How to get buy-in and budget for enterprise SEO

NZ’s economy is waking up. Interest rates are easing. Budgets are back on the table.

So why are brands pouring it all into paid search?

Because it’s fast. Because it’s familiar. But ads get ridiculously expensive without SEO.

CAC spikes, ROI plateaus, and marketers are asked, "What are you doing to fix this?”

Enterprise SEO is one of the most profitable and durable growth levers available today — especially if you know how to align it to revenue and board-level goals.

The challenge is selling it upstairs, but that’s where an experienced partner can help.

Here’s 15+ years of experience baked into a simple playbook:

Hi👋 I’m Craig, Head of Search at authentic digital. If you need help with Enterprise SEO now, skip the scroll and book a quick chat with me.

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Explain how SEO is aligned to revenue

When asking corporate leadership for SEO budget, frame it around the three questions they’ll ask:

What’s the ROI — when will we see it?

SEO delivers ROI by lowering customer acquisition cost (CAC) and by attracting customers without paying for every click.

You’re not paying for traffic – like with paid ads — you’re earning it with content and visibility that keep working over time.

If you’ve got the technical foundation and internal alignment, you’ll start seeing SEO results in 3-6 months. Strong ROI tends to show up by months 6-12, and the biggest benefits are seen from Year 2.

This graph by Andrew Holland summarises it perfectly:

We say that SEO is like your Kiwisaver. It’s a long-term play. There will be market fluctuations. But the methodical work builds compounding value over time.

Why SEO – and why now over something else?

If you’re an enterprise marketer, you’re not starting from scratch. You’ve already invested in SEO — you’ve got a corpus of content and dev resources.

But search has fundamentally shifted. Zero-click experiences, AI Overviews, and SERP volatility have upended what used to work.

Think of it like Formula 1: new engine rules have just dropped, and the race has restarted.

The successful teams aren’t starting from the back — they’re adapting the quickest.

In SEO terms, that means brands that move fast on technical clean-up, content clarity, and strategic focus can leapfrog slower competitors, even ones with bigger budgets or longer histories.

Take HubSpot. Despite its authority, it lost 80% of its organic traffic. Marketers generally agree that Hubspot’s sprawling blog and legacy SEO practices couldn’t keep pace with how search is evolving.

This isn’t about ditching SEO. It’s about doing it differently — smarter, tighter, and better aligned with revenue.

Right now, the opportunity isn’t just to defend rankings, but to rebuild your moat. That means assessing your site architecture, content library, and technical foundations to perform in modern search.

👉 Our AI Optimisation programs are the best place to start if you want an immediate understanding of where you’re at in AI search and where to move next.

How does this support our wider go-to-market (GTM) strategy?

SEO gives your GTM strategy more traction by meeting the right customers, at the right time, with the right message.

Good SEO reinforces your competitive positioning across the whole journey — whether you're guiding a business buyer through complex evaluation, or helping a consumer feel confident enough to take the next step.

• In B2B, that might look like integration pages or competitor comparisons that support the sales team by capturing and qualifying leads 24/7.
• In B2C, it's things like product explainers, store locators, or detailed FAQs that remove friction to purchase and build trust.

SEO also reinforces your message in other channels — from Paid Search and PR, to socials and in-store.

It makes every touchpoint stronger, because it's built on what people are actually searching for.

And when it’s working well, SEO doesn’t just bring in traffic. It helps more people buy.

That means:

• Fewer drop-offs between touchpoints
• Less lift from your team to convert interest into action
• More consistent messaging across brand, performance, and sales

Done right, SEO is the difference between chasing customers and having them arrive ready to buy.

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Breaking down the ROI of SEO

On paper, a 2,300% ROI from SEO sounds too good to be true — and in some ways, it is.

But here’s how the math stacks up:

• Your site gets 500,000 visits/month
• Organic contributes 180,000
• A 10% uplift = 18,000 more monthly visits
• With a 2% conversion rate, that’s 360 new leads
• At $800/lead, that’s $288,000/month in added revenue
• SEO investment: $12,000/month

→ That’s a 2,300% return. Paid search rarely comes close.

But here's the caveat: very few enterprise journeys look like search → click → buy.

We know that reality is messier:

People search, scan, read, bounce, come back, see your brand again in a case study or an ad. It’s a slow burn — not a straight line.

That’s why SEO isn’t just a traffic lever. It’s a conversion amplifier. A mature SEO program makes every other channel work harder — especially paid.

