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Marketing Strategy and Business Plan: How to Align the Two

Catherine Storey on 12th August 2024

The integration of business strategies is essential for success, especially in today’s competitive business environment.  So, what is the relationship between your marketing strategy and business plan?

The marketing strategy is essentially the glue that connects everything together and makes sure the right activity is taking place, having a good relationship between marketing strategies and overall business plans are critical for business success.  

So how does the marketing strategy fit within an overall business plan? Find out below: 

First, what counts as a business plan?  

A business plan is a formal document that outlines a company’s goals and the strategies it will use to achieve them. Key components might include: 

  • Executive Summary 
  • Market Analysis 
  • Company Structure 
  • Products or Services 
  • Marketing and Sales Strategies 
  • Financial Projections 

What’s its purpose?  

A business plan is crucial as it serves as a roadmap for a company’s growth and success. It guides decision-making, helps in securing funding, and provides a clear direction for the company’s future. 

What counts as a marketing strategy?  

A marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how a business will promote its products or services to its target audience. Key elements may include: 

  • Market Research: Gathering data about market and consumer preferences. 
  • Target Audience: Identifying specific groups of consumers to focus on. 
  • Positioning: Creating a unique image and identity for the brand and product/service in the market. 

Why is it so important?  

Marketing plays a pivotal role in business growth. Effective marketing strategies can increase brand awareness, drive sales, and build customer loyalty. For example, Apple’s marketing strategy has been instrumental in establishing it as a leader in the technology sector. 

How do you align the two?  

Marketing goals should align with broader business objectives to ensure consistency and effectiveness. This alignment ensures that all marketing efforts support the overall direction and goals of the business. 

Use SMART goals to do so:  

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.  

For example… 

  • Specific: Increase website traffic by 20% in the next six months. 
  • Measurable: Track the increase in website visits using analytics tools. 
  • Achievable: Ensure the goal is realistic given the current resources and market conditions. 
  • Relevant: Align the goal with the business objective of increasing online sales. 
  • Time-bound: Set a clear deadline for achieving the goal. 

What are the key components of a marketing strategy in a business plan? 

Market Analysis: You need to understand the competitive landscape to identify opportunities and threats for the business plan and marketing strategy.  

Target Audience: By defining your target market and creating customer personas, you can tailor your marketing tactics to meet the specific needs and preferences of different consumer segments.  

Unique Value Proposition (UVP): What sets the business apart from competitors? This should align with the overall mission and vision of the business.  

How to integrate the marketing strategy and business plan 

Strategic Planning: This process involves a cross-departmental collaboration to ensure all functions are aligned.  

Budgeting and Resource Allocation: determining marketing budgets based on business priorities ensures resources are allocated efficiently to different marketing activities, maximising the return on investment.  

Performance Metrics and KPIs: Key performance indicators are essential for measuring the success of marketing efforts.  

Final thoughts 

All in all, a well-integrated marketing strategy is crucial for the success of any business plan. It aligns with broader business objectives, ensures consistency in messaging, and drives business growth. 

Is it time to evaluate your current business plan and marketing strategy to ensure they are well-aligned? A cohesive approach will set the foundation for sustainable growth and success. Contact us today for more support with your marketing. 

Why isn’t my marketing team operating effectively? 

Catherine Storey on 9th August 2024

Your marketing team is the lifeblood of any business, responsible for driving awareness, generating leads, and ultimately contributing to revenue growth. However, many organisations struggle with their marketing teams not operating at their full potential. Understanding the root causes of this inefficiency is crucial to addressing the issues and improving overall performance.  

That’s why in this post, we’re sharing some common reasons why your marketing team might not be operating effectively and what you can do about it. 

1. Lack of Clear Goals and Objectives 

The Problem 

One of the most significant issues that can hinder a marketing team’s effectiveness is the absence of clear, well-defined goals and objectives. Without specific targets, how can team members understand what they are working towards? This can make it extremely difficult to understand how their efforts are contributing to the broader business strategy. 

