How Much Should You Be Spending on Marketing?
11 April 2021
Written by Acme Mag
How much you should be spending on marketing is a question that is not easily answered. Marketing is an investment in yourself and your business and like all investments, the returns are not guaranteed, however, you can bet on your marketing by following our marketing budget advice.
No golden rule
One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to a marketing budget and what works for one business may not work for yours. You may hear people throwing around percentages such as, “only 5-12% of your revenue should be spent on marketing.” This can be a good place to start but you should also consider your current financial position. Examine how many marketing types your budget is being spread across and whether you’re a boutique start-up, corporate agency or an individual agent.
Trial and error
As mentioned previously, it is likely to take a little trial and error when it comes to your marketing. To ensure you’re getting the best results, you’ll need to start testing and through this you can start to narrow down the best places to spend your money and what works best for your target market. Allocating a specific amount of money for testing is essential. Remember, you don’t want to pull the plug too early – especially for channels such as social media, as adequate time is necessary to assess what marketing is working.
Affordability
The amount you decide to spend on marketing should be an amount you can routinely afford. Consider how your budget can be spent over time rather than all at once. You can always start slow and increase the amount when you start to see the right results.
The main takeaway is to dig a little deeper and experiment to form a budget that suits you. Analyse the way your customers engage with you and dedicate more of your budget to these channels and keep trying new methods, this way you can ensure you’re getting the best results.
