In the fiercely competitive foreign trade market, acquiring customers is the top priority for every company. However, how to effectively acquire customers and convert them into actual orders is a question worth pondering. This article will delve into the main customer acquisition channels of foreign trade companies and propose corresponding conversion strategies in order to provide some useful references for foreign trade practitioners.
1. Paid B2B platform
Paid B2B platforms such as Alibaba and Made in China are one of the commonly used customer acquisition channels for foreign trade companies. These platforms provide a broad market space for foreign trade companies with their long-term accumulated customer resources and brand awareness. However, as more and more companies pour into this field, competition has become increasingly fierce. Problems such as declining inquiry quality, high costs, and low efficiency have gradually become prominent. Therefore, foreign trade companies need to carefully evaluate their own strengths and resources and invest reasonably to obtain the best results.
2. Foreign trade exhibitions
Foreign trade exhibitions are another important customer acquisition channel. By participating in domestic and foreign industry exhibitions, foreign trade companies can communicate with customers face to face, demonstrate product advantages, and establish trusting relationships. The order conversion rate at the exhibition is high, and a group of loyal customers can be accumulated. However, with the increase in the number of exhibitions and the number of exhibitors, customer selection has become more picky. Therefore, foreign trade companies need to make full preparations before the exhibition to ensure the best product display and promotion effects.
3. Paid foreign trade software
Paid foreign trade software has become a new favorite for foreign trade companies to acquire customers with its efficient and convenient search function. Through keyword search, foreign trade companies can quickly find target customers and improve customer acquisition efficiency. However, software operation requires certain foreign trade business capabilities, and the effect requires long-term persistence to appear. Therefore, foreign trade companies need to cultivate employees’ foreign trade skills to ensure that the software can play the maximum role.
4. Customer recommendation and social media
Customer recommendation and social media are two other effective ways for foreign trade companies to acquire customers. Customer recommendation is based on trust and has a greater chance of transaction. However, this requires foreign trade companies to have certain personal connections and maintenance costs. Social media can help foreign trade companies expand their personal connections and increase brand exposure. Enhance interaction and stickiness with customers by publishing product information, interactive comments, etc. However, it should be noted that the information on social media has a high repetition rate, which requires long-term persistence and operation.
5. Self-built websites and search engines
The combination of self-built websites and search engines is an effective way for foreign trade companies to obtain accurate customers. Use self-built websites to display the company’s image and product advantages, and use search engines to find target customers. Most of the customers found in this way are corporate buyers, with professional needs and high conversion rates. However, the repetition rate and inefficiency of the searched customers are also high, requiring foreign trade companies to have accurate market positioning and screening capabilities.
Foreign trade companies have a variety of customer acquisition channels, and each channel has its advantages and limitations. The key is to choose the right channel for in-depth cultivation based on their own actual situation and resource conditions. At the same time, it is also necessary to focus on improving customer conversion rates. By continuously improving product quality, service levels and brand influence, potential customers can be converted into actual orders to achieve sustainable development of foreign trade business.