In the start-up phase of a new business or new product or service, acquiring leads that can become future customers is extremely important in order to make the business viable.
However, they often don’t know how to acquire leads and end up wasting valuable marketing budget by jumping on new initiatives. Channel development and channel strategy are important for stable lead acquisition.
This time, we will introduce the steps to develop new channels for the purpose of acquiring leads for new businesses, new products, and services.
Lead acquisition channel is distribution of 4P marketing mix
The lead acquisition channel corresponds to distribution among the 4Ps of
the marketing mix
: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. There are the following options for distribution strategies that determine the route (
channel
) that connects products and services with potential customers.
1. Distribute over a wide range of channels without limiting the channels.
2. Distribute through limited channels
3. Give exclusive sales rights to specific channels
4. Use multiple channels depending on the situation
When a new business or new product or service is being launched, a lead acquisition strategy has not been established, and it is difficult to know which option from 1 to 4 is appropriate. While developing effective channels, we must consider which distribution strategy is appropriate.
Four points for developing new channels
Here are four important points to help you develop new lead acquisition channels.
①Zero-based thinking
The marketing measures that should be taken will vary greatly depending on the business content, products/services, business phase, market environment such as industry and economic conditions. For example, in the business phase, channel development during the start-up phase and the growth expansion phase are very different.
Additionally, as digital marketing continues to change over a span of one to several years, channels that were mainstream five years ago are often in decline.
Therefore, when considering new channels, it is important to think freely and from a zero-based perspective without any preconceptions.
②Data conversion
In the early stages of channel development, there is no data, so we will consider using random numbers. When examining channels, be sure to understand the cost-effectiveness of each channel. You will need this data to review the verification results and decide whether to continue or withdraw.
Additionally, funnel analysis is recommended when analyzing the effectiveness of each channel. A typical marketing funnel ranges from “awareness” to “interest/concern,” “comparison/consideration,” and “purchase.”
When acquiring leads, it is a good idea to set up an appropriate funnel as shown below, depending on the characteristics of each channel.
- Website PV → CV → MQL → Acquire appointment → SQL → Order
- Exhibition PV → Visitors → Business card acquisition → MQL → Appointment acquisition → SQL → Orders
By understanding the funnel, you can utilize it in your field marketing | MarketTRUNK
③ Participation of sales members
When developing a channel strategy, it is important to clarify your target customer persona and ensure that your team is on the same page. By inviting sales members to participate and having discussions based on customers who have actually purchased the product or service, you will be able to understand the real customer profile.
In addition, if the marketing team is alone, the data obtained from computers becomes the main source, and even if they develop channels without sufficient customer data, subsequent business negotiations may take a long time, or the customer may not be the target customer, etc. This will result in poor efficiency.
④ Balancing long-term and short-term measures
Some channels take a long time to be effective, while others can be effective in a short period of time. SEO measures require a long period of time to verify their effectiveness, but the effectiveness of web advertising, exhibitions, and webinars can be verified in a relatively short period of time.
As a result of concentrating budget on short-term measures such as web advertising, exhibitions, and webinars, the effects may reach a plateau after six months to a year, making it difficult to make improvements.
It is important to develop channels in a well-balanced manner, with measures that will produce results in a short period of time and measures that will be implemented slowly over the next 1 to 2 years.
Steps to develop new channels
Here are five steps to develop new channels.
① Idea generation
First, marketing team members, sales members, and other related departments participate to brainstorm ideas for channels. As mentioned above, write down all the ideas you come up with without any preconceived notions.
At this time, it is a good idea to have an external marketing consultant or supporting company participate as a facilitator.
② Calculation of cost effectiveness
Once you have exhausted all your ideas, calculate the cost-effectiveness of each channel. Specifically, write down how much you are likely to gain at what cost (cost-effectiveness) and how long it will take to verify it (verification period).
Since verification is required for each channel, I will write down the effects that can be obtained from verifiable budget and time.
③Channel evaluation
Based on the cost effectiveness and verification period calculated for each channel, we will evaluate the channels in three stages such as 〇, △, and ×. In the subsequent channel verification, we will identify about 3 channels with a 〇 rating.
In addition, channels with a △ or × rating that are inexpensive may be considered for channel verification if there is a possibility of acquiring leads.
④Channel verification
Once you have selected the channel you want to test, you can start testing it right away. When testing, you should not only look at the lead acquisition cost for each channel, but also check how many target customers there are in each channel.
When you enter the expansion phase, you can determine how many leads you can generate through that channel.
⑤Cost investment/expansion
Once the validation period is over and you expect to get leads from that channel, you can spend more money and get more leads.
We will intensively acquire leads by repeating execution, analysis, and improvement.
summary
Channels for acquiring leads are the 4Ps of the marketing mix: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. When examining distribution channels, understand the cost-effectiveness of each channel. I’ll keep it. It will also be necessary to review the test results and decide whether to continue or withdraw.
- When developing a channel strategy, it is important to clarify the target customer persona and have a common understanding within the team.
It is important to develop channels in a well-balanced manner, with measures that will produce results in a short period of time and measures that will be implemented carefully over the next 1 to 2 years.Check the cost-effectiveness and verification period calculated for each channel. While doing so, evaluate the channels in 3 stages such as 〇, △, ×, etc., and finally select 3 channels with 〇 rating for verification.