User Acquisition

User acquisition is winning new users for a specific service, application, or platform. Companies develop promotional campaigns to increase the number of installs by mobile users. User acquisition helps more users discover the app and prevents companies from spending extra money.

In this article, we’ll uncover the importance, channels, and examples of user acquisition. We’ll also review how to increase and measure it.

Why is user acquisition important?

The user acquisition strategy is essential for finding and winning new customers. It helps a company develop a roadmap that depicts the sequence of actions necessary to obtain new users. Companies design advertising campaigns and promotional offers to increase awareness about an app and generate installs. A user acquisition strategy allows entrepreneurs to be aware of all spending and can avoid additional costs.

To develop an effective strategy, a company employs successful marketing methods, hires experts, and segments users. It’s necessary to identify potential users of an app, platform, or service. Once a company’s team finishes these tasks, the business can target the right people with the relevant message. It helps introduce a new app and educate people about it. If marketing efforts are successful, the number of installs will increase. As a result, business owners will receive bigger revenues.

Now that you know the importance, it’s time to review user acquisition channels. The next section will unveil the platforms you can use to promote your mobile app and acquire new users.

User Acquisition Channels

To grow your business, you need to reach a wider audience. You can do it by using multiple acquisition channels. Your main task is to choose the most effective channels for your company. In this section, we’ll review online and offline user acquisition channels so that you can make a decision.

• Email marketing. Email campaigns remain on the top of the list for the most effective acquisition channels. Branded emails demonstrate good open rates. With the help of quality and relevant emails, you can reach new subscribers and encourage them to test your app, platform, or service. SendPulse’s bulk email service helps you design professional email campaigns without code knowledge. The process is fast and simple with the platform’s free ready-to-go templates.
• Paid search. It enables you to pay search engines for placing ads at the top of search engine results pages. So when potential users search for an app similar to yours, they will see your platform at the top of SERPs. It helps drive brand awareness and traffic to your website. This is one of the most effective and fast ways to educate people about your app.
• Website. Most companies invest in their websites to bring value to visitors and educate them about their products. If your brand’s site manages to provide people with informative articles and engaging blog posts, you can gain new users. A quality website drives traffic, attracts new customers, and serves as a reliable source of information. To convert visitors into subscribers, your website should include subscription forms. SendPulse enables you to design custom subscription forms for free and convert users into subscribers.
• Trade show. It’s an exhibition that gathers different companies so that they can showcase their latest products. Trade shows bring together the most influential brands in the industry and create buzz around their products. These businesses can collaborate, learn new things from their competitors, and attract new customers. Journalists promote brands by discussing brands’ products. So if you have a product created for a specific niche market, it’s better to present it at a trade show. This way, you’ll be able to reach your target market.
• Blog. It’s a perfect way to drive interest in your product and win new customers. If you manage to share high-quality blog posts regularly, search engines will appreciate it with top positions in search results. Once you bring value to your blog visitors, you can earn their trust and intent to buy your product. To convert blog visitors into customers, you need to choose relevant topics, add unique visuals, bring social proof, and create an appealing email capture form. Your blog should be both interesting and useful.
• Influencer marketing. It implies collaboration with influencers aimed at product promotion. Brands choose opinion leaders who have power in a specific industry and the trust of consumers. They recommend a certain product to their audience. As a result, they drive interest in a product, increase sales, and improve brand recognition.
• Social media. Social media networks enable companies to reach their target audience faster and communicate the necessary message. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok allow you to publish organic posts or create ads to speak to your audience. Choose the most suitable channels to communicate with potential clients and you’ll see instant results. Social media networks enable you to communicate with customers directly and see their responses to your posts, product, and promos. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are the most suitable places for gathering customer feedback. You can find out what people think about your product from likes, comments, and views. User-generated content helps promote your product and serves as a format of word-of-mouth promotion. More people find out about your brand and its value.
• Event. It empowers you to communicate with your prospects and introduce your brand to them. In-person contacts help you reach the right audience at the right moment. Find an event that is related to your product and consider participating in it. You can also host an event to increase brand awareness and present your latest product.

Now that you know user acquisition channels, it’s time to find out how to increase user acquisition. These techniques will enable you to get more clients.

How to increase user acquisition?

You can leverage various marketing approaches to increase the number of customers. In this section, we’ll review several techniques that will help you acquire new clients.

