Published November 22 2024
1
An Ode from a Customer
To the Marketer Who Lost Me
You wooed me, wowed me,
Everywhere I went, there you were,
With the best my money could buy.
And as I dithered, you sweetened the deal,
Until I no longer could resist,
And made you part of my life.
Suddenly, you changed; your tone grew cold,
Emails, SMS, WhatsApps – automated and old.
I was just a number now,
Making me wonder:
Did you ever truly care for me?
Did you ever truly know me?
Did you ever want to?
Or was it just the thrill of the conquest?
I thought I was one of your Best,
But you treated me like all the Rest.
You chased the transaction, I longed for connection,
Our relationship, just a one-sided affection.
I stayed, because I liked what you had,
But bit by bit, disappointment crept in—
The dullness of our exchanges,
The spark of those early days, long gone.
I was drifting, slipping away,
But you never saw.
The missed opportunities,
Emails, unpersonalised,
Notifications, far too many,
Recommendations, irrelevant,
Experiences, disjointed,
Data, disconnected,
Frictions, everywhere.
Will you ever understand why I left?
And then, suddenly, you came back—
Just like before.
Every site, every app,
You were there,
In text, banner, and video,
With offers better than ever, a desperate plea.
But I am wiser now.
I take your discounts,
Then walk away, knowing better ones will come—
Once you realise I’m gone.
It could have been different—
A life together.
I would have brought my family and friends,
If only you had shown some love.
I see it clearly now:
You are a hunter, not a farmer.
A seeker, not a keeper.
A catcher, not a cultivator.
A conqueror, not a builder.
A chaser, not a nurturer.
A growth-chaser, not a profit-maximiser.
You are an Acqui, not an Anti.
The loss is yours—and maybe mine,
Together, we could have built something better.
My lifetime value could have transformed you,
From yet another marketer,
To a leader who could have been more.
But alas, in your pursuit of the new,
You’ve lost the old, the loyal, the true.
2
The Age of Acquis
For the past two decades, digital marketing has been dominated by a singular focus: customer acquisition. In the early 2000s, with the rise of the internet and digital platforms, companies quickly recognised the vast potential to reach new customers at scale. The advent of search engines like Google and the rapid growth of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram created new frontiers for marketers, sparking what I call the “Age of Acquisition.”
At the heart of this era were performance marketing teams – specialists in generating measurable results from online ad spending. Early on, these marketers discovered the power of paid search ads, where businesses could place their brand at the top of search results, directly targeting consumers with purchase intent. Google’s AdWords (now Google Ads) quickly became the go-to tool, offering businesses a cost-effective way to reach their target audience. This ushered in a period of rapid growth, where “pay-per-click” (PPC) became a cornerstone of digital marketing strategies.
Social media platforms soon followed suit, creating sophisticated ad ecosystems. Facebook led the charge, building a business on its vast user data and precise targeting capabilities. Marketers could now craft campaigns that reached specific demographics, interests, and behaviours. The ability to micro-target consumers transformed how businesses approached advertising. Combined with a low cost of entry and high scalability, these platforms made digital acquisition campaigns irresistible to companies.
During this period, the allure of customer acquisition became almost obsessive. These acquisition-focused marketers, whom I call the “Acquis,” became the driving force behind the digital marketing revolution, relentlessly pursuing new customers through increasingly sophisticated targeting and bidding strategies across an expanding array of digital platforms. Companies were willing to allocate vast portions of their budgets – four out of five marketing dollars – on adtech platforms in pursuit of new customers. From Google to Facebook, Instagram, and later TikTok, the hunt for customers became a high-stakes game of precision targeting, real-time bidding, and relentless spending. With customer acquisition costs (CAC) rising steadily, marketing teams were under immense pressure to deliver quick wins and maintain growth momentum.
The metrics guiding this period were dominated by short-term performance indicators: Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), conversion rates, and clicks. These metrics offered tangible evidence of marketing success, but they also encouraged a “growth at all costs” mindset. The relentless chase for new customers left little room for long-term strategies like customer retention or brand loyalty. While adtech platforms thrived, brands faced diminishing returns as customer acquisition costs soared and margins shrank.
By the late 2010s, cracks in this model began to appear. The increasing complexity and competition in digital advertising drove up costs, while privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA started to limit the unrestricted use of consumer data. Apple’s introduction of App Tracking Transparency in 2021 further disrupted the digital advertising landscape, making it harder for platforms to track user behaviour across apps and websites. Google’s back-and-forth stance on phasing out third-party cookies – initially announcing their removal by 2022, then delaying to 2023, and recently announcing a reversal– added further uncertainty to the digital advertising landscape, forcing marketers to reconsider their reliance on cookie-based targeting and explore alternative strategies for reaching and understanding their audience.
As brands were spending more than ever on acquisition, many began to see diminishing returns. This led to a growing realisation: acquiring new customers was becoming not only more expensive but also less sustainable as the sole engine for growth. The “leaky bucket” phenomenon became more apparent – companies were pouring resources into acquiring new customers, only to lose them quickly due to poor retention strategies. I estimate that AdWaste consumes up to half of adtech budgets, driven by wrong or low-value acquisitions and costly re-acquisitions.
