Customer acquisition funnel: 3 proven tips for eCommerce apps

Converting a potential customer through a customer acquisition funnel is the dream of every business, including mobile app companies. But more often than not, many of them fail to find the leak holes in the funnel and struggle to drive sales. This article will show you three evergreen strategic approaches that help you optimize your funnel and achieve growth.

Turn existing customers into brand ambassadors

If you think you need to hire celebrities and influencers to be brand ambassadors, think again. Since 93% of consumers trust their friends and family to make purchase decisions more than any advertising, word-of-mouth marketing is still one of the most effective eCommerce customer acquisition funnel strategies. That’s why you should start converting current customers into brand advocates. 

Here are some strategies that work like a charm to help you begin brand advocacy programs.

Cultivate your brand’s community

A brand’s social media group or community is an excellent way to establish customer loyalty. Just by simply listening to the conversations in the group, you’ll gain valuable, unique insights that you usually don’t see through customer support tickets or emails. What’s more, you’ll have a chance to engage with customers like an actual human, not a faceless corporation. Most importantly, these groups benefit their audience. People who share something in common have a community where they feel supported and heard. 

Each person in the group can be your brand ambassador. Strengthen the relationship by asking them to join a contest, share the brand’s content within their circle of friends. 

Create a referral program

83% of customers are willing to refer if they have a good experience. Why not give them a bit more incentive to do that? Making a referring program is the easiest way to encourage the existing customers to spread the word. Your offer could be cashback, steep discounts, reward points. Ensure you promote the program regularly because the more customers know about it, the more people join it. 

Find the right user acquisition channels

An acquisition channel is where all your customers come from, both online and offline. The acquisition stage is on top of your customer acquisition funnel, and you will want to attract as many potential customers as possible. 

It’s easy to find a list of the best customer acquisition channels for eCommerce on Google. Email marketing, referral program, paid ads, content marketing, SEO, social media marketing are common channels that marketers talk about all the time. But it’s not so easy to find the most appropriate mobile app marketing channels for your unique business. This is because each company has different target customers and budgets. They also operate in various industries. 

So now, let’s say you’ve narrowed down 5 customer acquisition funnels that match your business’s current situation. We suggest you focus on the top 3 channels first. Why is that? 

Many marketers mistake not focusing their resources on several critical channels but targeting all possible channels they can find. This is a problematic approach. First, for beginner marketers with little experience or resources, 4 or 5 channels can be overwhelming. You’re unlikely to handle that much work. Second, even if you’re a marketing expert, and you can handle that much work, it simply doesn’t worth it. Why not focus on several channels which take lion shares in your potential customer number and get the highest ROI? 

Connect with users using unique content

It’s 2021 now, and content is a marketing strategy that you can’t afford to neglect. The content strategy must cater to each stage of the customer acquisition funnel. However, your content should always be consistent with your brand voice, be authentic, and be able to grab the audience’s attention. 

Here are some trendy content ideas that you can consider for your eCommerce brand. 

Rating and reviews

Social proof is an influential part of the customer journey, just behind price. A high rating and positive reviews make your business look trustworthy a lot more ads. So make sure to ask customers for reviews when possible. In addition, show the reviews where customers can see them. Or better, you can also make appealing testimonial pages and case studies to describe how your product creates a meaningful impact for different customers. 

Mobile app Stories

Mobile app Stories are phenomenal in transforming in-app content. You can use this feature to replace boring onboarding or as a new way to announce sales and promotions. Mobile app Stories makes access to app content easy, friendly, and fun. 

Videos

99% of content marketers are planning their future campaigns with video content. Maybe you should too. Popping a video on your landing page or your app ads will help you gain more engagement simply because they like watching more than reading.

Maintain an effective customer acquisition strategy

Keep in mind that you’ll need to evolve your approach over time. So keep hustling and finding new ways to move the needle.