How to Define Your Marketing Budget

We’ve all heard the saying, “You gotta spend money to make money.” And sure, it’s true, but it’s also misleading. Spending a huge amount of money doesn’t necessarily guarantee you’ll generate even more money. Nowhere is this more evident than with your marketing budget. Just because you’ve allocated a large portion of your budget to people and tools who are focused on marketing your business doesn’t guarantee that you’ll generate double or triple that number in revenue.

Instead, you have to take the time to define your marketing budget. Exactly how will you spend every single penny, and can you actually prove a return on your investment? Today we’re covering some questions to ask yourself that will help define your marketing budget and ensure you’re not spending more than you’re making. 

Which Roles Do You Need to Fill?

Generating leads for your company might not take a village, but it will definitely require a growth team. You need to assemble a team of people that will help you increase website visitors and convert them into leads and customers. The exact roles you decide to fill will depend on your business and your budget, but some to consider include:

• Strategist: Your digital marketing strategy needs to evolve and change to consistently meet the needs of prospects. Having one person in charge of this strategy makes it far less likely that any balls are dropped or potential leads fall through the cracks. 
• Copy architect: Content is critical to a successful digital marketing strategy, so this role is a must have in order to help your business grow and succeed online. 
• Designer: In order to quickly capture the attention of visitors and leads, you need to quickly draw in their eye and attention. A good designer can help you accomplish this with anything you put online, from social posts to website pages. 
• Developer: A good developer is pretty essential to marketing your business online. You’re constantly needing new pages created, updates to your website, or small tweaks to help keep everything running smoothly. 
• Ad specialist: If you have room in your budget for an ad specialist, you won’t regret it. Ads on Google or social platforms can have an incredible ROI if executed carefully and intentionally.

Do You Know the Tools and Software You Need?

While the actual people you hire to be on your marketing or growth team are your best and most important investment, you’re also going to need some tools to help them reach their maximum efficiency and productivity. We’re going to sound like we’re repeating ourselves here, but the choices you make are going to differ from company to company. However, these are some that almost all businesses will want to have in their digital toolbelt.

• CRM and Marketing Automation Software: If you purchase no other tool for marketing your business, make sure you at least invest here. While some of the options currently available might keep these two separate, many companies (like our favorite, Hubspot) have combined the two. Whether you go for an all-in-one option or choose separate ones, we cannot stress enough how important it is to include these tools in your marketing budget. 
• Design software: If you’re going to hire a good designer, make sure you’re also purchasing the tools they need to do their job. A design software like Adobe will be worth what you spend on it. 
• Conversational marketing: Some visitors come to your website ready to buy, or with one question that will seal the deal for them. Rather than forcing these prospects to have to fill out a form and wait for an email, cater to their needs with a chat feature that makes it easy for them to get the answers they need and then start purchasing. 
• Tools for internal communication: Part of hiring the right people for the job is getting them the tools they need to be effective. And you’ll want to include tools for communication on that list. We personally love Slack, but there are many options available to choose from. 
• Organizational tools: The last “tool” you’ll want to have is some means to organize and share files, tasks, and more. Whether you choose an option like Hive or go with something like AirTable or Google Drive, make sure your team has the ability to stay organized and on task. 

What Will You Spend On Digital Ads?

It can feel a bit ironic to talk about building a digital marketing strategy that is designed to increase the visitors to your website and the leads that are generated there, and then also talk about using something like paid search or digital ads. But the truth is that online ads have an important role to play in digital marketing, and can send more visitors to your website, where you can help them become leads and customers. 

Not sure which ads are the right fit for your business or budget? Check out this helpful blog post. 

Have You Planned For Emergencies?

In the same way that your personal budget needs to include a little extra for emergencies or incidentals, your marketing budget should make room for these things, too. You have no idea when you might need to make a new hire, up your ad spend, or have a need for a new campaign. It’s far better to be ready for these things than to cut them completely out of your budget and have to literally pay for it later. 

If you’re feeling concerned about fitting all of these things into your budget, one way to get more bang for your buck is by working with a digital marketing agency. With what you pay this agency each month, you’ll have access to a wide range of roles and skill sets, as well as tools and software to help increase your company’s reach and success. 

Want to learn more about what it looks like to work with an agency? We’d love to meet with you, hear about your business and needs, and share a little about our team and our process. Interested in working together? Set up a time to meet with us below!