As the economy continues to shrink, marketing budgets get smaller and smaller. In tough times, marketing budgets should actually be getting bigger not smaller. Why? Because there are many bargains to be had. Now is the time to negotiate with vendors who are losing business due to the economy. Things are tough all over. That gives you a chance get more for less and enhance value you get for each dollar spent.
Now that things are difficult for online ad networks, magazines, and newspapers, it’s a great time to negotiate rates. Are you still paying top dollar for ads? Due to the difficulty in measuring the impact of a particular advertisement, many companies are cutting back on traditional ad spend. This creates more inventory and with more inventory comes lower prices. It really is all about supply and demand.
Take stock of all of your marketing spend. Whether it’s for online advertising or simply direct mail, get a good understanding of all the costs involved in your project. Perhaps you’ve been sending post cards to your target prospects. Speak with your printer or mail house and see how they might be able to improve their pricing. With direct mail you have numerous options. Don’t be afraid to negotiate the cost of supplies.
The next step is to focus on your Internet marketing budget. We all know that online marketing is a fantastic way to measure results and control marketing spend. Review your campaigns and determine where you can eliminate wasteful spend. Do you have campaigns that have been running forever that are just breaking even? Forgo the revenue in exchange for a larger spend on profitable campaigns. Review your metrics and make wise decisions. If you do not have tracking software in place, invest in some. It will make your ROI easier to comprehend and give you specific information on where to invest in the future.
After a thorough review of your marketing expenses, your are in a much better position for determining how you can group promotions to lower costs and improve sell through. Consider how you might take advantage of your current campaigns. Do you ask customers to forward a promotion to a friend? Are you communicating to your mailing list on a regular basis? Are you collecting information about your consumers that can help you customize your campaigns and improve conversion rates? Think through each touch point and how you might improve your sales.
To be effective with a smaller budget, you really need to consider how you can reduce costs while improving the effectiveness of your marketing. Reducing costs can seem a bit frightening at first but assume that you can still improve your results with less marketing. In essence, you are focusing on enhancing the results of your campaigns while purging what hasn’t worked.
Once you have found the campaigns that really produce positive results, consider how you can make them even more effective. Viral and social media, encouraging others to take advantage of your offers, is a great method for generating results and doesn’t cost a lot. When marketers see something that’s working, they often leave it alone. If you have specific campaigns that produce results, focus on expanding the campaigns and scaling them. This ensure that you are creating a sustainable campaign that gives you what you’re looking for in difficult times - greater results with a smaller budget.
Tags: advertising, direct mail, direct marketing, Internet marketing, marketing, marketing budget, marketing campaign, marketing spend, Online Marketing