After twenty years in enterprise customer acquisition, the most direct feeling is this: the questions clients ask have changed. A few years ago, people asked "How do I open a Baidu promotion account?" and "How do I choose keywords?" Now they ask more often: "What should I do if my feed ads don't work?" "I made Douyin videos but nobody inquires," and "Besides handing out flyers, what else can I do for local lead generation?" Behind these changing questions is a migration of the traffic entry points themselves.
Yunxuan Network Technology serves small and medium-sized enterprises and local brick-and-mortar clients across all industries nationwide. From website building, SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) to Baidu promotion, feed ads, Douyin promotion and AI agent development, we have done work across the entire chain. This article does not hype trends; it only discusses the real changes we see on the front lines, what these changes mean for enterprise customer acquisition, and what we can do to help clients.
1. Three Migrations of Traffic Entry Points Are Reshaping Customer Acquisition Logic
Looking over a longer time span, online customer acquisition has roughly gone through three stages.
The first stage was the search era. Users had clear needs, opened Baidu and entered keywords, and businesses captured demand through website SEO and paid rankings. The logic of this stage was "people find information"—whoever ranked higher for keywords and had a higher-converting landing page got the inquiries.
The second stage was the recommendation era. Feed products represented by Douyin, Toutiao and WeChat Moments rose, and users no longer actively searched but were attracted by content. The logic became "information finds people," and businesses needed to push content in front of potential customers through feed ads and Douyin promotion. The biggest change in this stage: demand can be stimulated, not merely captured.
The third stage is happening now—the AI Q&A era. AI platforms such as Doubao, Qwen and DeepSeek have become new information entry points. Users directly ask, "Which engineering company in Zhanjiang is reliable for factory construction?" or "Who should SMEs hire for full-network marketing?" and AI gives the answer. Whoever can be cited and recommended by AI gets a ticket to the new entry point. This is exactly the problem we often describe as GEO (Generative Engine Optimization).
The three stages are not replacements but layers. Today's enterprise customer acquisition involves search, recommendation and AI Q&A simultaneously. Falling behind on any one line means missing a group of customers. This is also why single channels are increasingly difficult—not because the channel is failing, but because customer attention is fragmented.
2. Feed Ads: From "Spend and Get Traffic" to "Refinement Brings Inquiries"
The biggest change in feed ads over the past two years is that the bonus period has ended and refined operations have begun.
A few years ago, you could run feed ads with rough creatives and broad targeting and still get volume. Now it is different. With the same budget, some accounts generate dozens of valid inquiries, while others burn through everything without a single consultation call. Where is the gap? We have broken down many accounts and summarized several key points.
First, targeting is neither as broad nor as narrow as possible. Too broad, and money is spent on irrelevant people; too narrow, and you cannot get volume while costs stay high. Our approach is to run the model first, use relatively broad targeting to let the system learn, accumulate conversion data, then gradually narrow down to find the balance between volume and cost.
Second, creatives decide life or death. Feed advertising is "content as ad." If users cannot be hooked in the first three seconds, no matter how good the rest is, it is useless. When we run feed ads for clients, we usually prepare multiple creatives for A/B testing, testing combinations of headlines, visuals and selling points, and scaling up only what performs well. This process requires patience, but it is far more cost-effective than blindly burning money.
Third, the landing page's ability to capture leads is severely underestimated. Many clients think the job is done once the ad is live, but the experience after users click is the key to conversion. Slow loading, long forms and unclear selling points all waste the earlier ad spend. When we do feed ads, we always optimize the landing page alongside, shortening the path from click to lead submission as much as possible.
Feed ads are not impossible—they just cannot be done crudely. They suit industries with relatively high order values, not-too-short decision cycles and a need for continuous sales leads, such as engineering, manufacturing, education and training, and corporate services. The key is to have professionals watching the data and optimizing, rather than opening an account and leaving it alone.
3. Douyin Promotion: It Is Not About Posting Videos, but About Content That Fits
Douyin promotion is the channel clients ask about most in the past two years, and also the one with the most misunderstandings.
