Table of Contents
User acquisition, or UA, is getting new users to view a website, download an app, or sign up for a new service. For some industries, this looks more like customer acquisition, but for digital products and services — like websites and apps — it’s called user acquisition.
Understanding User Acquisition
Companies measure UA in a few different ways, depending on the industry and other factors. For instance, an app may measure UA through how many downloads it gets, while a website might track UA by how many clicks brought in new visitors. Both approaches have a similar goal, i.e., to gain new users at a lower cost than the user’s lifetime value (LTV).
What Are the Main Goals of User Acquisition Efforts?
Regardless of the UA measurement, many companies have similar user acquisition goals, such as:
- Monetizing your site, app, or service.
- Increasing attention and recognition for your company or brand.
- Figuring out which marketing and promotional methods work for converting new customers.
- Determining how users navigate the service, site, or app from initial visit or download, through their entire experience.
How Does User Acquisition Relate to the Overall Growth Strategy of a Company?
UA is an ever-evolving measurement. It’s a tool that takes you through the entire lifecycle of a user, from their first impression of your product or service to ongoing engagement. Without a user acquisition model, it’s difficult to figure out what works (and doesn’t) for building up a user base. Even as goals, ideas, and plans change over time, building and tweaking user acquisition measurements is a normal part of the process.
Key Channels and Strategies for User Acquisition
What Are Organic User Acquisition Channels?
Organic UA attempts to reach users through non-paid, organic means, like search engine optimization (SEO), social media posts, and content marketing. These options provide free (or less costly) resources you can capitalize on to attract new users. For instance, you can write forward-thinking articles on your site, optimize the page for SEO, and share that article on your site without paying much in the way of additional costs to spread that content.
What Are Paid User Acquisition Channels?
While organic user acquisition gains users through largely free avenues, paid UA is when a company pays to get new users to visit, download, or otherwise find a new site, app, or service. These methods include paid search, social media promotions, or display ads — all content that costs money to execute.
Affiliate marketing is one way to build users through paid user acquisition. When an affiliate shares a business’ ad, product, or service on their website or social channels, it reaches their audience. When one of them clicks and converts, the affiliate gets paid a commission. Influencer marketing operates similarly: Companies pay influencers to share a product, service, site, or app with their fanbase and followers. Sometimes, influencers promote companies with a discount code or special link. Every time one of those followers uses that code or clicks a link, it counts as a conversion and influencers get paid.
Some companies offer referral programs to boost user acquisition. These options vary based on the company, offerings, and benefits: For instance, a bank might offer a cash incentive for every referral that signs up for a new account. Other companies may reward existing customers with free products, store credits, and upgrades without an additional charge.
The User Acquisition Funnel
What Are the Different Stages of the User Acquisition Funnel?
User acquisition funnels follow a similar strategy to other types of marketing funnels. At the top of the funnel, there’s awareness. This is the largest part of the funnel, where sites and apps are trying to reach the most amount of users. In the middle of the funnel, there’s consideration — a smaller group of users who are starting to learn more about the product. At the end of the funnel is the smallest stage: decision. This stage is the group who will hopefully take the final step to conversion.
What Key Metrics Are Tracked at Each Stage of the Funnel?
Stage 1: Awareness
Impressions and clicks measure the awareness stage. Look at specific metrics, like unique visitors, where users are coming from, and the bounce rate. Measure all UA outlets, like native advertising, video ads, and search engine optimization (SEO) content.
Stage 2: Consideration
Think about how users and readers are considering your site or product. For ads, evaluate the cost per click (CPC) and cost per lead (CPL). Also look at the click-through rate (CTR) and session times to see how many users are going from initial awareness to consideration.
Stage 3: Decision
For this stage, you’re tracking retention rates, cost per acquisition (CPA), and how many people are starting to trust your app or site. These measurements help you bring users back as repeat users and readers.
How Can You Optimize Each Stage to Improve UA Efficiency?
Start by setting clear goals for your business or site. These goals are different for everyone, depending on the type of business you have and what you’re looking for out of users.
