The 2018/19 financial year is fast approaching. For young businesses and start-ups, July 1 represents a clean slate with regard to marketing spend and promotional strategies.
Not everything works the way we’d like when it comes to promoting a business. Persevering with an unsuccessful tactic can leave an unnecessary hole in your marketing budget and overall profits.
Below are 5 strategies for marketers looking to refresh and refocus their promotional efforts in the new financial year.
Evaluate Your Previous Success
You shouldn’t expect the same old strategy to suddenly produce improved results in the new financial year. Marketers in 2018 need to be agile and alert to possible improvement.
Look at every stage of the marketing funnel from the previous year’s strategy. If your marketing spend has gone toward lead generation, social follows, email subscriptions or other metrics, evaluate in depth whether the money spent has been truly worth your while.
Identify strategies that show promise and are worth persevering with, even if they didn’t yield a profit in the previous financial year. Some tactics accumulate in strength over time.
Consider the 70:30 Rule for Marketing Spend Allocation
A common school of thought in marketing circles is that 70 per cent of your marketing spend should go to real plans, while 30 per cent should be set aside for flexible or speculative marketing.
If tried-and-tested marketing methods are not yielding the results you want, the 30 per cent allocation will allow you to get a little more creative. Depending on the overall size of your budget, this could be as simple as a secondary, creative business Instagram page or as ambitious as a targeted promotional campaign around holiday time.
Don’t Discount Free or Inexpensive Strategies
Once you have a fixed marketing spend to play with, it is common for marketers to stop considering the potential of free or cheap promotional tools. Small businesses can find success by applying their industry knowledge and making use of free technology.
Marketing expert Neil Patel has spoken about starting a marketing campaign for under $100. His suggestions revolve around clever market research, free online tools and consistent, quality content. Tactics such as these can serve to amplify your marketing strategy that is already supported by conventional marketing tactics.
Break Down Your Marketing ROI
Everyone wants to know about the bottom line with regard to marketing spend, but it’s not always easy to deliver accurate results. We can identify which strategies are bringing in the money, but attributing a dollar value to the concept is more difficult.
You can measure your marketing ROI across three major touch points – awareness (who knows about your business), engagement (who’s talking to or about your business) and conversion (who’s buying from your business). If you can demonstrate measurable improvements across all three touch points, your overall ROI is likely to be positive. If any of these touch points is showing weakness, increase specific marketing spend to make up the difference.
Consistently Review Your Progress
Business owners have plenty to think about over the course of a working year, but ROI and marketing spend needs to be consistently tracked for best results. If you’re lucky enough to be working with a marketing team, monthly meetings that relate specifically to marketing goals and results are essential to success.
People naturally deviate from agreed-upon goals sometimes. Spend your meeting time ensuring that core messaging is consistent, all material is on brand and your chosen target audience remains in the crosshairs.
Start the New Financial Year with Studio Culture
Digital marketing takes a lot of time and effort, and not all business owners have enough of these things to go around. For digital services and promotion, Studio Culture can help.
Studio Culture is a full-service agency committed to digital marketing, web design, SEO, PPC campaigns and a whole lot more. To learn more about how we can help you to grow your business online, give us a call on 1300 200 113 or email hello@studio-culture.com.au.
