How do you manage your online marketing budget without falling into common pitfalls?

I have learned the hard way that there are several ways to reach your goals. Your initial solution could be wrong, so you'd need to adapt. Stay focused on your long-term vision. Be flexible in your approach to achieve it. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀: Break down your long-term vision into smaller, actionable milestones. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽: Develop a flexible roadmap that outlines the key strategies and initiatives required to achieve your long-term vision. Remain open to adjusting your approach as circumstances change. Pivoting will help you get unstuck; you'd be surprised how many ways there are to achieve the same goal.

Some points I would like to highlight in additional to current ones: 1. Understand current online marketing landscape by carrying out a in-depth marketing intelligence analysis, what are the key channels? What is the focus and strength of those channels? Using data to measure and especially the 3rd part data. 2. Run pilot campaign to test 3. Summarize and get takeaways 4. Finalize your strategy

Having specific objectives allows us to tailor our marketing efforts accordingly. Moreover, having measurable metrics is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of our online marketing campaigns. These Metrics provide valuable insights into the performance of our initiatives. They help us identify what's working well and what areas need improvement, enabling us to optimise our campaigns for better results. In my experience, having a well-defined set of goals and metrics not only helps track ROI but also guides decision-making and resource allocation. It allows us to make data-driven decisions and justify our spending to stakeholders.

Invest in getting your brand positioned correctly - BEFORE any tactical stuff. Not just the visuals, but how you articulate and differentiate your offering. If your brand resonates with your target market organically, you won't need to spend endless $$ on tactical campaigns - many of which miss the mark because the foundations were ignored.

To know the complexities of online marketing budgets successfully, prioritize setting clear goals and defining measurable metrics. Begin by outlining specific objectives, such as increasing website traffic, conversion rates, or social media engagement. Establishing these goals not only provides a clear roadmap but also facilitates more precise budget allocation. Regularly review and adjust your metrics to stay aligned with evolving business priorities and industry trends. Leverage analytics tools to gain insights into campaign performance, ensuring optimal allocation of resources. By staying vigilant and adaptable, you can avoid common pitfalls, maximize ROI, and maintain a strategic and efficient online marketing budget.

An unlimited marketing budget is every marketer's dream, but marketers need to be creative and think strategically with a limited budget. Focus on essential objectives aligned with the business goals. Allocate resources to initiatives that directly impact the business/revenue growth. Identify and prioritize high-potential target segments. Tailor marketing budget and efforts to resonate deeply with the identified segments.

If there are searches for your product category, say “Dog treadmills” start with Google PPC. If you make sales, move to SEO. If no searches, start with meta ads, target potentially interested people. For dog treadmills, people interested in dogs, but not running. Collect email addresses by offering something of value. Then set up sequences of emails about the brand and benefits. If those emails work, send regular email campaigns (groups of people at once). Find the right mix of the above, it’s different for every business.

I tend to see too much over fragmentation of budgets based a misguided approach to ‘test and learn’. Advertisers need to understand that there is a critical mass of expenditure required to make the platforms work in your favour. Spreading your budget too thinly is like spreading to little butter over to much bread. It won’t give you the satisfying results you want. Be realistic with what you can do with your budget and commit to running a significant test.

The first step is to determine if there is existing demand for your product/service: 1. Are people actually looking for your solution? Try to cover the existing demand. Use these channels: - Paid: Google Ads, Microsoft Ads (if B2B) - Organic: SEO Depending on the stage of your company, you will have to prioritize between one or the other. Google Ads will give you the fastest insights and it is a good way to test interest before investing on SEO. 2. People aren't looking for your solution/problem you solve? - If your industry is B2B: LinkedIn Ads - If B2C: Meta Ads 3. All of the above can be complemented with: - B2B: podcasts, events - B2C: influencer marketing, events

Pay attention to the fine details of the type of content trends that receive the most engagement, as there are 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 that differ for each platform.

Every phase has a purpose, just as every step in a race matters: 1. Launch 2. Run 3. Evaluate. At the heart of your journey should be 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. Just as a runner conserves energy, you should focus on impactful campaigns, 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Obstacles will emerge, much like hurdles in a race. Yet, by adapting as the course shifts, you can keep moving ahead, and ultimately win the race.

All consumers have journeys. Your plan needs to take into action how to cater these journeys. 1. They don’t know about you (Awareness) 2. They heard about you and are looking for you (Consideration) 3. They interact with your business and advocate for it (Loyalty) Now your aim is obviously to push most people to the third journey. But with this framework of content allocation you can easily plan campaigns that are goal oriented. It’s strategic to make SMART goals because there is no secret sauce it’s all tracking and tweaking until you get there.

