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These 8 levers to optimize your customer acquisition strategy

By Rita Hassani Idrissi • Approved by Jérémy Lacoste

Published: June 16, 2025

Offering top-notch products and services is one thing. Having customers to sell them to and keep them loyal is quite another! 😁 To grow your business, it's essential to gain notoriety and ensure regular sales.

But how do you capture the long-term attention of an increasingly fickle customer base? 🤔 That's where a good customer acquisition strategy is essential.

In this article co-written with acquisition expert Jérémy Lacoste, zoom in on the 8 best customer acquisition strategies , with examples to back them up!

What exactly is customer acquisition?

Customer acquisition: definition

Customer acquisition refers to all the means deployed by companies to attract and retain customers. In other words, the customer acquisition strategy encompasses the various stages that successively transform a prospect into a lead, then into a customer 🤝.

Also known as customer conquest, this notion of acquisition mainly refers to :

  • marketing actions (often digital),
  • communication,
  • as well as various sales techniques.

💡The aim is to renew the customer portfolio while taking care to build loyalty. As you're no doubt aware, maintaining a lasting relationship with a consumer is far more profitable than constantly canvassing for new prospects!

The levers of customer acquisition

Knowledge of the consumer and his or her buying path is undoubtedly the main lever in customer acquisition. The more accurately a company can target its customers' needs, the more likely it is to respond favorably through a variety of channels.

These means can take various forms:

  • advertising ;
  • promotions ;
  • telephone prospecting
  • sending samples ;
  • etc.

In short, the levers to be activated to encourage customer acquisition essentially respond to marketing and sales logic 😉.

A word from the Expert

A company's growth is built on its ability to renew its customer base and combat natural churn. We also need to activate flow levers (SEA, partnerships, social ads), along with stock levers (content, emails, sponsorship, etc.), so as to create permanent traction.

Two recommendations: avoid dependence on any one acquisition channel, and remember to model the profitability of sourcing, taking into account the re-purchase rate. As a reminder, recruiting a new customer costs 3 times more than retaining one.

Jérémy Lacoste

Jérémy Lacoste,

The 8 best customer acquisition strategies for building traffic

When it comes to customer acquisition strategies, there are many possibilities. Depending on a company's size and resources, certain means may be favored over others.

Here, we'll focus on channels and techniques that help increase the visibility, attractiveness and trust a customer can bring to a product or brand 👍. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Advertising (SEA).

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

First of all, let's look at the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). For those who don't yet know, SEO refers to all the processes used to boost a site's organic traffic . By organic traffic, we mean that which comes from natural results, i.e. those that are not sponsored and therefore cost virtually nothing!

To maximize your chances of appearing in the first line of SERP results (page displayed by a search engine following validation of a query 💻), a company needs to master the three fundamental principles of SEO , which are:

  • Technical: how is your site designed, is it well structured, fluid, etc.?
  • Semantics : the sinews of SEO warfare, i.e. using the most relevant expressions and keywords to rank high in the SERPs.
  • Popularity: the more popular and reliable a site is considered to be, the more naturally it is promoted on search engines.

👉 Example: Let's imagine a company specializing in Alpaca wool sweaters (and why not? 🦙 ). To make a name for itself and attract new customers, it needs to position itself on targeted queries in order to appear on search engines. This means producing and distributing digital content (blog articles, infographics, etc.).

For example, an Internet user curious to learn more about the specific characteristics of alpaca wool might come across the company's website after typing the following query: "advantages of alpaca wool".

However, it's worth pointing out that SEO takes a lot of time and investment! It's not a sprint, but a long-distance race. It's up to you to regularly offer quality digital content to boost your SEO, and attract new customers 💪.

SEA (Search Engine Advertising)

SEA differs from SEO in its keyword bidding system. In fact, what is sometimes awkwardly referred to as paid search is based on an advertising system 💵. In layman's terms, what we're talking about here is paying the search engine to appear among the first SERP results. Unsurprisingly, Google Ads is the best-known tool in this field.

SEA has many advantages. In particular, it's the targeting options that make it so attractive. In fact, it's possible to prioritize your ad among Internet users according to :

  • age 👴;
  • gender 💁‍♀️ ;
  • location 🏠 ;
  • the device used (computer, tablet or smartphone) 📱 ;
  • etc.

Paid search is therefore particularly useful for one-off digital promotional campaigns. However, the success of such campaigns depends on the budget allocated and the competitiveness of the targeted keywords. The more competitive the market, the higher the cost of appearing in the top results 📈.

Here again, various criteria need to be taken into account in addition to the amount allocated to bids:

  • the expected click-through rate on the ad,
  • the overall quality of the ad (i.e. its relevance to the search query established by the surfer),
  • landing page quality (loading time, relevance, etc.).

