Marketing budgets can be tight, especially when starting a business, so it’s incredibly important to use every penny to maximize profitability.
Here are four really useful strategies to help you get the most out of your budget.
Play to your strengths
Google Analytics is a fantastic tool for measuring what works and what doesn’t. Setting goals in Google Analytics allows you to accurately pinpoint the source for leads and sales. Comparing different sources such as social media, paid advertising allows you to find and focus on the most effective.
A good rule to follow is the ‘80/20 principle’; focus your budget on the 20% of your sales sources that generate 80% of the sales.
Don’t spread yourself too thin
It is easy to assume that representing your brand on all platforms will generate more sales. This often isn’t the case, and results in spreading yourself too thinly and loosing control of how much is spent and who is targeted. Control is important for managing a marketing budget efficiently so it is best to focus only on the platforms where you have complete control of cost and targeting. The more control you have the more you can only focus on what is effective for your business.
Don’t be too quick to scale
All marketing campaigns should be started on a small scale with narrow targeting. This is by far the most effective method of getting the most out of your marketing budget and minimizes the risk of a more costly endeavor. Only once a campaign has been proved as profitable should you think about scaling.
Market across different channels
Retargeting potential clients across a number of different channels is a very effective way of converting sales. Retargeting focuses on potential customers who clicked through an advert but did not buy the product or service. By reusing the initial advertising campaign that the potential customer clicked on, on a number of different online platforms, you will maximize the effectiveness of that campaign without having to take the cost of remaking it.