09/08/2022
Restructuring Your Marketing Budget
During a TAB meeting early last year, one of our new members talked about her marketing budget. To my surprise, she included a line item for networking groups. This inclusion got me thinking, and ever since, I have broken my own marketing budget up a bit differently. Realistically there should be three subcategories to "marketing" for most businesses:
1) Memberships/Networking: This is for Rotary clubs, local chambers of commerce, and other organizations. This spend IS marketing, even if it is one of the less flashy ways to do it.
2) Advertising Spend: This needs to be a separate section of your marketing budget and not the entire budget since this money should be explicitly earmarked for ad buys – whether traditional or digital. This money goes solely into Facebook, Google, and other vendors to show your ad to your potential customers.
3) Professional Services: You might be thinking "of course the marketing agency owner thinks I should have a specific line item for him" – well, you are right! It makes our lives a lot easier when a client knows they are going to have to pay to get our services and is ready for that with a specific budget. I am not just looking out for Z3 when I say that, however. Very few if any organizations have all of the skills needed for a modern-day marketing strategy inside of their company. It would be virtually impossible for a marketing director or team of one or two to have the required skill sets, experience, connections, and technologies needed to complete a full marketing strategy. Consequently, you may need to hire outside talent for at least some aspects of your marketing every year.