SEA is therefore an excellent way to promote customer acquisition through specific, perfectly targeted campaigns 🎯.

Email marketing

Outdated for some, email marketing is nonetheless an effective lever when it comes to customer acquisition. Nevertheless, it must be used intelligently. In other words, delivering the right message to the right person at the right time. Easier said than done, right? 😁

Deploying an effective email marketing strategy can't be improvised. Its foundation is materialized by a handpicked database. But this tedious work is imperative.

👉 Knowing where each prospect is in the sales tunnel makes it much easier to send them content that might interest them. Has a potential customer still not converted a shopping cart that's been abandoned for several weeks? Send them a reminder with a time-limited discount to motivate them to take action!

The possibilities offered by email marketing are endless. In fact, there are a number of tools available to automate your marketing processes, saving you considerable time and increasing your acquisition rate. So why deprive yourself? 😉 A selection of these tools will be presented later in the article.

Social networks

By 2022, there will be an estimated 53 million social network users in France. The average time devoted to them on a daily basis is estimated at around 1h45. Enough to give pause for thought to companies who still downplay the role of these platforms in spreading their brand 🤔.

When it comes to customer acquisition on social networks, it goes without saying that a company needs to target the platforms that are best suited to it beforehand . It's hard to imagine a manufacturer of medical scanners finding its way alongside the latest challenges on Tik Tok...

👉 From the consumer's point of view, the main advantage of social networks is the proximity that links them to a brand or product, as well as their reduced cost. For the company, it is therefore necessary to produce content that encourages exchange and sharing with its community.

This can take the form of :

  • competitions ;
  • asking for feedback on a new product;
  • sharing news about your business sector;
  • revealing what's going on behind the scenes ;
  • etc.

What's more, it's not uncommon for prospects to come directly to a brand's networks to ask about a product or service. It's up to you to seize this opportunity to target their expectations and respond favorably! 🙌

In addition to winning over new customers, social networks above all help build customer loyalty. With an average of almost 2 hours of their attention every day, it would be a shame to miss out.

Content marketing

Better known as content marketing, this lever is particularly effective in attracting new prospects and gaining their trust. For those who don't know, it simply refers to all the content distributed and shared about your brand.

Content marketing includes

  • publications and interactions on social networks 📱 ;
  • newsletters 📨 ;
  • webinars 🔍 ;
  • interviews 🎤 ;
  • podcasts 🎧 ;
  • blog posts ✏ ;
  • etc.

In short, the consumer must be able to perceive your company's identity and values behind your content marketing policy. Some of this content is destined to last. In fact, much of it acts as a gateway to your website and your sales proposals.

Content marketing is also distinguished by its informational nature and added value. There's no question of churning out content. Quality takes precedence over quantity, although it's important to be regular when it comes to content distribution.

👉Through the deployment of a content marketing strategy, the company aims to achieve several digital objectives:

  • gain visibility and credibility ;
  • develop its brand identity
  • attract new prospects;
  • build loyalty among its audience and consumers.

Customer reviews

It's no coincidence that the vast majority of today's brands feature customer reviews on their websites. The reason? To give confidence and reassurance to prospects who are still hesitating to take the plunge.

With the rise of digital technology, word-of-mouth and customer feedback are more important than ever in driving people to buy. A glance at a few statistics will convince you of this:

  • 87% of French people read customer reviews before buying 🧐 (Ifop) ;
  • 79% of French people trust customer reviews 🤝 (Ifop) ;
  • 34% of consumers give more importance to customer reviews than to promotions in the decision-making phase 👍 (American Express).

Clearly, customer reviews are of decisive importance in turning a prospect into a buyer. In fact, as consumers, we're increasingly asked to share our feelings and evaluate the products and services we've paid for or subscribed to 🙋.

Consumer reviews are therefore an extremely powerful lever for customer acquisition. For a company, it's essential to pay special attention to them. That's why it's highly recommended to analyze and respond to all reviews, both positive and negative ! 👀

Partnerships

Relying on the reputation of a brand that's on a roll is an excellent way of attracting new customers. In this way, your offer gains visibility with an audience that you hadn't necessarily targeted, or that had previously missed out on your content.

The terms of a partnership obviously depend on the parties involved. Generally speaking, it's an exchange of courtesies, with each party promoting the other 🤝. But for this partnership to be effective, the right collaborator needs to be targeted. It's hard to imagine a vegan producer promoting the local butcher's shop, and vice versa!

👉 Finding a complementary partner whose products or services match your own is essential. Imagine, for example, a honey producer teaming up with a pastry chef to create a sweets product for sale in their respective stores.

