Increasing brand reach is a primary goal for any business, but defining the most efficient ways to do this can be challenging with a limited budget. With the goal of getting ever closer to the customer, collaboration — both internally and externally — can be key to building a creative engine that is able to keep up with changes in culture, according to the 2022 Global Marketing Trends report by Deloitte. 

Taking a multichannel communication approach is the best strategy, then incorporating technology and analytics to create accurate targeting is essential to achieving high growth. Deloitte found that in order to establish, maintain, and deepen customer relationships, companies should reimagine how they use analytics for the best results, which can be explored below.

1. Optimize SEO with Attention to Keywords

Search engine optimization, or SEO, uses keywords to drive traffic to a website. If you want to expand your business’ reach to a larger audience, it’s essential to pick keywords wisely. Google, Bing, and other search engines use SEO to rank search results. So in order to determine the effectiveness of the keywords most applicable to your business, conduct a keyword audit and rank the results based on their SEO performance.

It’s also important to keep in mind that not all changes to your keywords will translate to better search results for your business. You should continually check your keywords’ performance for SEO. Checking just once isn’t enough, as search engines frequently change their algorithms and competitors will routinely try to outrank you. And if this isn’t complicated enough, you also want to choose keywords where you stand a chance to rank. 

Overall, the intent of the keywords you choose for SEO should correspond to the pages you want consumers to find online. Using keywords to drive traffic alone is often ineffective and could turn away potential customers, as they may feel duped if driven to a page that doesn’t reflect the intentions of their search. That said, though SEO may take longer, if done correctly, and if your website consistently follows SEO best practices –– of which there are many –– it can be an effective, inexpensive, long-term content marketing strategy.

2. Grow on Social Organically

Social media has become an integral part of our society, and businesses have the opportunity to leverage these channels. Easier said than done, right? With a plethora of experts, algorithm changes, and social media platforms that serve different demographics, here are some ways to get started. 

1. Ensure your business has a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram; maybe even consider TikTok.

2. Fill out each bio, and read about best practices for each platform.

3. Ensure you have an ideal customer or avatar in mind when you create a social plan. Many scheduling tools include a calendar view where you can schedule posts ahead of time.

4. Embrace resources such as Canva to make graphics.

5. Keep track of your social media analytics. Over time, data will tell you what your audience likes, dislikes, or ignores.

Then you can use this data to create personalization, which will be essential for connecting with your customers. Companies who excel at demonstrating customer intimacy generate faster rates of revenue growth than their peers, according to a report by McKinsey & Company. In fact, the report found companies that grow faster drive 40 percent more of their revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts.

3. Lean on Analytics for Personalization 

Relationships are essential to growing your reach, so prioritizing customer personalization will help your brand be recognized. With the dangers of data security today, marketers who focus on developing first-party data for their brands will have more success reaching customers by cultivating unique data insights and long-term measurement, according to the same Deloitte report.

Using Google Analytics is one way to do this for free. Google Analytics gives you the tools and data to understand the customer journey and improve marketing return on investment. More marketers can segment their audience by using demographics and psychographics through first-person data, and this is more likely to help them build authentic relationships with their customers.

Understanding your audience is the first step to finding ways to connect with them. Growing your brand buzz efficiently will rely on the use of this data, and marketers need to focus on how this affects their short-term and long-term growth strategy!

The Bottom Line

Building brand recognition is vital for any business because it helps customers identify with your product or service and builds relationships and a sense of familiarity. When you have brand recognition among your target demographic, your brand will be the first thing consumers think of when they are ready to purchase or engage in a service.

It’s important to note that building your brand reach isn’t a one-week or one-month process but a strategy that requires consistency, commitment, and constantly testing new strategies to see what lands with your target audience. If there is one takeaway, it’s that your marketing plan must be agile and be able to pivot as analytics glean new insights.

Increasing your brand’s reach isn’t tricky, but it is key to helping people remember your products and mission. By following these three steps — optimizing SEO with attention to keywords, using social media effectively, and taking advantage of analytics — you can start to measure your results and identify the best strategies for your brand!

This expert produced this original thought leadership piece free of charge to SheVentures. This expert values educating female entrepreneurs and the SheVentures community. SheVentures is not receiving affiliate compensation from the author/expert. Questions? Contact social@sheventurespodcast.com.