Ask Freddy: What’s The Latest On Acquiring Customers Efficiently?

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Professor…

Q: Dear Freddy:

My job is forecasting new customers by marketing channel. What’s the latest thinking on how to acquire customers efficiently (i.e., not giving all your money to Google)?

— S in Seattle

A: Dear S:

The customer acquisition world is a mess, isn’t it? The highly touted digital solutions (SEO, Google Ads, social media, 1-to-1 marketing, etc.) are increasingly ineffective and inefficient, as platforms torque algorithms to their own advantage, and direct-marketing leads are proving less than “qualified.”

Consequently, many marketers are returning to good ol’ fashioned traditional media, which is expensive, but at least audited by third parties. With digital media platforms, you just have to take their word that their data is credible. Even their basic definitions are dubious (see my post about “impressions”).

Also, while some might see broader media methods as “wasteful,” others are discovering that having their promotions reach beyond their customer targets to potential investors, employees, partners, and influencers is not a bad thing for long-term sales and brand building.

Now, you might have heard some hype about AI personalization, but so far there’s little to no data verifying that it actually works.

So, until AI becomes less artificial and more intelligent, I recommend experimenting with multi-channel integrated marketing: within your budget, spread your message across multiple platforms and mediums, digital and traditional, with all focused on the same goal and supporting each other. Integrated marketing takes work and coordination, but no one said this would be easy. (Shameless plug: that’s where Atomic Tango comes in…)

Along the way, continuously analyze the 3B’s:

• Brand (awareness and sentiment)
• Buzz (earned media)
• Behavior (conversions, of course, but also incremental steps toward conversion)

Based on the metrics, tweak and adjust, experiment more, tweak and adjust. There is, unfortunately, no secret sauce. Not even Elon Musk can get enough people to buy Teslas or Twitter ads these days, and he claims to know everything, right? Play your cards right, and you just might know more than the richest man in the world.

Good luck!

— Freddy

If you have a marketing question you’d like to ask Freddy,
just drop him a memo.