Budgeting: A Digital Marketing Plan

digital marketing plan

For starters, think of a digital marketing plan as a 401k, not a lottery ticket. An investment is something that pays off over the long haul but doesn’t necessarily always provide positive returns at every checkpoint along the way. Most business owners treat a digital marketing plan as a lottery ticket. They want X to produce Y in return. When it doesn’t, they fire X and move onto Z. If you find yourself doing this more often than not, I implore you to take a step back and analyze the situation. It might be your fault.

Fundamental Marketing Planning

A digital marketing plan is also a process. Compare this to a baker using different ingredients to create something delicious. Their craft requires skill and mastery, but no one would fault a baker if a few of their culinary treats were less-than-ideal every once in a while. How else would the baker know if their creations were satisfactory without somebody tasting them in the first place? This is where you want to be with your marketing. You want to be in a position where you have a skilled professional executing your marketing. All while using a strategic plan with adequate budgets and analysis.

Don’t Change Horses Midstream

Start by educating yourself about marketing, and learn which process the marketer is using. The marketing person also needs to learn about your business and your brand in order to be useful. Switching marketing people too frequently can be dangerous. It’s sort of like the general manager of a sports team changing the coach every two years because the team never wins. The General Mangaer of course is ultimately responsible for providing the coach with the players and adequate resources to do the job well. If he or she continually fires the coach, then he or she is, perhaps incorrectly, assuming that the coach is to blame. In some cases, this may be true, but in other cases, the problem may be attributed to a lack of consistency. It might also be a digtial marketing plan that has not yet been fully developed.  

How Much Money Should I Spend On My Campaigns?

You do this by deciding how much of your total revenue you want to invest in marketing for a period of time. Then evaluate the results. For most businesses, this is going to be a percentage of total revenue for the year, such as 2% – 5%. This system work best because it is based on actual revenue. This means that if I budget X % for my business based on Y revenue, and I don’t hit Y revenue, then I’ll get a new version of X. You can project your marketing spending based on your revenue projections and build in checkpoints (months, quarters, etc.) along the way. Adjusting your marketing dollars according to your revenue at those checkpoints is a great way to ensure that you always have a consistent marketing presence. Be sure to commit to something realistic and ample and to stick to your commitment. I know that marketing is one of the first things to go when times are tough, but try to keep your efforts as consistent as possible. 

Get A Professional Digital Markeitng Plan

In my book, Stop Posting! Start Marketing! I have laid out steps to create a simple, yet affective marketing plan. There is a worksheet in the back. So, when you finish the book you will have a marketing plan! A great place to start!

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