The Solution 

What they need is a comprehensive marketing strategy! A well- crafted strategy not only outlines the goals and objectives but also provides a roadmap for achieving them. A marketing strategy can help a business to:  

  • Establish clear goals and objectives 
  • Define target audiences 
  • Develop a detailed action plan 
  • Allocate resources efficiently  
  • Implement monitoring and evaluation 
  • Foster team alignment and motivation 

2. Poor Communication and Collaboration between your Marketing Team

The Problem 

Ineffective communication can lead to misunderstandings, duplicated efforts, and missed opportunities. When team members work in isolation from one another, the lack of collaboration can stifle creativity and innovation. Teams are focused on their own independent work without thinking about how it may impact other parts of the organisation.  

The Solution 

Foster a culture of open communication and collaboration. Implement regular team meetings, use collaborative tools like project management software, and encourage cross-departmental projects. Creating an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and feedback is crucial!  

3. Insufficient Resources and Tools 

The Problem 

A marketing team can only be as effective as their tools and resources… Outdated technology, insufficient budget, and lack of access to necessary data can severely limit the team’s ability to execute successful campaigns. 

The Solution 

Invest in modern marketing tools and technology, there are so many out there that can help to streamline processes and provide valuable insights. Also, make sure your team has access to the latest industry data and trends , and allocate a realistic budget that allows your team to implement and test various strategies without constant financial constraints. 

4. Skill Gaps and Training 

The Problem 

The marketing landscape is constantly evolving, and a lack of up-to-date skills and knowledge can render even the most dedicated team ineffective. Skill gaps can prevent the team from leveraging new tools and techniques effectively. 

The Solution 

Invest in ongoing training and professional development. Encourage team members to attend industry conferences, webinars, and workshops. Providing opportunities for learning and growth will not only improve their skills but also increase job satisfaction and retention. 

5. Ineffective Leadership 

The Problem 

Leadership plays a critical role in guiding and motivating a marketing team. Ineffective leadership can lead to a lack of direction, low morale, and a disconnect between the team’s activities and the company’s goals. 

The Solution 

Ensure your marketing team has strong, effective leadership. Leaders should possess not only technical marketing expertise but also the ability to inspire and manage people. Leadership training and development programmes can be super beneficial in honing these skills! 

6. Inadequate Performance Tracking 

The Problem 

Without proper performance tracking, it’s difficult to measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts. This can lead to continued investment in ineffective strategies and the inability to identify and replicate successful ones. 

The Solution 

Implement a robust system for tracking and analysing marketing performance. Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of different campaigns and strategies. Regularly review these metrics and adjust your approach based on what the data reveals. 

7. Misalignment with Sales 

The Problem 

A disconnect between marketing and sales can lead to inconsistent messaging, wasted leads, and missed opportunities. When these two departments are not aligned, it’s challenging to create a cohesive strategy that drives revenue. 

The Solution 

Promote alignment between marketing and sales through regular communication and collaboration. Ensure both teams have a shared understanding of the target audience, messaging, and goals. Jointly developed strategies and shared metrics can help bridge the gap between these critical functions. 

Conclusion 

Addressing the inefficiencies within your marketing team requires a multifaceted approach. So, remember:   

  • Set clear goals 
  • Foster effective communication 
  • Provide adequate resources 
  • Invest in training 
  • Ensure strong leadership 
  • Track performance 
  • Align with sales 

By carrying out all of the above, you can transform your marketing team into a well-oiled machine. Remember, continuous improvement is key – regularly assess and adjust your strategies to stay ahead in the dynamic world of marketing. 

Interested in receiving regular tips and insights to help keep on top of your marketing? Sign up to our mailing list.

Why reporting is crucial for your content marketing success 

Catherine Storey on 2nd August 2024

Last updated on 17th January 2025.

Are you fed up of not knowing exactly what’s going on with your marketing and struggling to work out what to do next to create content that converts? Then you might have a reporting problem… 

Measuring content marketing success is key to making sure you’re doing effective marketing. If you’re not doing this, then chances are you’re not going to see the content marketing success you’re looking for.  

When we start working with consultancies, the vast majority of them don’t have any formal marketing reporting in place, and they don’t even know where to start when it comes to diving into their analytics and objectively assessing what’s working and what isn’t. 

