How much is your marketing worth?
Well, it’s fair to say without spending dollars on self-promotion, you could be left behind by the competition. However, when it comes to your marketing strategy, what should your marketing budget plan include? And better yet, how do you stick to it?
A marketing plan is more than just numbers. Read on for more about how to create a budget plan that you can actually follow…
Identify Marketing Campaigns and Goals
Before you start compiling all the costs of marketing, look ahead to determine if there are any major campaigns you plan to start during the year. If so, you should cost them out and put them in your budget.
Also, think about what your goals for the year are (other than increasing revenue.) That could include raising the popularity of your current products or launching into a new market. Factor in what you’ll need to spend to achieve these goals. For example, be sure to include whether you’ll need to hire additional staff to help you reach a new plateau.
Make Budgets Within a Budget
Your marketing budget doesn’t have to be one lump sum covering all of your marketing activities for the year. It can be broken down into smaller components such as how much you’ve allotted to web impressions, social media campaigns, and print advertising.
Once you have these sub-budgets identified, you can better track your spending for each one. This will also help you to see where you can make marketing spending adjustments in the future. For example, if you find through market research that your clients are finding you more often through online ads than radio ads, then you can shift more dollars to digital.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but you should also account for any spending towards a particular marketing tactic. Without ballparking, that’s the only way you’ll know for sure that you’re in line with what you’ve budgeted.
Consider Your Branding
Your brand is your business’s voice, and how you want your company to be seen by potential customers (and existing clients.) If you haven’t already created your brand strategy, then you should actually be doing this step first.
Creating the right branding for your business can attract the kind of customers and even investors you’re looking for. A logo that you can use across all of your platforms is an important part of a branding process.
Ensure Digital Is in Your Marketing Budget Plan
It’s hard to deny that more and more potential customers are looking for things to buy online first. In fact, statistics show that worldwide digital commerce is expected to grow by more than 7 percent annually.
That presents an opportunity when you’re developing your marketing budget plan. Not only can you spend more on digital display ads, but you can also allocate some spending for a stellar website to drive people to your products or services.
To find out more about how we can help develop your branding, advertising and website, contact us today.
