Five Creative Ways to Spend and Save in Q4
It’s not quite the end of the year, but there is not a better time to review this year’s marketing budget. First of all, the last few weeks of the year are very hectic and will fly by — so reviewing this year’s budget now allows you the opportunity to spend more time on it. But the better reason to do it now is so you’ll have time to adjust spending and saving: If you see how much money you have left now, you’ll have time to spend it thoughtfully on efforts that will pay off.
Let’s assume you find yourself with some funds that are tagged “use it or lose it.” What are you going to do with the money? Consider one or more of these five creative ways to spend surprise year-end marketing dollars — even if they are minimal:
1. Maximize your search engine optimization (SEO). This can be as simple as investing your time to rewrite some of the content on your Web site and incorporate words and phrases that users actually use in their searches.
2. Seventy-eight percent of marketing professionals polled in Coremetrics’ annual “Face of the New Marketer” survey saw that social media marketing was a way of getting an edge on their competitors. However, on average, their total online marketing budgets allocated just 7.7 percent to it. Consider investing in a strategy that will help you understand how to better leverage the opportunities around social media marketing.
3. Perform an audit of your visual assets library. Compare your assets to your upcoming marketing objectives and determine if you have what you need. Then, work with your agency to develop a complete shot list. Keep in mind things like this: You don’t have to do photography now if it doesn’t fit with your budget — but evaluating your needs now will keep you a step ahead!
4. Invest in research! This could include a general communication check for literature, advertising or packaging, or it could be a more targeted effort, one to help you better understand your target audiences from a qualitative standpoint (versus a demographic) position. Do a shop-along. Find out what consumers think and how they feel so you can create a rich profile. Your results will help you maximize your marketing efforts in the coming year!
5. Instead of doing one sell sheet or brochure, do two! Developing more than one of the same type of tactic actually saves money. When you work on project simultaneously or consecutively, you save in meeting time and project management time. Don’t be fooled — the savings can be quite significant.
These five ideas are all about investing in the long-term success of your brand. And that’s good, because a marketing budget should be thought of as an investment, not an expense.
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