Here Be Acquisition: Discovering Pirate Metrics for Growth Marketing

⚓ This post is part of a blog series, “Here Be Metrics,” breaking down the primary aspects of the so-called pirate metrics for growth marketing. Keep up with this series and others by subscribing to our blog!

Seeing a skull and bones on the high seas sent people fleeing in fear of imminent attack, for pirates wasted little time once their presence was known. 

Although they shouldn’t attack customers, corporations today should likewise waste little time taking action once a target sees their brand. The move from awareness to acquisition is a critical process in the customer lifecycle. 

Acquisition Brings In Customers

The goal of acquisition is to move people from undefined groups to individual leads or customers. 

While cannons and swords were effective when pillaging ships and towns along the high seas, today’s civilized lands call for a more nuanced approach to gathering people. Corporations must entice, rather than force, customers to join their tribe (or crew, in this case).

Image Credit: 500 Hats

Acquisition can be drilled down to the moment of the very first transaction with a customer, or simply bringing new customers/clients to your business. 

This transaction often isn’t a monetary payment for goods or services, but it’s normally an exchange of information and permission. The target audience volunteers their personal information with the understanding the company will contact them in the future.

To further entice customers to make this transaction, many companies offer some immediate content in exchange for personal information. Coupons, PDF downloads, ebooks and membership deals are all common offerings that tend to be much more accepted than threats of cannonballs or pillaging.

Image Credit: 500 Hats

Acquisition Data Focuses on Lead Capture

With regard to metrics, acquisition focuses on data that’s related to lead captures. Some of the data is directly connected to leads, while others help indicate how engaging lead-generating content is. Metrics that companies in any industry might use include:

• Contacts generated
• Leads generated
• Marketing qualified leads (MQLs)
• Sales qualified leads (SQLs)
• Lead conversion rate
• Cost of acquisition (CAC)

Online Marketing Utilizes Acquisition

For online marketing campaigns, the plethora of acquisition data that’s available makes this particularly powerful. In addition to the previously mentioned metrics, online marketers can get highly detailed data on things like:

• Click through rates (CTRs)
• Chat qualified leads (CQLs)
• Social engagement rates
• Resource downloads
• Email address captures

With such detailed information, the moment of acquisition can be fine-tuned to maximize the conversion rate and minimize the cost of acquisition.

Take Action Toward Acquisition

Don’t waste time delaying acquisition!

The moment your target demographic becomes aware of your brand, move toward actions that will acquire them as customers. The pirates of the high seas didn’t dally, and neither should you.