Marketers are set to spend at least $104.32 billion in the US in 2021, Small Biz Trends reports. Effective marketing is key to boosting the visibility of your business in an increasingly competitive landscape. Any good marketing strategy relies on a well-managed budget behind it. Although sticking to a budget can be difficult, it’s essential for maximizing your return on investment and boosting your revenue.
Split your budget into multiple smaller budgets
You may have allocated 10% of your revenue towards marketing — however, this doesn’t tell you exactly what you’re spending that money on. When you strategically break down your main budget into multiple smaller budgets, it’s easier to track exactly how much money you’re spending, and on what. You’ll also find it easier to identify and eliminate any marketing strategies that aren’t worth the cost. Figure out how much you separately want to put towards online marketing, your website, and social media campaigns, for example. You may also want to budget for local marketing and TV, print or radio advertising.
Track your results
You should track your marketing budget and the results of your methods to make sure they’re not costing you any more than you planned for. Although you intended to only spend X amount of dollars on a specific marketing campaign, that doesn’t necessarily mean you did. It’s all too easy to overspend without realizing — especially on online advertising. By monitoring your campaigns regularly and tracking every cost that arises, you’ll be in a better position to curb overspending before it has a chance to occur.
Cut ineffective marketing strategies
By tracking your results and paying attention to the return on each investment you make, you’ll soon identify what strategies are working and which are draining your budget without providing results. You may find you’re wasting budget on mobile PPC advertising, for example. Not all businesses benefit from mobile PPC ads. Typically, they’re only worthwhile for businesses like roofers or plumbers that need to target customers with emergency needs. Other businesses like e-commerce stores simply don’t need this urgent pop-up “click-to-call” feature. If you spot marketing strategies that simply aren’t worth the time and effort, you can promptly stop them, adjust your plan, and stay within budget.
Sticking to a marketing budget is rarely easy, but it’s possible to stay on target with these smart strategies. By splitting up your budget, tracking your results, and eliminating ineffective campaigns, you’ll be able to maximize your return on investment.