So, you’re thinking of increasing your marketing budget. You want to spend more on PPC and Google Ads, work with influencers, and hire a video editor to make all your TikTok and Instagram content.

But wait! Before you put more money into your marketing budget, think about these things first.

3 Things to Do Before Increasing Your Marketing Budget

Upping your marketing budget isn’t a bad thing. But you should explore all avenues before doing so. Here are a few things to consider.

1. Have Your Current Marketing Efforts Given You Any Direction?

“Well, what we’re currently doing isn’t working,” you say when someone asks why you want to increase your marketing budget.

But…

… if what you’re doing isn’t working, why would you spend more money to do it? Seems silly, right?

Before you spend another dime, you need to take a long, hard look at all of the metrics, analytics, and data you’ve collected. What are they telling you?

• Do videos perform well on your social media pages, while text-based posts tank?
• Have you converted the most leads from your email list, and meanwhile, your blog gets no views and your SEO practices haven’t really delivered results?
• Was that expensive influencer marketing campaign a huge flop, but your user-generated content (UGC) campaigns saw massive traffic?

You need to dig deep to discover what’s working and what isn’t. Don’t assume that just because your business isn’t earning billions, nothing is working.

If you really get into the nitty-gritty of your marketing efforts thus far, it’s very likely that you will find something — even if it’s small — that has worked better than other approaches.

Double down on what works. Shelve the rest (for now).

If you do end up deciding to up your marketing budget, this has to be the first step!

2. Have You Maxed Out Your Current Inbound Leads?

Inbound sales are a great ally to every business. These are leads that come to you, instead of you chasing them down. Sounds nice, right?

Let’s say that your business gets 50 calls a week from people interested in spending money on you. And you end up converting one of those callers into a paying customer. That’s a start, but it could be much, much better.

Before you add to what you’ve already got, work with what you have! What can you do to start converting 10 of those 50 people? For example, maybe if they commit to paying on the spot (over the phone), you’ll offer them a discount.

There’s a good chance that there are already opportunities to increase sales right in front of you — without increasing your marketing budget, too.

3. Remove the Barrier Between Sales and Marketing

The biggest marketing budget in the world won’t get you very far if your sales and marketing teams aren’t working as one.

There are (probably obviously) two separate departments. And historically, there’s always been a little bit of tension between them. That’s because sales and marketing professionals have different goals! Also, they often have different beliefs about the best way to make a business money.

Neither is wrong, and one isn’t better than the other. Rather, your business needs both, and you need them working side-by-side.

The Sales Team Can Tell You What’s Converting Leads into Customers

The sales team is responsible for turning leads into paying customers/clients. They know what it takes to convert. These folks will have a good idea of who your ideal customer is — the one who’s eager to pay for your products or services.

This can help the marketing team better understand who to target with their efforts.

The Marketing Team Has Insight into the Greater Market

Typically, marketing casts a wider net. They might be throwing a little more spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks.

All of this testing and experimenting means they have a lot of valuable information about what resonates with your audience and what doesn’t.

If these teams combine forces, they can create the ultimate customer journey map and better understand exactly what your target market wants and needs.

“Yes, I still want to increase my marketing budget!”

After reading all of this, you might determine that your marketing budget indeed needs more wiggle room. There’s nothing wrong with that! Keep these few simple tips in mind:

• Spend it on things that seem to be working better than others. If you notice that you’re selling more on social from video content, consider hiring a video editor to help you produce more content of a higher quality.
• If you need manpower, compare your options. You could hire more in-house employees, or you could hire a contractor. This isn’t a conversation about which one is better than the other. Rather, consider your own needs, goals, and budget.
• Don’t go all in. Usually, spending a ton of money at once only makes sense if you’ve already identified exactly what works. For example, if you’re running an ad that’s already made you a fortune, it’s (likely) safe to pour more money into it. If you’re not in this situation, spend slowly and intentionally.

No business can survive without marketing, let alone thrive. Investing in your marketing campaigns is a great thing — if you do it correctly! Follow these tips and be mindful of your spending, and your marketing efforts will pay off.

Want more tips on growing a successful business? Visit me on YouTube next!