How do I think about the compounding effect of customer acquisition over multiple years?

Think of new customer acquisition like deposits into a retirement account. Using a comparison: an artist without lower price points and non-wall art might acquire 6-7 customers in year one, 10 in year two, and 25 in year three—totaling 42 customers after three years. An artist with those options might acquire 50 in year one, 100 in year two, and 500 in year three—totaling 650 potential customers. Some percentage of those new customers will turn into collectors who come back to buy—it’s just a numbers game. Stretch this to five years, then ten, fifteen, twenty years, and you have a huge business. The deposits you make early (new customers acquired) compound significantly over time as they transform into collectors.

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Asked by general teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2023-10-16