As the new year steadily approaches, now is the best time to adapt to the changing environment and prepare for the unpredictable by developing a marketing budget plan for your company in 2021.
Since we are immersed in a technologically reliant world, it’s important to incorporate digital elements into your marketing budget plan for 2021.
Three digital elements to add to your marketing budget:
- Digital marketing
- Website redesign
- Customer surveys
I’ll discuss these three components further below.
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Defining a Marketing Budget
A marketing budget details the amount your business plans to spend on marketing material over a defined period of time.
For example, a marketing budget can be planned out for a year, quarter, or month. When you are starting to budgeting for marketing, consider all costs associated with marketing your business.
The cost of marketing businesses commonly include are:
- Advertisements
- Design and Development services
- Equipment
- Marketing tools and technology
- Research
1. Digital Marketing
In a digital world, it’s important to employ digital marketing strategies in order for your company to stay top-of-mind. For small businesses that are looking for a cost-effective marketing strategy, digital marketing is the perfect choice for your business.
When compared to traditional marketing, such as direct mailing campaigns, radio advertising, or billboards, digital marketing is less costly and instantaneous.
Some digital marketing strategies include:
- Email marketing: This type of strategy can be tailored to fit the needs and interests of your leads. Email marketing can specifically be used to send out promotional material, exclusive discounts, or reminders.
- Paid social media advertising: Social media is a powerful and cost-effective tool to use in marketing. Using social media can give your company the ability to connect and engage with your audience. Doing so can help generate new leads and foster relationships with loyal customers. Lastly, social media can attract a wide variety of potential clients or customers.
- PPC campaigns: Google Ads are one of the most common types of pay-per-click campaigns. This can include ads through their Search or Display network. This type of digital marketing strategy is most effective in generating quality leads and increasing website traffic.
2. Website Redesign
Your website is a critical part of the success of your business. The way your website is designed should represent the essence of your company in order for potential clients to understand what you’re all about.
An important element of a website would be keeping up to date with search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is used to enhance your website’s search results. Understanding this process will help your company rank, which will help your business gain more traffic to your company’s website.
More traffic on your site could potentially create more leads and prospecting clients for your company. It’s important to note that this year Google announced how they plan to change website rankings in 2021.
3. Customer Surveys
In order to navigate through these uncertain times, market research can help your organization plan for the unpredictable. In particular, customer surveys can be used to eliminate the uncertainty surrounding your customers’ needs and interests.
Customer surveys can help determine:
- Customer behavior
- Expectations
- Needs
- Purchase history
When creating your marketing budget for the future, consider adding market research to your plan. The research your company pursues can help strengthen your brand’s reputation, and your company can obtain valuable customer feedback to redefine your marketing strategy.
