A common problem for all businesses is not having enough money to put into place all the possible marketing ideas. Quite simply, promotional opportunities exceed the budget available.

I’ve seen this with marketing budgets in the millions of dollars, as well as with marketing budgets in the thousands of dollars.

This means you have to make choices. You have to choose which marketing tactics to deploy. And choose how much you should spend on your marketing program.

How much to spend
Industry statistics show that – generally speaking – marketing budgets fall within the range of 2% to 5% of sales (i.e. turnover). This applies to a wide cross section of industries.

However, use those figures with some caution. Your marketing budget requirements are often determined by what you are trying to achieve for your business. In times of market penetration, or during drives to obtain more clients, your marketing expenditure may be higher than usual.

During a recent marketing workshop I presented my Marketing Mind Map concept to delegates and explained how this is used to focus on the marketing tactics you need to be effective.

Create a marketing budget
Once you have decided on the tactics, you can place a cost on the tactics and structure a month-to-month marketing budget.This also allows you to get an idea of expenditure required over different months. Then you can align expenditure with revenue flows to ensure adequate cash flow.

This approach also means that you are not as susceptible to taking up promotional offers ‘on the spot’. This is particularly the case for local sponsorships and advertising in local and industry publications.

These opportunities can be costly if they don’t bring in results. Unless it is part of your pre-arranged marketing schedule you should think twice before committing to them. If they are truly worth inclusion in your budget, maybe you should reallocate funds so you can still meet your overall objectives without going over budget.

One of the major keys to being successful with your marketing is to have a plan you are following. No matter how big – or small – your marketing budget is, by following a planned approach you will squeeze maximum value from your investment.

(Source Articles Base)
* Stuart Ayling is a freelance writer
* The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of SME Times.