There’s no denying that if you don’t continually acquire new customers, your profit margins will plateau or decline. Remember: more customers mean more income — and more income means more profit. 

There are many ways to win new customers, and acquisition email sits right up there with the most effective methods. 

In this guide, we’ll delve into the intricacies of the acquisition email. We’ll define acquisition email and shed light on why it’s a beneficial tactic for getting you new business consistently. 

By the end of this article, you’ll be able to determine how to get the best out of using acquisition emails and how to use email automation to enhance your acquisition strategy. 

What is an Acquisition Email?

Acquisition email marketing is the process of using email to acquire new customers. Unlike the usual email marketing approach where you target customers on your email list, acquisition email entails sending emails to prospects with whom you don’t have an existing relationship. 

In other words, acquisition email helps you tap into a section of your audience that other marketing channels haven’t reached yet. This isn’t as simple as sending product information to prospective customers. Instead, it’s a meticulous process where each email nudges prospects down the sales funnel, bringing them closer to conversion. And that only happens when you create personalized content that appeals to the target audience. 

However, good content alone is not enough. Timing is also crucial: you must send out an action-invoking email that lands in the subscriber inbox at the opportune moment. 

Why are Acquisition Emails Effective?

Even with a proper marketing strategy, some high-value leads slip through the cracks. These prospective customers are willing and ready to buy your product, yet you have been unable to reach them for some reason. Acquisition email turns your attention to these prospects. 

When managed correctly, acquisition email closes the gap in brand awareness. It helps you extend your reach and capture the section of ready buyers, who have been active in the relevant marketplace for a while, but for some reason, have never heard about your brand. 

Acquisition email relies heavily upon personalization. In other words, you cannot expect success if you simply bombard these potential new customers with product information and promotions. While these prospects are ready to buy, you can quickly lose them if you don’t offer personalized experiences. 

Many consumers prioritize buying from brands that send personalized offers and product recommendations. With personalization, acquisition emails enable you to send relevant recommendations to prospects that will delight them and increase the likelihood of a sale. 

Why Do Companies Underutilize Acquisition Marketing?

While the benefits of acquisition emails are clear, not all businesses take advantage of them. This doesn’t mean most companies don’t crave these benefits. On the contrary, they do: but meeting the requisites for effective acquisition emails is the stumbling block.

Let us start from the top; acquisition emails require a robust profile for each prospect, continuously updated with fickle needs and preferences. A complete profile sets the stage for proper personalization, which in turn helps get the acquisition email right. But there’s a huge problem: A robust profile (the type needed for personalization) feeds off quality prospect data.  

Companies often have plenty of quality data at their disposal. Actually, 83% of customers are willing to share their data to get a personalized experience. But for prospects who don’t yet have a relationship with the business, it might sometimes be harder to access valuable data on these individuals. Another problem is that only a few companies have the systems to harness that data and use it to fuel acquisition marketing. 

How Email Automation Boosts Acquisition Email

Email automation can help you make the most of your acquisition email campaigns. But before you even think of implementing email automation, you should invest in data collection. Remember: the digital world is rapidly becoming cookieless — and if you’ve been relying on third-party data, you risk being left behind. 

Once you have the right data, you can blend it with proper automation to win more customers through acquisition email. Here’s how email automation boosts acquisition email: 

• Organizes and segments your audience: Email automation software, such as Benchmark Email, allows you to segment your email list based on certain characteristics, actions, or preferences. Doing so allows you to send them tailored content that fits their needs.  
• Takes the guesswork out of personalization: With email automation, you’ll no longer rely on intuition or guesswork when sending personalizing content. You’ll have the details you need, like past customer engagement and information on how they are interacting with your website, to send timely and relevant content. You don’t even need to slice data manually; the software does the legwork for you leaving you with the simple task of exciting prospects with hyper-personalized content. 
• Create Drip Campaigns: Part of the acquisition email strategy requires you to send a customized welcome email immediately after registration, automatically re-engage disengaged customers, or throw in a follow-up offer when customers fail to subscribe the first time. Email automation helps you send emails triggered by customer actions so that the acquisition email campaign flows with minimal human intervention. 

So, before you hit the ground running with an acquisition campaign, make sure you’re collecting first-party data so you can better understand your customers and what they need. Then, use email automation software to help with the heavy lifting. Sign up for a free account with Benchmark Email and get started today!