We’ve had questions from the listeners themselves!

Brilliant! That’s what we’ve been encouraging everyone to do. Let’s get straight into it then. What’s the first issue?

Right, so we have a question from Leanne. How much should you spend on a marketing budget?

Good question! And one that probably affects every business, particularly at the beginning.

Basically, there is no one size fits all. We need to consider things like ‘time’ and allocate a cost to it. Are you best placed to be running this activity? What stage is your business at - start up, growing or changing?

Am I right in thinking that it’s quite usual for a business to allocate a percentage of actual or projected gross revenue?

Yes, that’s right - usually between 3-5 percent for established business marketing and between 5-10 percent for start-up marketing. But that allocation depends on several factors: the industry, the size of your business, and its stage of growth. For example, during the early brand building years, retail businesses spend much more than other businesses on marketing – up to 20 percent of gross revenue. plan - the marketing budget is a component of the marketing action plan split between brand development costs and promotion increased confidence leads to growing expectation Once you’ve developed your marketing plan and budget, it shouldn’t be fixed or inflexible.

I guess there may be times when a business may need to throw in some unplanned activity, so at the end of the day, knowing whether the spend is helping to achieve marketing goals is more important than sticking to a budget.

True. Think back to podcast 1 when we talked about the importance of a marketing plan and action plan. This will help determine a budget. You have to know what your objectives are so you know what actions you need to take to achieve them. Then you can allocate cost to each action.

It would probably be helpful to break down your marketing budget into categories so you know where your money is likely to be spent. So, pen and paper at the ready, here’s what a typical budget might include:

Website – designing or updating it, adding new content or images and hosting costs

Search Engine Optimization – expenditure on tools and consulting

PPC ad expenditure – pay-per-click ads on Google or Bing

Video and photography

Graphics – web banners, infographics etc.

Events/ trade show costs – e.g. pop-up banners, handouts, freebies, travel and accommodation

Social Media tools and services

Social Media ads and paid promotion e.g. LinkedIn or Facebook ads, promoted posts,

PR costs

Telemarketing

Print advertising

Direct mail / direct marketing including print & postage costs

Marketing technologies – marketing automation, email marketing, SEO tools, web analytics etc.

Seminars and training

That’s an extensive list, Liz, and I’m sure listeners can think of other categories too. Or some that don’t apply but it’s a good guideline and then costs can be allocated. You can then calculate a budget based on what you really want to do.

Hope that’s answered your question, Leanne! What’s next, Nicky?

Well, here’s another question from Sarah. As a new business, how can I get my name out there?

I would say the first thing to do is to really spend some time building your social media accounts. For me, when my Twitter account started growing and I was communicating with followers, it really made me feel that I had arrived! The trick is to use the best channels for your business as not all of them will be appropriate. I always say be where your customer are so if they’re not on Instagram, don’t waste energy posting there.

I so agree, it’s about quality, not quantity.