by Lindsey Winsemius - Posted 5 years ago
According to recent statistics, people are spending more on digital marketing than ever before. In fact as of last year, companies are now spending more money on digital marketing than on TV advertising.
But how much should you be spending and how can you make the best use of your digital marketing budget?
How much to spend on marketing will vary from company to company. There are many different factors to consider when establishing a marketing budget and there is no black and white answer.
As a general rule, most companies expect to spend an average of 5% of a their revenue on marketing as a whole. Of course, this will vary depending on how established your company is. New companies may need to spend between 12-20% in the first year to establish and increase brand awareness.
According to a Gartner study, 67% of CMOs planned to increase their spending in digital advertising in 2018 and companies are generally prioritizing digital over other forms of marketing as we move into 2019.
Whatever budget you have, you need to spend it wisely to make your money go further and maximize your results. Here are some top tips on how to further your digital marketing budget for the rest of 2018 and beyond.
Plan Ahead
When it comes to marketing you should always plan ahead. Research your customers, your competitors and if you’re an established company, analyse your past marketing efforts to create the best possible campaign for your brand.
With so much content and information available online for today’s users, it’s imperative that your output is considered, on-point and offers added value. Winging it with ad-hoc content and advertising is not good enough. A well thought-out approach will prove far more successful and cost-effective.
Social Media Marketing
There’s no denying the power of social media. With a huge audience of over 3 billion users worldwide in 2018, social media should be a staple part of any digital marketing campaign.
Aside from access to a massive global audience, another great thing about social media is that setting up an account or page is completely free, even for businesses. Some budget is required in order to optimise these pages however but it is are far more cost-effective than traditional advertising.
Post boosting and Facebook advertising are two fantastic ways of engaging new and existing customers. Facebook advertising allows you to target a specific audience based on numerous factors like location, gender, interest, browsing behaviours, job title and relationship status.
A Sydney based wedding band for example could target potential customers based on their relationship status (engaged), location (Sydney) and their past browsing habits and searches (‘wedding music band cost’). So not only are they ensuring that they are reaching people who are genuinely interested in their services but they are also not wasting money on advertising to those who are not. Social media therefore offers a targeted advertising approach that you simply can’t achieve with television or print advertising.
Google My Business is a free service offered by Google to help you optimize your online presence and gain new customers. And with 95.15% of Australians using Google as their primary search engine, it’s a tool you really can’t afford to ignore.
GMB allows you to register your business and provide vital information like opening times, services, website address and store location to help people find your business. This is particularly useful for local businesses who want to attract nearby customers.
Google is constantly updating this tool to include new and useful features but some recent updates to look out for and utilize right now are:
Implementing and utilizing a Google My Business listing is an absolute must for any marketing campaign, and as it’s absolutely free to use, it’s suitable for any budget! Find out how to set up a Google My Business account and more free tools Google offers for businesses.
The last two years has seen an increase of almost 10 million daily views in mobile video. And according some research, customers are 64-85% more likely to purchase a product after watching video content.
Some research suggests e-mail open rates can be boosted by 19% and click-through rates can be increased by 65% just by including the word “video” in the subject line. Other research suggests that providing information by video as opposed to orally or in writing increases information retention by 55%.
Video should therefore be a vital component in your digital marketing strategy. But if your budget doesn’t allow for expensive and elaborate productions, there are ways to use video content without spending a lot of money.
Short and snappy videos on your Instagram page are easy to produce, engage your audience and are highly cost effective. Or sharing relevant or entertaining videos from other sources on your social media channel is also a great way to engage audiences without having to spend any money (providing that you don’t break any copyright laws). Not only does it attract people to your page but by providing content that is relevant and useful to your audience, you create a reputation for yourself as a knowledge, relevant and valuable brand in your field.
There’s simply no denying that the future of marketing lies in the digital space. Focusing a significant amount of your budgets and efforts on this area will help you increase brand awareness and maximize revenue.
But focusing on digital marketing doesn’t always have to be costly. By taking advantage of free tools and carefully planning your marketing output, you can make your budget go further and ensure you access the right audience for your business.