1. Use targeted ads. If the number of customers isn’t enough for your business, you should consider incorporating targeted ads. Targeted advertising is an advertising format that focuses on audience segments that have specific needs, preferences, desires, and traits. Targeted ads allow you to reach potential clients with a solution based on their personal information. These ads help you generate qualified leads. To make ads work, you need to define the location, age, gender, occupation, family, hobbies, and problems of your potential customers. Divide your potential customers into groups based on demographics, geographics, behavior, and psychographics.
2. Consider content marketing. Different content formats, including blog posts, social media, email campaigns, videos, podcasts, and ebooks contribute to the promotion of your brand. People search for answers and they find them in articles, blog posts, and videos. If you manage to become a reliable source of information, people can consider using your product as a solution. Strive to create informative and valuable content that unveils the benefits of your product. Make sure to provide a personalized experience, include call-to-actions, and write good articles for each stage of the sales funnel.
3. Increase social media presence. The number of social media users amounts to 4.70 billion people worldwide. Social media platforms open you access to a wider reach and exposure. You can communicate your message to a huge target audience with many potential customers. Paid ads, organic posts, and influencer marketing help you promote your product to new clients. Social media channels don't require you to have huge spending. Explore the trending to create relevant content formats. Today, people prefer to watch reels, so consider creating some useful short videos for your Instagram account. With SendPulse’s chatbots, you can reach your subscribers and update them on new posts, releases, and product features on Instagram, Facebook, or Telegram. Chatbots provide assistance 24/7 and can inform customers about your product.
4. Share information about your company on forums. Communicate with people on the most popular forums like Quora and tell them about your product. With the help of forums, you can show your expertise and establish your brand as an industry leader. These discussions can also bring your prospects. Make sure you provide open-ended answers to users’ questions to encourage them to use your product in the future.
5. Implement referral programs. Develop a good referral program so that your current customers could bring you qualified leads. A monetary reward, a gift, or a discount provides consumers with value and encourages them to participate. You’ll win new customers.
6. Conduct giveaways. You can attract new customers with the help of giveaways. Let potential customers win your product and they will be interested in your brand. Run giveaways to let consumers try your products and come back for a purchase. This technique helps you increase your social reach, generate leads, and engage with existing consumers.

Now that you know the ways to increase user acquisition, it’s time to figure out how to measure it. After evaluating your user acquisition, you’ll be able to find out what steps to take next.

How to measure user acquisition?

To assess the performance of your user acquisition strategy, you should identify the three most important metrics. We’ll review each of them in detail.

1. Calculate customer acquisition cost (CAC). CAC is a metric related to the company's costs to acquire new customers. These costs include sales and marketing activities, fees, travel expenses, and other efforts required. To calculate the measure, you need to sum up sales and marketing costs and divide them by the number of customers. To find out whether you get profit from the customers you acquire, consider comparing your customer acquisition cost to the revenue these new clients bring to your business.
2. Estimate customer lifetime value (CLV). CLV is the revenue a brand can expect from a new consumer during a specific timeframe. To calculate this metric, you need to multiply the average sale by the number of repeat sales and the average lifespan of a relationship with a customer. Once you estimate the measure, you need to compare it with CAC to unveil whether your recurring revenue is high.
3. Identify your churn rate. The churn rate is the percentage of customers who stop interacting with a brand and buying from it. Losing customers in business is a sure thing. However, this number shouldn’t exceed the number of customers you acquire. Once you estimate the churn rate for your business, you can take important measures to retain these customers. Usually, companies estimate a churn rate for specific timeframes to prevent big problems and eliminate issues that cause customer dissatisfaction. To identify the number of customers who churn out, consider dividing the number of consumers lost during a specific month by the number of customers at the start of the month.

Now that you know how to measure user acquisition, it’s time to proceed to the examples. You’ll see how popular brands generate new customers.

User Acquisition Examples

There are many successful examples of user acquisition techniques that help boost the number of customers. In this section, we’ll explore the methods famous brands use to drive attention and get new customers.

Web Summit and Facebook Ads

People can find out about Web Summit, an annual technology conference held in Portugal from Facebook ads. The company targets its potential customers with sponsored ads on Facebook effectively. The ad introduces Web Summit to a broad audience and uncovers speakers and attendees from different countries.

Lyft Referral Program

Lyft, a ride-hailing company, generates new customers with the help of its referral program. The brand manages to collect qualified leads and increase its customer base. The company’s app enables users to refer new riders and obtain rewards. The platform’s users can also refer to drivers eligible for the position. Existing users can send invitations to their friends through the platform to refer new customers.

ASOS and Live Chat

ASOS, a British online fashion, and cosmetic retailer ensure that its new website visitors receive all the necessary information about its products. Its virtual assistant instantly answers all visitors’ inquiries. As a result, people know about the available items, discounts, promo codes, etc. people have a seamless user experience with the website.

Now you know what user acquisition is and why it’s essential. Hope that our examples helped to figure everything out.

Last Updated: 23.03.2023