How to Understand and Determine Your Company’s Digital Marketing Budget
It is a well-known rule in business policy that the bigger a company is, the larger percentage of their revenue they are going to spend on digital marketing. Companies like Coca-Cola, Ford, or Apple all spend a surprising amount of money promoting their brand and making their products well known.
So, with this in mind, how much money are you supposed to spend on your internet marketing efforts?
Well, to help you tackle this difficult question, we are going to take a closer look at various factors that will help you determine your digital marketing budget.
Figuring Out Your Digital Marketing Strategy
Figuring out the right digital marketing strategy for your company is one of the hardest and the most important tasks you’ll have to tackle.
No two companies have the same online marketing strategy. This is why finding yours is a bit like finding a needle in a haystack. Some companies spend months, if not years trying out different digital advertising strategies before they find the right way to address their audience.
So, you shouldn’t worry if you cannot find your preferred way of digital marketing right of the bat.
But, this should also indicate to you why digital marketing budgets can be large, especially if you want to experiment and be creative with new marketing ideas.
What to Do If You Are New to Internet Marketing?
If this is your first time tackling online marketing, we first suggest that you do your research.
It won’t take long for you to realize that there are a ton of things that you’ll have to figure out, many of which might seem quite alien to you now. Things like:
- SEO management
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing.
- Web design
- Branding
Now, do you have to be well-versed in all of these aspects in order to tackle digital marketing?
Of course not, but the more versed you are, the easier it will be to formulate a suitable strategy for your business.
Furthermore, by familiarizing yourself with the online advertising processes, you will be able to determine your internet marketing budget more easily and stick to it with proper planning.
All in all, there is hardly a downside to researching various digital marketing forms as much as possible before you start.
Picking the Right Strategy
One, some, or none of the things we’ve outlined can be a part of your marketing strategy.
Some companies have seen tremendous success by only implementing Social Media Marketing and avoiding other online marketing efforts altogether. On the other hand, some companies had to combine multiple digital marketing efforts in order to come up with a decent marketing strategy.
So, at the end of the day, it will be up to you to pick a suitable strategy for your company.
To do this properly, we suggest that you first take a look at your competitors. There are bound to be a couple of them that have dealt with online marketing for a while now.
Therefore, by studying their marketing efforts, you can figure out what kind of strategy will work for you. Ideally, you will keep what is good from their strategy and remove what is bad.
To figure out which is which, you’ll need to mix and match different aspects of their marketing and see what role they play. By doing so, you will also get a better idea of how much digital marketing costs and which expenses you can efficiently reduce.
Long-Term Vs. Short-Term
One of the common misconceptions people have about digital marketing is that it is a one-time deal. A lot of inexperienced people think that they will simply cash out a single amount and be done with their marketing efforts.
Well, the actual reality of marketing is far from so.
Proper digital marketing often requires long-term planning and efforts. On the other hand, you might need to have some short-term marketing strategies in order to take advantage of current marketing trends or promote a seasonal product.
This is one of the reasons why it can be quite hard to determine a digital marketing budget.
Our advice is to have separate advertising budgets for long-term and short-term online marketing efforts. That way, you will have a clear idea of where you are money-wise, and where to invest.
Preparing for Digital Marketing
Whatever marketing strategy you opt for, there are certain things you’ll have to do in order to prepare.
So, to help you determine your internet marketing budget, we are going to go over them in necessary detail and outline which aspects might pose a substantial cost.
Keep in mind that these aspects can drastically vary in price and that you can DIY some of them. So, the prices we will indicate are merely average costs that you can base your budget on.
Figuring Out Your Brand and Logo
All marketing efforts, from Social Media Marketing to designing T-shirts, should revolve around your brand. Having a decent brand is a great way to focus your digital marketing efforts and promote your company in a coordinated fashion.
So, one of the first things you’ll need to do is design your brand and logo.
While this may seem easy, you might find yourself having trouble designing something simple, elegant, and informative that is going to represent your company. This is why it is usually a good idea to hire a professional to help you design your brand and logo.
Consulting with an internet marketing professional is an excellent way to avoid rookie mistakes and develop a meaningful brand. On the other hand, designing a decent logo without a professional graphic designer is practically impossible. Therefore, in both cases, we advise you to hire professionals and start your marketing efforts on the right foot.
- Logo design – $100.
- Branding – this can be a bit harder to quantify, as it depends on how long you need to work with professionals in order to find a decent brand. But, you should expect a professional agency to charge you anywhere between $150 and $300 per hour.
Designing a Website
Once you have your logo and your brand figured out, you will need to design a website.
Locally-run shops may be content with simply having a Facebook page where people can find the necessary info.
