from your web site to other sites and visa versa.
• e-newsletters: using an electronic newsletter to send product information, design tips, specials, commentary, etc. to your email user base.
  
• paid per-click ads: buying sponsored ads that appear along side search engine results or ads that appear on a web site or newsletter.  You only pay for each click to your web site, and not how often it appears on the site.
  
• affiliate programs: the method of rewarding each company that drives traffic or sale through their site
  
• email/newsletter sponsorship: this includes finding a popular newsletter for your target audience and having a "sponsored by" or featuring links, banner ad creative, etc. on the newsletter.
• traditional media support: combining off-line media such as newspapers, billboards, TV and radio, etc. with your online/internet campaign.
• banner advertising: finding the right place to advertise is crucial to your dollar vs acquisition. You can start your research here.

*based on the ratio of cost-to-advertise vs. cost-to-acquire the customer

Posted by Suze Bragg on July 25, 2007 | Comments (0)