Surfside Group

Recently, I read a report that confirms what we’ve seen and experienced in the past 18 months: companies that spend money on marketing, even during slow economies, are continuing to grow. The “Small Business Marketing Health Check” report by Hurwitz & Associates shows that approximately two-thirds of small businesses that raised their marketing budgets had increased or projected increases in revenues.

The data from this survey supports what The Surfside Group and our clients have also experienced recently. Of course, it takes more than simply saying you will spend more on marketing efforts. We’ve seen a lot of companies throw a lot of money away on poorly advised spending for their particular situation. TV & radio advertising, PPC (pay-per-click) and other activities are effective when used correctly, but for many small businesses, their marketing budgets can usually be allocated more effectively elsewhere. Before you spend one dollar on marketing or advertising, it’s critical that you understand where, how and why you are doing so.

Social media, email marketing, and other digital marketing is so much less expensive than traditional methods, but if not done properly, it’s still a lot of money that has gone to waste. And, in many cases, the ‘old fashioned’ marketing tools can deliver more bang for your buck. Many successful small and medium sized businesses use a well-planned approach that incorporates a strategic blend of online and traditional marketing efforts.

So, what should you do to determine what will work best for you and your company?

1. Know your numbers - How much did you spend on marketing/advertising/sales activities this year? What are your revenues? Your profits? By how much do you want to improve those numbers in 2010? What are your goals? Make them big and a little bit intimidating.

2. Break it down - What do you need to accomplish every day/week/month/quarter to meet your big annual goal?

3. Make a plan based on the numbers - Work with your sales and marketing professionals (whether they are internal and/or outsourced) to develop a strategy based upon your goals. If you need to, start out with just one or two new initiatives and then increase your marketing budget and activities as your revenues increase.  For example, continue your current email marketing but gradually increase the number of prospects who also receive printed mailings from you via the U.S. Postal Service. Or perhaps you have the budget to update your website and begin a search engine optimization effort to improve the numbers and quality of your online traffic.

4. Track activity - Keep a record of where new opportunities come from so you know what marketing activities are worth continuing to invest in and which need to be changed.

The old adage still applies: you must spend money to make money. Just be sure you are spending (investing!) your marketing budget to have the highest return on investment possible.