During the awareness stage, you’ll want to reach your wider target audience. You can do this through hyper-targeting and segmentation, where you send out specific ads and messaging to specific groups of people. Try A/B testing on your site, app, and emails, switching up call to action (CTA) messages and visuals to see what sticks.
As you’re evaluating who is coming from where, continue to target and encourage those users in the consideration stage. Take advantage of remarketing tools to get your messaging back in front of people who’ve seen your product, but not yet converted.
Realize leverages Taboola's extensive first-party data from powering publisher editorial and ad units, providing unmatched insights and targeting capabilities.
At the decision stage, make conversion as easy as possible. Signing up, downloading, check-out, or any other onboarding should be seamless. Keep users engaged all the way through by offering incentives, sign-up bonuses, free trial periods, or other methods to encourage immediate action.
Measuring and Analyzing User Acquisition Performance
What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) for user acquisition?
KPIs vary depending on your app or site. Generally, you should think about conversion rate, i.e., the number of users that are actually converting on your site. Another vital metric is customer acquisition cost (CAC), which measures how much you’re spending on average to acquire new customers. To calculate this, add up all your sales and marketing spend, and divide it by the number of new customers you’ve acquired during a designated period.
What tools and platforms are used to track and analyze UA data?
Depending on what you’re measuring, you might need a few different tools in your arsenal to track and monitor user acquisition data, such as Google Analytics, Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads, or Pinterest Advertising. Use them to discover where users found you, then track their customer journey. You can group users together through these discoveries, using cohort analysis to monitor user behavior throughout their journeys.
Optimizing User Acquisition Efforts
How can A/B testing be used to improve UA campaigns?
A/B testing can improve CPC and CTR results as you learn how different users interact with your site, app, and advertising efforts, so you should constantly be testing everything from email newsletter subject lines to different images or visuals and various CTAs. Take advantage of advertising platforms that offer AI-powered A/B testing, which will let you test and optimize in real time.
Download Taboola's Creative Best Practices for 2025 Playbook
As an example, A/B testing is a great way to optimize landing pages to boost conversion rates, lower your bounce rate, and analyze the users you’re intending to target. You should test different layouts, styles, product offers, promotions, and CTAs. For instance, does the landing page with user testimonials perform better than the version without it? A/B testing will give you a concrete answer.
How can you leverage data and analytics to refine your UA strategies?
Data should be at the forefront of your strategy, guiding your decisions and letting you figure out for certain what works and what doesn’t. It’s important to remember that data changes regularly, though — there’s no set-it-and-forget-it outlook. Use the data you have to see how you’re reaching, acquiring, and retaining users, then figure out how to continually build off of that momentum.
What is the importance of understanding user intent in UA?
User intent is everything — without understanding a user’s intentions when clicking through to your landing page, you can’t effectively capture their interest and convert them. As a result, you’ll see high bounce rates and low conversion rates, leading to an overall unsuccessful campaign.
Key Takeaways
User acquisition is the process of targeting, converting, and retaining users. It’s best achieved through a mix of organic and paid efforts, and as with any other kind of customer acquisition, it’s vital to both understanding user intent, and your own data.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between user acquisition and customer acquisition?
User acquisition is usually for apps and websites, while customer acquisition is for people buying a product. They are technically interchangeable, depending on your business model and what you offer in a user experience.
How do you choose the right UA channels for your business?
First, learn your target audience, goals, and what you can offer users. Then, look at what your competitors use and what works best for them. Think about your budget and identify two or three different channels where you can make initial investments. But, don’t forget organic user acquisition options, as these don’t require much investment to start.
How important is mobile user acquisition?
While it depends on your company’s overall mission, strategy, and offerings, mobile UA is vital for most companies. The vast majority of users are browsing for their needs on their phones. If you want to maximize UA, you should develop a mobile strategy.
What are some emerging trends in user acquisition?
Hyper-personalization is at the forefront of UA. Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a leading tool in the hyper-personalization of UA, whether delivering targeted messages during the impression or interest stages, or triggering an email if a potential user doesn’t make a purchase.
