What Is Your Marketing Budget?

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You have to market if you want your company to grow and the person who holds the purse strings in your company must understand this if you are going to succeed. Even if the person making the financial and marketing decisions is the same person, probably YOU (the entrepreneur), it’s critical that you have the right perception.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Across all organizations big and small, we need a mindset shift to recognize that marketing is not just a line on your expense sheet. It’s a necessity to grow your business, especially in the digital age where everything happens online and traditional tactics rarely work anymore.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gone are the days when you could rely on direct referrals and word of mouth. These things now happen through SEO and your GMB, which means your digital presence needs to be solid and that takes time and money. You need to meet your customers where they are and that’s online. How can you possibly do this without marketing?</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The answer is you can’t! You need people who understand this stuff and you need tools and resources to make it happen. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Marketing spend should never be decided based on a “budget” that is determined by anything other than your sales and growth goals. If you are expecting a certain amount of revenue to come in, you have to invest appropriately in what you put out to attract that revenue.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Some things to consider:</span></p> <p> </p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">What are your sales and growth goals?</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">What does it take to get there?</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">What does it cost to make that happen