{"id":20615,"date":"2018-04-26T06:57:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T10:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diymarketers.com\/?p=20615"},"modified":"2024-07-17T21:49:33","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T19:49:33","slug":"kabbage-marketing-budget-spend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diymarketers.com\/kabbage-marketing-budget-spend\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart Ways to Spend Your Marketing Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you had access to  $250,000 to put in your marketing budget,<\/a><\/span> how would you spend it on marketing to grow your business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe spending on marketing<\/span> isn\u2019t the first thing you thought of, but it should have been.  While marketing may have been perceived as something only big companies do, these days, it\u2019s as critical to having a business a having a telephone number or an office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"kabbage<\/a>By SFIO CRACHO via Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why spend on marketing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So you can buy more customers<\/span>. Think of spending money on marketing as literally buying new customers.  That\u2019s what a marketing budget is, it\u2019s how much you want to invest in buying new customers.  In the same way, you have a budget to purchase raw materials, paper, or even paying for internet so that you can service customers or make products for customers, you need to invest in a machine to get and keep customers and establish a solid marketing budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bootstrapping for too long will stunt your growth:<\/span> Most small businesses are really focused on bootstrapping; trading their time for marketing tasks.  While this strategy is fine for the first year or two of your business, at some point, it starts eating away at your growth and costing your market share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t grow and scale on word-of-mouth alone.<\/span> Some mom-and-pop shops may be able to sustain their business with word-of-mouth, but it\u2019s extremely difficult to scale, grow and extract yourself from your business if this is the only marketing leg you have to stand on. Your marketing budget doesn’t have to be huge, but you do need one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When should you borrow money for marketing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a chicken and egg question, isn\u2019t it?  You need customers to make money to invest in marketing and you need marketing to get more customers, so how and when should you borrow money for marketing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, it\u2019s best to borrow money for marketing<\/a><\/span> before you need it, because loans take a while to process. If you borrow money when you are desperate, you run the risk of falling into a predatory loan with extremely high interest payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following are specific marketing strategies where you can invest your marketing budget.  These are listed in the order in which you should implement them for lowest total cost to you and the highest impact on sales and profits.  I\u2019ve also included a difficulty rating, specific resources you can use to get started and how to measure your return on investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first few strategies require upfront investments of time and money that build a sturdy foundation for future marketing strategies and tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hire a branding expert to Develop Your Marketing Message<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do this first. Don\u2019t jump into developing logos, designing websites and spending money on advertising without having a clear message that set you apart from the competition.  Take the time to develop ideal customer personas and profiles and then create profitable offers that will be irresistible to this target market.  Develop a simple and solid marketing plan and identify exactly where you will get the highest return on your investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficulty:<\/span> Hard. This activity requires 100% of your time and dedication.  You\u2019ll want to dig into your customer data, find your best customers and dig below the surface to understand exactly what makes them ideal customers and where you can find more like them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to go for help:<\/span>  Marketing consultants are everywhere and they all promise the world.  My recommendation is to get referrals<\/a> from successful business owners.  If you get stuck there, check out BrandLauncher.com<\/a><\/span>.  I work with BrandLauncher and love that they have an assessment that they call Thrive Score.  This will help you identify exactly where you are strong and weak in your business.  They also follow a rigorous marketing process that has proven success. In addition, I\u2019d say they are a company with impeccable integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing Budget: <\/span>$5,000 – $10,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measuring ROI:<\/span> Before starting on this process take note of your sales closing percentage.  For example say you close 50 out of 100 prospects, your closing percent is 50%.  Now run the same sales process only this time you\u2019re targeting specific customers with a unique marketing message and an irresistible offer.  