Over the past two years, companies doing online marketing have generally felt the same thing: budgets haven't shrunk, but inquiry volume is no longer as steady as it used to be. The reason isn't mysterious—users now have more paths to find suppliers, services, and stores. Some still search on Baidu, some are moved by a video while scrolling Douyin, some click into a landing page from a feed ad, and others directly ask an AI assistant 'which company is reliable for engineering work.' Once traffic gateways become fragmented, companies that still rely on a 'one channel conquers all' approach to customer acquisition will naturally see inquiry conversion slip.
Yunxuan Network Technology has served small and medium-sized enterprises and physical businesses across China for 20 years. From website development and SEO optimization to feed advertising and Douyin promotion, and more recently GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AI agents—topics we're asked about frequently—we see a clear trend: customer acquisition is no longer a single-point action but a chain that runs from exposure and reception to screening and follow-up. If any link in this chain is loose, no matter how much is spent on the front end, the back end won't be able to capture inquiry conversion.
1. Traffic Gateways Have Changed—How the Acquisition Logic Shifts With Them
Let's start with search. Traditional SEO is still effective, but users no longer focus only on web page results. AI search, intelligent Q&A, and in-platform search are all diverting attention. If a company website still uses the structure from years ago—'big homepage image + company profile + contact us'—with slow content updates, pages that won't open, and a poor mobile experience, it's hard for search engines and AI platforms to judge what you're actually good at. If website SEO can't improve, traffic brought in by feed ads will also be wasted when it lands on the official site because the site can't receive it effectively.
Next, feed ads. The essence of feed advertising isn't 'buying exposure' but 'drawing users out with content when they aren't actively searching.' This requires alignment among creative, targeting, and landing page. Many companies run feed ads with creatives that say 'factory direct sales, discounted prices,' but the landing page is a photo of the company gate plus a chairman's speech. Users click in and can't find the corresponding information, so the bounce rate is naturally high. For feed ads to drive inquiry conversion, the landing page must say the same thing as the creative and must have a clear action entry point.
Douyin promotion follows another logic entirely. Short videos capture attention through content, build trust through persona or scenarios, and complete conversion through comments, direct messages, and profile links. The biggest fear for companies doing Douyin promotion is 'turning it into a corporate promo film'—beautifully shot, but after watching, users don't know what problem you can help them solve. When serving clients nationwide, we repeatedly emphasize: Douyin promotion isn't about who shoots the prettiest video; it's about who can clearly state in the first 3 seconds 'who I am, what I can do for you, and why you should contact me now.'
There's another change that's easy to overlook: AI platforms are becoming new information gateways. AI assistants such as Doubao, Qwen, and DeepSeek are increasingly used by users to gather information before making a purchase. If a company has no content on these platforms that can be cited and understood, it is effectively handing this traffic to competitors. This is exactly the problem GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) aims to solve—not mysticism, but structuring the company website, Q&A content, and industry knowledge so AI can read and is willing to cite them.
2. Feed Ads: Don't Mistake 'Traffic' for 'Inquiries'
When it comes to feed advertising, Yunxuan Network Technology usually doesn't start by discussing bids. Instead, we first ask clients three questions: Who is your target customer? What do they care about most? What do you want them to do after viewing? These three questions determine the creative direction, targeting logic, and landing page structure of feed ads.
First, creatives must 'speak human.' Feed ads are inserted while users are scrolling content, and users have no patience for long copy. The first 3 seconds of the creative should present a specific scenario or specific benefit, such as 'The factory website opens slowly, and customers leave before finishing reading' or 'Your store is running a promotion—how do people within 3 kilometers know about it?' The more specific the scenario, the easier it is for the right people to stop.
Second, targeting must be 'tight.' Feed ad targeting isn't better when broader. The targeting logic for nationwide promotion and local customer acquisition is completely different. Manufacturing and engineering companies doing nationwide business can target by industry keywords, interest behaviors, and regional combinations; physical stores doing local business should limit the radius to the area the store can serve and use local life platforms and Douyin promotion for repeated reach. Only when targeting is tight can inquiry conversion have a foundation.
