So, you have $200 to spend on marketing, but you don’t know where to spend it. Frankly speaking, it’s a common scenario when somebody is new to digital marketing. As a starter, you may not know the amount of money you need for spending on marketing, which is completely fine. However, we understand that not everyone is comfortable spending a large sum in today’s economy.
While some may tell you that $200 is simply low for investing in marketing, it’s totally cool if you want to do that. However, what you need to know is how to be strategic with your budget and use it to maximize your return on investment or ROI from the budget you invest.
So, let’s analyze if $200 is a good enough investment for marketing or not.
How Much Should You Be Spending On Marketing?
Most marketing experts agree on the 5% rule. But what is this 5% rule?
It is a rule made in the marketing world where experts recommend spending 2-5% of your sales revenue on marketing. This rule has been established by marketers after years of research and practical experience.
Now, it’s true that the revenue expenditure depends on an individual’s current marketing foundations, but the 5% rule is used as a general guideline. For example, the U.S. Small Business administration recommends spending 7-8% of your gross revenue for marketing and advertising if your sales are less than $5 million per year, with a net profit margin (including all expenses) falling under 10-12%.
While 5% may not seem too much, it’s quite reasonable. This is because the rule should apply to most years and not every year. Based on that calculation, 5% of your sales revenue should be able to cover most of your ongoing marketing expenses and activities.
However, you may also need to spend more time, especially when your company is at a very early stage of development. As technology advances each year, additional funding may be required for extra expenses like buying software, technological devices, etc.
Based on that calculation, $200-500 is a good enough budget for investing in marketing. But you should always keep extra funds when it comes to additional expenses.
7 Ways You Can Invest Your $200
Social Media Marketing
If you want to invest your $200, social media should be the first place to do that, as you can create awareness for your brand. However, it tends to get costly when you spend money on social media ad campaigns. Therefore, to save money, you should optimize your posts.
Ensure that your social media posts are engaging and relevant enough to pull in an audience. Use the right hashtags to target a larger audience. You can also use bulk post-scheduling tools to optimize time and money. It would also be helpful if you opt for free accounts. Many social media platforms do offer free accounts with limited features. While the limited features may cause struggles in bringing variety to your content, it’s best for startups with minimal investment. Of course, you can always pay more for those features when your business grows.
Email Marketing
Don’t ignore email marketing, as they have a high potential to help your business grow. The beautiful thing about email marketing is that you can tailor your budget based on your marketing goals.
To create a cost-effective and successful marketing strategy, you need to create a mobile-friendly landing page. This will help you gather the email addresses of your potential customers. Once you have the list of prospects, reach out to them with a newsletter. Now, your newsletter doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should be clear enough to make your audience understand the motive for sending the newsletter. To save money, you can use free services like Mailchimp, which offers free templates and mass-mailing features at a reasonable price.
Website
Having a website is great for small businesses to create an online presence. Most entrepreneurs start with a website and later expand onto other means of marketing (e.g., social media, email marketing, etc.). This is because a website is the root foundation of a business. You can showcase your ideas, products, services, etc., using a website. You can even sell your products with an eCommerce website as well. As we say, your website acts as your online business card where you can attract potential customers with the right strategy.
Chat service
A chat service is basically a chatbox that offers direct interaction with customers. You can build an email list of those who show interest in your brand using chat services. This is a great way of boosting your customer base.
The great thing is a chat service can be integrated into your website with a minimal fee. This means you can attract your target audience while simultaneously building an email list. However, keep in mind that if you opt for a chat service, you need to set up customer service representatives who can offer the best service to the customer. Otherwise, you will fail massively because customer feedback is everything when it comes to business growth.
Live webinars
Live web seminars, or webinars are a great way to connect and engage with a larger audience. Webinars are usually free, so you don’t need to spend money on them. Webinars are hosted on social media platforms, mainly Facebook, Instagram, etc. But you can host one on LinkedIn and Youtube (if you have a channel).
The goal of webinars is to teach an idea, promote a service/product or build brand awareness. With webinars, you can actually target and attract a large client base for your company. What you need is to establish the motive of your webinar. Once you’ve done that, you need to create informative, engaging, and fun content. Try to make your content fun and light-hearted if it needs to be.
Collaborating with others
Partnering and collaborating with other businesses can help advance your growth plans and enhance the quality of one’s offerings. When two enterprises combine efforts, resources such as ideas, contacts, or even production facilities can be shared, resulting in a higher standard product or service.
Collaborating with another business can give you greater influence in your industry. You could, for instance, try out new ideas – such as creating youtube videos or offering consulting services – without incurring the cost of setting up an entire operation. Work with a bigger firm, and you can get some experience and free time on your dime!
Spending on online course
You have $200, so why not invest it in a good digital marketing course online? Investing in a digital marketing course online can be an excellent way to make the most of your budget. Not only will you gain valuable insights and knowledge on the best practices for digital marketing, but you will also be able to apply what you learn to your own business.
Investing in a good digital marketing course can optimize your budget and ensure that you are using the best strategies to reach your target audience. Additionally, having access to a comprehensive online course means you can learn at your own pace and receive personalized advice from experienced professionals.
Bottomline
If you have been wondering how much should a company spend on a marketing startup, here’s your answer. While some marketing approaches can need more than $200, you can do a lot of things with your budget. The goal is to strategize where and how much to pay to get the desired output. If not anything, you can pay for a good online course that will help you in the near future.
Hope this article has been helpful for you in giving ideas. We will be back with yet another post next time. Till then, take care.
Germany Address:
0 Comment