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Lower eCommerce Website Customer Acquisition Cost

Running a business and getting more customers can seem like a daunting task for the owner of an eCommerce site. With all of the administrative tasks associated with running a business, in addition to the sales and marketing tasks needed to acquire customers can have you feeling overwhelmed.

If you are new to e-commerce business you may have discovered that the cost of customer acquisition, whether it’s your time or your money, can be expensive.  One of the easiest ways to lower your e-commerce customer-acquisition cost is by using “User Generated Content” throughout all of your published marketing efforts. This includes your website, social media pages, print materials email marketing etc.

Let’s talk more about how you can lower the cost and keep more of your profit in your pocket.

Using UGC In Social Media Ads

In discussing the topic of customer acquisition, any business owner should understand the necessity of paid ad campaigns being a part of the conversation. Paid ad campaigns, like the ones we set up for clients on Facebook and Instagram, are simply an investment in your business and can not be ignored if you truly want to scale your business.

User-Generated Content is like fuel for your ad campaign’s engine. UGC helps to drive the kind of results that immensely improves ROI. In Facebook ads alone, UGC yields around a 300% higher click-through-rate on ads, a 50% lower cost-per-click, and a 50% lower cost-per-acquisition. UGC like customer reviews, videos of customers using or talking about your products, photos of before/after results, etc. can all be used to help you get the ad response you want while keeping cost low.

Videos

When you open any social media app, you are bound to come across ads that don’t have the production value of a traditional ad. Plenty of e-commerce companies encourage their users to make demonstrative videos that companies use as social media ads. These types of videos are convincing because they add to the authenticity and quality of the product and company. Oftentimes these videos are cheap or free to make, but they will help you to tell your brand story in a more relatable way that allows you to gain the trust of your target audience.

Photos

Photos are similar to videos; they have the same power. Images allow your audience to see real live feedback. When customers display your product, this FREE advertises your product promotes the appearance of genuine demand.

So start collecting all user-generated content, like customer photos of your brand. You should also start curating that content, interacting with your loyal customers, and gather analytics to evaluate UGC ad performance and tweak your campaign accordingly.

Displaying Customer Reviews

One of the easiest ways to lower your customer-acquisition price is to display your customer reviews on the site. You need to share all the positive reviews about your product in your ads. When you keep sharing glowing reviews and five-star ratings, people will understand why they should buy your product.

Using reviews as a form of advertisement convinces potential clients to press the “shop now” button on your website and social media profiles.

If you are unsure which UGC works best for your company, then you can carry out A/B testing to find out the most suitable plan for you. Once you do, pounce on the opportunity to create high-performing ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Utilizing User-Generated Content On Your Website

When someone wants to buy something online, they have pre-sale questions that need to be addressed. Answering their questions assures them of their purchase. Having a “frequently asked questions,” or FAQs, a section about your products is the best way to assure customers that the product is good for them. If you can answer those questions, people will likely buy your product.

One of the best aspects of using FAQs is that you don’t have to invest in more employees and software. You can utilize UGC to answer most of the questions that other users and customers may have.

Photos and reviews from customers on your website will go a long way to answer the audience’s burning questions. When people come in and see that a lot of people have been talking about the product, they will scout answers to their questions from their peers.

In one recent study, it revealed that customer reviews result in a 74% increase in product conversion. Another study from Urban Outfitters showed that they got a 15% shopping-rate improvement when they added a UGC gallery of customer photos.

Displaying Newer Content Frequently

We get that generating new content is both expensive and takes time. If you are a small or medium-sized business, you may not be able to create newer content all of the time from scratch. If you are already doing it, then it’s great and it’s a sound investment. Even if you are letting someone else do it for you, then that’s good too. Chances are you’re spending money to create content that then needs to be distributed, which doesn’t help lower your customer acquisition cost. The secret here is to start using UGC on your website and social media.

Collecting photos and videos from your customer is much easier than making the content from scratch, and not to mention free. Along with that, you have already seen how UGC can help with increasing customer conversion.

Some companies have dedicated segments on their websites for customers to upload and share their content. Now we are not saying that you don’t need professionally created pictures, copies, and other elements, but you don’t have to heavily rely on them. UGC will carry most of the load and manage the customer -acquisition cost for your e-commerce website.

Partner With Online/Social Media Influencers

You know that running a social media ad campaign that drives results requires a lot of work. Everything from ad aesthetics and conversion optimization can be expensive but there are cost-effective solutions.

You can partner up with social media influencers with similar interests. A social media or online influencer is someone who has a dedicated audience that tunes in to their content. An influencer can be a blogger, a YouTuber, or just someone who has built a strong presence on social media.

If you partner up with an influencer that caters to your target audience, they’ll advertise and showcase your product. When partnering with an influencer, make sure they have a decent number of followers to ensure the greatest number of your target audience learns about your product.

When dealing with an influencer, make sure the relationship is mutually beneficial to give them an incentive to share your brand. Influencers need enticing offers that are also delivered promptly. This establishes a positive relationship, which is key to building your brand. Long-term business relationships will make sure that you drive consistent sales and keep customer-acquisition costs low.

So there you go! That’s how you can keep your customer-acquisition cost low for your e-commerce website. Make sure you follow our advice and you will be able to see higher ROI, revenue, and turn profits. Our work is done here, and it’s up to you to make the changes.