When people recognise your brand from earlier searches or helpful content, they’re more likely to click your ad, trust your offer, and convert faster.

It’s the silent multiplier behind performance.

How to frame SEO ROI to the CEO or CFO

Don’t talk about traffic. Lead with:

• Lowering CAC
• Reducing reliance on paid and making it work harder
• Compounding value
• Tangible ROI within 6–12 months

But here’s what boards often miss

• SEO leads are often more qualified: they can convert faster, close smoother, and lower sales lift.
• Attribution is imperfect:  but over time, organic is often the hidden driver behind branded search and last-click conversions.
• Not investing isn’t neutral: competitors are capturing that demand while you delay. In sectors like SaaS, property, or finance, not being the answer to key search terms is five to six figures in lost revenue each quarter.
• Enterprise SEO isn’t about chasing every ranking. It’s about protecting revenue, reducing acquisition costs, and showing up where it counts.

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Find an *Enterprise* SEO agency

Enterprise SEO is not just SEO with a bigger budget. You’re dealing with:

• Stakeholder dynamics: Every change touches multiple teams (legal, product, comms, dev)
• Compliance layers: Every page, migration, and piece of content may require legal sign-off
• Technical debt: Legacy CMSs, outdated structures, and years of patch fixes
• Execution risk: Delays in implementation, missed handoffs, lost revenue from small mistakes

That’s why strategy and tactics alone aren’t enough. You need a partner who knows how to execute SEO inside complex orgs.

We’ve built our processes around these realities — and it’s why some of NZ’s biggest brands like Rinnai, Dulux, FMG and Property Brokers trust us to build and maintain their visibility.

"We don’t just hand you a list of problems from an audit tool. We work with your teams to find the fastest improvements with the least disruption." – Craig Martin, Head of Search

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Set clear expectations on cost, timeline, and strategy

This is where many SEO conversations go sideways. Be upfront about what success actually takes:

• Timeline: 3–6 months to see traction; 6–12 for consistent ROI
• Budget: Enterprise SEO in NZ typically runs $7,000–$14,000+ per month, depending on complexity and volume
• Resourcing: Progress depends on having access to content, development, and internal approvals

It’s just as important to set expectations around strategy.

Don’t try to win everything at once. Instead, ringfence one area of opportunity — a clear slice of demand — and focus all the energy there.

Set targets, hit them, celebrate the win, and keep that plate spinning while ringfencing the next opportunity.

That’s how we build momentum for our enterprise SEO clients: one focused, strategic win at a time — then scale it.

Rinnai’s site migration is a great example of what’s possible when SEO is brought in early.

Despite major risks to traffic and visibility, we helped them launch a new platform without losing traffic, and came out with better positions and alignment between marketing and IT teams.

That’s what a well-executed enterprise SEO program is designed to protect and amplify.

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Link SEO to the rest of your marketing mix

Enterprise SEO doesn't live in a silo — and it shouldn’t be pitched that way.

When done well, it lifts the performance of every other channel.

Here’s how it connects the dots:

Paid and Organic as a power couple (not competitors)

SEO lifts your Google Ads Quality Scores by improving landing page relevance, speeding up load times, and aligning copy with what your customers actually search for.

That means lower cost per click, better ad positions, and more bang for your media budget.

When you invest in both the right way, you have an opportunity to dominate the whole search experience: ads, organic results, AI overviews, and zero-click formats.

This matters because attribution is often skewed.

Many enterprise brands see paid ads taking credit for conversions that would’ve happened anyway via branded search.

We’ve seen it firsthand with enterprise clients. We pause their branded ads, then see no real drop in conversions.

The traffic simply shifted to organic, saving thousands in ad spend with no revenue loss.

In other words: SEO often undersells itself.

It quietly picks up the slack and drives performance that gets attributed to paid.

That makes it one of the most profitable levers in your marketing mix — especially when budgets tighten.

👉 Explore our PPC service to see how we approach Organic and Paid Search holistically.

SEO reinforces every brand touchpoint

Your audience doesn’t just find you through ads — they find you through headlines, podcast interviews, and AI summaries.

SEO makes sure you're visible, credible, and consistent wherever that happens:

• Brand & PR: When your PR story lands or your CEO speaks at an event, SEO ensures your brand owns the SERP with high-trust messaging that reflects your positioning. It’s reputation management at scale.
• AI search & zero-click visibility: As search results shift toward summaries, snippets, and voice-led answers, structured SEO copywriting becomes essential.
• Social & email: The best SEO content becomes the best-performing social and email content. It’s built around real user pain points, pre-validated by search demand, and ready to be repurposed across the funnel.

