OAR Step two: Acquisition

In the 'olden days', prior to the ubiquity of corporate websites, acquisition usually took place over the telephone. Sometimes potential customers would write a letter, and occasionally they would visit a storefront, but no matter the method, the engagement would almost always require a person at the company to answer the phone, respond to a letter or answer a browsing customer's questions. The internet and the world wide web have changed that inefficient activity into one that can happen automatically. Turning an anonymous website visitor into an individual who identifies himself is the all-important acquisition. While becoming a customer of yours requires a transaction, that transaction doesn't always include an exchange of money1. The transaction that turns a visitor into a customer could be as simple as exchanging an email address for some piece of information. Acquisition is the hardest part of OAR to get right. It's not the hardest to do, but it is the hardest to do right. That's because you want your visitors to identify themselves, but you don't want to turn them off in the process. Require a registration too soon and you risk literally chasing the visitor away. Divulge too much information and you lose an opportunity to make contact with a visitor who could become a paying customer. The trick here is to 'nudge' your visitors towards making the choice to end their anonymity.   A seasoned electronic marketing specialist will suggest ways to engage a visitor and nudge them from one page to the next, and eventually the customer will want to raise their hand and ask you to begin a relationship with them.  

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1 Notice that I have not mentioned e-commerce. That's because e-commerce on it's own doesn't create customers. It is an important convenience, where appropriate, but e-commerce alone does not acquire customers.