Mid-Sized Brands Use SEO to Sell More and Spend Less on New Customers

Paid acquisition used to carry mid-market eCommerce brands.

Now, that ride is getting expensive.

Customer acquisition costs (CAC) have been climbing steadily since 2018, which both McKinsey and Deloitte found hit a sharp bump in 2021 as ad platforms crowded and privacy changes took hold.

The math stopped working fast.

Forrester and PwC report that many eCommerce brands now face paid CAC payback periods of six to twelve months. That’s where CFOs stop nodding and start asking uncomfortable questions.

But brands are rethinking where growth actually comes from.

Research from McKinsey in 2024 and 2025 shows budgets moving toward organic and AI-assisted search, where acquisition costs are lower and returns appear faster.

Deloitte’s 2025 Digital Consumer Trends report confirms this trend, highlighting AI-augmented search as a central way consumers discover brands, not just a side channel.

In our interview, Sean Chaudhary, CEO of AlchemyLeads, shared how he works with mid‑market eCommerce leaders navigating this new reality.

His view reflects how growth strategies change when paid acquisition stops behaving like a growth engine and starts acting like a cost center.

Editor’s Note: This is a sponsored article created in partnership with AlchemyLeads.

That pressure often lands first on the CFO’s desk.

For years, brands tolerated zero-month payback on paid acquisition, assuming repeat purchases would eventually make the math work.

Today, rising costs are exposing a blunt truth: the old model only works until it doesn’t.

Chaudhary puts it bluntly:

“That is the panic moment. When a brand realizes they are effectively financing Facebook’s growth instead of their own, the conversation changes instantly.”

Once that hits, the questions shift fast. It’s no longer “How much does SEO cost?” It’s “How quickly can we lower our blended CAC?”

Budget moves then become strategic, reallocating spend from expensive paid channels to search strategies built for longer-term value.

Generative search and AI-driven discovery are now core parts of that strategy.

“Every C‑level is talking about it. They know the game is changing, and they’re moving money to ensure they aren’t invisible when their customers start searching with AI.”

With budgets under review and payback periods under scrutiny, the conversation turns to SEO strategy.

Remember, Chaudhary says, not all SEO is created equal, and the distinction matters when revenue is on the line.

Revenue‑Focused SEO vs Rankings‑Focused SEO

Now, noticeable changes include how brands approach rankings.

Traditional agencies celebrate hitting #1 on broad terms, but that doesn’t always drive actual sales.

“Rankings‑focused SEO is looking at a report and high‑fiving because you rank #1 for a definition term like ‘What is a widget?’ That drives a ton of traffic, but those people are just learning, not buying.”

Revenue-focused SEO, in contrast, targets the searches that actually lead to purchases.

“I’d rather rank #3 for ‘Best widget for heavy lifting’ than #1 for ‘What is a widget.’ The volume is lower, but the conversion rate is 10x higher.”

Chaudhary believes success is tied directly to revenue and conversions.

“We don’t report on clicks; we report on dollars. We tie specific keyword clusters directly to checkout data.”

But not all brands feel rising paid costs the same way. For example, Meta’s platforms are the most crowded and expensive.

Chaudhary points to Facebook and Instagram as the main offenders.

He explains that mid‑market brands, generally those earning $10M to $100M in revenue, face a unique challenge.

“‘The Enterprise Giants,’ like Nike or Amazon, have infinite budgets. They can afford to overpay for a customer just to crowd you out,” he says.

“Meanwhile, the ‘Tiny Dropshippers’ are agile. They can churn out 50 weird, low-quality TikTok creatives a day to find a winner.”

Being in that middle position makes it hard to compete on spend or agility.

AlchemyLeads often works with mid‑market brands facing this exact challenge.

Here’s a short masterclass on how the agency approaches engineered growth systems:

Paid channels are getting more expensive while delivering less, forcing mid‑market companies to find smarter ways to grow.

Underused SEO Opportunities With High ROI

Even as paid acquisition gets more expensive, there are SEO tactics that can deliver strong returns when brands are willing to handle some complexity.

For a closer look at engineering high-conversion systems, watch this 8-minute masterclass from AlchemyLeads:

Many eCommerce sites focus on creating content for their top sellers while leaving the rest of the catalog underutilized.

Programmatic SEO uses data and templates to generate a large number of specific, intent-rich pages, unlocking significant growth potential.

“Instead of just trying to rank for ‘Leather Sofa,’ you create high‑quality collection pages using templates for searches like ‘Brown Leather Sectional Under $2,000’…

“These searches have low volume individually, but if you have 1,000 of them, they add up to a mountain of revenue,” Chaudhary notes.

This approach captures high-intent searches that are relatively inexpensive to rank for once the pages are live, yet many brands avoid it because of technical complexity.

For mid‑market eCommerce brands, the decisive move is to align content with buyer intent rather than traffic volume.

Chaudhary’s guidance is straightforward:

• Focus on buyer intent, not just traffic. Explain which product solves their problem, not what it is.
  

  “Pivot your content strategy from ‘Traffic Volume’ to ‘Buyer Intent.’”

• Target Middle and Bottom of Funnel questions.
  

  “You win by helping the customer decide which product solves their specific pain.”

• Create content that supports real purchase decisions.
  Include comparisons, evaluations, product trade-offs, and practical constraints. Examples:
  

  “‘Hilleberg vs. Big Agnes: Which handles high‑wind alpine conditions better?’”

  “‘Is the price jump for Dyneema fabric actually worth it for weekend hikers?’”

• Use both text and video to influence decisions.
  Focus on the queries where AI summaries alone aren’t enough to guide a purchase.

Brands that follow this approach turn SEO into a revenue driver, strengthen visibility where it matters, and set themselves up to stay ahead as AI changes how customers discover and decide.