Making the most of your marketing budget

Whether you operate a small or medium-sized business or a larger enterprise, setting a marketing budget can be of critical importance to help boost your company's profile and attract new customers. While it's usually a good rule of thumb to allocate as much to marketing as your finances allow, you don't have to spend too heavily on marketing when you take advantage of the best value methods to promote your business at relatively little cost.



It's not unusual for the marketing budgets of large companies to exceed 20 per cent of sales during peak brand-building years, but most companies aim for between 2 and 10 per cent of sales, whatever their size. Businesses that are reluctant to spend money on marketing in order to save money are often pursuing a false economy, as in many competitive sectors it's essential to spend money in order to make money - meaning putting together a tailored marketing plan that satisfies your business goals is an essential step.



There are many factors that need to be considered when you're putting together your marketing budget, including the current state of your brand. If you are looking to reach out to a large number of new clients and customers, or you've recently rebranded and wish your company logo to be seen far and wide, you will probably have to spend more than a company whose profile is already reasonably well established. However, there are many low-cost avenues to explore when promoting your brand.

These can sometimes be as simple as branded products bearing your company's logo, such as promotional pens and stationery or corporate gifts. Producing such items can be very low-cost, but you should ensure you only purchase as many items as you're likely to need, to avoid paying too much or ending up with warehouses full of undistributed stock.



Marketing campaigns on billboards and television and magazine ads are among the more expensive methods of brand promotion, but can nevertheless be highly effective at reaching the greatest number of people - if your marketing budget stretches that far. Other promotional activities won't take place in the physical world at all, but will rather be restricted to the virtual world of the internet. Online advertising can also be a highly effective way to reach a significant number of people when you choose the right websites, and your company could also make great use of branded websites, blogs and email campaigns to drive traffic to your core websites.



Isla Campbell writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.