Over the past two years, the way businesses acquire customers has changed visibly. In the past, a corporate website plus Baidu bidding could steadily bring inquiries. Now, customers might first see your video on Douyin, then search your brand on Baidu, and finally ask Doubao or DeepSeek, “Is this company reliable?” The entire decision path is fragmented, traffic entrances are no longer single, and inquiry conversion is no longer as simple as “landing page plus form.”
As a digital marketing service provider serving SMEs nationwide, Zhanjiang Huasu Technology (referred to as Huasu Tech) interacts daily with clients from various industries: engineering, manufacturing, retail stores, and local life services. Their common confusion is: advertising spend hasn’t decreased, websites are built, but inquiries don’t grow. Where’s the problem? We believe it’s not that a single link is broken, but that the entire customer acquisition logic hasn’t kept up with industry changes.
Change #1: AI Search is Rewriting Traffic Distribution Rules
From 2024 to 2025, the most obvious trend is the proliferation of generative AI search. Platforms like Doubao, Qwen, and DeepSeek are becoming the new “information gateways.” Users no longer flip through Baidu results; they ask AI directly for an integrated answer. This means that if a company’s website content, brand information, and product descriptions are not effectively crawled and cited by AI, they will disappear from AI search recommendations.
This has profound implications for customer acquisition. Previously, SEO optimization targeted search engine crawler rules; now, it must also consider AI models’ content understanding and citation logic. We call this GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). When serving clients, Huasu Tech first diagnoses whether existing content is AI-friendly—for instance, whether the website has clear structured data, Q&A-style content, and authoritative brand descriptions. If these foundations aren’t solid, no amount of advertising will make AI search recommend you.
For example, we served a manufacturing factory primarily doing foreign trade and domestic wholesale. They relied solely on Baidu promotion, with rising acquisition costs. We helped them restructure their website content, adding structured information like product FAQs, industry solutions, and qualification certificates, and optimized content for platforms like Doubao and DeepSeek. Two months later, the client reported that when asking “Which brand is good for this equipment” in AI search, their company name appeared, and the inquiry quality was notably higher than regular ad traffic.
This is not an isolated case. As AI search usage grows, GEO optimization will become a standard for customer acquisition. For SMEs, this is a low-cost opportunity to gain precise traffic, but it requires professional technical support. Huasu Tech has integrated this approach into our full digital marketing solutions, helping clients stay ahead in the AI era.
Change #2: The “Effect Dividend” of Bidding Ads is Fading; Managed Optimization Becomes a Necessity
Baidu promotion and information flow ads remain important channels, but an undeniable fact is: click costs are rising, and conversion rates are falling. In the past, reasonable keyword bids could yield good results; now, users are increasingly immune to ads. If creatives aren’t engaging and landing pages don’t convert, money is wasted.
Many SME owners manage bidding accounts themselves but lack data analysis skills and optimization experience, often falling into a vicious cycle of high costs and low conversion. This is where bid management services become crucial. Huasu Tech’s bid management is not just about adjusting bids or adding keywords; it’s systematic optimization based on deep understanding of the client’s industry, target audience, and conversion paths.
We had a local engineering company client in Zhanjiang that previously ran Baidu promotion on their own, spending nearly 10,000 yuan monthly with few inquiries. After we took over, we first reorganized keyword groups, eliminated ineffective words, and optimized creative copy and landing page content, focusing on high-intent words like “engineering qualifications,” “construction cases,” and “quotation consultation.” We also set up conversion tracking to monitor actual inquiries from each keyword. Within three months, inquiries increased by about 60%, while acquisition costs dropped by nearly one-third. This is the value of managed optimization—not just spending money, but spending it wisely.
For SMEs nationwide, bid management means outsourcing professional optimization capabilities, so businesses don’t need to hire an expensive SEM team to achieve similar results. Huasu Tech has accumulated extensive industry data and methodologies, allowing us to craft differentiated strategies for various industries, ensuring every budget dollar is used effectively.
Change #3: Corporate Website Building is No Longer a “Showpiece” but the Infrastructure for Customer Acquisition
Many business owners view the website as a “business card”—just needs to look good. But in reality, the website is the “foundation” for all marketing activities. Whether it’s Baidu ads, Douyin videos, or AI search recommendations, ultimately users are guided to the website for conversion. If the website loads slowly, has empty content, or lacks clear calls-to-action, all upstream traffic generation efforts are wasted.
We’ve seen too many companies with websites built years ago—outdated design, poor mobile experience, and weak SEO foundations. Such websites, even with heavy advertising, rarely generate quality inquiries. At Huasu Tech, when building corporate websites, we emphasize two principles: “conversion-oriented” and “AI-friendly.”
Conversion-oriented means every page has a clear user path. For example, the homepage highlights core business and advantages; product pages address customer doubts; the contact page facilitates lead capture or direct calls. We also integrate online consultation components, form optimization, and promotional triggers to convert as much traffic as possible into inquiries.