Developing this type of partnership is a good way of acquiring new customers through previously inaccessible or little-used channels!

Free trials

"Oh, and after all, if it's free, it doesn't commit me to anything, so why deprive yourself? 🤷", is the simple - but effective - reasoning behind which many of us have succumbed to the appeal of a product or service we weren't necessarily destined for in the first place 😅.

Indeed, the advantages of a free trial for a company are manifold:

  • gaining the trust of potential customers
  • boost conversion rates;
  • generate leads thanks to the attractiveness of the offer;
  • stand out from the competition;
  • engage and develop customer relations.

However, offering free trials without developing a prior strategy is doomed to failure ❌. There are many factors involved in turning a simple test into a subscription:

  • the definition of trial limits and conditions (time, available tools, etc.) ;
  • the information to be provided by the customer (telephone number, email address, bank details, etc.) ;
  • the support to be provided throughout the trial (gathering customer feedback, defining needs, etc.).

In the same vein, you need to know how to communicate at the right moment with different prospects. Offering a free trial to someone who is not yet ready can be useless, or even counter-productive. Conversely, sending them a trial offer after they've downloaded a white paper or signed up for a newsletter, for example, is far more interesting 👍.

It's worth noting that customer acquisition through free trials is mainly aimed at the B2B sector. SaaS software publishers are particularly concerned by this commercial approach 💾.

Downloads

When we talk about downloads, we can think first of all of the various content available on the company's website. The case of the white paper is a perfect illustration 📖.

To access this collection of resources, web users are often asked to enter information such as:

  • identity ;
  • profession ;
  • sector of activity
  • employer ;
  • contact details ;
  • etc.

It's an excellent foundation for the company to build on ✅. The case of the white paper, however, echoes primarily the B2B sphere.

Customer acquisition can also take place via another type of download. That of the brand's mobile application. It's hard to get closer to a customer than when you're right in their pocket!

👉To encourage the download of a mobile application, a brand can play on different aspects such as :

  • the fluidity and practicality of the interface ;
  • access to additional functionalities ;
  • specific promotional offers when the app is downloaded.

💡Once the app has been downloaded, it's easier to maintain customer relations and build long-term loyalty.

6 best practices to optimize your customer acquisition

Structure your data to effectively manage acquisition

Customer data is digital gold. But what's the point of having nuggets if you don't know how to exploit them?

Start by centralizing all your information in a single tool: CRM, DMP or marketing automation platform. This will enable you to better understand your potential customers, their expectations, their disincentives and the channels they use.

✅ The cleaner, more organized and actionable your data, the more refined, targeted and profitable your customer acquisition strategy becomes.

Measure the real impact of your strategy on your reach

Start by tracking your number of customers reached on each channel:

  • email,
  • social networks,
  • advertising,
  • content marketing.

Then compare with actual results: clicks, conversions, sales. Regularly calculate your conversion rate and cost of acquisition. Yes, you can't improve what you don't measure. And in customer acquisition, every contact point counts!

Adapt your business model to your sales cycle

Your acquisition strategy must be aligned with your sales model.

For example, do you sell a premium product or service? Go for a long sales tunnel, with reassurance at every stage.

Are you targeting a key account customer with a complex purchase? Include in-depth content, free trials and demonstrations.

And if you're a low-cost seller, go for speed. Your acquisition funnel needs to be simple, fast and effective.

Create engaging, high-converting content

Potential customers don't convert with a simple block of text. They want concrete, living content that speaks to their needs.

Offer customized content marketing: articles, videos, infographics, case studies... Vary the formats and adapt them to each stage of the acquisition funnel.

☝️ For example, if a prospect is at the top of the funnel, offer him a practical guide and a comparison or demonstration.

The right content at the right time is what turns a curious click into a purchase. And sometimes, into a loyal customer.

Take advantage of product recommendations and personalization

Your potential customers want to feel understood, not drowned out by a generic offer. According to a study by Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences.

Recommendation technologies enable you to offer the right product or service, at the right time. By analyzing browsing, purchasing or viewing behavioral data, you increase your chances of capturing attention... and converting.

When it comes to personalization, every detail counts. Emails, landing pages, advertising campaigns: everything can (and must) be adapted to your prospect's reality.

Equip your marketing team

Effective customer acquisition requires a well-honed toolbox. Every marketing solution contributes to optimizing one or more acquisition levers. Here are the essentials you need to know (and test)👇 :

Webmecanik Pipeline

An intuitive CRM tool like Webmecanik Pipeline helps you turn prospects into customers simply and easily, thanks to a complete and secure centralization of your exchanges (e-mail, telephone...). The platform supports you in managing and tracking your sales pipelines and opportunities, thanks to tailor-made functionalities:

  • business predictions powered by Big Data intelligence,
  • dashboards that can be customized and updated in real time,
  • prospect status evolution and probability of success...

