How To Make Your Marketing Budget Go Further
Every penny counts within your business, however many companies understand that the more you put in, the more you will get out. Your marketing budget doesn’t have to be excessive, a few simple tweaks can make your efforts go much further than you may realise! So how can you make your marketing budget go further?
Keep focussed: Be clear on your objectives and understand your audience. Keeping your audience at the focus of your activity will eliminate any unnecessary actions. Developing tactics that hit these targets will result in a clear, concise plan that is well managed and embraces a mix of tools relevant to your market – making your budget go further. Identify key messages you are wanting to communicate, keeping them consistent throughout your material.
Plan ahead: Take the time to sit down and put together a marketing plan for the following year. Take into account special occasions such as Christmas where you may possibly require additional activity. Putting a plan together will help contain your marketing budget. Talk to your agency about your objectives and they will be able to advice the best strategy for you going forward.
Photography: Purchasing stock photography can quickly become costly. Outsourcing photography can be much more cost effective for your business, look into the cost of both and which is going to give you the best result.
Social Media: Take advantage of social media as an inexpensive marketing tool. Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pininterest are a great way of reaching out to and communicating with your customers. Make sure to keep posts interesting, targeted and often – regular updates will help remind your audience of your offering. Don’t just sell sell sell. The great thing about social media is sharing your knowledge of your industry and building trust amongst your audience. Provide them with helpful tips and articles and engage with your audience – this is particularly great with Twitter. We suggest taking the 20%, 30%, 50% approach to tweeting. 20% of your tweets should be promotional tweets, offers, new products etc. 30% should be facts and information surrounding your industry, and 50% should be engagement – make conversation and ask questions and opinions, the more feedback the better! Marketing isn’t always about sales, getting your name out there with regular communication is equally valuable.
Ask the question: Your agency will be able to provide help and advice on how to make your marketing budget go further – just ask the question!