Customer Acquisition Channels

This post lists the most widely accepted customer acquisition and marketing channels in order of effectiveness. For each channel we will asses our attempts until now and conclude with possible future strategies.

Social Media

We have a social media presence on Facebook and Instagram and have several posts on each platform from over half a year ago. (Some of our other content has been posted to Facebook, but not as part of an overall social media strategy). We have not yet built a full blown social media strategy or built an online community around our brand.

Website

SEO

In terms of overall SEO we can see that the website is getting a decent amount of organic search traffic. The problem is that it is mostly for one keyword that is unrelated to our core business - “fair fares nyc”.

Direct Traffic

Direct traffic to the website is very low and most likely only generated by our team. Low direct visits to the website indicates that people are not familiar with our company and brand outside of the internet.

Paid Ads

1. We have tried various forms of paid ads and have succeeded in driving traffic to our website but not generating any viable leads. We have not yet tried any forms of traditional advertising (billboards etc.).

   1. PPC - Facebook.

   2. SEM - Google.

   3. Traditional - none yet.

   4. Television - none yet.

Email Marketing

1. We have put a lot of effort into email marketing with our various intern programs. To the best of my knowledge hundreds of emails (and other forms of communications) have been sent out but have not yet generated any viable leads. It is also important to note that our email programs are not email marketing in the traditional sense as they are being sent cold to people who have not previously expressed interest or subscribed to a mailing list.

Inbound and Content Marketing

1. We have put a lot of focus on content creation in the form of blog posts and YouTube videos. Our YouTube strategy was more planned out and focused on different investing topics for the Chinese speaking market (other content in English was also produced based on previous blog posts). Our blogging has been more consistent but also more sporadic. We have not built topic clusters and much of our content is unrelated to the product. Our content has not generated any leads, but can definitely account for most of our authority and traffic.

The following are channels we have not yet tried:

1. Tradeshows and Events

2. Partnerships and Collaborations

3. Affiliate program

4. Referrals

5. Physical location

6. Snail Mail

Out of the channels we have not tried yet, tradeshows and events is probably the most feasible and worthwhile for our brand. Partnerships take a long time to establish, affiliate and referral marketing require a loyal customer base, a physical location is pricey an snail mail is generally an ineffective marketing tactic.

In terms of our existing channels, starting where we have been most successful is a good way to revisit and improve. A wholistic content strategy paired with a strong social media plan is a worthwhile investment for building the brand. Once we have a recognizable and trustworthy brand we can resume email marketing and paid as campaigns.