Marketing is a game of numbers, where the more you spend, the more the likelihood of reaching more customers. However, business marketing departments are not run on unlimited budgets, and increasing marketing costs directly affects the bottom lines of businesses.
The solution to getting the most out of your marketing budget is to come up with strategies that allocate your marketing resources wisely by spending more on marketing methods with high yield results and reallocating resources for methods that are not producing results. The problem is that these decisions are not always objective, and in most cases, marketers press the panic button too early before a marketing strategy starts to yield results. Failing to get your marketing strategy right on the first try on a limited budget may even result in a business failure.
Managing a marketing budget
Effectively managing your marketing is not always about reducing the cost of marketing or reallocating resources to areas where, as a marketer, you think will have higher yields for your business. It also involves maximizing the returns of the amount being used on the marketing. Therefore, when run properly, even some expensive marketing strategies can be very effective in maximizing the return on the investment made on marketing. Below are some tips on how to get high returns and better results for your marketing strategy.
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Repurpose existing content
Creating new content is costly, and regardless of how little your marketing budget is, you must have content to use in your marketing. Quality content also takes time and resources that may not be easy to come by for a small business.
If you don’t have the budget to create something new, then it’s time to consider repurposing other forms of content that you may have into something new.
Some of the ways repurposing content can be achieved include turning webinars into blog posts, social media posts, eBook material, videos and presentations. Marketers can also turn eBooks into blog posts and social media posts and presentations into infographics and social media posts.
You can also create quick blog posts containing roundups of previously published articles related to each other. Republishing old blog posts with new updates is also a good way of recycling your marketing content. -
Test your marketing strategy before spending
One of the surest ways of knowing if your marketing strategy will succeed or fail is by testing it first.
In marketing, minute details such as confusing messaging, typing errors and misplaced data can result in loss of subscribers and potential clients. To ensure that your marketing strategy is returning a high yield, you need to test it before implementing it.
This can be done using various testing strategies, such as using trial versions or demo versions for marketing services before subscribing to them. This can help you get a clear picture of what you are paying for, the effectiveness of the marketing service and how much return you expect from the strategy should you decide to subscribe to the service.
Sending marketing emails to your mailing list can also be a daunting task, and mistakes can be costly. To avoid this, always ensure that you send yourself a test email before sending them to your clients. This helps you determine if they render properly, have grammatical errors and have the right messaging for the targeted clients.
Ads being run should also be tested first, by getting opinions from other people on what they think of the Ad. This can help you come up with Ads that have the desired effect. -
Outsource marketing skills
With a low marketing budget, it may sound counterproductive to outsource marketing expertise. The truth is, it costs a fortune to hire experts such as consultants or agencies, and the upfront cost may seem unrealistic. However, if you are implementing a long-term marketing strategy, this may be the best shot your business may have to get your marketing strategy right.
Experts can give your business additional expertise and resources that can drive growth rapidly. Experts can also use innovative new strategies with surgical precision meant to increase your return on marketing investment by using data-based decision-making to create a path to success. -
Use data on your marketing strategy
Decision-making in your business should be data-oriented. Every marketing strategy that is run should be tracked and the results measured to determine whether the strategy is getting the required results.
This way, you will be able to determine which of your strategy are working and producing results and which ones are just taking your resources without giving yields. This will, in turn, help you in resource allocation, where slow strategies and low return on investment strategies are eliminated and the resources are reallocated to high-yielding strategies. -
Know your audience
Knowing your ideal audience ensures that you are able to target your content towards them, which ensures a good return on your marketing investment.
There are also subgroups that exist within your audience that engage with your content differently, and as a marketer, it is important to know how to cater to such subgroups also. By implementing a considerate strategy for your audience, you are able to get more specific content with greater engagement and higher traffic, ensuring that your marketing budget is well utilized.