TikTok for Business

Whether you're aiming for acquisition or loyalty on social networks, it's imperative to have the right tools to achieve your goals. How can you miss out on Tiktok For Business? If your target audience is on TikTok, you should be too! This dynamic and innovative platform, suitable for companies of all sizes, helps you develop your customer acquisition thanks to :

  • precise targeting of your potential customers,
  • viral potential, enabling you to reach a large international audience,
  • short, interactive content to engage customers,
  • real-time performance analysis.

In short, increased visibility and unique opportunities to connect with potential new customers!

Lemlist

Lemlist revolutionizes email marketing and automated prospecting. Thanks to its ultra-personalized campaigns, you can engage your prospects with messages that really grab their attention. Dynamic images, integrated videos, personalized variables... every email becomes a mini-operation of seduction. This tool is particularly effective for :

  • cold email prospecting,
  • follow-up on warm or lukewarm leads,
  • rapid conversion in short cycles.

Lemlist helps you reduce acquisition costs by drastically improving your response rate.

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a visual CRM designed to track and advance your sales opportunities at a glance. Drag, drop and tick: you can track each prospect without getting lost. Thanks to its intelligent automations, Pipedrive simplifies the management of your SEA, SEO and social networking campaigns. It also lets you :

  • keep control of your sales targets,
  • quickly identify blockages in the funnel,
  • save time on follow-up and prioritization.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

For B2B pros, LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a war machine. It helps you identify the right contacts within your target accounts, understand their issues, and engage in contextual conversation. The result:

  • your contacts are more relevant,
  • your messages better perceived,
  • and your partnership and sales opportunities are better qualified.

A key tool for those who want to turn social networking into a genuine growth channel.

Outreach

Outreach lets you orchestrate your multi-channel prospecting sequences (emails, calls, LinkedIn messages...) without losing personalization. The platform centralizes your exchanges, alerts you to the best moments to follow up, and measures the impact of each message. In short :

  • you multiply contacts without exhausting yourself,
  • maintain a high level of personalization,
  • boost your conversion rates without blowing your CAC.

Leadfeeder

Leadfeeder turns your anonymous visitors into real opportunities. By analyzing the IP addresses of companies visiting your site, it reveals potential customers who are already interested in your products or services, even without filling in a form. You can then :

  • recontact these leads with a targeted message,
  • adapt your marketing campaigns according to page views,
  • improve the relevance of your sales follow-ups.

A powerful tool for feeding your pipeline with leads that are much hotter than they look 🔥.

How do you develop a successful B2B customer acquisition strategy?

In B2B, customer acquisition is based on a long, multi-touch, multi-decision funnel. To succeed, you need to align your steps, channels and content. Here's how to structure your approach:

👉 Precisely identify your buyer personas: start by understanding your targets: their needs, challenges, expectations. A good persona helps you create ultra-relevant, personalized messages, from CFO to end-user.

👉 Define a clear value proposition: why you rather than a competitor? Build a sales pitch that reflects measurable ROI, operational efficiency or a real business solution.

👉 Choose your channels wisely: mix inbound (SEO, content, webinars) and outbound (emails, LinkedIn, SEA, events) according to your sales cycle and personas.

👉 Produce content adapted to each stage:

👉 Deploy a coordinated multi-channel strategy: mix SEO, SEA, email, social selling and partnerships. 💡 For example:

  • SEO and content to generate qualified traffic,
  • SEA to reach those who are actively searching,
  • email and LinkedIn to nurture and follow-up,
  • partnerships and webinars to extend your reach.

👉 Analyze and optimize continuously: collect data (open rates, conversion, CAC...) to refine your segments, messages and channel choices. Align marketing and sales with shared CRM and dashboards.

👉 Capitalize on advanced techniques, adopt :

  • Account-Based Marketing (ABM) to target key accounts with ultra-personalized messages,
  • inter-company referencing via partnerships or recommendations,
  • webinars and virtual events to establish your expertise and capture targeted leads.

👉 Don't forget the post-purchase: theB2B cycle continues after the sale: onboarding, support, upsell, customer testimonials. It's also an excellent way of generating referrals and nurturing a virtuous circle of growth.

Customer acquisition in a nutshell

In a nutshell, customer acquisition encompasses all the techniques used to attract and retain new customers. To be effective, customer acquisition must meet clearly defined strategic objectives.

By activating the right levers at the right times, a company can increase its attractiveness and expand its customer portfolio over the long term 💪.

Article translated from French