Third, the landing page must 'catch' the traffic. A landing page is not a copy of the website homepage. A feed ad landing page should be designed around one conversion goal: leave a phone number, add WeChat, get a proposal, or book a store visit. In terms of page structure, first respond to the promise in the creative, then provide trust evidence (cases, qualifications, service process), and finally offer a low-threshold action entry point. Mobile loading speed, the number of form fields, and the position of consultation buttons all directly affect inquiry conversion. We've seen too many clients whose feed ad click costs aren't low, but the landing page form requires seven or eight fields, and users give up halfway through.
Fourth, data must be 'understandable.' Feed advertising doesn't end after launch; you need to look at search terms, regions, time slots, landing page dwell time, and form completion rates. When providing bid management and feed ad management services, Yunxuan Network Technology regularly breaks down for clients 'how much was spent, how many clicks came in, how many inquiries were left, and where the biggest drop-off occurred.' Only by breaking down the data can you determine whether the problem is creative, targeting, or reception—rather than giving up with a single sentence: 'Feed ads don't work.'
3. Douyin Promotion: Content, Account, and Reception
Many SMEs treat Douyin promotion as a 'let's try it' channel, but to truly make it a customer acquisition channel, it needs to be treated as a systematic project.
At the content level, corporate accounts don't need to imitate influencers. Engineering companies can film details of construction sites, material comparisons, and acceptance standards; manufacturing factories can film production lines, quality inspection processes, and shipping scenes; retail stores can film product usage scenarios, in-store experiences, and after-sales handling. This content may not get high view counts, but the viewers are often the right people. Inquiry conversion from Douyin promotion often doesn't rely on one viral video but on continuously publishing content that makes the right people feel you are reliable.
At the account level, a corporate account's homepage should be like an 'online reception desk': avatar, bio, pinned videos, contact information, and store address (for local businesses) should be clear. If users find a video interesting, click into the homepage, and find nothing there, trust is broken. We recommend that clients connect Douyin promotion with website development and corporate website development, linking the homepage to the official website or landing page so interested users can learn more about service details.
At the reception level, Douyin direct messages and comments are the front line of inquiry conversion. Many companies are busy during the day, no one replies to direct messages at night, and the next day the user has already contacted another company. This is exactly where AI agents can play a role—a company-specific Q&A reception agent can automatically handle inquiries at night and outside working hours, answer common questions, collect needs, and leave contact information, with manual follow-up the next day. Yunxuan Network Technology has built such AI agents for many companies. The focus isn't 'showing off technology' but ensuring every nighttime inquiry gets a response and reducing inquiry loss.
Douyin promotion also needs to work with local life platforms. For stores doing local physical customer acquisition, Douyin content is responsible for seeding and reach, while local life platforms are responsible for receiving group-buy deals, reviews, and in-store conversion. The two lines don't conflict; they validate each other: whatever content gets high interaction on Douyin should be emphasized on local life platforms; whichever packages sell well on local life platforms should be the scenarios around which Douyin content is filmed.
4. Inquiry Conversion: The Last Mile from 'Leaving Contact Info' to 'Effective Communication'
Many companies understand inquiry conversion as 'the number of form submissions,' but truly valuable inquiries are leads that can enter communication and move toward closing. From traffic to inquiry, there are several hurdles that need to be designed for specifically.
The first hurdle is 'response speed.' If no one contacts a user within half an hour after they submit a form or direct message, intent drops significantly. When serving clients, Yunxuan Network Technology unifies forms, online chat, phone calls, and Douyin direct messages into one reception process, using intelligent customer service for the first round of response, placing confirmations like 'received, we'll arrange it shortly' up front, and then having sales staff follow up on substantive questions.
The second hurdle is 'information completeness.' If only a phone number is left, sales staff often have to ask about needs all over again when they call, which is inefficient. Landing pages and AI agents can collect a bit more during the contact-capture step: industry, project type, budget range, and desired start time. Fields shouldn't be excessive, but key information should be included. When information completeness improves, sales staff can hit the point with their first sentence during follow-up, and inquiry conversion rates will naturally be better.
