As the New Year kicks off, it’s time to plan your marketing strategies and budget. Knowing what your marketing plan is and how it should affect your marketing budget is extremely important for financial stability and company growth. However, planning your marketing budget can become complicated if you don’t understand what is required to make your plan realistic and successful.
Your budget depends on your type of business, its size, who you are trying to reach, and how you’ll reach them. Are you reaching out to other businesses or to consumers? Budget conservatively, and make room for promotions as the year progresses. Here are some cost-effective options that can help make your marketing budget and plan manageable:
- Join the Chamber of Commerce.
- Networking.
- Social Media.
- E-Newsletters/Blogging.
- Posters/Flyers.
- Business Cards.
- Public Speaking.
- Press Releases.
Things to think about when working on your marketing budget. What can you afford monthly? Being consistent with your budget is important. Make sure it is something your business can afford. A consistent message will reach more people and will help build trust. Then pick a service or item you want to promote monthly.
Knowing the demographics of your audience is crucial. Tailor your marketing approach based on where your audience can be found. Younger generations are typically found on the internet and social media. Older generations may still watch the news on their television, and are adopting social media quickly. A marketing plan is more or less effective depending on who and where you are targeting. We have had great results with Google search and display ads for all ages. Those ads can be tailored to specific audiences, dates, and times.
Consider different approaches to marketing that may be useful to you:
- Paid ads: Methods such as television, search/display ads, social media ads, and billboards are just a few examples of paid ads. Some of these may hit a broader audience; however, depending on where and when you advertise, you want a buy that targets your specific customer.
- Events/Networking/PR: This is when you try to connect to the community through events and meetings. Attending and hosting events or webinars can be a great networking opportunity, but can have a few costs, such as travel and hosting expenses. Keep this in mind when planning your marketing budget.
- Content Marketing: Methods such as blogs, case studies, videos, graphics, etc. These approaches typically require time, research, and effort to develop and build. Content marketing allows you to tailor information for your audience. It can let them know about specific products or services you have to offer.
Planning and budgeting help make your marketing better. But tracking lets you see if it’s all working right. Setting benchmarks to check if your plan is successful or not is also important. If one approach doesn’t work, adjust your approach and try something that might be more effective. This way, you aren’t spending all of your budget on an approach that doesn’t work. Keep track of what is and isn’t successful. Analyze the data and learn from it. Use data from prior years to help plot out the budget and plan for the next year.
Build on Your Brand!
Branding is essential for marketing and growth. One of the first things to consider is your brand. Your marketing needs a consistent brand to grow your business. The first step to building your brand is outlining what your company’s purpose, mission, and goals are. Your brand needs to echo your purpose, mission, and goals.
The keystone to this brand is a strong logo, a style guide, email, stationery, powerful images and graphics, and a coordinated website. Consistency is key to a good brand. You will be tired of your logo long before your customer recognizes and remembers it. Keep your logo consistent and don’t fall prey to the lure of rebranding when not necessary.
Looking to build your brand, or need help keeping your look consistent? We’ve got you.
Give us a call: 573-221-3635… or send us an email to info@poolecommunications.com.
