With all the different strategies, channels and options out there right now, how do we decide how to set up our marketing budget in a way that maximises results, minimises costs and delivers the best ROI?
Here’s a breakdown to help you make sense of it all.
A Marketing Budget Breakdown
Marketing has finally started to get the recognition it deserves. Be sure that you spend a percent of your resources towards it during this financial period and you will see results. Carefully allocate each Pound to its purpose and try your utmost to stick to it.
New campaigns and other launches are known to throw a spanner in the works which can’t be helped as the benefits far outweigh the costs. If you don’t have historical data to rely on, it might be a good idea to have a nest egg within your budget that you can call on if need be. This also works for any unpredictable costs. Think of this as a ‘just in case’ section.
The best place to start is with an outline of your entire business’ detailed budget according to the data that you have on your company along with your short-term and long-term goal. This budget can be adjusted with each investment and idea that you implement. This all ends up contributing to data that will help with your yearly budgeting in all sectors, as well as the marketing section. It’s okay to use a variety of metrics to get a feel for your campaigns and their results. This will fine tune your marketing budget and help you to plan finance for the most effective plans, launches and channels, etc.
Each budget is unique but here is a basic guide that will help you get started or fine tune an existing budget.
40-50%: Plan Campaigns And Create Content
The largest section of your marketing budget should be catered toward campaign planning and content creation. The way to best understand your return on your marketing investments is to have focused campaigns in place to start with. It’s ideal to keep your goals structured according to the stage of the customer lifecycle you’re focused on.
No matter the campaign objective, the content within will function as the substance. Having a solid content strategy isn’t something that all companies have in place, but it is something that boasts great results if done properly. This is where digital content such as blogs, social platform posts, videos, and such come in. Providing value and engaging with customers is a huge part of what makes a company image great, not to mention, relevant.
20-30%: Paid Adverts
Organic reach does do a lot of the heavy lifting, however, providing a paid boost to the numbers is something that shouldn’t be overlooked. Paid advertising is how you get a leg up within the market. This is also a must if you’re looking to grow your reach or tap into a new market. This section of the budget is where you will find Pound-per-Pound results and revenue conversions. Thanks to the various targeting options available today, you can simply boost a post on Facebook and extend your reach exponentially.
10%: Marketing Tools
There are various marketing tools and software out there that can streamline essential tasks. This includes software that is designed to schedule posts on various social platforms for one. Another example is an automated email programme that will send your newsletters and promotions for you. Analytics are even taken care of thanks to certain tools. Efficiency and automation are the flavours of the day within this section of your budget.
10%: Internal Marketing
Your employees make up an integral part of your marketing strength. This section of your budget will consist of you getting your workforce aligned as a team and supportive of your goals. By trying to ‘sell’ workers on the company goals and culture, the results will include increased morale, motivation and knowledge. Invest in teambuilding, seminars, training and maybe even some friendly competition. All of these efforts will earn possible quality hires and new leads.
5-10%: Events
Holding events or at least participating in them is the way to deepen your market presence and show that yours is a real-world business with its own unique identity. Events are also content gold mines as there are many different ways to advertise before, boost content after, and offer behind the scenes shots during. Events are great in-person marketing opportunities that allow real connections to form between customers and your business.
If you’re looking for tips and tricks or state of the art B2B and B2B campaigns, contact us today. Helping tech innovators connect to customers since their launch, Direct Access is who to call if marketing is what you’re needing help with.
