Successful SMB Habit #2: Focus On New Business Leads and Lifetime Value Over Customer Acquisition Costs

Posted on November 26, 2012 by | 1 Comment |

Seven-marketing-habitsAct-On Software commissioned Forrester Consulting to survey small and medium-sized businesses across the US to determine whether SMBs are adapting their marketing practices in the face of a difficult economy.

The survey delivered an unequivocal “Yes,” and revealed multiple factors separating Top Performers – SMBs exceeding their own revenue goals – from companies that perform less well. We’ve summarized these success factors in a companion paper titled the “7 Marketing Habits of Today’s Successful SMBs.”

Last week, we took a look at Habit #1: Emphasize online over offline marketing strategies. Today’s blog post discusses:

Habit #2: Focus on new business leads and lifetime value over customer acquisition costs.

The survey results indicate that, when it comes to customer acquisition costs and  lifetime value, today’s more successful SMBs take the longer view, focusing more on activities that may not have an immediate impact on ROI, including:

Bottom Performers, on the other hand, tend to be focused more intently on short-term activities such as decreasing customer acquisition costs and getting more impact from marketing budgets. The difference may indicate a more sophisticated level of planning that allows Top Performers to excel even during a tough economy.

 

Up Next: Habit #3: Execute highly optimized, multi-channel campaigns using email, the web and social media.

 

Can’t wait for habits #3-7? Download our free “7 Marketing Habits of Today’s Highly Successful SMBs” eBook now!


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  • http://www.smallbizviewpoints.com Harry

    This is one of the most important advice you can give to small business owners. They are particularly vulnerable to taking steps that are short-term focused and miss the big picture in the process.

    There are number of steps small business owners can such as going extra mile for regular customers, implementing subscription based model and following up with the customers who have not visited you in a while.

    I had written an article on lifetime value of customers for small businesses some time ago. Thought you and other readers might find it useful – http://www.smallbizviewpoints.com/2011/05/25/how-many-lifetime-customers-does-your-business-have/

About Paige Musto

Paige Musto is Sr. Manager, Public Relations and Social Media at Act-On Software. She brings 8+ years’ experience in public relations and social media for high technology companies in the IT Security and SaaS industries. In this position she heads up all PR/AR and Social Media programs, driving the company’s brand and product awareness as well as leveraging social media to optimize lead generation. Prior to joining Act-On, Paige was Manager, Public Relations at NetSuite (NYSE: N) where she drove corporate, channel and partner PR and thought leadership programs, as well as established the company’s social media program. Paige has held various communication roles at companies including VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN), Check Point Software (NASDAQ: CHKP), and RSA, the security division of EMC (NYSE: EMC). Paige holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Communication from the University of California at Davis and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with an emphasis in Marketing Management from California State University-East Bay. In her spare time, Paige enjoys shopping, reading and watching sports—Go Niners!

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