It is always a difficult any business owner faces when things get tough: “Where do I cut budgets?”. The unfortunate reality is that marketing budgets are the first to go. In reality, that should be the last budget to be cut or should actually be increased. Here is why.
Increased Marketing Budgets Works
It is as simple as that. When you spend more on marketing, in the right way, it works. Why else would marketing exist? Granted, if you have spent a lot of money on marketing and have not seen the return on investment (ROI) you need, things need to be reconsidered. In that scenario, your marketing plan or marketing strategy needs to be evaluated, corrected and implemented. while marketing is a strange concept for many people to wrap their heads around, in it probably the most important part of any business, apart from your product or service offering.
I have heard it many times in my life, “I don’t know what you do.”. This is a statement that has always left me feeling perplexed. But why? I have realised that not everyone understands marketing and the principles needed to successfully build a brand or sell a product or service. This is exactly why advertising agencies or marketing agencies like Shrike Marketing & Design exist. Not everyone can think like a marketer. So enlisting the help of a marketer your marketing spend will become more focused, targeted and should see a better ROI.
Marketing Agency vs Marketing Myself
Imagine that you have the best doughnut shop in town, you have a prime location and set to start a doughnut empire, but no customers are walking through the door. Where are they? Well, they don’t know you are there. You took care of everything except the sign. It may not be an example that is 100% accurate, but hopefully, it illustrates that without the proverbial sign on your front door your customers don’t know that you are there. But can you market your own business? Yes, and in many cases successfully. However, there are two possible pitfalls.
The first is that you have a doughnut empire to run. You need to make sure the ingredients are ordered, the invoice and admin are up to date. The ovens stopped working. One of your employees is not performing. You are running a business and most often don’t have time to manage the marketing with the attention it deserves. Thinking of the next big idea, or how can you improve the campaign for better results. Have you looked at the data to find the opportunities? There are so many little things that need attention to improve any marketing campaigns.
The second is that you may not be a marketer. Now, this should not cause offense but illustrate that we all have our strengths. If you do not live in a marketing world you don’t see things as a marketer. Marketers generally see the world in visuals with the layer of analysis to see why was that image used, who is it meant for, how good or bad the font is, does the text makes sense, why did they use that medium and so much more. While muggles see a pretty picture.
The conclusion on why increasing your marketing budget is important when things are difficult
In conclusion, if the marketing efforts for your business are done right, the ROI will increase. Why is that important when times are tough? When customers are no longer walking through the doors the increased marketing budget coupled with an improved marketing strategy will fetch new customers. Most small businesses rely on word of mouth but when people stop talking, you need to talk louder.
Speak to us about your marketing strategy and how we can help improve it. Our ultimate goal is to bring those customers to you. But increased budgets does not have to mean spending millions, it means where you may spend nothing, spend something even if it is small. Or if you have a small budget, increase it as your business grows. For every month with positive growth, increase the budget proportionally. We are here to help, even if it is a brainstorming session.