The third hurdle is 'follow-up rhythm.' Inquiries from different channels require different follow-up methods. Users from feed ads may still be in the comparison stage and need cases and proposals; users from Douyin promotion may care more about results and experience and need videos or store visits; users from search often have clearer needs and need quotations and delivery timelines. When providing full-service digital marketing management, Yunxuan Network Technology helps clients tag inquiries from different channels and design different follow-up scripts and rhythms, rather than using one script for everything.
The fourth hurdle is 'website reception.' Regardless of whether traffic comes from feed ads, Douyin promotion, or AI search, the official website is often where users make their final judgment. Website development doesn't end with making pages look good; it must also balance the underlying architecture for desktop, mobile, and AI search indexing. Clear page structure, timely content updates, fast loading speed, and prominent contact information—when these basics are done well, inquiry conversion has a stable foundation. We've seen many clients whose front-end advertising is fine, but their official website takes seven or eight seconds to open on mobile, and users close the page before seeing the product—this traffic is essentially bought for nothing.
5. GEO Optimization and AI Agents: Preparing for Customer Acquisition in New Gateways
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is a direction Yunxuan Network Technology has invested heavily in over the past two years. Simply put, it means optimizing content for AI platforms such as Doubao, Qwen, and DeepSeek so that companies have a greater chance of being mentioned, cited, and recommended when users ask AI questions. The premise is that the company website and public content contain sufficiently clear, structured, and verifiable information: what you do, which regions you serve, what cases you have, what your delivery process is, and how to answer common questions. AI platforms won't recommend a company with vague information out of thin air.
Therefore, GEO optimization is connected with website SEO and website development. When official website content is written clearly, search engines can index it, and AI platforms can understand it more easily. Conversely, if the official website has only a few slogans, GEO optimization has nothing to work with. We recommend that clients nationwide treat the official website as a 'content asset' to manage, rather than an electronic business card.
AI agents are a supplement on the reception side. Company-specific Q&A, reception, and lead-generation digital assistants can be placed on the official website, Douyin homepage, WeChat official account, and other locations to automatically answer common questions, guide contact capture, and screen intent. They cannot replace sales staff, but they can catch repetitive inquiries and retain traffic during nighttime and fragmented time. For inquiry conversion, missing one fewer inquiry means one more opportunity.
6. Nationwide Customer Acquisition Requires a Reusable Chain
Yunxuan Network Technology serves merchants and enterprise clients nationwide, and office location does not affect our service radius. Whether it's manufacturing factories on the coast, engineering companies in the central and western regions, or retail stores and local service providers across the country, the customer acquisition problems they face share commonalities: fragmented traffic gateways, rising channel costs, insufficient reception capacity, and unstable inquiry conversion. The differences lie only in industry details and regional market rhythms.
We usually recommend that companies follow four steps—'website building, promotion, reception, optimization'—rather than doing things haphazardly. Website development lays the foundation, clearly presenting brand image, service capabilities, and case qualifications while balancing mobile and AI search indexing; feed ads, Douyin promotion, Baidu promotion, and SEO optimization are combined according to goals, with nationwide promotion and local customer acquisition designed separately; AI agents and intelligent customer service handle reception to reduce inquiry loss; GEO optimization lays out the AI search gateway in advance; and finally, data connects the entire chain, with regular reviews of which channel has better inquiry conversion and which link loses the most.
This chain is not a one-time project but an operational action that requires continuous adjustment. Feed ad creatives fatigue, Douyin content directions change, and AI platforms' citation preferences also adjust. When providing full-service digital marketing management and bid management, Yunxuan Network Technology writes 'continuous optimization' into the service process rather than ending after delivery.
If you're worried about customer acquisition, start by sorting out three things: where your target customers currently get information, whether your official website and landing pages can receive this traffic, and whether your inquiries are followed up in a timely manner. Once these three things are clear, deciding how to run feed ads, how to do Douyin promotion, and whether to lay out GEO optimization in advance will be more effective than blindly following trends. Yunxuan Network Technology is willing to apply its 20 years of experience serving companies nationwide to your customer acquisition chain.