How Often Are You Reviewing Your Marketing Budget?
Reviewing your marketing budget is a must when you’re running a business. If you’re not checking for an ROI from your marketing efforts, how much you’re spending each month, and which marketing avenues work the best for your business. Without effective marketing, your business won’t be able to reach new customers or connect with the ones you already have. Whether you’re a tech startup in the heart of Texas or a clothing shop in LA, marketing is one of the most important components of running an effective business. Keep reading to learn more about marketing and how often you should review your budget.
Why Review Your Marketing Budget?
As with any other part of your business’s budget, your marketing expenses should be reviewed at least once per month to ensure a few things are happening. For one, your marketing efforts should be creating an ROI or return on investment. This simply means that the amount of money you put into marketing should be creating a return in the form of greater profits, brand awareness, and new leads.
Reviewing your marketing budget ensures that you’re putting the right amount of money into your efforts and that your preferred avenue of marketing is actually working for your business. Whether you’re marketing yourself or working with a marketing firm, it’s always a good idea to know where your money is going and whether or not the expense is actually helping your business.
How Much Should You Spend on Marketing?
How much you spend on marketing each month will determine how many new leads you attract, how many of those leads turn into paying customers, and much more. Marketing is a crucial part of owning a business, and without it, you can’t expect to grow your business or increase your brand awareness.
According to this article, you should be spending at least 2-5% of your sales revenue on marketing; and this is on the low end of the spectrum. Some experts recommend up to 8% of your revenue if you’re getting a good ROI from your efforts. Even if you’re allocating the correct funds to your marketing budget, they mean nothing if you don’t set marketing goals and a plan on how to reach those goals.
Creating a successful business financial plan isn’t always easy, and sometimes requires the help of a professional. If you want to ensure your plan is as accurate and effective as possible, try speaking with a financial advisor to get expert financial advice.
The top financial advisors in the industry will be able to help you craft the perfect plan to balance marketing and other business expenses.
How Should You Spend Your Marketing Budget?
Spending your marketing budget wisely is the best way to ensure you’re getting a return. Set marketing goals first, defining what you wish to achieve with your budget. Are you looking to expand brand awareness and bring in new customers, or make your current customers aware of a special promotion on existing products?
Secondly, you should ensure that you’re sending a clear and consistent message across all of your platforms. This includes websites, social media accounts, etc. Having a different message on one page can throw off new and existing customers alike; making your marketing efforts unsuccessful.
Comparing your website and social media pages to those of your competition can help you readjust your marketing campaign for maximum effectiveness. What does your competition do that you don’t? Where can you improve to meet or rather exceed the efforts of the competition and drive customers toward your brand?
Once you’ve analyzed the competition, your marketing goals, and your budget, you’ll have all the information you need to create the best marketing campaigns possible. Don’t forget to ask your customers about your efforts as well. When a customer makes a purchase, feel free to ask them where they saw the ad for your business. This will help you figure which platforms are performing better than others. Whether you are HVAC company or an attorney trying to land a big client using digital marketing is of paramount importance.
Why Marketing Matters
So why does marketing matter so much? Marketing is essentially education condensed into short, information-rich ads. The purpose of marketing goes well beyond advertising products and services to customers in the hopes that they’ll make a purchase. Educating your customers on who you are as a brand, what your values are, and what you can offer helps create a very human connection; something the customer will appreciate and admire. Enlisting the help of an eCommerce development company can be huge for specialized businesses. Take the time to make sure that the companies you pay to help you have experience and have generated results.
Your business offers a unique set of values and services/products that can change customer’s lives for the better. Customers should understand that you’re more than just a product; you’re a group of people that want to make a positive impact in their lives.
The Most Successful Companies Market Well
What do all of the most successful companies in the world have in common? Good marketing strategies. Don’t underestimate the power of a good marketing campaign; it can revolutionize your business for the better and bring about much greater brand awareness.
Companies like Nike, Ford, and Verizon are some of the most profitable in the country, and, incidentally, are also among the highest spenders on marketing. While you likely won’t have a budget anywhere close to the billions these companies spend, you should still be investing a portion of your revenue back into marketing.
Conclusion
Marketing is an integral part of any business and an expense that shouldn’t be overlooked or underfunded. With the right marketing efforts, your business and your customer base will grow; and with more growth comes more profits. Remember to ensure that your efforts are creating an ROI, and to set clear marketing goals when you’re creating your campaigns.