The Brand Bucket used to launch over 2570 brands worldwide guides us in this: 1. Raise Awareness 2. Match to the image of your prospect 3. Communicate your benefits 4. Give them a go of your Value Proposition 5. Make buying from you amazing 6. Thank those that pay you regularily Tailor your campaigns to deliver against this proven plan for engagement.

The most important is understanding audience behavior and the approach to follow / reaching is not the goal , call to action should be also clear

The planning is important, especially the timeline that leads to the execution. Say you write down a plan that states that person A will do XYZ on September 25. You don’t check person A’s calendar and they just happen to be on vacation that day. You didn’t check or have a backup plan and now the campaign will not start on time. I’ve seen the most responsible people do this believe it or not, because in a fast paced environment people are cutting corners and forgetting the little things that lead to campaign success.

One of the best practices that you can do right here is to 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲/𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 from your campaign as well. You can 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿, and you would gain a whole new perspective that will elevate you to the 𝗴𝗼𝗱-𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀! You can use 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮, helping you determine the best time to launch your campaign, boosting efficiency, and saving you money. You would be surprised by the results!

This is the part that many skip, but it is one of the most critical muscles to master. You need to have a budget that you constantly apply to testing new campaigns. Great brands are always testing new campaigns. Then, when they see signals that they are working, they invest, scale, and grow.

Very helpful note is to apply qualitative data to tell us how many, how much, or how often in calculations. Qualitative data can help us to understand why, how, or what happened behind certain behaviors. Apply, Analyze, and adjust for better results.

Test and optimize your campaigns by regularly analyzing performance metrics. Conduct A/B testing to experiment with different elements like ad creatives and targeting parameters. Use data-driven insights to refine your strategy, allocating budget based on the most effective channels. Stay agile, adjust ad settings, and negotiate costs. Monitor industry trends and adapt for optimal results. Continuous testing, adaptation, and optimization ensure efficient resource utilization and maximize return on investment in your online marketing efforts.

1. Track key metrics: Monitor metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition for each campaign. 2. Run A/B tests: Test different variations of your campaigns, such as ad copy, visuals, and landing pages, to see which ones perform better. 3. Allocate budget based on performance: Based on your data, shift budget towards high-performing campaigns and away from ones that aren't delivering results. 4. Analyze and adapt: Regularly analyze campaign performance and make adjustments to optimize for better results.

I have found that the best solution is to extract lessons from failure by 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻. What have you discovered about yourself, your strengths, and areas for improvement? Identify the skills or knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. One of the biggest mistakes in a corporate-driven world is that 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 is often seen as a setback when it 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 and success. Adopt a 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 that focuses on continuous learning and improvement, and 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿 in no time!

To learn from mistakes and success in online marketing: - Analyse data - Use feedback loops - Do A/B testing - Evaluate and document - Stay updated - Reflect - Embrace failures Interate and refine your strategy with a growth mindset based on feedback and results. Mistakes and successes both offer invaluable lessons.

If you didn't have any failures, you probably did something wrong. Every failure brings 10x more learnings than a win. The trouble starts when your team doesn't learn from the results. This typically happens when a new team member comes on board, or after some turn over. Without a history of what your team did, you start unknowingly recycling ideas. Create a document that shares what you tested, what were the results and what was learned.

Some of my top successes came from low or no-budget campaigns. Get creative; seek non-monetary marketing partnerships for significant success. Test with small pilots. Big spending doesn't always mean big success.

I believe there are very few universal truths in this business (the ones that are come from human psychology). The truth is that we've tried to turn something into a science that, really, isn't. That's why I believe test and learns are the only way to see true success. Keep trying new things, keep failing. Just because it didn't work for someone else, doesn't mean it won't work for you. Iterate, iterate, iterate.

In my experience, the most important consideration is how your results are moving BUSINESS goals forward & that often has nothing to do with marketing KPIs. Real world example - a manufacturer of consumer goods was investing heavily in influencer marketing but direct sales from tracked links in posts weren't cutting it. If you're tracking the usual marketing KPI's, you would probably have killed the program. That would have been a HUGE mistake. Multiple national retailers had placed large orders as a direct result of influencer visibility - something only known through feedback from the sales team. Killing that program would have choked off millions in annual revenue for years to come.

Always question the data. Everything can be improved upon, and ensuring accurate data on every campaign is the path to success. Did you test everything possible? Can you re-test in a different way?

Some of the more common pitfalls we see: 1. Measuring the wrong thing: marketing proxy metrics (eg 'engagement') versus measuring real business metrics (eg incremental sales) 2. 'Peanut buttering' marketing budget too thinly, across too many channels resulting in budgets falling below sufficient levels for effectiveness in any one channel 3. Layering on too much targeting that results in making the potential target audience size too tiny to make meaningful business impact 4. (still) not thinking mobile first with respect to copy and creative 5. Not having a culture of ongoing experimentation and continuous learning, defaulting to 'set and forget' marketing activity