As a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate. Even if you have team members to handle some things, it’s still your business and that means making lots of decisions. When it comes to small business marketing, those decisions can feel a little overwhelming and risky… especially when making an investment in your marketing.
Making the most out of your small business marketing budget starts with focusing on strategy and then making decisions aligned with that strategy.
Know your goals and your audience
You’ve probably heard this before, especially if you have worked with us, but it truly is the first step in anything you do for your business! Having clear business goals and marketing goals ensures you’re aligning your time and budget to meet those goals. Knowing your audience ensure you know where to find them and the best way to reach them.
Think about the customer journey
To get the most out of your marketing, you need to think about the overall customer journey. That means thinking about your different marketing channels (website, email marketing, social media) and the role they play in that journey. Before you invest in paid ads, you need a conversion-focused website and a solid email marketing strategy to turn those leads into customers.
Do your research on the trends
Trends are always changing, and it can be challenging for small businesses to keep up. Pay attention to the trends and think about how they might fit in your strategy. Not every trend is going to make sense for you and your business, and chasing trends can waste time, energy, and budget if they don’t make sense for you.
Streamline your marketing tools
The right marketing tools can save you time, but too many marketing tools (or the wrong ones) hurt your budget. The marketing tools you need depend heavily on your business and your marketing goals, so there’s no set rule on how much of your budget you should be spending on tools. However, we recommend doing a quick audit of your marketing tools and evaluating what you truly need to be efficient and effective.
Put the right tracking in place
Tracking your marketing efforts is important. That being said, not every marketing activity has a direct return on investment (ROI). For many small businesses, social media has an indirect ROI of building trust in the customer journey, rather than converting sales. Still, it’s important to track what’s working or not working in your marketing in relation to your goals for each marketing channel. Be sure to give new strategies time to show results though!
If you want to make the most of your marketing budget but need help deciding what’s best for your business, reach out to the StoryPath team to talk about our strategy consulting for small businesses and small nonprofits.