GDPR has landed. As the dust settles and consumers recover from the flurry of (mostly unnecessary) re-consent emails, marketing teams are reassessing their priorities. Faced with the reality of smaller re-consented marketing lists, customer acquisition will be high on the list for many.
Understanding how consumers think in the post-GDPR marketing landscape is the first step to attracting new customers. To give you the insight you need to succeed, Pure360 has produced a report with the DMA that sheds light on the post-GDPR consumer mindset.
This blog post explores ten customer acquisition lessons based on the headline statistics from our report, Acquisition and the Consumer Mindset.
Read on to gain insights that will help you shape your post-GDPR customer acquisition strategy.
1. Combat customer inertia
When making new purchases, only a quarter (24 percent) of consumers will consider retailers they haven’t used before.
This is good news for your customer retention efforts, but means customer acquisition is more of a challenge post GDPR.
Creating useful top-of-funnel content, that’s easy to discover through search, is a good way to make new customers aware of your brand.
2. Attract customers through price, value, and discounts
Consumers see price, value, and discounts as a reason to switch to a new brand. Over 70 percent of consumers would consider switching to use a new company if they offered:
- cheaper prices (76 percent)
- better quality (76 percent)
- a discount (72 percent)
Your customer acquisition strategy should emphasise these aspects. Try offering a discount in your welcome email campaign to tempt customers over the line.
3. Harness the power of email
When asked to rank eight marketing channels in order of preference, 73 percent of consumers put email in first or second place.
Email is a powerful channel, so consider the role it will play in your customer acquisition strategy.
Try capturing contact details with an unobtrusive subscription popups on your top-of-funnel content. This gives you the opportunity nurture subscribers towards their first purchase with welcome email campaigns.
4. Keep your messaging simple to build trust
Simple communications give consumers a reason to trust your brand.
Over a third (38 percent) of people surveyed said simple to understand information would help them to trust in the marketing messages they received.
Keep your customer acquisition content simple. Your email sign-up form should clearly sell the benefits of receiving emails from your brand.
Whether it’s first views of new products, exclusive discounts, or free delivery — specify what consumers will gain when they subscribe.
5. Make your messaging relevant
Relevancy is another important way to build trust and increase customer acquisition.
Our survey found that when people find a type of marketing messaging relevant to them, they are more likely to show a stronger level of trust in that kind of marketing.
6. Your customers are well informed; speak to them accordingly
When it comes to how you use data, it is important your customer acquisition messaging does not speak down to consumers.
Consumers are a data savvy bunch. Our research revealed that 90 percent of consumers surveyed are aware of GDPR. Make sure your marketing copy and tone reflects this.
7. Give consumers flexibility and control
If you offer a subscription service, consumer concerns around being tied in to long contracts can be a blocker when it comes to customer acquisition.
An overwhelming majority (73 percent) of consumers say they avoid services that tie them into long contracts.
Consider how you can make contracts more flexible. Giving consumers flexibility and control is a powerful way to attract them to becoming customers.
8. Let consumers speak to humans
In recent years there’s been a lot of buzz about chatbots and the role they can play in the marketing mix. But are chatbots the right tool for customer acquisition?
Our survey found that consumer interest in chatbots is divided. A quarter (25 percent) of consumers have used chatbots and a further 27 percent are interested in using them.
For over half (55 percent) of consumers surveyed, the main barrier to further interest is the desire to speak to a human. So, make sure you make it easy for prospects to speak to a person if you want to them to become customers.
9. Do not ask for more data than you need
In the age of personalisation, it’s tempting to try to find out everything you can about your subscribers. But our report found a degree of reluctance from consumers when it comes to data sharing.
We discovered 41 percent of respondents are not interested in using a smart assistant because they do not want to share their data with the brands behind this technology.
When it comes to customer acquisition, our advice would be to avoid asking for more data than you need. To start a relationship over email, all you really need is a consumer’s email address.
10. Consumers are showing a desire for VR
Showcasing products is an important part of customer acquisition. Our report reveals brands could benefit from using VR as a way to do this.
This technology is particularly relevant for furniture brands. Half of consumers (50 percent) show interest across VR, AR or both technologies to test out how furniture could look in their home.
Takeaway
Acquiring new customers is high on the agenda for many brands now GDPR has landed. An understanding of how consumers think is essential for brands who want to grow their customer base.
Our report highlights some important lessons about the post-GDPR consumer mindset for brands to feed into their customer acquisition strategy. This blog post has explored just ten.
For more insights into how to shape your customer acquisition strategy post GDPR, download the full report now.