The most common misunderstanding is: as long as you post videos, you will get customers. As a result, many companies shoot dozens of videos with dismal views. Occasionally one goes viral, but all it brings is onlookers, not a single inquiry. Where is the problem? In content positioning.
Douyin's traffic logic is content recommendation. Users see your video because the content is interesting, useful or resonant, not because they have a need. So when businesses do Douyin promotion, they cannot shoot it like a corporate promo; they must think like content. When we run Douyin promotion for clients, we usually start from three directions.
Direction 1: Industry knowledge output. For example, an engineering company talks about what to watch out for in factory construction, or a manufacturing plant explains how to avoid pitfalls in product selection. This kind of content does not sell directly, but it builds professional trust, attracts highly precise followers and leads to higher conversion rates later.
Direction 2: Scenario-based display. Put products into real usage scenarios so users intuitively feel the value. Retail stores can film customers browsing and buying, factories can film production lines and quality inspection. This content is more persuasive than dry product introductions.
Direction 3: Local lifestyle content. For clients with physical stores, Douyin's local traffic is very much worth pursuing. Same-city recommendations can push content to nearby people, and combined with group buying, POI addresses and store activities, they can directly drive online traffic offline. This is also an important part of local lead generation.
Another easily overlooked point in Douyin promotion: account operation is a long-term job. Expecting a few videos to explode into orders is unrealistic. A stable posting rhythm, continuous content optimization and timely interaction in the comments—these fundamentals must be done well before the account slowly gains traction. When we help clients with Douyin promotion, we usually create a content calendar and turn topic selection, shooting, publishing and review into a process, rather than posting only when inspiration strikes.
4. Local Lead Generation: The Boundary Between Online and Offline Is Disappearing
The term "local lead generation" used to refer more to offline ground promotion, flyers and cross-industry cooperation. Now it is completely different—online platforms have become the main battlefield for local lead generation.
Users see a nearby restaurant's review video on Douyin, find your store on Baidu Maps, see someone recommend your service on Xiaohongshu, and only then decide whether to come. The entire decision chain is completed online; offline is just the final transaction step. So the core of local lead generation is to let customers find you, trust you and choose you online.
We have served many physical stores and local service providers. In summary, local lead generation requires three things.
First: complete your basic information. Merchant information on Baidu Maps, Amap, Douyin POI and Dianping must be complete, accurate and consistent. Do not underestimate this. Many clients lose customers simply because they cannot be found on maps or their phone cannot be reached. When we help clients with local lead generation, the first step is to review this basic information and ensure every entry point works.
Second: create localized content. Douyin's local traffic, Baidu local promotion and notes on local lifestyle platforms should carry local attributes. For example, an engineering company in Zhanjiang can mention local project cases and local construction standards in its content, which makes local customers trust it more. This is not geographic restriction but a way to build local trust. Yunxuan Network Technology serves clients nationwide. When we help out-of-town clients with local lead generation, we also localize content around the client's city; the logic is universal.
Third: capture online inquiries. Many stores run promotions and post videos, but when inquiries come, no one replies in time. A customer asks at 10 p.m., "Are you open tomorrow?" and only gets a reply the next morning—by then the customer has gone elsewhere. This is where AI agents can help: intelligent customer service is online 24/7, automatically answers common questions, guides complex questions to lead capture, and does not miss nighttime inquiries. The AI agents we build for clients fill exactly this gap in inquiry handling.
5. Search, Recommendation and AI Q&A: Fight on All Three Lines Together
We have discussed feed ads, Douyin promotion and local lead generation, but enterprise customer acquisition cannot rely on just one line. Our experience is that search, recommendation and AI Q&A must work together.
The search line includes Baidu promotion and website SEO. Baidu promotion is suited to capturing clear demand—whatever users search, we show relevant content. Website SEO is a long-term asset: do a good job on the official website's content and structure so search engines continuously bring free traffic. Here we should mention that website building is not just making a random page; the underlying architecture must consider the crawling habits of search engines and AI. Structured data and clear page hierarchy are indispensable.
