Want to maximize your budget in the digital ad space? Get the most out of your business's ad spend when it comes to your digital ad efforts. Learn more.

MNI Blog  /  4 minute read

How to Maximize Your Budget in the Digital Ad Space

Want to maximize your budget in the digital ad space? Get the most out of your business's ad spend when it comes to your digital ad efforts. Learn more.

If you want to get the most out of your business’s digital ad spend, it’s key to know how to stretch a digital marketing budget, because—regardless of the size of the company and its budget—chances are your budget is stretched.

 

man-creating-marketing-budget

No matter where funds are allocated in an advertising budget, it’s important to have a plan to control spending (make sure not to overspend), track digital ad spend and expenses, and organize/plan accordingly to get the most out of your digital advertising budget.  

 

The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends putting 7-to-8% of your gross revenue towards marketing. Then, allocate 50% of your marketing budget to digital marketing.  

 

How to Allocate Budget for Digital Marketing

With this information in mind, the digital marketing budget for your business can differ, depending on your size and goals. This percentage is a great place to start, but the following tips will show you how to get the most out of your digital advertising budget.  

 

1. Review Your Business Goals 

First and foremost, you need to define marketing priorities and how to achieve them. Depending on your business, you'll have unique goals, and it's up to you to ensure those goals are being prioritized over all else. SMART—specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely—goals, in particular, will set your business up for success.  

 

Whether a start-up, local brand, national brand, or solo entrepreneur, budgeting can be intimidating no matter what kind of business you have. However, with the right SMART goals, you'll find the experience is much more organized and smooth sailing.

 

What initiatives are needed in the digital space? 

  • Plan for product launches
  • Sales, promos
  • Review spending for last year 

With each initiative, focus on methods that worked the best, and don't hesitate to ditch anything that wasn't successful. 

 

2. Choose the Best Marketing Channels for Your Brand 

Depending on your audience and brand, you'll want to choose the best ways to market, including the right marketing channels. Start by analyzing your needs and determining which promotional channels will yield the best ROI when you run your digital marketing campaign. This will be especially helpful in determining what you spend your digital marketing budget on to ensure you're getting the most out of what you have available. 

 

A few questions to think about to help strategize:

  • Do I need to do outreach?  
  • Will we use an inbound marketing strategy? 
  • Who are we targeting?
    • Demographically?
    • Based on interests/behaviors? 
  • What is the goal of the marketing campaign?  
    • Brand awareness? 
    • Conversions?  
    • More traffic? 
  • Which social media channels are my target audience on? 

These questions will get more specific and detailed as the process becomes more familiar. You may even notice that you have quite a few more of your own questions to add in!  


 

Video content is especially engaging for consumers, showcasing products and services in use.

Content Marketing is Still Key  

There's no doubting it—content marketing remains a key factor in digital marketing success, especially when it comes to establishing expertise in your industry and building a trusting bond between your brand and your audience. That’s why it is strongly recommended that a portion of any digital marketing budget is allocated to content creation. 

 

According to HubSpot46% of marketing budgets are spent on content creation, and 24% of marketers plan to increase their content marketing investment. The software company adds that 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing.

 


Almost half (40%) of marketers say content marketing is a significant part of their overall marketing strategy.


The truth is, content is a budget-friendly marketing tactic to use regardless of industry, and content drives traffic better than most other marketing methods.  

 

 

Better yet, it also: 

  • Is a great way to provide valuable information 
  • Gains trust from consumers 
  • Builds credibility 
  • Enables your sales team to engage with leads
  • Positions you as a thought leader 

 

Current Customers Cost Less  

When it comes down to it, your current customers cost less than obtaining new customers. This is because you have already impressed them with your products/services, made them aware of your brand and offers, and built a bridge of trust and credibility—consumers trust brands they've already bought from or, at the very least, have heard of before. 

 

So, nurture and prioritize relationships with current customers, don’t take them or their loyalty for granted. Send them appreciation posts and emails to show how much you value their support and give them access to special offers tailored just for them including:

  • Discounts
  • Sales
  • Freebies
  • Contest entries
  • Giveaways, etc.

Retaining a customer vs. acquiring new ones  

Research consistently reinforces that retaining a customer costs less than acquiring new ones. In fact, according to the book Marketing Metrics, the probability of selling to an existing customer is between 60% and 70%while selling to a new customer is only between 5% to 20%.

 

Better yet, existing customers are 50% more likely to try your business's new product and are also 31% more likely to spend more on their average order value with your business. Small Biz Trends adds that even a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a rise in profits of between 25 and 95% 


Working with a Media Partner Yields a Better ROI   

Budgeting for a digital marketing campaign can be daunting, especially if you don't know what works and what doesn't just yet. As you get more familiar with digital marketing methods and budgeting, you'll want to make sure you're taking out the guesswork and investing in what works to get the best results. 

 

Partnering with a talented, expert team like MNI can not only fast-track your familiarity with digital marketing and budgeting but make a significant difference in your ROI. Benefit from expert guidance, access to a team with decades of experience with helping to create digital marketing budgets that get the most out of your digital ad spend.

 

With a targeted media partner like MNI—with data visualization platforms supporting specific campaigns ranging from OTT to cannabis—digital strategies can be executed at scale and optimized to further ROI. Even on a budget, there are many options for successful campaigns. MNI's programmatic ad buying solution, Motto, is particularly useful in this area because it shows the full scope of your OTT campaign—tracking and measuring conversion metrics like foot traffic, site visits, online checkouts, and app installs to promote optimal performance. 

 

With this information in mind, maximizing a digital marketing budget will become more manageable, although it requires planning, strategy, and agility. Remember to assess business goals before beginning, choose the right channels, and nurture relationships with existing customers. The right methodologies and an on-track marketing budget will yield more revenue for your business, leading to more growth and long-term gains.