In this article, we’re going to explore some of the main benefits of reporting, including how reporting can help you overcome some common marketing challenges within your organisation; how to customise your reports for different audiences; and some of the tools available on the market right now to help you report on the right content marketing metrics. 

Key benefits of reporting for content marketing success 

Let’s start with some of the key benefits of reporting (in case you need persuading, although seeing as you clicked on this article, you’re probably already aware that this is important stuff). 

1. Identifying high-performing content  

Regular reporting helps you understand which types of content resonate best with your audience. By analysing performance metrics, you can identify trends and focus on implementing a content marketing strategy that delivers the best results.   

This helps you cater to your audience’s preferences and needs based on cold, hard facts rather than gut feeling, ensuring that you’re providing value with your content every single time.  

2. Tracking progress towards goals  

Reporting also allows you to track your progress towards achieving specific content marketing goals. By defining clear content marketing metrics and regularly monitoring them, you can see how close (or far) you are from reaching your targets.  

This information is crucial in making adjustments to your content strategy and optimising it for success. 

Obviously, this relies on you having already established marketing objectives and KPIs. If you don’t already have those set up, find out more about marketing strategies here. 

3. Identifying areas for improvement  

Through reporting, you can identify areas where your content marketing efforts may be falling short. For example, if certain types of content consistently underperform, it may indicate a need for improvement in those areas. 

Basically, we like to follow the simple principle of: If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, stop it. 

4. Gaining insights into your target audience  

Reports provide valuable insights into your target audience’s behaviour, preferences, and engagement patterns. You can then tailor your content marketing strategies to better meet their needs and improve overall effectiveness.  

It’s a great way to move away from making assumptions. It’s easy for all of us to fall into the trap of assuming we know exactly how our ideal clients behave… but the reality is that people are unpredictable, so we always need to check our assumptions against the data. 

5. Eliminating unnecessary tasks  

By tracking and analysing your activities, you can determine which tasks are contributing to your goals and which are not. This helps streamline your efforts, ensuring you focus on high-impact activities and avoid wasting time on less productive tasks.  

Like we said earlier, if it doesn’t work, don’t do it. For example, in 2024 we saw a big drop in performance on X (formerly Twitter), so we adapted our clients’ strategies and refocused on higher performing channels, such as LinkedIn and email marketing to ensure continued results. 

6. Testing and assessing content marketing efforts 

Reporting enables you to test various strategies and measure their impact. By comparing different approaches, you can refine your tactics, optimise your campaigns, and ultimately achieve better results.  

Ultimately, marketing is all one big test, and having a regular reporting structure gives you the freedom and confidence to run more tests that are more creative and daring, without the fear that you’re wasting time and money: You know that you’ll get valuable insights and be able to draw some kind of meaningful conclusion from any new marketing initiatives you’ve tried. 

Overcoming challenges in the marketing department  

If you work in the marketing department of a larger organisation, you may find that marketing initiatives to create content are sometimes deprioritised, making it harder to do your job effectively. Kind of depressing, we know, but that’s just business for you! 

Here’s how reporting can help you overcome this challenge:  

Gaining higher management support  

Creating a monthly content marketing report and sharing it with higher management allows them to see the tangible impact of your marketing efforts. This visibility can lead to increased prioritisation and investment in marketing.  

For instance, if management sees positive content marketing ROI, they are almost certainly more likely to allocate additional resources for training or new tools to help you take your content marketing to the next level. So you can continue to demonstrate how your content marketing strategy is directly contributing to the bottom line. 

Encouraging employee contributions  

Sharing a content marketing report with all employees can highlight the importance and impact of marketing across the organisation. Acknowledging contributions from other departments can foster a collaborative environment.  

For example, if Claire from accounting provided content for some new web pages, highlight this in the report and acknowledge her efforts. This not only makes content creation easier but also encourages others to contribute, broadening the range of topics and perspectives in your marketing content.  

There are no downsides to celebrating the great work of people across the business when you’re trying to embed a marketing-first culture and ensure consistent content contributions. 

Ensuring alignment with business objectives  

Regular reporting helps align marketing activities with overall business objectives. By clearly demonstrating the impact of your efforts on key performance indicators, you can show how content marketing is contributing to the company’s goals and success.  

