Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A major component of your business is you marketing. It’s good enough just to market though. You have to do it effectively. The following contributed post is entitled, How Do You Get A Better ROI From Your Marketing Strategy.
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What does ROI mean? For those that are unaware, it stands for Return on Investment, relating to what you gain from investing your money. In marketing terms, it basically addresses how much you earn as a result of a marketing campaign/strategy. As a basic example, let’s say you spent $1000 on a marketing campaign, and it yielded sales totaling $2000. Here, you’re made a positive ROI as you essentially gained $1000.
With that in mind, how do you get a better ROI from a marketing strategy? Marketing and advertising cost lots of money nowadays, meaning many small businesses struggle to profit. Nevertheless, here are a few worthwhile ideas:
Utilize free marketing as much as you can
The first step is to be more frugal in your approach to marketing. There’s no need to splash the cash all the time – many marketing tactics are free! Think of things like social media marketing; this can be done without spending a penny. Word-of-mouth marketing works well for small businesses – get people to spread the word for you. You’ve also got ideas that initially cost money, yet provide free marketing afterward. Handing out branded products is a fine example; give customers a free tote bag with your branding on it, and they basically advertise your business whenever they go out with it.
Switch from traditional to digital marketing
Traditional marketing includes loads of classic ideas like billboard ads, newspaper adverts, flyers, etc. Nowadays, these methods aren’t as effective, meaning they provide a lower ROI. Instead, it’s worth venturing into the realm of digital marketing. Now, what is digital marketing? In short, it relates to all the different ways of promoting your business through digital channels. Again, social media falls under this umbrella, as do SEO, PPC, etc. Digital marketing helps you get a better ROI because it’s easier to tweak and measure the success of a campaign. You have access to all kinds of metrics that tell you what is working and what isn’t. Therefore, you can make adjustments to ensure you see a positive ROI.
Plus, most digital marketing tactics are more affordable than traditional ones. Do you know how much it will cost to get an advert on the TV during a prime time show? A fair bit more than paying for an advert on social media!
Set a strict budget
Finally, you should set a strict budget and stick to it. Many people see a negative ROI because they keep paying for more things. Your campaign isn’t producing results, so you increase the budget and keep promoting as much as you can. In the end, you spent far too much to make it possible to gain a positive return. A strict budget forces you to think smarter and make your money go a long way. It limits your spending, which could help you see a better ROI.
In summary, it’s all about being wise with your spending. Think of ideas and tactics that don’t cost much money, yet provide excellent results. Contrary to what you might believe, you don’t need to spend a fortune on a good marketing strategy.
