There are two primary reasons why every company needs to grow its customer base. The first and most obvious is more customers mean more revenue. The second reason is that an existing customer base is 60% to 70% more likely to buy again than a new prospect.
Having a strong customer base guarantees your business’s success. With the help of social media, SEO, and other digital marketing techniques, companies now have a broader reach to their customers.
This guide is a must-read for SMB owners or marketing professionals looking to succeed in the competitive world of online marketing.
Understanding SEO and Social Media Marketing
Marketers must embrace SEO and social media marketing to establish a sizeable online customer base.
Search engine optimization (SEO) allows search engines to find your content faster. Proper SEO achieves a higher ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO involves optimizing website content, incorporating keywords, and building links to boost your website’s visibility and attract organic traffic. The higher your ranking, the more likely potential customers will discover your website and engage with your brand.
On the other hand, social media marketing involves posting content regularly on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It effectively promotes your brand, informs your audience, and drives traffic to your website. Billions of people interact with social media daily. Social is a powerful tool for businesses to take the pulse of their customers. From monitoring social sites, they learn trends and other behavioral information. You can increase your brand’s visibility and attract new customers with relevant articles, targeted advertising, and leveraging user-generated content (UGC).
These two marketing arms help establish a solid online authority and a loyal customer base.
The 3 Main Roles of SEO in Building a Substantial Customer Base
Search Engine Optimization plays three significant roles in building a large customer base:
- Improves website visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Optimizing the website with relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and titles can increase your chances of appearing on the first page of search results. The top three search results on Google pages receive 4% of all clicks.
- SEO helps to create a better user experience for your customers. Take a customer-centric approach to content creation. Offering valuable information with quality content builds trust and credibility. Optimize your content to engage your customers and attract search bots.
- Mobile and local SEO help customers find you. 88% of customers who search locally on their phones visit the store (online or offline) within one day. Use everything in your SEO toolbox to make each page relevant and discoverable. That includes optimizing your digital content with relevant keywords and meta tags.
You can attract and retain more customers by combining improved website visibility, better user experience, and an appropriate content marketing strategy.
Social Media’s Role in Building A Customer Base
Social platforms allow businesses to engage with their customers in real-time two-way communication. Companies can quickly listen to customers’ feedback, respond to queries, and resolve complaints. Prompt engagement helps build customer trust and loyalty, leading to repeat business and referrals.
Social media is a stage where businesses can introduce new products and services to a broader audience. Businesses can attract and retain new customers by sharing engaging images, videos, and blogs.
Furthermore, marketers can collect customer data to create custom audiences and target them with personalized ads. Social media platforms allow businesses to run highly targeted advertising campaigns that increase conversions and sales and turn loyal customers into brand advocates.
How To Integrate SEO And Social Media Marketing for Maximum Impact
The best ways to integrate SEO and social media marketing are by:
- Creating high-quality content optimized for search engines and social media platforms.
- Using relevant keywords and meta descriptions to make your content easy to find on search engines and social media feeds. Use hashtags to connect content to a specific topic, event, or conversation.
- Building backlinks by including links to your website in each social media post. Here are 28 ways to create social media backlinks.
- Sharing your content on social platforms and encouraging your followers to share and link back to your website.
- Posting 3 to 5 times per week to keep your followers engaged.
- Using high-resolution images and quality videos to make your content more engaging.
Monitor and evaluate your content’s performance with Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or other tool. You should track and analyze the content’s key performance indicators (KPIs) to improve future posts. The information will help you to adjust and optimize your content strategy based on the feedback.
Tools And Resources for Measuring SEO and Social Media Success
How do you measure success or failure in your social media marketing efforts? Try one or more of these tools to track your results:
- Google Analytics: This free tool allows you to monitor your website traffic and user behavior.
- SEMrush: This paid tool provides in-depth SEO analysis and competitor research.
- Hootsuite: Schedule posts and track your social media analytics on multiple platforms from one dashboard.
- Sprout Social: Sprout Social provides SM managers with in-depth analytics and reporting on multiple profiles.
- BuzzSumo: This tool allows you to analyze your content’s performance and identify popular topics in your industry.
Measuring engagement and traffic is at the root of your success, from maintaining your budget to determining what your audience wants to see. Experiment with the tools above to reveal the data that matters most to your brand. See which ones fit your needs.
Companies Who Have Successfully Built A Strong Customer Base Online
Companies in almost every vertical have successfully built a solid online customer base using SEO and social media marketing. Here are some examples:
- Airbnb: This company used SEO and content marketing to drive 7 million stays in Q2 of 2022.
- Red Bull: Leveraging multiple platforms, Red Bull has over 29.4 million followers on Instagram, 12 million on Facebook, and 6 million on Twitter. (2020 statistics)
- Dollar Shave Club: Dollar Shave Club produced an iconic “Our Blades Are F***ing Great” video that went viral. It has had 28 million views over 11 years. They continue to use humorous videos to build a loyal following.
- HubSpot: This company uses inbound and content marketing. A revolutionary concept in 2004, inbound appealed to customers who wanted help and information rather than sale pitches. They’ve grown to over 114,000 customers in 120+ countries.
- Warby Parker: This eyewear brand uses social media and Virtual Reality to build a community of 2.26 million fans. You can try on any pair of their frames virtually using your webcam. The homepage offers an 8-question quiz to personalize your frame selection.
SEO and Social Media Marketing Helps Grow Your Business
Building a solid customer base is crucial for any business, online or offline. Use SEO and social media marketing to attract more organic traffic, build a loyal following, and connect meaningfully with your target audience. With the tips and resources in this guide, you should have everything you need to develop a robust online presence and take your business to the next level.
Are you too strapped for time to write SEO-optimized content or social media posts? Grovers Copywriting can help. Contact us today to discuss the content you need to attract more prospects.