The recommendation line is feed ads and Douyin promotion. The value of this line is reaching customers who do not yet have clear needs but may be stimulated by content. Feed ads cover information scenarios, Douyin promotion covers short-video scenarios, and together they broaden brand exposure.
The AI Q&A line is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). We optimize content for AI platforms such as Doubao, Qwen and DeepSeek so that enterprises are mentioned and recommended when AI answers related questions. Not many people are doing this yet, but the trend is already obvious—as more users habitually ask AI instead of searching Baidu, AI recommendation slots become the new traffic high ground. Laying out early means low cost and good results.
The three lines are not separate battles but mutually reinforcing. Brand awareness from feed ads makes users more inclined to click on you when they search later; content accumulated through Douyin promotion becomes material for AI to crawl; brand information built through GEO optimization in turn improves conversion rates in search and recommendation. This is the value of full-network marketing—not a simple stacking of channels, but a combined force.
6. What Yunxuan Network Technology Can Help Clients Address
After all these trends, what can Yunxuan Network Technology actually do for clients?
One: website building and underlying architecture. We provide custom website development that fits brand image, works on desktop and mobile, and builds an underlying architecture suitable for AI indexing. A website is not only for customers to see but also for search engines and AI. Once this foundation is solid, later promotion has somewhere to land.
Two: full-network promotion and ad placement. Baidu promotion, feed ads and Douyin promotion—we help clients with account setup, creative production, data optimization and bid management. We do not open an account and disappear; we continuously watch performance and optimize. In advertising, professional and non-professional approaches can differ by double in cost.
Three: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). We optimize content for AI platforms to help enterprises seize AI search traffic. This is one of our key services and a direction many clients have not yet realized but have begun to explore.
Four: AI agent development. Enterprise-specific digital assistants for Q&A, reception and lead generation automatically handle customer inquiries and do not miss leads at night or on holidays. Intelligent customer service does not replace humans; it frees humans from repetitive questions to focus on high-value consultations.
Five: local lead generation solutions. For physical stores, engineering companies and trading clients, we provide localized content promotion and platform operations to drive online traffic offline. Our headquarters is in Zhanjiang, but our service scope is nationwide. We can take on and deliver local lead generation needs for out-of-town clients just the same.
Six: full-case managed services. From website building to promotion, from AI tools to GEO optimization, we provide one-stop closed-loop services. Some clients do not have a dedicated marketing team—just leave it to us. We provide plans, data and reviews by stage.
7. Several Practical Suggestions for Business Owners
Finally, based on our experience serving clients, here are a few suggestions for business owners working on customer acquisition.
- Do not put all your eggs in one basket. If you only do Baidu promotion, you panic when search traffic declines; if you only do Douyin, you run out of food when the account is throttled. Multi-channel layout builds resilience.
- Clarify who your customers are before choosing channels. For B2B engineering companies, feed ads and Baidu promotion may be more direct than Douyin; for B2C physical stores, Douyin local traffic and local lifestyle platforms are more worth investing in. No channel is inherently good or bad; fit matters.
- Your intake capacity must keep up with ad pace. If ads are running but the website will not open, no one answers the phone and no one replies to inquiries, the money is wasted. Before advertising, check the intake process once.
- Give results some time. SEO and GEO are slow work, and feed ads and Douyin promotion also need a testing period. Expecting to spend today and explode tomorrow will most likely disappoint. Reasonable expectations plus continuous optimization will gradually produce results.
- Look at data, but not only surface data. Good impressions and clicks do not mean results. Inquiry volume, lead cost and deal conversion are key. In our client reviews, we always focus on backend data.
In customer acquisition, there is no once-and-for-all method, only continuous change to keep up with. Traffic entry points change, platform rules change, and user habits change. Yunxuan Network Technology has been in digital marketing for twenty years, seen too many channel rises and falls, and helped clients weather many traffic migrations. Our value is translating these changes into executable plans, helping enterprises avoid detours and get more inquiries.
If you are struggling with customer acquisition—whether feed ads are confusing, Douyin promotion is not taking off, or local lead generation lacks a handle—come talk to us. We serve enterprise clients nationwide.