Marketing Budgets: Advice and Tips
For new businesses, or for those who do not regularly undertake marketing, setting your marketing budgets can be intimidating. There are so many options for businesses nowadays. With a large range of traditional and digital marketing methods available, where should you put your money? Furthermore, how much should you allocate? and who should you go with?
Marketing budgets can be tricky to work out. They are dependent on a variety of different factors, both internal and external. It is common for us to speak to prospective clients who have no idea what to do.
This post is therefore here to help give some advice concerning marketing budgets. We want to see our client’s marketing perform to the highest standards. Regardless of a budget, we can tailor and put together a bespoke package that will work for your business. Unfortunately, we see many companies out there buying into dreams that are simply not possible. We will give you some honest truths and tips on what to look out for when purchasing.
Objectives
Marketing budgets, like the majority of budgets are dependent on your business’ objectives. Depending on what it is you are trying to achieve, different levels of financial commitment are required. If you are a new company, brand awareness is key so the majority or even all of your budget may go on this. Alternatively, if you are looking to launch a new product into your already established portfolio, you may already have foundations in place which may help you save money.
Too good to be true?
Have you ever seen an ad, or promoted post where you can get ‘20,000 leads for £300’? Alarm bells should be ringing if you ever see these. They may sound like a dream for those with a low budget that want to rapidly grow. However, these lists are often poorly targeted, rarely cleansed and worked on by multiple companies prior to going to you. By the time you contact these records, they are more often than not fed up and will complain.
Furthermore, unfortunately for buyers of these lists, the company or person selling them will often disappear or completely ignore them once the money goes through. Be wary therefore of deals that are too good to be true. With data and lead generation, there are a lot of costs on the seller’s end that the buyer does not see but is included in their price. This includes costs of sourcing, cleansing, appending data etc. For lead generation, it will include the costs of qualifying these leads and includes the caller’s time, call cost, data cost etc. So when we see deals like the one listed above, we know full well that it is not going to perform.
With professional suppliers, the package you are presented with is therefore an inclusive price that is legitimate and will result in genuine leads. This comes back to a previous post where we inform about mass vs tailored marketing lists. For the benefit of your business, ensure that you are investing in quality. Look at the seller and what they are offering before you commit to a purchase.
Viewing marketing as an investment
Ultimately, marketing is a long term investment. Over time, you begin to build relationships and trust with your prospects. For new businesses, this is especially important as when you begin marketing, people do not know who you are. You need to market on an on-going basis in order to get a foot in the door and increase your brand awareness. Marketing is therefore essential for business growth. if you do not market, your competitors still will and they will benefit from your inactivity as your potential prospects will end up buying from them.
This does however, require more budget to accommodate. However, marketing is a tool to drive sales. The emphasis and focus should always be on return on investment that your campaigns generate. Focusing purely on cost will not be the most beneficial move for your business.
Unfortunately many companies do not view marketing as this. However, it is an important mindset to have when you are looking to expand your business. Undertaking a very small campaign or trial will not have the same effects as a large, ongoing campaign. Trials can be very effective, but they must be undertaken correctly.
Research into what is currently working
Different marketing methods work differently across multiple industries. What may work in one industry will not necessarily be as effective in another. Different demographics and companies search for different things when they are looking to purchase. Therefore, you should not necessarily be set on one marketing method only as this may not be the most effective choice. Marketing companies have great knowledge of multiple industries. They know first hand what works better and are in a position to offer you with the best choice moving forward.
As different marketing techniques require differing levels of budget, it is difficult to say at the start how much you should set aside for marketing. Through conducting market research, either yourself or through a third party, you can gain valuable knowledge on the marketing in your industry. This will help you moving forward as to how you should market and the level of resources needed to do this effectively.
Also, look into what your business has done in the past. Previous campaigns give great insight into how your prospects respond to your business. This can help show you what may be able to be improved and strengthened for the next campaign. Ultimately, do not be afraid to test multiple methods.
Summary
Your marketing budgets are crucial. They will help shape the way your business is seen by your prospective clients. They can be difficult to work out but ensure that you do your research before committing to anything. You want to make sure that your budget brings the biggest return on investment possible. You achieve this by working with reputable marketing companies with access to highly quality marketing data. Ultimately, your budget is dependent on how much you can afford to put into marketing. However, bear in mind that the more you put in, the greater it will perform and help grow your business.
Impact Marketing are a data owner. We have access to a number of business and consumer data lists. Furthermore, as a full marketing agency, we offer a range of marketing services to complement this data.
If you would like more information on how we can make your budget work the hardest for your business, get in touch today and a member of the team will be happy to discuss this further with you.