As a small or medium business, your is on selling your product and filling your inventory. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there are a lot of crucial steps that go between filling inventory and selling products. To sell your product or brand, people must know it exists first.
Marketing and advertising can do this. These techniques can help your product and brand get seen by people all over your state or country. Social media ads, billboards, TV, and radio help portray your product to the best of its abilities. With these methods, you need a specific budget set aside.
Why a Budget?
As a small business owner, you have a budget set aside for supplies, office space, or equipment. It is also essential to add a budget for marketing as well.
There are free marketing resources to use, but marketing is so much more than posting on social media or gaining a following. A budget is needed to buy ad space, media coverage, or anything vital to promoting your business. This budget also helps purchase props and supplies to take better photos and videos or hire photographers or editors.
How Much Should You Budget?
The amount of money you need for marketing varies depending on the size of your business, how fast you want to grow, or what kind of marketing you want to do. In the beginning, you may want to look at inexpensive or free options. Facebook, Google, Instagram, and Tik Tok are increasingly beneficial for the growth of small businesses.
There are specific percentages to remember when you’re ready to create a budget. If you are doing less than five million in sales a year, budgeting 7% to 8% of your current revenue for marketing is smart. The marketing budget for smaller businesses and start-ups can range from 1% to 10% of your revenue. These percentages can change depending on how long you have been open and how competitive your market is.
Use the marketing budget for Facebook and Instagram ads, media coverage, business cards, or larger physical marketing pieces. Depending on your business and product, these budgets will change who your audience is.
Marketing and advertising are a crucial part of starting a business and promoting your brand. It is easy to forget in the whirlwind of creating your product, but it is essential to remember you have to sell the product when it’s finished.
