subject: How To Develop Your Marketing Budget To Ensure Maximum Return On Investment [print this page] All business owners want to make the most from their marketing budget so it is critical you allocate it to the best performing marketing activity. If you are tracking your campaigns effectively and understand the incremental performance of them you will be in a strong position to get this right. Many people continue with the same marketing activity without tracking it and refining it. This is especially the case if a business is doing well. However, if you analyse your campaigns and implement your learnings your results will improve.
1.Review your marketing results
Review in detail your campaign analysis by marketing channel. Are there certain campaigns that are not performing for you? Are you spending too much of your budget on one particular channel? This is the critical stage of budget planning as it is the basis for your new budget allocation. You need to review each channel and decide if it is worth continuing. You might simply cut some non performing cells and reallocate that budget to other activity.
2.Review your marketing mix
Do you have a solid channel mix? Consider your channel mix not only by cost but also by resources. How much time does it take to create an email campaign versus a postcard mailing. You want to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket which is a common mistake. Imagine if you were only marketing on a social network and they suddenly banned marketing.
Are there new lower cost marketing channels that you can launch in the upcoming twelve months? Are certain channels saturated? Once you have allocated your budget to the best performing activity, consider apportioning money to new channels that be cheaper in the longer term.
3.Test and learn
It is critical that you allocate some budget to test and learn activity. If you dont continue to innovate then you might be risking sales over the longer term.
4.Cost control
Look for cost savings wherever possible, aim to use lower cost channels and use internet marketing which can often be free of charge. If you do need to print marketing materials, try and gain economies of scale such as printing three months of stock to obtain discounts.
5.Research
Customer research is critical to your business so it is important to set aside marketing budget to carry out research projects. This doesnt have to cost anything as you could simply call up your customers and ask them what they think about your product or service. Alternatively you could employ a research agency to do this for you.
You can use the results of research to improve your product or service to the customer and this will ensure you are achieving maximum ROI on your campaigns. Research is a step that is often missed in marketing so try and build it into your plans.
These are a few easy to follow steps to ensure that you are allocating your marketing budget to the best ROI performing activity. This is not an annual process but should be constantly reviewed to ensure that you are always getting the most from your money. This is even more relevant for small business owners who are spending their hard earned cash on marketing.