But, if you are at all serious about tackling online marketing, you need to design a decent website. The best way to do this is to hire a professional web designer to help you out.
You can opt for getting a premade website and simply implementing your content. However, this is not advisable, especially in the long run.
Websites need to be updated and modified regularly, especially if you want to keep up with modern digital marketing trends. Alongside that, you’ll need to ensure that your website is easy to use, intuitive, well-optimized, and safe. And the only way to make this possible is by hiring a professional web designer to help you out.
Finding a Web Designer
Ideally, you will find a reliable web designer and use them to update your website. Because they’ve helped create your website, they have the necessary knowledge to optimize it and make it run with necessary efficiency.
So, while working with a web designer may seem costly at first glance, trust us when we tell you that it is well worth the money.
Depending on how complicated your website is and how much you want to invest in it, the actual cost of running a website can vary drastically. But, to give you an idea, here are some average costs to keep in mind:
- Hiring a professional to build you a website – $500 – $3000.
- Website maintenance – $200 – $450 per month.
Keep in mind that these are just average costs and that some websites can run as high as $30,000. So, before you outline your budget, make sure to carefully study website design and see what kind of website you are looking for.
Determine Your Digital Marketing Budget
With your basics set up and your strategy figured out, you should be able to determine your digital advertising budget. To do this with a decent degree of reliability, you should talk with a digital marketing expert. They can give you a much more realistic estimate than you as a rookie can come up with.
Our advice is always to add an extra 20 percent to your original estimate, as you are bound to make mistakes and oversights in your marketing efforts.
Now, the number you come up with should be enough to cover your basic set up and your outlined strategy. But, if you plan on changing your strategy after a month or a year, your budget will naturally change.
How much and in what way will it change is hard to tell. After all, we don’t know your current strategy and the changes you want to implement. However, to help you get an idea of how much each aspect of digital marketing costs, we’ve come up with certain median numbers for you to keep in mind.
Creating and Optimizing Content
Some website owners prefer to create their own content. If this sounds like you, then doing so will take $0 out of your budget. But, if after a while you feel that content creators are necessary, you should be aware of how much they cost.
A single piece of content can cost you between $50 and $3000, depending on what your content is. You may be able to find cheaper versions, but only if you are willing to post content of subpar quality.
Finding content creators is pretty straightforward nowadays as there are services that can help you out from the get-go. Ideally, you want to find a company that is experienced with the type of content you wish to publish.
SEO Management
Modern online marketing is practically inconceivable without SEO management. So, if you wish to tackle your digital marketing efforts properly, you will have to implement SEO into your strategy.
As it turns out, even SEO management comes in different forms and price ranges. So, depending on your strategy, you can expect to pay:
- Monthly fees – $750 – $2000.
- Hourly rate (for consultation) – $80 – $200.
- One time project – $5000 – $30,000.
We should point out that proper SEO management takes a lot of time. This is why the most cost-effective option is to hire a company that can handle it for you in exchange for a monthly fee.
Going for a one-time project can also be a good idea, especially if you only want to promote a single product for a short amount of time.
Here, again, you want to work with an SEO management agency that is experienced in working with companies similar to yours. So, for instance, if you plan on running a moving company, find an agency that provides SEO that meets the needs.
All in all, you really need to plan your strategy carefully if this investment is going to be worth your while.
Social Media Marketing
At first glance, you might think that social media marketing doesn’t cost much. After all, you simply need to post the content on social media channels, which you have already published on your website. Right?
Well, not quite!
In order to tackle social media marketing properly, you need to have a skilled manager who will know which posts to promote and when. This is why Social Media Marketing can often cost between $900 and $3000 in monthly fees.
Further, the cost may largely vary based on the type of social media marketing and on how many platforms you wish to engage in.
Final Thoughts about Determining Your Digital Marketing Budget
As you can easily see, it can be quite complicated to determine your digital marketing budget.
With this in mind, we advise you not to rush. Develop a decent marketing strategy with the help of a professional and start from there. In time, you will conceive a better idea of what type of online marketing works for you, and how much money you need to invest.
Do yourself a favor and start measuring your online marketing performance with tools like Google Analytics. By doing so, you will have a clear idea of whether your current digital marketing strategy is working. And, if it is not, you will be able to pinpoint which aspects you need to adjust.
An advanced All-in-One Digital Marketing Course.
Mentored by Mr. Soumya Roy, the Founder, CEO of PromozSEO Web Marketing Academy.
Being an entrepreneur and digital marketer, he loves to share his knowledge and experience in topics related to internet marketing, SEO, SEM, social media, content marketing, branding, entrepreneurship, and many more.
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