Marketing costs a lot, both in terms of time and money. When you’re in those early stages, and keeping your business afloat on very slim profit margins, it’s essential that you keep expenditure to a minimum and revenue as high as possible. If you’re worried about what you’re getting out of your marketing against what you’re getting back, here are some tips to maximize your marketing ROI.
Initiate A Corporate Giving Campaign
I’m going to sound a little sinister and Mr. Burnsy here. Customers love brands that give back, no matter which niche you look at. Philanthropy from what people perceive as fat cats is always admirable, and over the past couple of decades we’ve seen a lot more interest in companies that launch their own meaningful, charitable campaigns. Of course, you can contribute to any cause you like, but it makes the most sense to choose something that’s related to your business in some way. If you’re running a mini-grocery, for example, start giving a percentage of your produce to a local food bank. Once your giving campaign is underway make sure you’re publicizing it on all the channels you have access to, thereby milking it for all it has.
Centralize Your Outsourcing in One Company
While you may want to stay as independent as possible, it’s likely that you’re going to have to outsource at least some aspects of your marketing. Sure, you’ll have to sacrifice some control here. However, outsourcing your online marketing can be exceedingly cost-effective for new, unestablished businesses. Just make sure you’re maximizing your ROI by keeping it all wrapped up in one company. If you give your web design work to one firm, your SEO copywriting to another, and your PPC management to another still, you’ll quickly wind up paying much more than is necessary for the kind of exposure you need. Not only that, but you may end up with an inconsistent tone across your different marketing materials. Keeping all your outsourcing centralized in one catch-all firm, will be much more cost-effective and easier to manage.
Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin
If you study the marketing tactics of any successful business, you’ll find that they have a platform on several social media channels. Naturally, you might want to model your own tactics on this, and immediately establish yourself on all the different social media sites you can. I recommend putting this off for the foreseeable future. Going wide may seem like a good idea on the surface, but it makes it easy to spread your resources too thin, and dilute the potential power of your brand. Don’t waste time and money by trying to be visible on every social network going. Instead, focus more of your resources on platforms that are going to be popular among your target demographics. If you’re marketing to younger millennials, invest more of your time and money in Instagram. If you’re a B2B firm, then invest more on LinkedIn press releases.