Spend whatever you need to, but don’t limit your budget based on a fear of spending money on marketing.
It all comes down to confidence led by research, analysis, insight, and planning.
I often speak to owners who say they have a marketing budget, but it’s actually just a number based on where their comfort level sits, rather than it being an active spend to make sales.
If your budget is limited to a small pot of money that’s cautiously spent on marketing activity you are unsure of, then it will fail. Retrospectively tailoring your marketing plans to suit a small budget will make you more reluctant to spend it.
Restricting your marketing spend restricts your marketing activity.
Remember, you spend money on marketing with the aim of recouping a return on investment (ROI) over time. Let’s be honest – It won’t be instant, and it will be difficult to attribute results. But over time, and with a good bit of analysis, you will see that the more you spend, the more you return.
You should never say no to marketing and advertising activity because it’s too expensive. Only say no if you are confident it will not be beneficial to business. You can ascertain this by having a deep understanding of your market and customer behaviours, as well as a compelling value proposition.
Here are the questions you should ask:
- If we spend this money, what results do we want?
- Aside from sales, will this activity increase brand awareness?
- What will be the long and short-term benefits of this activity?
- How do we measure the success of this activity?
- Is our value proposition compelling enough?
- Who will manage this activity – and who will do the work needed?
It’s all about building confidence in the planning process with insight. Know your audience, get your value proposition up to scratch, and use the skills from the right people to deliver it.
Want to understand more about Return on Investment and how to measure it? I wrote about this last year.
