How to spend your marketing budget in 2024
In the world of marketing, it can be incredibly difficult to know exactly where you will get the biggest return on your investment. With budgets tighter than ever for most businesses, ensuring you optimise your marketing budget has never been more important. In this guide, we’ll explore key considerations for allocating your marketing budget and delve into 11 strategic areas to invest in for optimal returns.
What should be considered in allocating your marketing budget?
Before diving into specific areas to allocate your budget, it’s essential to establish a solid foundation for decision-making. Consider the following factors when crafting your marketing budget strategy:
Business goals and objectives
Align your marketing budget with your business goals. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or expanding market share, a clear understanding of your objectives will guide your investment decisions.
Target audience
Identify and understand your target audience. Tailor your marketing budget to channels and strategies that resonate most with your audience, ensuring that your efforts are directed towards those who are most likely to convert.
Competitor analysis
Analyse your competitors’ marketing strategies. Identify gaps and opportunities, learning from both their successes and failures. This information can help you make informed decisions about where to allocate your budget effectively.
Past performance
Review the performance of your past marketing efforts. Identify what worked well and what didn’t. Allocate resources to strategies that have shown promise and consider revising or eliminating those that haven’t delivered the desired results.
Emerging trends
Stay updated on the latest marketing trends and technologies. Allocate a portion of your budget to experimenting with new trends to stay ahead of the competition and capture emerging opportunities.
11 areas to spend your marketing budget in 2024
- Create short-form video content
Video continues to dominate the digital landscape, and short-form videos have become immensely popular on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. An effective Instagram content strategy can be a great way to create organic brand awareness momentum. Allocate a portion of your budget to creating engaging and shareable short-form videos that showcase your brand personality and resonate with your audience.
If you can’t produce videos in-house, work with an experienced video marketer who can help you produce the content you want.
- Invest in your team’s personal growth
A well-trained and motivated team is crucial for the success of any marketing strategy. Allocate funds for training programs, workshops, and certifications to enhance your team’s skills. This investment not only improves the quality of your marketing efforts but also fosters a culture of continuous learning within your organisation.
- Experiment with social media ads
Social media advertising remains a powerful tool for reaching and engaging with your target audience. Allocate a significant portion of your budget to experiment with different ad formats, targeting options, and platforms. Analyse the performance data to refine your approach and maximise the ROI of your social media advertising efforts.
If you’re unsure where to start, explore PeoplePerHour’s community of social media advertising experts, who can get your campaigns off the ground.
- Research your customers
In-depth customer research is invaluable for crafting targeted and effective marketing campaigns. Allocate resources to conduct surveys, interviews, and analyse customer data to understand their preferences, pain points, and behaviours. This insight will inform your messaging and help you create more personalised and impactful marketing campaigns.
- Hire an SEO expert to conduct an audit of your website
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for improving your website’s visibility in search engine results. Allocate budget to hire an experienced SEO expert who can conduct a thorough audit of your website. This audit will identify areas for improvement, such as optimising on-page elements, improving site speed, and enhancing overall SEO strategy.
- Localise your website content
If your business operates in multiple locations or serves a diverse audience, consider localising your website content. Allocate budget to translate and adapt your content to different languages and cultural nuances. Localised content enhances user experience and improves your website’s SEO performance for specific regions.
Get your website localisation started with the help of our community of freelance translators.
- Work with external content writers to boost your output
Consistent and high-quality content is the backbone of any successful digital marketing strategy. If your in-house team is stretched thin, allocate budget to work with external content writers. Outsourcing content creation can help you maintain a steady flow of relevant and engaging content across various channels.
- Trial influencer marketing
Influencer marketing continues to be a powerful way to reach new audiences and build trust. Allocate budget to collaborate with influencers relevant to your industry or niche. Ensure that the influencers you choose align with your brand values and have a genuine connection with their followers. The best place to start your influencer strategy is by hiring an influencer marketer who can help you find the right people to represent your brand.
- Invest in social media analytics tools
Data-driven decision-making is essential in today’s marketing landscape. Allocate budget for advanced social media analytics tools that provide in-depth insights into your performance metrics. These tools can help you track the effectiveness of your campaigns, understand audience behaviour, and make informed adjustments to optimise results.
- Experiment with search engine marketing
In addition to organic SEO efforts, allocate budget for search engine marketing (SEM) to enhance your online visibility. Invest in pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on platforms like Google Ads to target specific keywords and drive immediate traffic and conversions to your website.
- Improve your CRM integration
Strengthening your customer relationship management (CRM) system is essential for personalised marketing and customer retention. Allocate budget to enhance your CRM integration, ensuring seamless communication and data flow between marketing, sales, and customer service teams. This investment can lead to more targeted campaigns and improved conversion rates.
By considering your business goals, audience, and emerging trends, you can make informed decisions on where to invest your resources. Whether creating engaging video content, investing in team growth, or optimising your website for search engines, a well-thought-out budget can propel your marketing efforts to new heights. Remember, the key is to stay agile, continuously analyse performance metrics, and adapt your marketing strategy to stay ahead of the competition.
