Regardless of what is going on – an economic downturn, worldwide pandemic, or something else – you should never stop promoting your business. Even when your resources are low, you need to do what you can, when you can. If you have a smaller marketing budget, then you should focus on your priorities. Keep reading to learn more about how to optimize your marketing budget, regardless of how small or big it may be.
Make a Marketing Budget
Do you even have a marketing budget? If not, the first step is to create one. Some small businesses are allocating absolutely nothing to their marketing efforts, and they are surprised when the results are much lower than what they expected. Some retailers operate in specialty retail niches that eliminated or cut their promotional budgets during the start of the pandemic last year. This does make sense. After all, customers did not have as much disposable income, they were concerned about the future and stopped purchasing so many unnecessary items. Why should businesses continue putting money into what seems like a huge burning pit on a downward spiral?
There is a good reason to do this. Eventually, people went back to work, began to have extra money, and started purchasing things once again. Once everything got back to normal (at least somewhat), retailers that stayed on message and kept promoting what they offered – even when things were rough – had a significant advantage over the retailers who had waited in the shadows for things to improve. In some situations, retailers who kept their marketing budget in-tact overtook the non-promotional competition. Some even emerged as the one option for customers in their particular niche.
Select a Single Social Presence and Do It Right
When Google originally launched Google +, there was a general panic shown by small business owners. This same sense of panic occurred as Pinterest and Instagram gained popularity, and the same thing is now happening with TikTok. You may wonder how you can take on another social media channel when you already have a million things to do. Now is the time to stop panicking. Instead, look at your resources and be honest with yourself. You will never get really good at social media if you try to do it all.
Choose one or two social media where most of your customers focus your time and money here. Creating a streamlined social strategy will help ensure your resources are spent wisely and that they have the impact you hoped for. The right social media network is dependent on your business. For most B2C businesses, select Instagram, Facebook, or both of these. For B2B companies, consider LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. If someone says that you should get on Snapchat or even TikTok, feel free to say no.
Pay to Play on Social Media
After reading the above tip and choosing the right social platform for your needs, now it is time to consider the right strategy. No longer is free advertising enough. You need to pay to play on social media for the best results. One way to pay-to-play on Facebook, for example, is to boost your posts. Another option is to run ad campaigns. This is going to help ensure that you get the most visibility to the right people.
Optimizing Your Marketing Budget
As you can see, there are several steps you can take to help optimize your business’s marketing budget. Take some time to consider the factors here, and then make the right plan for your business. Remember, every business is unique; however, with the right strategy, you can feel confident that you will have the best possible results from your efforts. Keep this in mind and add your own ideas to the mix. This will help you create a marketing budget that works for your business, and that does not over-extend your resources. Being informed is the best way to ensure you are taking the right steps.
