How to Ace Your Contact Acquisition Process
It may feel like it’s easier than ever to find and connect with people in the digital age, but for businesses looking for high-potential clients, the process requires a structured approach. Having a solid contact acquisition strategy is the best way to streamline and standardize your prospect data so it can support your sales process effectively.
In practice, contact acquisition involves gathering essential information from prospects—names, email addresses, company information, and more—to facilitate direct and personalized communication at every stage of their buying journey. By securing the right data, companies can tailor their strategies to meet the unique needs of each prospect and thus enhance the effectiveness of their outreach.
In this guide, we’ll explore the processes behind contact acquisition in more detail and give you proven, actionable steps for optimizing your strategy in 2024.
Quick Takeaways:
- Contact acquisition requires a structured approach to gather prospect data for personalized marketing and sales outreach.
- Utilizing a variety of channels such as website forms, social media, and email sign-ups, broadens the scope of potential contacts.
- Implementing technology tools like CRM systems and AI supports contact acquisition at scale.
- It’s critical to prioritize data privacy and compliance when handling prospect data.
- Regular analysis and refinement of your contact acquisition strategy ensures it remains aligned with evolving preferences and industry standards.
Understanding Contact Acquisition
By definition, contact acquisition is the strategic process of collecting potential prospects’ information to build a database of leads for marketing and sales initiatives. The aim is to create a working repository of individuals who have expressed interest in your products or services, enabling personalized and targeted campaigns that convert sales.
Common methods for contact acquisition include:
- Website Forms: Signup forms, contact us pages, or gated content downloads on your website
- Social Media Campaigns: Followers share their contact information in exchange for offers, information, or participation in contests
- Email Sign-ups: Newsletters or email subscriptions that provide valuable content, requiring users to register their email addresses
- Webinars and Online Events: Informative online events where registration requires submitting contact information.
- Networking and Trade Shows: Events where contact information can be directly collected from attendees in exchange for information, demos, or promotional materials.
- Referral Programs: Prospects referred by current customers, often in exchange for rewards or other incentives
- Paid Advertising: Targeted ads on search engines and social media that direct users to landing pages where they can submit their contact information
While not every method may be for every business, part of smart contact acquisition is leveraging a combination of the outreach channels that align best with your target audience. Today, the average B2B buyer uses 10+ channels throughout their journey, meaning brands must be present across many of them to truly engage leads.
Keep in mind, too, that the value of contact acquisition lies in the quality of contacts rather than sheer volume. High-quality contacts are those who have not only provided their information but have also shown a genuine interest in what your company offers. These individuals are more likely to engage with your content, respond to your calls to action, and ultimately convert into paying customers.
Technology Tools for Contact Acquisition
Acquiring high-quality contacts requires strategic planning and execution, ensuring that every touchpoint offers value and encourages prospects to share their information willingly. To do this at scale, companies need technology support.
Tools like CRM systems, email marketing platforms, website analytics, social media management platforms, and others in your tech stack can help automate and manage the contact acquisition progress in a comprehensive way.
They enable marketers to segment contacts based on various criteria, tailor communications effectively, automate outreach, and systematically track interactions and conversions.
Alt-Text: Diagram showing the different tools in a MarTech stack that can support contact acquisition
Newer technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, are further refining the process. AI can predict user behavior, identify the highest-potential leads, and automate personalized messaging, making the process even more efficient and effective.
Similarly, machine learning algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data to uncover patterns and insights, helping businesses to continually optimize their contact acquisition efforts and ensure they are targeting the right audience with the right message.
Adopting the right marketing and sales tech stacks—complete with AI support and other key features—is essential for implementing the contact acquisition best practices we’ll cover in the next section.
How to Ace Your Contact Acquisition: 5 Best Practices for Success
There are some important considerations and best practices every business should keep in mind as they build their contact acquisition strategy. These include:
- Integrate Contact Acquisition Across All Channels
Prospects today use many different channels to interact with brands. Ensure that your contact acquisition strategy encompasses all of them—website, social media, email and ad campaigns, in-person events, and any others. Each channel should provide a clear path for potential contacts to share information and take the next step in their buying journey.
- Use Clear and Compelling Calls to Action
Part of providing a clear path to contact acquisition is sharing strong calls-to-action (CTAs). CTAs tell users exactly what to do next. To make them most effective, CTAs should also demonstrate the value someone will get from taking that action.
For example: Rather than a simple “Click here to download!” you could say something like “Click here to receive monthly advice from our marketing experts!” The first CTA is generic, while the second one tells you exactly what you’ll get in return for sharing your information.
- Align Value with Target Customer Segments
It’s essential to not only promise value but align it with each customer segment and even each unique prospect. This means having a thorough understanding of your target audiences, then making offers and creating assets to resonate with them.
For instance, an SaaS company may provide self demos of their platforms by industry, highlighting the features and capabilities most helpful and relevant for customers in that space.
The more aligned your value offer is with what an individual prospect needs—be it a certain type of content, a certain pain point addressed, an exclusive discount (or something else)—the more likely they’ll be to share their information.
- Prioritize Data Privacy
Data privacy is not only a significant legal consideration for modern businesses, but a key trust builder between you and your potential customers. Buyers are becoming more willing to share their data with companies, especially in the B2B world, but privacy and consent is important to them.
A large majority—73% on average—say they support advertising practices that prevent companies from sharing their data without consent.
Alt-Text: Bar chart showing that the majority of people care about data privacy and how companies use their data
Align your contact acquisition strategy with regulations like GDPR in Europe, and keep up with U.S. data privacy laws, which are evolving at a rapid pace. Transparently communicate with prospects about how you intend to use their data, and reassure them that you won’t share it without their consent.
- Regularly Analyze and Refine Your Approach
Finally, continuously monitor the performance of your contact acquisition strategy, and use the insights you gain to refine your approach. Leverage tactics like A/B testing for different methods and messages as well as user surveys to reveal what resonates best with your audience, allowing for continually more targeted and personalized efforts.
Final Thoughts
Navigating the complexities of contact acquisition in the digital age demands a blend of strategic insight, technological support, and adherence to best practices. By focusing on quality over quantity, integrating your efforts across all channels, and continuously refining your approach based on performance data, your business can build a solid foundation for growth.
Remember, the journey doesn’t end with acquiring a contact; it’s just the beginning of nurturing a lasting relationship that drives mutual success.
Televerde can help you deliver exceptional experiences at every stage of the buyer journey. Contact our team today to learn how we can help you win more clients.
