"Oh
no! I forgot to budget for marketing this year!"
It
never ceases to amaze us how often we hear: "Oh no! I forgot to budget for
marketing this year!"
We
totally get it- it’s easy to completely focus on running your current business
and only when there’s a lull realize the necessity for marketing to bring in
new business.
As
the end of the year draws near, it’s time to not only prepare your marketing
budget calendar and for 2014, but to also take note of what worked for your company in 2013
and what didn’t. This “marketing audit” helps your company analyze
and evaluate your past marketing strategies, activities, goals and results in
order to be more effective in the future. While it takes time, the results can
be enlightening and profitable. Here
are a few basic steps that should be included in your 2013 Marketing Audit in
order to lead the way to a more powerful marketing plan for the upcoming year:
Step 1: Check Your
Brand and Presence
Do you have your brand and material in order? Basic
material like:
·
Your logo
·
A brand sheet
·
Website
·
Business Cards
·
Marketing brochure or flyer
Are they consistent and look the same? Same colors, fonts
and so forth? How is your website looking? When was the last time you updated
it?
Step 2: Your
Services / Product
What is the purpose of your business? What is it that you
specialize in? Take a look back at sales for 2013 and see if that is, in fact,
what you are selling.
Step 3: Who are
your Competitors
First of all, do you know who your competition is today?
Not when you started your business- but as of today. When was the last time you
took a look at their website or Facebook page?
Ask the questions:
- "What makes us different and
unique compared to others?"
- "Why would customers use our services or
buy our goods versus others?”
- "What do I admire about these competitors?”
Step 4: Who are
your current customers?
Write down a list of customers are that you worked with
in 2013. Describe them in detail. Where are they located? Their size, budget, industry
and so forth. Now categorize them and highlight patterns that become
apparent- what is the common denominator?
Step 5: Who
is your ideal customer?
Are they your current customers? As you did before,
describe them in detail. Who are your ideal (and most profitable) customers?
Where are they located? What size? Industry? Pay specific attention to their
behaviors and what draws them so you understand how to target them.
Step 6: What are
your marketing goals?
General goals may start off as simple concepts such as:
- Increase company visibility
- Increase audience size or Facebook Likes
- Differentiate from competition
- Increase or maintain market share
- Generate qualified sales leads
- Refresh and update the brand image
…then we need to take it a step further:
Be specific and create measurable goals. For example,
rather than “Increase sales” it should look something more like: “Increase
sales of a particular product line by at least 18% by the end of the fiscal
year”. In addition, create corresponding
benchmarks and ways by which you plan on achieving these objectives.
Step 7: Analyze
Your 2013 Marketing tactics
If you did create any ads or direct mail? Did you keep
record of how effective campaigns were including the database that was hit?
Have you done an analysis of your website visitors or your social media?
Create a list that outlines each tactic and their
effectiveness. Next to it note what helped you get more clients, calls, visits
to your website etc. Remember, just because something works for one company,
doesn’t mean it will work for yours- so be realistic about what is worth
spending your time on in the upcoming year.
NEXT STEPS
Create a plan for 2014!
Sadly, while
everyone knows to address and identify their target market, many people fail to
address, in specifics, how they plan to reach out to that market. They fail to
develop a comprehensive Marketing Plan as part of their Business
Plan.
Having a
carefully laid out plan will help you to make better informed decisions year
round and when the time comes to make new decisions, you can always refer back
to your plan and see how new opportunities fit in to your calendar and budget. A
good marketing plan summarizes the: ‘who, what, where, when, and how much’
questions of company marketing and sales activities for the planning year. By
following the above listed steps, you would have answered many of these
questions in your marketing audit.
- Who are our target buyers?
- What sources of uniqueness or
positioning in the market do we have?
- Where will we implement our
marketing spending plans?
- When will marketing spending
plans occur?
- How
much sales,
spending, and profits will we achieve?
How
Much to Spend?
According
to
SteemFeed in a recent article by Randy Bowden the average small business spends between 2-20% of annual gross revenues on
marketing efforts. The amount spent will depend upon the industry of the small
business and whether or not it’s a new business or an existing more established
business.
The
Small Business Administration (SBA) recommends that an established company that
earns less than $5 million per year allocates 7-8% of revenues for marketing
purposes and that this percent should increase if it’s a new start-up business;
particularly for industries such as retail and restaurants.
Make
sure that your budget includes a mix of tactics such as:
- Digital Advertising
- Print Advertising
- Event and Trade Show Participation
- Networking Group Memberships
- Social-Media Management
- Professional Photography
- Web site Maintenance
- Graphic Design
- SEO and/or Copywriting Services
- Vehicle Graphics
- Printed Materials such as Flyers and Brochures
- Promotional Items and Branded Clothing
