Your user acquisition funnel: jobs to be done, and other considerations

As a marketing professional, we've all been through the frustration of meeting targets for acquisition of new users every quarter. The reason this process is so frustrating is because you've probably tried and exhausted all the channels at your disposal. You are now at a loss when it comes to finding new customers and figuring out what appeals to them. The solution to this problem involves revamping your acquisition funnel.

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Start by trying to get to know the anxieties and deepest desires of your customers, as this knowledge is paramount to acquisition success. Today's customers are more concerned about their problems than your products. If you can figure out a way to solve their problems with the help of your products, you've won half the battle. For example, while buying cosmetics, customers are buying hope in disguise. If your product makes their hopes come true, it will be the solution to their problems.

The “jobs-to-be-done” (JTBD) framework describes when a customer struggles to complete a certain task or job to no avail because of a lack of a viable solution. The customer’s ultimate goal is to overcome their problems and increase their quality of life. As a business owner, your ultimate goal should be to create a product that will be the solution to customer problems. The ideal product would help the customer accomplish their job in a seamless and cost-efficient manner.

Base your user acquisition funnel on the JTBD framework. Your first step should be to observe your users and talk to them. When you do this, you'll be able to identify their pain points. Once you are aware of your customer's struggles, put yourself in your user's shoes. Ask yourself which websites the user is probably visiting at this point in time to find a solution to their struggle, and which newsletters they may have already subscribed to. Your next step should be to make a beeline for where your users will be, through partnerships, content, or paid ads. The messaging should hit home and lead to awareness of your product.

Now that your users know who you are, ask yourself some tough questions. How is your product solving their problem? Why does your company care? Is your product competitive enough? You can answer these questions by speaking directly to the struggle of your user on your landing page. If you're running multiple paid acquisition campaigns, route each audience segment to a different landing page.

As a company, you should continue to provide value even when your product is not in use. Growth marketers commonly refer to this as “post-conversion engagement”. One way to do this is by putting out white papers, valuable articles, and infographics that aren't directly related to your core product. This will help because your user will get to extract relevant information from you even when you have nothing to sell to them.

As a growth marketer, your main goal should be to reduce friction and deliver value to your users as quickly as possible. If your product is truly solving your user's struggle, you're already successful.

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