The way a company interacts with its customers is constantly changing and evolving. Advertisers often wonder how to use their budgets more effectively. A marketing budget is more than just a financial plan. You should also know which effective advertising methods you should invest your money in.
According to Statista, paid social ad spend on social networks in the US surpassed 40 billion dollars (US) in 2020. Ad spending in the social media advertising segment shows an annual growth rate (CAGR 2021-2025) of 10.55%, resulting in a projected market volume of nearly 230 billion dollars by 2025.
Whether it’s social media advertising or print advertising, here are 7 ways you can make sure your advertising dollars go further.
Develop a Strategy That Works
The size of your budget doesn’t matter as much if you don’t have the strategy behind it. You can have six figures dedicated to a campaign, but without a strategy to back it up, you’re essentially wasting time and money. Know where you are placing your ads the plan around them. Why are you there? Who are you targeting? How can you get optimal exposure? Your strategy for how you execute your advertising will help you deliver your message while staying on target with your goals and objectives.
Narrow Your Focus
No matter what your advertising budget is, if you aren’t reaching your target audience, the campaign won’t work. No way around it. The narrower the audience focus for your campaign, the greater the response. It might seem counterintuitive to lessen the reach of your campaign, but this allows you to more effectively reach your target audience, closing the gap between buyers and non-buyers, while saving you money. Identifying and narrowing your target reach can help stretch your budget and create more loyal customers.
Allow Flexibility In Budget
You should never “Set it and Forget it” when it comes to placing your digital ads. Remember, you can modify your budget when necessary. Your budget should be prepared to go with any changes that may arise from consumer behavior to the seasonality of shopping habits to a shift in trends. Flexibility enables you to keep your budget in check and balanced. A good tip is to create a minimum ad spend amount but allow the opportunity to increase the spend if your cash flow allows it.
Stay Local
When you are bidding on advertising placements, you’ll be competing on a local level, even with the national brands. Focus on how to reach your local, hyper-targeted audience and expand from there. Markets vary region to region, state to state, and sometimes even town to town. Understanding your local market better than the national brands will help with the messaging, targeting options, media placements, and more resulting in higher consumer engagement.
Meet Your Customers Where They Are
It doesn’t matter how big your budget is if you’re spending it in the wrong places. One of the biggest mistakes we’ve seen is when brands are advertising in places that their consumers are not. If you know who you targeting, you should know where they spend their time. Whether they are online a lot via desktop or their mobile devices or if they turn on their TV when they get home and don’t turn it off until they go to bed, knowing where your target audience is spending their time allows you to know where, when and how to reach them.
Plan Early
It takes time and effort to set goals and pave the route to achieve them. So, start planning your budget 4-6 months before you start your fiscal year. This step ensures that you have ample time to align your marketing budget with your strategy. Therefore, you’ll be able to start your campaigns with confidence.
Evaluate and Adjust
Keep track of your campaign’s return on investment by setting monthly and/or quarterly analyses. The analysis should include touchpoints that assess your budget. Track your budget. For example, if the money you allocated for a particular strategy may not be getting the desirable ROI you were looking for, don’t hesitate to give it to another advertising channel. Just like being flexible in your advertising budget, but flexible in your advertising placements. Continue what works and adjust what doesn’t.
Whether your a small business or a national brand, be cautious of where your dollars are being spent. It’s more important now more than ever for advertisers to think outside the box and stretch their advertising spend as far as it can go. If you have questions on how you can make advertising work for you, contact us today.
