GUEST COLUMN
By Abstract Ops
Customers are the foundation of every startup in the world. The whole world of business ceases to function and thrive without them. That’s why as a startup, you always need to develop new methods of continuously keeping existing customers while attracting new ones.
Customer acquisition is vital for every business type, be it large or small. However, what you will discover with many startups is the lack of a defined customer acquisition strategy.
Defining Customer Acquisition in a Startup
Customer acquisition refers to the steps an organization or company takes to acquire new customers. An excellent customer acquisition plan enables you to gain new customers and keep old ones, which go a long way in increasing your profits.
Startups typically just imitate strategies that appear to be working for other businesses without testing to be sure it is what suits their business type.
Not knowing what general and specific customer acquisition strategy work for your startup will affect its long-term existence. You may also spend capital on other unnecessary channels instead of the right ones that hold potential customers for your products.
Customer acquisition goes beyond just knowing how to gain new customers, it also entails keeping them.
Every and any strategy that your business adopts must have a clear plan and a yardstick to measure the impact of the strategy.
To create a customer acquisition strategy, you have to:
- Locate ideal customers
- Establish your business goals
- Create a Strategy for each marketing channel
- Communicate with your customers.
- Manage and improve your strategy.
While there are specific strategies that are peculiar to some businesses, there are some that are general. One general customer acquisition strategy that works for all startups is YouTube.
As a startup, it can be challenging to stand out from the competition and position your business for success. That’s why it is essential to employ all the marketing channels at your disposal.
YouTube is a video marketing channel that allows you to upload videos that tell your audience about the products and services that your startup offers.
It is one of the most popular platforms in the world and the most popular streaming service. Using YouTube in your acquisition strategy will positively impact your startup by providing a large customer base for your brand and product.
Using YouTube for Customer Acquisition
First, you need to understand and identify your objectives. What do you want to achieve when using YouTube, and how do you want to succeed at it?
Then, you also have to create a schedule of when and how many videos you will upload online so that your subscribers know when to expect new content. When you finally get a pattern, stick with it so that your target audience can know when to always come back for your posts.
The various type videos you could employ for advertising on YouTube include:
Product videos promote your product by emphasizing your product or service. Tutorial videos teach the users how to use different product and service features and create a simplistic approach to their product usage.
Creating great videos from scratch is not easy as you may think, it requires a lot of hard work and devotion. You will not only need the resources, but you also need talent and creativity.
However, every effort invested into creating quality videos will always yield maximum returns.
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Create amazing content that is interesting and informative
If your startup wants to use YouTube to acquire more customers, then it must create relatable video content. For a video to be relatable it has to be interesting and informative.
You can also create video content that creates an emotional connection between your startup and its customers. The chances are that you will attract more viewers and customers if your videos are innovative and very engaging.
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Use video marketing tools to create compelling videos
As a startup, you should actively seek out different kinds of video marketing tools. These tools help you to create quality videos because if you must thrive with YouTube, then attention has to be paid to the details of every video.
In this digital age, videos are now easy to create, which means you can create more videos in less time and for a lesser price using the right tools.
Some video marketing tools like; Explee and Powtoon are great for animations. There are also others like a Wave, which allows you to make short clips and skits.
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Generate more subscribers and more traffic with end screen
The end screen is a video streaming function that allows you to add an action at the end of your YouTube video. If your customers watch such videos till the end, they can subscribe or click a link that takes them to your business website to view more of your product videos.
End screens are to YouTube channels what call-to-action is to content creation.
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Optimize your videos
One of the most vital steps of YouTube marketing strategy is video optimization. They make YouTube understand what your video is about so that your videos can appear in the right search results for your customers.
You can achieve this by using some keyword research to develop great video ideas that your audience will be interested in.
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Don’t just upload videos, engage with people in the comment section
You can use tools like Agora pulse to manage your video channel and ensure that you can find more customer acquisition opportunities. This will help you monitor and connect with your social audience. You should respond to your comments on time, control offensive or abusive comments, and be able to keep track of every one of your subscribers.
Conclusion
YouTube is an excellent marketing channel for startups and a great way to be unique. It’s very accessible, and there are not many brands using it as they do with other popular channels.
Customer acquisition may at first seem daunting using YouTube, but with consistency, your business can attract high-value customers in the long run, keep them around longer, and grow more appreciably.
References
Hubspot: The Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition for 2021
Content Marketing Institute: 23 Things to Consider When Creating Video Content
Medium: Why You Should Use Video to Be More Relatable For Your Audience.
Word Stream: Video SEO: 9 Ways to Optimize Your Video for Search.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal
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