So, How Much Should You Spend on Marketing in 2020?
“How much should I spend on my marketing budget?” is a highly individualized question, for what it’s worth, and every business will have a different answer. Some businesses will have much more wiggle room in their budgets than others; those who are just starting out and who have high overhead costs, for example, may struggle to invest a ton of ad spend in expensive PPC campaigns. It’s still important to remember, however, that no businesses can afford not to invest in marketing.
The average marketing budget can vary wildly by industry:
Some small businesses invest between 1-4% of their annual budget in marketing
Some medium-sized businesses and larger will opt for closer to 9-12% of their annual budget
A lot depends on your overall overhead costs and the capital available to you.
As a writer who works from home, for example, my overhead is very low; I pay for an assistant, invoicing software, services for an accountant, and credit card fees as my primary expenses. This is nothing Digital Marketing Companies in Houston compared to businesses shelling out thousands of dollars in storefront leases and shipping fees, so I have more money to invest in marketing than someone with much higher overhead. A good place to start is to use a free (no need to add to your budget!) marketing budget calculator and see what they recommend. These calculators will typically ask for information about your revenue, your industry, and how aggressive you want to be with your marketing campaigns and give you a rough estimate of where to start.
Check out these marketing calculators (which can make great budget planning tools):
Insivia
Insivia2
Hook Agency
Hook
WebStrategies
Web Strategies Budget Calculator
Many of these calculators will include a suggested breakdown of how to divide up the ad spend, though this shouldn’t be followed religiously; different brands will want to prioritize different platforms. A small business that is just starting out and wants to find customers in a hurry, for example, will likely need to invest more in outbound campaigns like PPC advertising, while one that’s been around longer may choose to invest more in referral programs.
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Marketing on a Shoestring Budget: The Basics
If you’re seeing these numbers and starting to sweat a little, take a deep breath – there’s no minimum amount that you need to spend on marketing. It’s more than possible to set up low-budget marketing campaigns that are effective and inexpensive at the same time.
While you will typically need to spend something to drive cold traffic quickly, it’s also important to remember that there are plenty of free or cost-effective platforms that you can put more energy into. They may take a little longer to drive results, but they can work well for you.
Free or low-cost options include:
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Artificial intelligence and its impact on different industries have been a hot topic of discussion for the past few years, and with good reason. The digital marketing space is facing fundamental strategic changes due to revolutionary new intelligent technologies. It shouldn't be difficult, however, as this dynamic industry has already been effective at adapting to new changes in Digital Marketing Companies in Raleigh technology as regards to social media, SEO and content marketing. Search engine optimization has gone through many transformations over the years, from the simple optimization of landing pages on a desktop computer to the more complex process of creating engaging content that meets its target users on various platforms and devices. While its basic tools remain the same — keyword-consistent content, link-building and optimization of meta tags — SEO also includes in its strategy factors like mobile search, user experience and social media marketing.