Together, these touchpoints build authority and familiarity, even before someone converts.

From clicks to customers

Done right, SEO brings qualified traffic that converts faster and supports your entire go-to-market motion.

• Sales: Great SEO assets — like product explainers, competitor comparisons, and FAQs — help sales teams close faster by pre-empting objections and reinforcing value.
• Store visits: For businesses with physical locations, Local SEO ensures you show up where it matters most — in the Map Pack, regional searches, and Google Business Profiles.

• Analytics & attribution: SEO data reveals what your customers are really searching for — often before they engage with your brand directly. That insight helps you fine-tune your content, spot new opportunities, and understand what’s driving real results.

Done right, SEO becomes the connective tissue between intent, visibility, and revenue.

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Why investing in corporate SEO matters now

Right now, we're at the beginning of a familiar cycle. With interest rates easing, brands are throwing money at paid search to chase demand recovery.

But it won’t take long before rising costs and flat returns push them to reconsider their channel mix.

And that’s when CMOs and CFOs start asking, “How can we do more with less?” That’s your moment.

Position SEO as the lever that makes every other channel work better — from improving landing page relevance to strengthening brand trust in AI-led results.

There’s a lot of noise around AI reshaping search — and rightly so. AI Overviews, AI-generated answers, and voice-led search are all shifting how users interact with search engines.

But here’s the thing: Google still owns over 90% of the search market across New Zealand and Australia. And Google’s own AI features are powered by strong, structured content and well-optimised websites.

Being visible in AI search results — whether that’s featured snippets, zero-click answers, or AIO-style summaries — comes down to the same fundamentals top SEO practitioners have always focused on:

• Strong technical foundations
• Clean site architecture
• Valuable content that serves humans first
• Clear answers to customer questions and objections
• Thoughtful positioning that reflects your brand at its best

So while the format may shift, the goal hasn’t changed: earn trust, deliver value, and make your content discoverable.

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Ready to unlock the budget for Enterprise SEO impact?

We help marketing leaders turn SEO into a growth lever that the whole board can get behind.

With authentic digital, you get senior practitioners who:

• Know how to prioritise what actually moves the needle
• Work seamlessly with your dev, brand, and legal teams
• Deliver clear, defensible SEO results you can take to the boardroom

No shortcuts. No drama. Just high-trust, high-impact SEO built for major brands across New Zealand and Australia.

Ready to see what’s possible?

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Quick-fire Q&A’s on SEO ROI & budgeting

How long does SEO take to show results in the NZ market?

Most businesses start to see movement within 3–6 months. The real gains tend to come between months 6–12 — especially if content, dev, and stakeholder alignment are handled well.

What should I budget for SEO?

For enterprise SEO in NZ, $7K–$14K/month is a realistic range depending on goals and internal resourcing. More competitive industries (finance, SaaS, property) often land at the higher end. That said, we have run many successful projects with less. We also offer boost projects as individual workloads, or to accelerate your campaign further, get in touch with our Head of Search; Craig Martin to learn more about our boosts and what optimisations we can offer.

Is SEO still worth it if we’re already running Google Ads?

Yes. SEO and SEM work best together. Many of our clients use SEO to improve Quality Score, reduce reliance on branded ads, and unlock new high-intent terms they can’t afford to compete on in paid.

How do I justify SEO if our board only cares about revenue?

Use a revenue-based ROI model. Forecast potential traffic and leads from organic, assign dollar value to conversions, and compare against SEO cost. Then compare this to your paid search CAC.

What if we’ve tried SEO before and didn’t get results?

That’s common. In our experience, failed SEO is usually due to: poor execution, lack of follow-through, lack of experience in SEO at the enterprise level, or internal roadblocks. We focus on practical, achievable improvements — not long audit lists that never get implemented.

Do we need in-house resources to make SEO work?

Ideally, yes — but we can flex around what you have. Some clients have a dev team but no content writers; others have strong brand guidelines but no technical support. We integrate into your systems, not the other way around.

With AI changing everything, is SEO still a smart long-term play?

Absolutely. In fact, AI is raising the bar for SEO. The content that gets surfaced in AI-led search needs to be accurate, valuable, and structurally sound — which is exactly what good SEO has always aimed for. The brands winning in AI search today are the ones with strong technical foundations, clean architecture, and focused, authoritative content. With many legacy sites lagging behind, there’s a rare chance to leap ahead — if you move now.

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