Times are tough and working out how much you can afford to spend on marketing isn’t an easy question to answer. But, what we can tell you is pulling back on marketing entirely is one of the most detrimental things you can do for your equine business.
Every equine business operates within a budget, and your marketing budget shouldn’t be treated as a ‘set and forget’. If you’re just starting out, you may be investing more in your marketing to generate brand awareness; if you’ve been in business a while, you may spend less at times.
Even if you’ve already set your marketing budget for the 2016-2017 financial year, the start of a new year can bring some fresh perspective. Here’s three simple steps you can take if you’re ready to re-visit your 2017 marketing budget.
1. Review Your Financial Performance
Making decisions is easier when you consider real data. Reviewing your financial performance across the previous and current financial year is a helpful first step in determining what portion can be allocated to your marketing. For example:
- Lean marketing – 1-2% of your topline revenue: A lean marketing spend is for those companies who wish to retain their current customers and market share with simple tools and strategies.
- Target marketing – 3-4% of your topline revenue: A target marketing spend is for those companies who wish to retain and attract more customers with advanced tools and strategies.
- Stretch marketing – 5% or more of your topline revenue: A stretch marketing spend is for those companies with ambitious plans to increase their customer base and market share.
2. Allocate Your Marketing Budget
Next, you need to determine where you’ll spend your lean, target or stretch marketing spend. In 2017, digital marketing is set to expand, with social media websites, like Facebook, now becoming more important to major search engines, like Google.
The primary question when considering your budget allocation is “Where are my prospects looking for products or services like mine?” The start of a new year is the ideal time to review your buyer personas and make firm plans on how you’ll market to them throughout 2017.
3. Put Marketing Strategies and Tactics in Place
Finally, every dollar in your marketing budget serves an important role and its value must be proven with ROI. A marketing budget, with strategies and tactics in place, also considers how return on investment will be shown in both qualitative and quantitative terms.
In short, as you set your marketing budget and determine what platforms you’ll use to reach your prospects, you need to consider the strategies and tactics you’ll implement to achieve your goals. This is followed by how you’ll measure – and prove – your success.
Looking for some outside support? Don’t wait for success, create it — with the experts in equine marketing, Archer Creative. To learn more about how we can help you exceed your growth goals, call us on 1300 077 126 or visit www.archercreative.net.au.
