The beginning of the year sets your standard for the rest of it where your budget is concerned. Here’s how to make it count.
Measure Cost Per Channel
Determine the actual cost per channel in the attractive dashboard, considering all the hidden costs that everyone overlooks. For each channel, do this. Email, influencer marketing, collaborations, events, SEO, and that podcast you began but stopped after six episodes. Depressing oneself is not the aim (though it can be). It’s to determine the actual cost per outcome before spending an additional dollar.
Look at What Worked
You know how much it will cost. Fantastic. Instead of using vanity metrics that appear nice at a quarterly review, you now need to link them to real business outcomes. Get your CRM information. Sort by source. Your statistics will tell you what to kill and where to intensify. if you pay attention to it.
Repurpose When Necessary
Smarter content is what you need, not more material. An entire campaign ecology should be powered by a compelling piece of content. It can also be a statement for your upcoming sales deck, an online seminar talking point, or a brief video. Recent research indicates that 65% of marketers believe that repurposing content is the most economical approach to stretch their budget. Make sure you’ve extracted every bit of value from what you already have before requesting more money.
Justify Your Actions
Prepare to defend your move. Create statistics and dashboards that show if your expenditures are profitable or not. Your budget becomes “essential” if you can demonstrate a clear return on investment. When finance starts sharpening the pencils, marketers who monitor spend-to-revenue ratios monthly rather than on a quarterly basis will be in a far better position to maintain their position.
Thinking Like an Entrepreneur Instead of a Bean Counter
Your marketing budget is already in jeopardy if you treat it like a spreadsheet of expenses. Accountants consider costs. Venture capitalists have a return-oriented mindset. Think of your marketing strategy as a portfolio of assets with growth expectations for each dollar. Venture capitalists fund results, not ideas. Your campaigns should be no different. This small modification transforms your budget from an expense to an asset in the eyes of leadership. Your objective is to multiply money rather than spend it.
Keep this conversation going by commenting below, liking this piece, sharing this article, calling me directly at (812-336-1727), or e-mail me at (andrew@lambertconsulting.biz).
