What is a decent marketing budget?

With ever increasing options for getting in front of potential customers; Google Ads, magazines/newspapers, social media platforms, direct mail or even bill boards. It’s completely understandable why businesses may be consumed with decision paralysis. Add radio and TV advertising to the mix, now a much more affordable option no longer reserved for big budget brands, and the marketing procrastination is real, not to mention spiraling costs if you take a pot shot at everything. It's enough to make you weep.

Bear in mind I specialise in marketing for engineering and construction companies. The buying decision from their customers point of view is a lot more considered than if they were deciding between two vitamin enriched drinks at a festival, for example.

Generally the marketing objectives for the companies I work for include increasing brand awareness to customers, generating leads and sending out consistent high quality and dependable messaging to the point that when their ideal customer is at the buying point, they choose my customer over a competitor. And for this sort of long term steady goal a budget of between 5%-10% of total revenue is ideal.

In terms of what to spend it on, again this depends but a helpful way to look at it would be to look at your end goal first and work backwards. Who is your ideal customer and where do they spend their time physically and digitally? Where are your competitors advertising? How did you current customers find you? All of this will help you reach the right audience.

Spend your marketing budget wisely and reap the rewards through future sales, contracts and brand awareness.

*When I say "it depends..."

A FMCG company, set to launch a new product would likely have a different budget pattern. it would probably be sensible to allocate a much bigger chunk of budget in the run up to and during the initial launch with spend tapering out to a steady middle ground after this. And, if it’s a brand new to market product in a crowded market place then the ongoing budget would likely be a bit higher.

If you’ve read this far thank you! If you’d like us to take on the marketing for your engineering or construction business from 4 hours per week or, if you need a temporary extension to your marketing team, give Aye Media a shout.