Moreover, the focus on acquisition often came at the expense of customer experience. Brands found themselves in a perpetual cycle of acquisition and re-acquisition, treating all customers – new and existing – with the same broad-brush approach. This neglect of existing customers not only increased churn rates but also missed opportunities to cultivate brand loyalty and drive organic growth through word-of-mouth referrals.
In this context, forward-thinking marketers began to question the dominance of an acquisition-first strategy. The focus has slowly shifted to a more balanced approach, recognising that true business growth could not rely solely on acquisition but also on nurturing and retaining existing customers. Thus, the stage is set for the rise of the Antis – anti-acquisition marketers dedicated to building long-term customer relationships and reducing reliance on acquisition as the primary driver of growth.
3
The Coming Rise of the Antis
In most companies, CRM and retention teams have historically played second fiddle to acquisition-focused marketing teams, who control the majority of budgets and attention. With limited resources, retention teams are left to handle the grind of segmentation, campaign creation, execution, and analysis. Their role often feels mechanical, with little room for innovation. But this is about to change, and with it comes the need for a new label – the Antis, marketers dedicated to challenging the acquisition-first mindset.
The Antis represent a new breed of marketers focused on nurturing and growing existing customer relationships. They understand that the true value of a customer lies not in the initial transaction, but in their lifetime value (LTV). This shift in perspective is not just a tweak in strategy; it’s a fundamental reimagining of the customer-brand relationship.
The rise of the Antis is driven by several factors. First, the increasing costs and diminishing returns of acquisition-focused marketing have made retention strategies more appealing. As customer acquisition costs (CAC) continue to rise, companies are realising that it’s often more cost-effective to retain and upsell existing customers than to constantly chase new ones.
Secondly, advancements in technology, particularly in AI and data analytics, are enabling more sophisticated and personalised retention strategies. The concept of AI Twins, for instance, allows marketers to create dynamic, data-driven personas for customer segments, enabling hyper-personalised engagement at scale. This was previously unattainable, making retention marketing feel like a series of generic, one-size-fits-all campaigns.
Thirdly, there’s a growing recognition of the “AdWaste” problem – the billions spent on misguided acquisition and reacquisition efforts. The Antis are positioned to address this issue by focusing on building lasting customer relationships, reducing the need for costly reacquisition campaigns – and thus creating pathways to boost profitability.
The Antis are also championing new metrics to measure success. Instead of focusing solely on short-term gains like ROAS or click-through rates, they advocate for metrics like Earned Growth, which combines the impact of customer retention and organic referrals. This shift in measurement encourages a more holistic view of customer value and business health.
Moreover, the Antis are reimagining customer engagement touchpoints. They’re leveraging new technologies like AMP for Email and AI-powered chatbots to create more interactive, frictionless experiences. These innovations transform traditional push channels into two-way conversations, addressing the “attention recession” problem that plagues traditional marketing efforts.
The Antis also champion the concept of Velvet Rope Marketing, creating differentiated experiences for a brand’s most valuable customers. This approach not only maximises the value of top-tier customers but also creates aspirational goals for other customers, driving overall engagement and loyalty.
Another key strategy of the Antis is the implementation of Kaizen Services – a continuous improvement model that ensures marketing platforms evolve in tandem with customer needs. This approach, often facilitated by AI, allows for real-time optimisation of retention strategies.
The rise of the Antis represents a fundamental reimagining of the customer-brand relationship. It’s about moving from a transactional mindset to building lasting connections. As the poem “To the Marketer Who Lost Me” poignantly illustrates, customers crave recognition, personalisation, and genuine engagement. They want to be more than just a number or a conquest.
The Antis understand that every customer interaction is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship, reduce churn, and drive organic growth through positive word-of-mouth. They see customers not as one-time transactions, but as potential lifelong partners who can bring their friends and family along.
From being a back-office operation, the era of the Antis is on hand. As this transformation unfolds, we can expect to see a rebalancing of marketing budgets, with more resources allocated to retention efforts. The Antis have an opportunity to reshape how businesses interact with their customers, setting the stage for a more sustainable and customer-centric future in marketing.
4
Different Strokes – 1
The stage is set for a battle royale – the incumbent Acquis vs the challenger Antis. This will be a fight for the soul of marketing’s future. Ostensibly, both are on the same side, but in reality, turf wars are inevitable. The Acquis won’t want to relinquish their power, having ruled for decades. The Antis – empowered by new technology and ideas – are finally ready for the fight. Their advantage lies in being on the side of good – every dollar spent on acquisition comes from present and future customers. (It used to be from investors, but that has changed!) How will this unfold? How can the Antis win?
I put forth this to ChatGPT and Claude. How can the Acquis retain control? How can the Antis wrest control?
ChatGPT
How can the Acquis retain control?
