You have to market if you want your company to grow and the person who holds the purse strings in your company must understand this if you are going to succeed. Even if the person making the financial and marketing decisions is the same person, probably YOU (the entrepreneur), it’s critical that you have the right perception.
Across all organizations big and small, we need a mindset shift to recognize that marketing is not just a line on your expense sheet. It’s a necessity to grow your business, especially in the digital age where everything happens online and traditional tactics rarely work anymore.
Gone are the days when you could rely on direct referrals and word of mouth. These things now happen through SEO and your GMB, which means your digital presence needs to be solid and that takes time and money. You need to meet your customers where they are and that’s online. How can you possibly do this without marketing?
The answer is you can’t! You need people who understand this stuff and you need tools and resources to make it happen.
Marketing spend should never be decided based on a “budget” that is determined by anything other than your sales and growth goals. If you are expecting a certain amount of revenue to come in, you have to invest appropriately in what you put out to attract that revenue.
Some things to consider:
- What are your sales and growth goals?
- What does it take to get there?
- What does it cost to make that happen?
- Are these numbers realistic?
When considering the cost to bring in a new customer or sale, don’t forget that they will continue to bring revenue and value to your business if they are properly serviced and marketed to. So while it may cost a lot upfront to bring in a new client or upsell to them, what is the long term value of the customer? Their reviews and referrals? Etc
On this note, don’t forget how important it is to continue marketing to customers once you have them. I’ve worked with numerous companies who truly missed the mark on this one. A customer who is already with you should be invested in, supported and properly remarketed to so you can maximize their experience and the value they bring to your company. The ROI can be huge, but you have to be willing to invest in it.
The key to ensuring the company grows without wasting money is ROI. “If it works, I will invest in it” is something I’ve heard numerous times, but quite often the investment has to happen first. You want to make calculated decisions based on as much data as you have available to you, but then you just have to try things and continue to measure your ROI and tighten your focus as you figure out what works best for you.
To create lasting marketing success, your business needs dollars and people focused on consistently measuring your results and refine what you are doing as things change and your customers have new wants and needs. This isn’t nice to have, it’s crucial to the success of your business.
