By Garth Anesbury, Owner, Kwik Kopy Hilton
As EOFY looms, it is important to use up your marketing budget to ensure you aren’t shortchanged next year. While you might have executed all of your marketing strategies, you still may have a little in the pot; perhaps squirreled away for emergencies or because you made cost-effective decisions throughout the year.
Whatever your circumstances, if you have some budget left over, what choices can you make to invest your remaining funds wisely? Here are five tips.
- Experiment with alternative marketing channels
One way to invest any remaining marketing funds is to experiment with different marketing channels. This allows you to try new ways to share your message without needing to invest in a whole marketing campaign only to find it flop. If your campaigns have largely been online, consider print mediums like direct mail or vice versa. Using your remaining budget to experiment means you can trial new tactics and strategies until you find one that works for your brand and target audience.
When experimenting, think about:
- Tools that can help you automate your processes for the year ahead.
- New technologies, new customers and new content you can test. Think about new promotional tools you can activate.
- Your ads, the platforms they are on and the strategy and messaging you use with each. Trial different combinations to help uncover what resonates best with your current audience.
- A/B testing where you test the same marketing message across different platforms to the same audience and see which one gets better results.
- Being active and engaged across different platforms – social, your website, and in print to see which ones your audience prefer to engage with. This will show you what to prioritise in next year’s budget.
Remember to set a time limit for your experimentation and find out what performs best within these constraints.
- Repurpose old campaigns and materials
Breathing new life into old campaigns is a great way to maximise your remaining budget. You could reuse content on a new platform. For example, you could turn website copy into a flyer, or blog post content into an eBook. You don’t need to always come up with new ideas. Repurposing old content can be an effective way to reinvigorate a successful marketing campaign. Just be sure to stay on brand and keep your messaging cohesive.
- Invest in online advertising
While you might already undertake online advertising, trying alternate platforms for paid advertising is a cheap and easy way for further brand exposure. Think about Google Ads, or advertising through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and Pinterest.
Online platforms like social media give you access to data analytics which enable you to understand which ads achieve the most engagement and reach. You can then boost the relevant post by adding budget to see just how far a little money can go.
Influencer marketing is also another way to reach your audience online. Influencer marketing is fast becoming a reputable vehicle for brands to promote their products and services. However, be aware, good influencers will remain neutral and will give honest feedback about your products or services, so you need to be open to good and bad feedback.
- Refresh your brand and collateral
If you’ve been considering refreshing your logo and branding, a little left over budget can go a long way to getting things started. EOFY is also a great time to update and print your marketing collateral for the year ahead, freeing up next year’s marketing budget for other channels without compromising on how much money will be in the pot.
- Revamp your website
Google consistently updates their search algorithm meaning it can be challenging for businesses to know what to do to maintain a high Google ranking. Two things you can do to keep a high website ranking include:
- Optimising your site for mobile. 80 percent of internet searches are conducted by mobile phones[1]. As a result, search engines reward businesses which have optimised their websites for mobile.
- Post content. This means sharing thought leadership content regularly. Whether it be through a blog on your website or even posting regular videos, adding content helps engage your customers and sells your brand organically. Search engines reward those sites that offer genuine assistance to their customers via helpful information.
Regardless of your budget, these five tips can help you improve the effectiveness of your marketing program for the year ahead and ensure that every part of your budget is well utilised and not wasted.
About Kwik Kopy
Kwik Kopy is a corporate design and print solutions company which provides services including graphic design, business card and stationery printing, brochure and catalogue printing, as well as posters, banners and signage for small to medium sized businesses. Kwik Kopy Australia was established in 1982 as a Master Licence holder from Kwik Kopy Corporation U.S.A and has grown to operate over 90 franchises throughout Australia today.
www.kwikkopy.com.au
[1]https://qz.com/1116469/we-now-spend-70-of-time-online-on-our-phones/