- Leveraging Data Dominance: The Acquis already have massive datasets from years of acquisition-focused campaigns. By doubling down on data-driven insights, they can continue to refine targeting, ensuring better returns on their ad spend. They can leverage advanced algorithms and machine learning to optimise every customer touchpoint, proving the efficacy of acquisition in driving growth.
- Expanding Channels: The Acquis could dominate by expanding into new, emerging channels like influencer marketing, TikTok, or virtual experiences, staying ahead of the curve where customer acquisition thrives. Constant innovation in platforms allows them to capture new customers, making retention seem secondary to top-line growth.
- Budget Power: Acquisition teams generally control the lion’s share of marketing budgets. They can reinforce their control by showing quick, tangible results such as short-term revenue spikes or rapid customer growth that sway decision-makers in the C-suite.
- Retention Through Acquisition: They might shift their narrative, positioning acquisition as a retention strategy by framing reacquisition campaigns as part of customer lifecycle management. This way, they retain their hold while seeming to move towards retention.
How can the Antis wrest control?
- Proving Profitability: The Antis can highlight the rising costs of acquisition and diminishing returns. By focusing on maximising customer lifetime value (LTV) and minimising churn, they can prove that retention is a more sustainable, profitable path for long-term growth. Metrics like Earned Growth will be critical in showing that retention drives organic referrals, cutting future acquisition costs.
- Highlighting AdWaste: The Antis should capitalise on the argument that significant portions of acquisition budgets are wasted (AdWaste). By presenting data that shows how retention strategies are more cost-effective and lead to higher customer satisfaction, they can challenge the necessity of heavy acquisition spending.
- Technological Innovation: The Antis have the data to make the magic of AI work. By demonstrating how their innovations create deeper engagement and improve customer experiences, they can establish retention as the next frontier for marketing.
- Shifting Cultural Mindsets: The Antis must push for a cultural shift within organisations, from a transactional mindset to a relationship-centric one. They can argue that in the age of privacy regulations and rising customer expectations, meaningful engagement and retention will ultimately lead to stronger brand loyalty and long-term success.
In short, the Acquis will retain control if they continue to deliver fast, measurable results and make the case for acquisition as essential to growth. The Antis can wrest control by proving the long-term value of retention and positioning themselves as the champions of sustainable, profitable growth.
5
Different Strokes – 2
Claude
The battle between the Acquis and Antis will likely unfold in stages:
- Initial Resistance: The Acquis will resist change, citing past successes and established metrics.
- Gradual Shift: As retention strategies show results, there will be a gradual reallocation of resources.
- Hybrid Approaches: Some companies will attempt to balance both strategies, creating tension.
- Crisis Points: Economic downturns or market shifts may accelerate the transition to retention-focused strategies.
- Cultural Shift: Over time, a broader shift in business culture towards customer-centricity will favour the Antis.
How can the Antis win?
- Demonstrate ROI: Show clear, measurable results in terms of improved Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and reduced churn.
- Leverage Technology: Utilise AI and data analytics to deliver personalised experiences that acquisition can’t match.
- Align with C-Suite Goals: Frame retention strategies in terms of long-term profitability and sustainable growth.
- Educate Stakeholders: Help leadership understand the full cost of constant acquisition, including hidden costs like brand dilution.
- Create Success Stories: Showcase companies that have successfully pivoted to retention-focused strategies.
- Emphasise Customer Experience: Highlight how retention strategies improve overall customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
- Adapt to Privacy Changes: Position retention strategies as more resilient to increasing privacy regulations.
How can the Acquis retain control?
- Evolve Tactics: Adopt more sophisticated, data-driven acquisition strategies to improve efficiency.
- Focus on Quality: Shift from pure volume to acquiring high-value customers more likely to have long-term value.
- Integrate with Retention: Develop strategies that seamlessly transition new customers into retention programs.
- Emphasise Growth Metrics: Continue to highlight the importance of customer growth for company valuation.
- Innovate in New Channels: Stay ahead by quickly adapting to new platforms and acquisition opportunities.
- Showcase Quick Wins: Highlight the immediate impact of successful acquisition campaigns on revenue.
- Leverage Market Expansion: In growing markets, argue for the continued importance of capturing market share through acquisition.
The outcome of this battle will likely depend on broader market conditions, technological advancements, and shifts in consumer behaviour. However, the most successful companies will likely find a way to balance both approaches, recognising the value of smart acquisition alongside strong retention strategies.
**
The battle between Acquis and Antis marks a pivotal moment in marketing history. For two decades, the Acquis reigned supreme, but their era of unchallenged dominance is coming to an end. As businesses grapple with rising acquisition costs, privacy concerns, and the imperative for sustainable growth, the wisdom of the Antis’ approach becomes undeniable. Their focus on retention, loyalty, and lifetime value, powered by AI and data-driven personalisation, is the future of marketing. The Antis are set to transform marketing from a cost centre to a profit driver, elevating the CMO to a key architect of business growth. As we stand at this crossroads, one thing becomes clear: The old paradigm is fading, and a new one is taking its place. Long live the Antis!
