What’s the Best Way to Spend My Marketing Budget?

We all like to think that we are spending our money wisely–both personally and professionally. Risking your money on a shirt to wear this weekend is easier than laying out cash for a fancy marketing plan–after all, it is just a plan.

And although it may be hard to hear, most marketing is calculated guessing–emphasis on “calculated”–but it is still a risk. If this were not the case then the exact return on an investment on any marketing initiative would be know well in advance and everyone would do it. There would be no unknowns, no variables, and it would work the same way, every time, for everybody. Unfortunately, in the real world we live, these variables do exist, and marketing is not a science.

So how do you guess where to put your marketing dollars? While we don’t recommend a magic eight ball, or a dart board to make your choice, we can recommend a place to start and variables to consider. Knowledge is power and with a bit of research, you can learn more and make your best guess for success.

1. Identify and sell to your customer. Few businesses have successfully targeted their markets by accident. Knowing who you can work with or sell to is important. For example, your print advertisement for pool equipment is not going to get a lot of attention in the New Yorker. Ad placement is key and part of this is what’s known as discovering your audience. There is a lot to learn and know about your audience persona. You may have more than just one audience, but you have less than 100. By the time you finish you should know their location, gender, age range, education level, technology use, and other daily habits and behaviors. And then you need to design and advertise to that very specific audience persona.
2. Set up your basics. Unless there is a specific reason, most businesses these day need some kind of web presence. A website, a store, a blog, and many times all three. These areas are something that need to be in place so that your supporting marketing efforts have a place to send people. Think of it like bringing your physical office or storefront to someone’s door when ever they want to find you. Both your physical store and your virtual store, need to function well. Make it easy for people to find information and make their buying decision. More than ever you need to make a great first impression!
3. Learn how people are finding you. Ask your existing customers how they found you and do more of that! If you know that a high percentage of people visited your website because of cards you handed out at an event you attended, then go to more of those events! Hand out more cards! For the future, track this information and figure out a way to capture this information, measure it, analyze it and USE it!

As a small business owner, you’ve probably thought of these marketing issues (and others) already and have wondered how to get started and end with results that work for you. If you could use a hand, Jazepro would love to walk you through this process. Give us a call today at 623-252-0052 or visit our contact page to fill out the form. We’ll get in contact with you right away to set up a time to talk through your options.