7 Low-Cost Strategies for Small Businesses to Acquire (and Retain!) Customers

Photo: Smith House Photography

Ready to grow your business from a seedling into a forest? Introducing The Growth Hacking Bundle. Designed to walk you through the ins and outs of SEO, content creation, and making waves in the digital space, this downloadable bundle is packed with essentials for acquiring and retaining customers and seeing your small business thrive.

Ready to become a growth hacker? Ahead, we're outlining some creative, low-cost strategies—from SEO to digital media optimization—to help small businesses acquire and retain customers, expand your audience and see it thrive. Keep scrolling for seven important growth-hacking channels to go after when building your user base, and add The Growth Hacking Bundle to your cart for more tips.

#1 SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Hire a good engineer to build your site in a way that makes your company show up at the top of search results. If that isn’t in your budget, then sign up for a website that has all of that included in the backend like Squarespace or WordPress. Include popular search terms in the copy, tag, and meta-tag all assets on your page, and include hyperlinks out to other sites whenever possible. Download our SEO 101 guide in Insider’s inventory and teach yourself or someone on your team.

#2 SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

Find out what are the most common search terms related to your company, and buy them on Google Ad Words. This is the best-paid strategy to help your business and its URL show up higher in search results.

#3 Product Management

The intersection of user experience, technology, and business. Product management involves closely monitoring user experience/behavior, and editing the technology in response to this behavior in order to best achieve the desired business goals. Google Analytics is the most accessible product management tool.

#4 A/B Testing

Offering your customers two versions of a product and monitoring which one they prefer. Once you find which version they prefer, you can accelerate your marketing efforts to get more bang for your buck.

#5 Facebook/Instagram ADS

Facebook has the capability to track activity across multiple devices (phone, computer, tablet) and best target the users for your product, Facebook ads may seem annoying, but they are the most effective for converting fans into paying customers. Facebook can almost guarantee you customer acquisition, it is up to you to determine whether the price of acquisition makes sense for your business.

#6 Email Capture

Capturing an email from a customer is a sign that they are willing to engage with you beyond just passively observing. Capturing emails allows you to deepen the relationship with your prospective clients through survey questions, distributed content, and calls to action that drive them back to your site, or convert them into paying customers.

#7 List Building

Break your fans and customers into differentiated lists so that you can target them differently from one another, and more accurately play to their preferences.

Ready to take things to the next level and grow your business?

Add the Create & Cultivate Marketplace The Growth Hacking Bundle to your cart, or get unlimited access to our entire library of downloads and videos when you join Insiders.

This story was published on May 6, 2020, and has since been updated.

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