AI-friendly refers to website code structure and content format that facilitate AI search engine crawling and understanding. We use semantic HTML tags, add Schema structured data, generate XML sitemaps, and ensure logical content hierarchy. This way, when AI search crawlers visit, they can accurately extract key information, increasing the chance of appearing in AI search results.
We served a retail store client that had a simple display website, bringing almost no online inquiries. We rebuilt the website, adding store navigation, product displays, and online appointment functions, and optimized for local search. Now, the website not only handles traffic from Baidu but also gains exposure in AI search, significantly increasing foot traffic to the store. This demonstrates the true value of corporate website building—it’s not an isolated project but a core hub in the entire acquisition system.
Change #4: Traffic Fragmentation—Single Channels Can’t Sustain Growth; Omnichannel Promotion Becomes a Must
Today’s users might watch your video on Douyin in the morning, search for reviews on Xiaohongshu at noon, and compare prices on Baidu at night. If a business only bets on one channel, it risks missing most potential customers. Omnichannel promotion aims to cover every step of the user decision path through a combination of channels.
Huasu Tech’s omnichannel brand promotion covers short-video platforms, search engines, local life platforms, and more. We develop channel combination strategies based on the client’s industry and target market. For B2B manufacturers, we focus on Baidu search and industry vertical platforms; for local life stores, we emphasize Douyin local promotion and Dianping; for national consumer products, we might combine information flow ads with short-video content.
But omnichannel doesn’t mean “casting a wide net”; it means “weaving a precise net.” Each channel must have a clear role: some for exposure, some for traffic, some for conversion. We monitor data to evaluate each channel’s ROI, continuously adjusting budget allocation to maximize overall acquisition efficiency.
We have a client in the machinery equipment industry, selling nationwide. Previously, they only did Baidu promotion, and inquiries stagnated. After we stepped in, we redefined the target customer profile, produced short videos on Douyin demonstrating equipment operations and industry knowledge, attracting precise followers; simultaneously, we optimized their Baidu account and added soft-article promotions on industry websites. Within six months, monthly inquiries doubled, and inquiries from Douyin accounted for 40%. This shows that when traffic is fragmented, only proactive outreach can seize every opportunity.
Change #5: AI Agents Become the “New Employee” for Customer Acquisition
With AI technology advancing, intelligent customer service is no longer new, but most businesses use basic keyword-response robots that provide poor experiences and even annoy customers. A true AI agent should act like a trained sales assistant, understanding customer queries, providing accurate answers, and guiding lead capture at the right moment.
Huasu Tech builds AI agents for enterprises based on their own product knowledge bases and FAQs. These agents are available 24/7, automatically handling inquiries during nights or holidays, and can identify high-intent customers, proactively pushing contact information or appointment forms. One local service client saw a 30% increase in lead capture rate from nighttime inquiries after launching the AI agent, and customer experience improved significantly due to timely responses.
For SMEs in the national market, AI agents are not just a customer service tool but an extension of acquisition. They help capture potential customers who would otherwise be lost due to time zones or working hours, making every visit a potential conversion.
Huasu Tech’s Response: One-Stop Digital Marketing Full-Service
Industry changes are rapid, and business owners often lack the energy to address each one. Huasu Tech’s value lies in integrating these fragmented aspects into a one-stop service—from corporate website building to bid management, from GEO optimization to AI agent setup. We are not simply an outsourcer; we act as a long-term growth partner, helping clients build a stable acquisition system in the national market.
Specifically, our service process is: first, a free marketing diagnosis to analyze the client’s current acquisition bottlenecks; then, a customized plan including website redesign, content optimization, channel deployment, etc.; during execution, we provide regular data reports so clients know exactly where every yuan is spent and what results it brings; finally, we continuously iterate based on data feedback to ensure acquisition effectiveness keeps improving.
We’ve served engineering companies in Zhanjiang and manufacturing factories in other provinces; from small merchants with annual revenue of one million to group clients with revenue exceeding one hundred million. Regardless of client size, our principle remains unchanged: empower growth with technology, create value with marketing. This is the belief that Huasu Tech has upheld for 20 years.
Three Suggestions for Business Owners Nationwide
First, re-examine your website. Can visitors understand what you do within 3 seconds? Is it clear on mobile? Does it include questions customers care about? If the answer is no, your acquisition system might be flawed from the source.
Second, don’t blindly chase new trends, but don’t ignore them either. AI search and GEO optimization are important acquisition channels for the next 3-5 years. Acting now means lower costs and less competition; by the time everyone catches on, the window of opportunity will have closed.
Third, leave professional matters to professionals. Digital marketing involves increasingly complex technologies and strategies; relying on the boss to figure it out often yields half the results with double the effort. Choosing an experienced, methodical service provider may seem like an extra expense, but the waste and missed opportunities avoided far outweigh the cost.
Industries change, acquisition logic changes, but one thing remains constant: businesses ultimately want effective conversions, not superficial activity. Huasu Tech is willing to use its 20 years of experience to help enterprise clients nationwide find their place in this transformation and achieve sustainable growth.