A marketer can easily fill up their day with a plethora of so-called “marketing tasks.” Post to Facebook, retweet a twitter mention, send out emails to prospects and clients – these tasks can be very valuable for a company, but too often they are used merely as hopeful shots in the dark instead of part of a distinct marketing strategy. Just like a financial investment, marketers need to start paying more attention to the specific financial goals of their business and investing in their strategy accordingly.
A change of mindset
First and foremost, marketing is an investment. You only get out of it, what you put into it. Therefore CMOs need to begin looking at marketing as the financial investment that it is towards meeting the goals of the business. When you make a financial investment you investigate the risk potential, growth expectations, and your portfolio as a whole. When looking at your marketing spend and strategy, you can start with the same discussions.
To think of it in another way, look around your business at the way investment fundamentals are applied all around you. Why is this not the case in marketing as well? Forget the way that marketing is typically done. Forget what your company has focused marketing dollars on in the past. Then open yourself up to the possibilities that a creative marketing investment can have.
Goal alignment
Now you’re ready to start getting your goals and your marketing investment in line. But first, make sure that you have the right goals. Of course, this depends on your business. A new business will need to focus more of their investment on brand awareness. You’ll need to make a splash in the market and get your name out there. your marketing spend in that area will be high because your primary goals is brand awareness.
But for most established businesses, awareness is only a portion of the marketing spend. Too often, businesses are focused on the wrong marketing metrics. You see that you’ve gained a bunch of Facebook likes, or you’re getting a lot of return visits to your website. These are positive things, but do they align to your goals? Marketers tend to focus their investment of marketing dollars on the channel itself – whether boosting search rankings or building an email list. But was your goal to create a higher search ranking? Or was your goal to use search rankings as a way to build leads and conversions?
Your marketing strategy needs to be relative meeting the financial goals of your company. If your company is looking for slow and steady growth, you can invest your marketing budget accordingly. But if you really want to get your business off the ground quickly, you’ll have to ramp up your spending for your maximum return.
Execution and adjustment
Now that you have your focus for your investment from the goals of your business, you’re ready to get started ramping up your marketing strategy. Don’t limit yourself. Your mix of marketing strategy is dependent upon your business, of course, but consider every channel and it’s effectiveness for you.
Make sure you have the right tools in place to measure the return on the investment you’ve made. When you make a financial investment, you will always have these tools in place, so why wouldn’t you have these in place for marketing investment? Again, be focused on the right metrics and making sure you have a system in place to see the results of your hard work. Then you can make the adjustments needed in your strategy. You can identify where the issues are in your marketing funnel and change your marketing investment based on that information.
Conclusion
Thinking of your marketing as an investment, makes you shift your thinking for your marketing strategy and budget. You are only going to get out of it what you put into it – so invest wisely.
Looking for help making the best investment possible? Contact us today and let us show you how we can create measurable success for your company.
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