This strengthens the case for continued investment in marketing initiatives and keeps your stakeholders happy, which is what we like to see. 

Customising your reports to different audiences  

When preparing your reports, it’s essential to consider the audience you are presenting to, exactly like you’d do with any other piece of content you’re creating.  

Here’s how you can tailor your reports to different groups for the best outcomes:  

Tailoring reports for the marketing team  

When preparing reports for the marketing team, focus on providing actionable insights that can guide their efforts and decision-making when it comes to implementing the content strategy.  

Include detailed performance metrics, such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and traffic sources, along with an analysis of what these numbers mean for ongoing and future content marketing campaigns. Highlight specific areas that need improvement and suggest possible strategies or adjustments they can implement.  

Additionally, offer insights into successful campaigns or content types to encourage replicating these efforts. Clear, concise, and actionable reporting ensures that the marketing team has the information they need to effectively execute strategies and drive results. 

For employees and colleagues  

Keep the information light and engaging. Highlight key successes and interesting insights without overwhelming them with too many stats. This approach keeps them informed and motivated without burdening them with excessive details.   

Use visuals such as charts or graphs to present data in an easy-to-digest format, and include quotes from satisfied customers or positive feedback on content marketing efforts. 

For senior management  

Your reports for senior management should focus on the big picture. While it’s important to include relevant content marketing metrics and performance data, also highlight the overall impact of content marketing on business goals and objectives.  

Present clear and concise summaries that demonstrate how content marketing is contributing to revenue growth, customer acquisition, brand awareness, and other key areas.  

This information will help them make informed decisions about resource allocation and future strategies. 

What platforms are available for reporting?  

The value of platforms and integration in content marketing reporting  

Using dedicated platforms and integration tools for content marketing reporting can save time, reduce errors, and provide deeper insights compared to manual reporting methods.  

These platforms automate data collection and analysis, ensuring that information is accurate and up-to-date. They allow marketers to centralise data from multiple channels, such as social media, email campaigns, and web analytics, into one cohesive dashboard.  

This integrated approach not only streamlines workflows but also provides a comprehensive view of performance, enabling content marketers to make more informed decisions for their content strategy.  

Manual reporting, on the other hand, is labour-intensive and prone to errors. Extracting data from various sources, organising it, and creating reports can be time-consuming and inefficient.  

Mistakes in calculations or data formatting can lead to misguided strategies, affecting overall performance.  

By leveraging reporting platforms and integrated tools, marketers can avoid these pitfalls, maintain consistency, and focus on refining strategies rather than managing data.  

Harnessing the power of technology makes content marketing reporting more efficient, actionable, and impactful. 

Make the most of scheduling platforms  

Social media scheduling tools like Loomly and Hootsuite don’t just help you organise your content calendar and get your posts out on time; they can also simplify the reporting process by collating data from your social posts in real-time. These platforms make it easy to extract relevant social media analytics information whenever you need to and compile it into a comprehensive report.  

You can also find lots of free templates online to help structure your reports effectively.  

Taking advantage of the reporting features within these tools can streamline your workflow and free up more of your time to focus on creating valuable content. 

Integrate analytics tools  

Analytics tools like Google Analytics or Kissmetrics can provide in-depth insights into website traffic and visitor behaviour. These tools allow you to track conversions, engagements, demographics, and more.  

With integration capabilities, you can automatically pull data from these tools into your reports, making it easier to monitor the impact of marketing efforts on website performance.  

For example, Google Analytics offers lots of different views of your data, depending on what content marketing metrics you’re most interested in. It’s worth spending some time to set up custom dashboards within Google Analytics so you have your most important performance data accessible at a glance, including blog post performance. 

This enables you to identify trends and patterns in user behaviour that can guide future strategies. 

Leverage advanced AI tools  

If you’re overwhelmed with tasks, consider using advanced AI-supported tools such as Semrush, Lately, Socialbakers, and Sprinklr.  

These tools provide automated reporting, generating detailed and accurate reports with minimal manual input. This not only saves time but also ensures precision in your data analysis.  

Find out more about how AI can fit into your marketing strategy. 

