Waste not, want not
Do you remember a time when you were young and your parents gave you some money to use at a concession stand? I grew up at the ballpark. When my brothers were playing games and I had time to kill, my friends and I would spend the entire evening scheming how to get the most candy out of the budget our parents gave us. Nothing was crummier than getting to the end of the evening with a few coins left in our pockets, but not enough to get another piece of candy.
As you manage your annual marketing budget, it’s important to account for potential delays or changes to your plans. Otherwise, you may find money slipping through your fingers, leaving you with too little at the end of the year to fully execute your well-planned strategy. Especially in the worlds of health and finance, there’s no offseason. Finding yourself short on change could mean your marketing plans go quiet.
The following tips may help you avoid common pitfalls marketers face when managing their marketing budgets.
1. Clear communication = better outcomes
This tip specifically applies to situations where you are paying for services on an hourly basis, or where scope creep adds to the cost of a project.
At all phases of the project, having thorough preparation, consolidated feedback, and clear direction can help to minimize confusion and maximize productivity by your agency and partners. During the project kickoff, can you provide a brief to answer questions before they’re asked and get everyone on the same page quickly? When giving feedback, do you gather information from all stakeholders and deliver it in a clear format to reduce confusion or wasted rounds of edits?
When marketing agency teams receive feedback from multiple sources, or in pieces rather than consolidated, chaos can ensue. The files need to be opened and saved, things are moved one way and then back, and edits get missed. Confusion is expensive! So avoid it with good communication practices.
2. Invest in discovery
It may sound counterintuitive to spend money on high-level exploration when you’re trying to budget for the work to be completed. But if you have a solid plan of attack early on, the rest of your initiative is easier to execute. And trust us, if you don’t invest in planning, you’re highly likely to waste money and time figuring things out as you go.
3. Know when to hold ’em, know when you fold ’em
It may seem cheaper to have work done internally than to hire an external expert, but it’s not always black-and-white. Like a home improvement project, sometimes it seems cheaper to do it yourself until you’re making your fourth drive back to the hardware store to find a part you didn’t know about. Many times, an external specialist can pull together everything you need in a shorter timeframe—and deliver a better product.
4. Have an honest discussion
So many times, a resource can work with the budget you have if you’re up front about it. You may want to create a cinematic video production with hired talent, but have the budget for something more homegrown. Or you might wish for an award-winning trade show presence but have the funds for little more than a table and backdrop. Great teams and supportive agencies will help you make the most of your budget without making you sweat.
Above all, be intentional and communicative.
At Lunne, we have developed processes that ensure smart up-front planning, efficient workflows, and steady communication to keep things running smoothly. We believe in being good stewards of our clients’ budgets, creating the most strategically sound and creatively appealing work possible within the available time and budget.
Reach out to learn how our approach to teams and processes contributes to better results.