How Should You Spend Your Marketing Budget?

Often, marketing comes down to a question of budget. Yes, we all wish we could wave a magic wand and make our small business marketing budget infinite, but for most of us that isn’t realistic.

(Side note, if you DO have an unlimited marketing budget, please call me)

Like every other aspect of small business ownership, or adulthood really, marketing is about balancing competing priorities. I tend to see clients in one of three situations.

Situation #1: I’ve got money, but no customers.

This is actually a great situation to be in. Yeah, yeah. You don’t have any customers. But you have almost everything you need to solve that problem. If you have a healthy budget, all the tools are at your disposal. Sometimes the more creative and intricate marketing campaigns are designed that way to make up for a lack of cash.

If you have some money to spend, you can leverage paid advertising, which is a very efficient way to draw leads. It’s expensive but undoubtedly effective.

Situation #2: My business shows promise, but I’m short on cash.

This is a slightly more challenging problem to address. You know you’re destined for super stardom (or, you know, solvency) but right now you have to meet payroll and keep the lights on.

That’s okay. You still have options, they just might take a bit more of your time. Many small business owners don’t realize some of the most effective marketing tactics are capital F-R-E-E, free. Seriously! One of these methods is to maximize the effectiveness of your Google My Business profile, which I’ve written about in the past.

Situation #3: It’s hard to explain what exactly my business does.

This is the biggest problem of the three. If you don’t have a practiced, well-written spiel about why you are the best and why your audience should choose you, none of your other marketing endeavours is going to perform optimally.

If you ever find yourself rambling when people ask you what you do, you’re lacking brand messaging. By creating compelling descriptions of exactly what you stand for, you’re saving time and effort for years to come.

See, most small business marketing is backwards. They choose the tactics first (like social media or a new website), and then they think about what they’re going to say.

You already know why your buyer should choose you. The challenge is defining that reason in clear, simple messages you know will bring in leads.

I have built a simple marketing assessment to help you determine where you should spend your marketing budget. It takes just a couple of minutes to fill out, and you’ll get an idea of what steps are next for you.

[interact id=”62295cccfeec8e001822b1bc” type=”quiz” mobile=”false”]