Utilising third-party reporting tools  

For content marketers working in consultancies or agencies, using third-party reporting tools can provide additional benefits.  

These platforms offer advanced reporting features and customisable dashboards that cater to the unique needs of consultancies and agencies.  

They also allow for collaboration between team members and clients, making it easier to gather feedback and make adjustments in real-time.  

Some popular options include Agency Analytics, ReportGarden, and DashThis. 

Benefits of using Agency Analytics for reporting on content marketing success 

Agency Analytics is one example of a great all-in-one reporting tool that can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. It offers a range of features tailored specifically for consultancies and agencies.  

The intuitive interface allows marketers to easily create customised reports with data from various sources such as social media, SEO, PPC, and more. Collaboration tools make it easy to share reports with clients and gather feedback, streamlining the communication process.  

Agency Analytics also offers white-label options, allowing you to brand reports with your company’s logo and colours. This not only adds a professional touch but also reinforces your agency’s branding. 

In conclusion  

Reporting is an essential part of any marketing strategy. It provides valuable insights for decision-making and helps track progress towards goals. By using dedicated reporting platforms and integration tools, marketers can streamline their workflows, maintain accuracy in data analysis, and provide clear and actionable information to various stakeholders.  

Additionally, leveraging advanced AI tools or third-party reporting platforms can offer additional benefits when it comes to measuring content performance. These tools automate the reporting process, saving time and improving precision, while also providing collaboration features for effective communication with clients.  

Overall, embracing these technologies can enhance content marketing reporting and drive successful outcomes for businesses. So, it is crucial for marketers to invest in these platforms and make full use of their capabilities to maximise the value of reporting in their content marketing strategies.  

The ever-evolving landscape of technology offers endless possibilities for improving and enhancing reporting processes, so staying updated on new tools and integrating them into your workflow is essential for ongoing success.  

With the right combination of platforms and integration techniques, content marketing reporting can become more efficient, accurate, and impactful than ever before. 

Struggling to get client case studies? Here’s your solution

Catherine Storey on 23rd May 2024

In the business world, client case studies are a powerful testament to your offering/service and are something many prospects look at before even deciding to speak to you! They seek to answer a crucial question, “Can this business deliver results?”. You’ll also sometimes hear this referred to as ‘social proof’. 

Think about it. Before you purchase a product or service, you probably go through the company’s reviews and have a deep dive into its website and social media, especially when it’s a high-value investment.  

Similarly, your customer goes through many touch points before you even talk to them, so the content that’s on your website is one of the determining factors in whether they make the purchase, or even make the step to get in touch with you.  

So, how can you get more case studies?  

1. Build relationships

Well firstly, this goes without saying, but prioritise building strong relationships with your clients. I’m sure you make it your top priority to build good relationships with your clients but what I’m saying is, that having an open and honest relationship with them in general will mean they are more likely to accept having a case study about them created and posted for the world to see. 

It’s not always the case though. You may have a client that you’ve delivered exceptional results for but you’re not sure whether they would be happy to have a case study based on them and posted online, in which case, there are a few other approaches you can try.

2. Approach it differently

Words are a very powerful tool. For example, instead of asking, ‘Can we post a case study online about the work we’ve done with you?’ something like this is better ‘Would you be happy to be featured on our website or social media?’. Frame it in a way to help them see the benefits to it too, such as exposure for their business and what they do. Of course, always be honest and transparent with the fact it is indeed a case study.  

3. Be considerate

Don’t be too harsh towards the client on the case study when explaining the issues they had. For example, ‘The client’s social media was terrible with badly written posts and irrelevant content’. This is bad practise and if anyone wants to work with you, they probably won’t after seeing that. It’s embarrassing for them! All you need to include is the problem they had, the solution from your product/service and the results. 

Also, offer to let them read it before it goes live. There may be information on there that they don’t want shared anywhere which they can flag before it gets plastered everywhere.  

4. Anonymous case studies

You can always anonymise client case studies too. You might be thinking that it doesn’t resonate the same without a business or person being linked to it, but it still showcases your work and is much better than having a limited amount of case studies, or none at all.  

