If you’ve been in business for quite some time, you must have realized that acquiring new customers is always more challenging and costly compared to keeping existing ones. At the same time, it cannot be denied that customer acquisition is the only way your business can grow.

Discovering the right customer acquisition channels for your business can help drive growth while keeping costs in check.

What Are Customer Acquisition Channels?

Customer acquisition channels are methods or platforms through which a business attracts new customers. While some businesses use traditional ways like print ads, tele calling, and TV commercials, many have achieved success through digital methods like SEO, PPC, social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing.

The six channels preferred by B2B marketers are email 79%, website 73%, face-to-face 65%, organic social media 55%, direct mail 46%, and telemarketing 41%.⁽¹⁾

You must also be using some of these popular customer acquisition channels. We’re sure these channels will continue to play a significant role. However, to stay competitive and tap into new opportunities, you must explore some other emerging customer acquisition channels. This is what the blog talks about!

Innovative B2B Customer Acquisition Channels

Here are some best customer acquisition channels for startups & small businesses as well as large organizations.

• Influencer Collaborations

Influencer marketing is no longer just for B2C brands. 60% of B2B

brands are leveraging influencer marketing in 2024.⁽²⁾ Clearly, influencer marketing is one of the most emerging audience acquisition channels.

In fact, it has been there for quite some time now. A few years back, IBM partnered with tech influencers to showcase the capabilities of IBM Watson. Influencers created content demonstrating how Watson’s AI solutions could solve complex business problems. The campaign was a success!

The reason why it is becoming popular in the B2B domain could be that influencer marketing is no more about celebrity endorsements. It has evolved to be collaborations with micro and nano influencers who have highly engaged followings, often in niche markets. Partnering with them helps in reaching the specific audiences in a more relatable manner.

• Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is another customer acquisition channel that involves partnering. But here you partner with individuals or companies who promote your products or services against a commission on leads generated through referral links.

Understand this with an example- HubSpot, a leading CRM, marketing, sales, and customer service software provider, runs an affiliate program. The affiliates who sign up are usually marketing agencies, business consultants, and content creators who promote HubSpot’s solutions through their websites, blogs, and social media channels. HubSpot provides them with unique tracking links to monitor traffic and conversions generated from their referrals. Affiliates earn a commission for each customer who signs up for HubSpot’s services through those referral links.

• Community Building

Community building involves creating a space where potential and existing customers can engage and find value. But how does it help in customer acquisition?

As community members discuss and share their positive experiences, it generates an organic buzz about your brand. Further, when you share valuable content in the community, it builds your authority. The best part is that a community allows you to communicate directly with potential customers and build personalized relationships.

To get started, you can utilize platforms like LinkedIn Groups, Facebook Groups, or Reddit to create communities. You can even use WhatsApp, Slack, or Telegram. Promote the community through your website, social media, email campaigns, or with the help of influencers. To gain traction and build trust, give community members early access to new products, special promotions, or exclusive content (how-to guides, case studies, and industry insights).

• Partnerships and Alliances

This has proven to be one of the most successful customer acquisition channels used by huge corporations. For instance, Microsoft and SAP have collaborated to integrate SAP’s business applications with Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform. This partnership allows SAP customers to run their software on Azure, driving the adoption of both platforms. They even co-host events from time to time.

You must also look for companies with which you can create co-branded products, content, or promotions to tap into new customer segments. Remember, you must partner with companies that offer products or services that COMPLEMENT yours, NOT COMPETE.

• Interactive Content

Interactive content is more than running polls on social media.

Its true value lies in its ability to actively involve users and create personalized experiences.

For instance, if you’re a B2B company offering a tech solution, you can use an ROI calculator to demonstrate the potential savings your solution offers. In the process, you can collect the customers’ contact details for further follow-up. Then you can also have interactive infographics on your website with clickable elements that reveal additional information, statistics, or case studies about your product.

All of these content formats will not only engage your users effectively but also help you with capturing leads, gathering insights, and fostering deeper connections with potential customers.

