When it comes to setting a digital marketing budget, there are a lot of factors that contribute to its overall success. While there is no cookie cutter budgeting list of best practices, here are a few universal tips that every business should consider when budgeting regardless of size or industry.
1. Establish clear objectives
Before you can allocate a marketing budget, you first need to think about what you are trying to accomplish through your digital efforts. Do you want to increase newsletter signups? Perhaps you are hoping to get leads to fill out a contact form, or are trying to drive online sales. Regardless, clearly mapping out what you are trying to accomplish and then setting specific numerical goals is the best way to start your marketing budget process. Once you have established your goals, you then need to understand how to reach these goals, and which digital channels are going to get your potential customers to finish the conversion.
2. Utilize digital analytics
After you gain a strong understanding of your objectives, knowing which sources are generating the majority of the conversions that you are seeking is the next big step. Using analytical tools such as Google Analytics will help you determine the source and quantity of your leads. If you already have a Google Analytics account, then you can track how people interacted with your website over the past year, and look for correlations between digital campaigns and conversions to get a good idea of what has and hasn’t worked in the past.
3. Focus on what works without putting all funding in one place
Now that you have determined what campaigns are going to work best for your target audience, its time to allocate how much money and effort you are going to put into each section. Generally speaking, most digital marketing campaigns are made up of any combination of paid search, search engine optimization, social, email marketing and content marketing. While it is crucial to put money towards what works best for your business, it is also important not to focus all of your energy and funds on one form. A digital marketing campaign is much more successful when you synchronize all of the channels in a way that encourages conversions.
4. Remember non-monetary factors
Often times, when budgeting for digital marketing campaigns, people tend to not realize that time and resources also need to be accounted for. Depending on which components make up your campaign, you may have included digital projects that are very time consuming, and need a lot of manpower. Make sure that you have people and time available to complete ongoing tasks such as blog writing, managing paid and organic search campaigns, and updating your social in order to receive the best results.
5. Measure, then grow your campaign
Before throwing more money into your digital campaign, make sure that you have been tracking your results. Once you have a better idea of what’s working and what isn’t, continuous optimization is what will give you a positive return on investment.
Looking to adjust your digital marketing budget? Let us take care of it. Contact Starkmedia today to learn more about how you can increase conversions through digital efforts.