5. Small projects are worth shouting about too!

Think about instances where you worked on a small project, did you deliver some sort of solution to a problem? Yes? Then it’s time to create a case study for it!  

We often overlook small projects or even forget about them, but chances are there will be prospects that will be looking to do just that and by having a mix on your website, you can attract different, but still relevant audiences.   

Client case studies are invaluable assets in demonstrating your business’s ability to deliver results. By building strong relationships with your clients and approaching the request for case studies thoughtfully, you can showcase that your business delivers good results. 

By implementing these strategies, you not only increase the amount of case studies you have, but also enhance your credibility and appeal in the eyes of prospects. 

How Long Should A Marketing Strategy Take? Discover Your Marketing Strategy In A Day

Catherine Storey on 12th September 2023

Is marketing becoming a source of stress and you don’t have the expertise available to develop your marketing strategy? Then look no further. At Freshbat, we’re delighted to share the launch of our new service: Marketing Strategy In A Day. In this post we explore what this service includes, how it works and how you can benefit from it. 

What exactly is Marketing Strategy In A Day?

Our Marketing Strategy In A Day service can transform your marketing strategy in a quick but effective way, leaving you feeling more confident and in control of your marketing. No need to spend months developing your own marketing team when you can have a full day’s access to our highly experienced team. 

Who is this service for?

This service is for business owners who: 

  • Want to grow their business fast in the next 12-18 months 
  • Lack consistency with their marketing 
  • Haven’t found the right fit and are struggling to find the right marketing support 
  • Are being dragged into marketing issues which takes time away from other important business activities 

How it works

Now this may sound too good to be true, but it’s not! Using our expertise, we spend a day with you and your team to develop a bespoke marketing strategy that helps you to achieve your goals.

We will undertake a full marketing audit, which will reveal what’s working well and what isn’t working so well with your current marketing.

Then, we develop your target audience and marketing mix, and structure a plan for creating effective content consistently.

Not only that, but we also provide you with knowledge on how to resource your marketing whilst staying within budget yet still achieving your goals!

Around a week after we have seen you, we deliver the final strategy for you to review. After you’ve had a chance to look over the strategy, we will have a follow-up call where we will discuss any questions or changes. 

Locations

Each Marketing Strategy In A Day session will be held in a premium location around the UK such as: 

  • Home Grown Members Club, Marylebone, London  
  • The Oval, London  
  • Twickenham Stadium, West London  
  • The Amex Stadium, Brighton 

Our top priority is our clients’ convenience. That’s why if you’re not located near one of our usual places, we will travel to a location that suits you best – just let us know and we’ll find somewhere suitable. 

No obligations

You may be hesitant to approach an external marketing company however, there is no obligation to become a permanent client with us. The Marketing Strategy In A Day service is just a one-off investment and there are no long-term contracts or commitments required from you. We will deliver you a high-quality marketing strategy curated by our highly qualified marketing team which you will be able to implement in your day-to-day business with ease. 

This is the answer to all your marketing problems! Find out more about our service here and if you need more information don’t hesitate to contact us. 

About us

We’re Freshbat – a strategic communications agency providing integrated marketing services to business leaders who embrace change and value marketing in a proactive and trustworthy environment.

Our goal is to give you more headspace, help you to make stuff happen and build better relationships by taking a fresh approach to marketing. We know you’re the kind of person who wants to be considered an inspiring and empowering leader for your business.

In order to be that way, you need to be in control of your marketing. The problem is you feel your marketing isn’t good enough, which in turn makes you feel confused and frustrated that you don’t have the resources, creativity or expertise to solve the issue.

We believe it’s just plain wrong that business leaders are tasked with keeping up with the rapidly changing marketing landscape on their own. That’s why we provide integrated marketing solutions through our worry-free marketing process.

Here’s how it works: we have an initial call to find out the things holding you back, we then create a bespoke strategy to reach your ideal clients and finally we implement your marketing plan for you so you can worry less and achieve more. We create tailored and integrated marketing solutions that bring order, strategy and results while having fun in the process (yes, it’s possible!).