• Experiential Marketing

Now let’s take “interaction” a notch higher with experiential marketing. Experiential marketing involves creating immersive or memorable experiences that allow consumers to interact with a brand in a physical or virtual environment. If you’re a B2B business, the best way to do this would be to organize events, where your potential customers “experience” your products and services. At the event, you can host live-demos and allow potential customers to interact with and try your products in real-life scenarios. You can also use VR and AR technology that lets customers explore your products or services in a stimulating way.

If not events, you can also set up temporary installations/ kiosks at strategic locations that capture the interest of passersby and allow them to interact with your products or services.

• Geofencing

Geofencing is about creating virtual boundaries around a specific geographic area with the help of GPS, RFID, and cellular data. When a customer with a mobile device enters or exits this predefined area, they receive targeted notifications, and offers, (provided the location service is enabled on their device).

You must be wondering how this works for B2B businesses when the purchase decisions are not as quick as in B2C businesses. Well, imagine you are at a trade show, you can leverage geofencing to send targeted invites to potential clients, promoting your product demos. Another way you can benefit is by setting up virtual boundaries around areas with a high concentration of companies where you can target professionals who could be your customers. Similarly, you can also set up geofences around your competitors’ locations to capture potential clients’ interest by highlighting the unique advantages of your offerings.

• Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

It’s about aiming your marketing efforts on specific accounts rather than a large audience. You focus on the unique requirements and problems faced by particular businesses, helping you increase the relevance and effectiveness of your approach. For instance, your software company specializes in cybersecurity solutions. So instead of targeting a wide audience, you focus on financial institutions and tech firms that would benefit most from your products. So accordingly, your marketing messages will be around the security challenges faced by these two sectors. This will drastically improve your chances of winning clients and foster stronger relationships with them.

• Referral Programs

While referral programs are not that new when it comes to customer acquisition channels, yet many businesses miss out on making the most of them. Either they have complex processes or have unappealing incentives.

First, understand your ideal customers and tailor the program to their preferences. Then, ensure your rewards are attractive for both referrers and referees. Lastly, the process should be simple. Make sure you promote your referral program aggressively through different means, otherwise, there’s no point!

Conclusion:

The purpose of both customer acquisition channels and customer retention channels is to make meaningful connections with customers that compel action.

By integrating emerging methods like influencer collaborations, affiliate marketing, and community building, experiential marketing, geo fencing and account-based marketing with popular approaches like SEO, PPC, telecalling, and events, you can create a multi-faceted strategy that resonates with diverse audiences.

Ultimately, the key to successful customer acquisition lies in understanding your audience, continuously optimizing your channels, and delivering genuine value. Now if you ask how to optimize customer acquisition channels, we would simply tell you to evaluate performance metrics and refine your strategies based on data insights.

While the trends in customer acquisition channels will keep on changing, remember to always put providing value to your audience first.

Looking for B2B lead generation services or want help in converting leads into customers? Get in touch!

FAQs:

What are customer acquisition channels?

These are the channels through which businesses acquire new clients. These include traditional advertising, collaborations, and digital marketing techniques including social media, SEO, and email campaigns. Apart from this, there are some emerging channels like Influencer Collaborations, Affiliate Marketing, and Partnerships.a

What is audience acquisition strategy?

An audience acquisition strategy is a plan to attract and engage a targeted group of people for an event, product, or service. Audience acquisition strategies include content marketing, social media advertising, email campaigns, and SEO to improve visibility in search results.

What is new customer acquisition?

New customer acquisition is the process of attracting and converting individuals who have not previously interacted with your business into customers. It involves identifying potential leads, engaging them through various marketing efforts, and ultimately persuading them to make their first purchase or use your service.

What are the 3 parts of the customer acquisition cycle?

The customer acquisition cycle typically consists of three main parts:

• Awareness: This is where your potential clients get to know about your products or services.
• Consideration: This is where they evaluate your products or services against their needs and preferences
• Conversion: This is the final stage where prospects make a purchasing decision and become customers.