You\u2019re closing percentage should be higher and if you\u2019ve developed profitable offers, you should be making more money per new customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>Brand Design Ideas Imagination Logo Tag Concept By Rawpixel.com via Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update your branding; logos, letterhead, business cards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With a new marketing message, clearly defined target marketing and irresistible offers, you\u2019re ready to dress your company up to meet the world with an updated brand that includes a hip new logo, letterhead and business cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might think that your old logo is fine, but if you haven\u2019t done any updates in at least five years, there\u2019s a good chance that it\u2019s hurting your sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficulty: <\/span>Easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to go for help:<\/span> Hop over to 99designs.com<\/a><\/span>.  They are pros at this process and can get you into swanky and cool logo and branding package in less than a week.  I recommend you invest in the Platinum logo design package and then once you\u2019ve selected a logo and a designer, start a 1-to-1 project with that designer for the rest of your branded marketing materials. I\u2019ve actually been through this experience when I rebranded Bizapalooza<\/span> and it was AMAZING.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing Budget<\/span>: $2,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measuring ROI:<\/span> Did you know that simply engaging with your customer reminds them to buy more<\/a><\/span>? Rebranding your business is a fantastic reason to engage with your customers. Tell your customers that you\u2019re planning on updating your logo.  You can even survey a few customers to find out what their impressions of your logo and brand are and see if their feedback matches what you had in mind for the brand.  Once you\u2019re close to selecting a logo with 99designs, you can use their polling feature to get your customers involved in helping you select a final logo design. All of these touches, remind your customers to buy from you.  Measure how many touches you had with your customer BEFORE the re-branding, during and after and then also track their purchases before during and after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"KabbageWebsite development layout sketch drawing By Rawpixel.com <\/a>via Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update your website<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Just like with your logo, if you haven\u2019t really changed your website in more than three years, I guarantee you, your sales are suffering.  Your website Must (must, must) be mobile friendly first. It must be fast and it must give your customers all the information that they need to buy from you – include easy mobile shopping and check out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficulty<\/span>: Easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to go for help:<\/span> If you are a DIY kind of person and enjoy playing with technology, you can try a simple drag and drop WordPress theme such as Elegant Themes Divi<\/a><\/span>, Thrive Themes<\/a><\/span> or OptimizePress<\/a><\/span>.  But I\u2019d really recommend you hire a professional to get this done, you\u2019ll be glad you did.  If you enjoyed 99designs, you can get a web design from them.  Then hop over to AskLorem.com<\/a><\/span> to take the design from concept to LIVE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing Budget:<\/span> $1,500 – $5,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measuring ROI<\/span>: This is where all of your previous investments start to really pay off in the form of hard numbers.  An updated website that loads quickly and has Search Engine Optimized content will become a lead magnet for new customers.  Be sure to document your website traffic BEFORE the new site and after the new site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Optimize your website with SEO friendly content and social media sharing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Can you say \u201cCha-Ching\u201d? A well-designed, mobile optimized site will get customers\u2019 attention, but a website with useful content that is shared on social media is a real customer magnet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficulty:<\/span> Medium<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to go for help<\/span>: For this aspect of your business, you will need a content and social media machine.  I have two recommendations for you.  For SEO optimized website copy and high-quality content I would recommend ExpressWriters<\/a><\/span>.  These folks have a stable of general, expert and authority writers who create high-quality content.  My other favorite resource is OptimizedScribes<\/a><\/span>.  These guys are a content and social media turnkey machine.  Both of these sources will do a thorough analysis of your site and create everything you need to drive new customers to your site and to build your brand online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing Budget<\/span>: $15,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measuring ROI:<\/span> This is the stage of your marketing investment where you expect to recoup all of your previous investments. There is no getting around ROI measurement in this phase of your marketing process.  Measure the number of visitors every day, the bounce rate (what percent of visitors are leaving) this number should be less than 80%, traffic sources (where your visitors are coming from), time on site (where visitors are spending the most time), conversion rate (what percent of visitors sign up for something or buy something from your site).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kabbage<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attend Conferences and Trade Shows<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no better way to attract new customers than to attend well-targeted conferences and trade shows where your ideal customers and prospects are all in one place.  Just imagine how much time and money you can save in travel if you strategize and plan for a killer conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few conference marketing tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n