Our core services include:  Marketing Strategy In A Day Content marketing strategy  Social media management  Email marketing  Blogging and web content

Contact us to see how we can help you take a fresh approach to marketing. Email hello@freshbat.com to book your discovery call 

How much should a small business spend on marketing?

Catherine Storey on 17th January 2021

In this blog post, I’m going to look at the million-dollar question – how much should a small business spend on marketing?

As you might expect, there are lots of different answers to this question and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

The good news is that there are some key questions you can answer right now to work out how what marketing budget is right for your small business.

Average marketing cost for small business in the UK

Let’s start by understanding a bit about how much small businesses in the UK spend on marketing activities. According to YouGov, the average marketing cost for small businesses in 2019 was 9.3% of total revenue.

How to set a marketing budget for your small business?

If you’ve never had a dedicated marketing budget before, allocating around 10-20% of your annual revenue to marketing spend is a sensible starting point. You can keep the budget closer to 10% if you’re happy with steady growth or aim closer to 20% if you have ambitious growth plans.

Another way to look at how much you should be spending on your marketing is to review what you’ve already spent. Do you already have a budget allocated for marketing activities? If so, how much is that and what percentage of your annual revenue is it? You can then decide if you need to allocate more or less budget to marketing depending on your business goals.

Marketing budget allocation best practices

If you already have a marketing budget or have been spending money on marketing activities, you should look at spend by channel and work out the return on investment from each.

For digital channels, you can look at different metrics such as click-through rates, followers, likes, engagement and website visitors. ROI for traditional channels is more difficult to measure but consider asking your customers how they found out about you to give you an indication of how effective these marketing activities are.

Make sure you diversify your marketing budget across a number of areas so you’re not completely reliant on one or two activities. This will help you implement both long-term and short-term marketing strategies to ensure you always have a good sales pipeline and aren’t scrambling for sales.

If you spot something that isn’t working, stop spending precious marketing budget on it. I see a lot of small businesses continuing to do something because they think they should or because it’s what they’ve always done. To stay competitive, you’ll need to make sure you’re maximising your marketing spend to get in front of your ideal customers rather than wasting money on ineffective activities.

When it comes to allocating your marketing budget, don’t be afraid to experiment. Consider allocating 10% of your marketing budget to something new that you’ve never tried before. Identify how you’re going to measure whether this activity is successful and then stick with it for at least 6-12 months. Don’t expect instant results from new marketing activity but give it chance and after a year you’ll have a good idea of how effective it is for your business.

Marketing spend categories and marketing budget breakdown

A lot of different things can fall under the catch-all of marketing activity, but these are the main ones to consider for your small business:

  • Website
  • Advertising
  • Design
  • Market research
  • Agencies/freelancers e.g. for social media management
  • PR and outreach
  • Brand development
  • Asset production e.g. videos, photography
  • Print e.g. business cards, flyers
  • Sponsorships
  • Marketing consultancy
  • Promo e.g. gifts for customers, giveaways
  • Events e.g. trade shows, exhibitions
  • Travel expenses
  • Marketing training
  • Marketing tools e.g. CRM system, automation tools, analytics

Not all businesses need all of these categories. As always, it depends on who your ideal customer is and which marketing channels are best to reach them.

How much to spend on advertising for a small business?

Advertising tends to be one of the biggest marketing costs and needs to be managed carefully. The sky’s the limit when it comes to how much you can spend on advertising so it’s important to make sure the advertising channels you use have good ROI.

Traditional advertising tends to be very expensive and hard to track, whereas digital advertising can be much more cost-effective. It also gives you the ability to target specific demographics, criteria or keywords to help you get in front of your audience at a lower cost than traditional advertising.

I’d recommend setting aside anywhere from 50-75% of your total marketing budget for advertising and spending the majority of this on digital advertising rather than traditional.

Digital marketing budget allocation

In addition to budgeting for advertising, it’s vital to think about the money you’re going to allocate to your digital marketing. This includes things like website design and maintenance, creation of digital assets such as templates for social media and infographics or managing digital content such as social media channels and blogs. It’s worth investing in your digital assets consistently as your small business relies on these to represent your brand online to both prospective and existing customers.

If you need help with your marketing budget or marketing strategy, arrange a free 30-minute discovery call with me today.