How to choose acquisition channels for an adult store: a scorecard and a ninety-day trial

01Why a scorecard helps

Adult businesses face channel limits most retailers never meet. Google restricts sexual content ads to its Search Network, social platforms set their own rules, and email depends on consent. A simple scorecard stops enthusiasm, or a sales pitch, from deciding where the budget goes.

02Five factors to score

Score each channel from one to five on every factor; a low score on rules rules it out.

03A ninety-day trial

04Tracking that respects privacy

• Use your own analytics and order data to tie customers to channels.
• Avoid tracking that follows people across other sites.
• Tell customers plainly what you measure, in line with the Privacy Act.

05After the trial

Keep the channels that bring customers who return, even if their first orders cost more. Drop the ones that only look cheap. Then repeat the scorecard each quarter, because platform rules and costs change. If you would rather we ran this with you, see our acquisition service; the retention side is in our note on retention.

06A channel scorecard

07Margin, not revenue

Comparing channels on revenue flatters the ones that bring big first orders at high cost. Use gross margin after product, shipping and payment fees instead, and look at margin over twelve months per customer. A channel that brings modest first orders but loyal buyers often beats one that brings large one-off orders, and the scorecard should show that clearly.

08Paid search within Google policy

Google's sexual content policy restricts how many adult products can be advertised and where those ads appear. Within those limits, paid search can still work for brand terms and some product categories. Keep ads and landing pages factual and safe for work, follow the policy closely, and measure cost per paying customer rather than clicks. Many stores find paid search most useful for testing which products and messages work before investing in organic pages.

09Creators under the AANA Code

When creators promote an adult brand for payment, gifts or commission, the AANA Code of Ethics expects the content to be clearly identifiable as advertising, and misleading endorsements can breach consumer law. Agree disclosure wording, the claims creators may make and how payment works before anything is posted. Choose creators whose audiences are adults and whose tone suits the brand.

10Testing a channel for ninety days

1. Set a budget you can lose without harm.
2. Define success: cost per paying customer and a payback period.
3. Track customers from the channel through to second orders.
4. At day ninety, keep, adjust or stop, and write down why.

11When one channel dominates

If one channel brings most new customers, the business is exposed to its rules and prices. That is especially true for adult brands, whose access to platforms can change without warning. Keep growing owned channels alongside the dominant one, so that a policy change or a price rise is a setback rather than a crisis. The service behind this guide is customer acquisition.

12Referral and word of mouth

Adult purchases are often private, but recommendations still travel between friends and partners. A simple referral offer, with clear terms and discreet emails sent only with consent, gives satisfied customers an easy way to share. Track referred customers separately; they often return more often than customers from paid channels. If referrers are rewarded, any public recommendation they make should say so.

13Events and community in practice

Midsumma, workshops, pop-ups and community partnerships can introduce a brand to people who never click ads. Give each event a dedicated page or code so its customers can be counted, and judge it on the same scorecard as other channels, including second orders. Events that contribute something real to the community tend to bring loyal customers; events that only hand out discounts rarely do.

14Owned channels as the base

Whatever paid channels you test, keep building search visibility and an email list, because those remain yours when platform rules change. The guide to turning search traffic into revenue covers the search side, and retention growth the list. For a broader plan, see the growth marketing guide.

15Tracking without overreach

Attribution does not need invasive tracking. Ask new customers how they heard of you at checkout, use dedicated codes and landing pages for partners and events, and compare first-order channel with repeat purchases in your own order data. These simple methods respect customers' privacy, which matters under the reformed Privacy Act and to adult shoppers in particular, and they are usually accurate enough to guide spending.

16An illustrative channel review

A made-up case. After a year, a Melbourne store finds that organic search brings forty per cent of new customers at the lowest cost, email turns a third of first-time buyers into repeat buyers, a creator partnership brought a small number of loyal customers, and paid search brought many first orders that rarely repeated. The next year's plan shifts budget from paid search into content and the creator partnership, and keeps a small paid test running. The numbers are invented; the method is the point.

17Seasonal acquisition

Acquisition costs and opportunities change through the Australian year. Valentine's Day, end of financial year, Black Friday and Christmas bring shoppers who are ready to buy, and competition for their attention rises with them. Plan content and partnerships for those periods months ahead, so organic pages are already ranking when demand peaks. In quieter months, focus on building the list and improving pages, which pays off in the next peak. Midsumma gives Melbourne brands an extra moment in late summer to meet new customers in person.

18In short

Score every channel on margin per paying customer and on second orders, test new ones within a budget you can lose, and keep owned channels growing underneath them.

19Sources cited

• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner

The guide draws on these publishers. Visit them for detail and for any recent change.

QQuestions