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If you’re a business owner, you know that it’s important to stay ahead of the curve and keep your digital marketing up-to-date. With so many options available, it can be tough to figure out how much money you should be spending on digital marketing initiatives.

In this blog post, I’ll break down the different aspects of digital marketing and help you determine how much money you need to allocate in order to see results. So, let’s dive in!

Determine Your Digital Marketing Goals

The first step in figuring out your digital marketing budget is to determine your goals.

Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Drive traffic to your website? Generate leads?

Or are you looking to do all of the above?

Once you know what your goals are, you can start to determine how much money you need to spend in order to achieve them.

Calculate Return on Investment

Now you know your digital marketing goals, it’s time to start thinking about your return on investment (ROI).

There are a lot of different ways to calculate ROI, but the most important thing is to make sure you’re taking into account all of your costs –  both upfront and ongoing.

Here’s a quick overview of some of the things you’ll need to consider:

• Website design and development costs
• Domain name and hosting fees
• Tools or software you’ll need
• Training or courses you’ll need to take
• Paid advertising you’ll be doing
• Content you’ll need to create (blog posts, images, videos, etc.)
• Freelancers or consultants you’ll need to hire

Once you’ve taken all of these costs into consideration, you can start to calculate your ROI.

There are a number of different formulas you can use, but the most important thing is to make sure you’re including all of the relevant factors.

For example, if you’re looking to increase brand awareness, you’ll want to look at things like web traffic, social media engagement, and media coverage.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to generate leads, you’ll want to look at things like conversion rates and the cost per lead.

One way to calculate cost-per-lead is by first calculating the total number of new customers/clients by the total amount spent on marketing to bring those customers/clients onboard. Then, divide that marketing spent by the new number of customers/clients, and that will give you an estimated amount of the cost you incurred per lead.

Undoubtedly, there are a lot of indirect expenses that you simply cannot include in the formula, but I find it a good way to have a rough estimate of the total cost per lead.

Shortlist Strategies & Your Budget

The next step is to start thinking about which digital marketing tactics you want to focus on. There are a lot of different options available, and the best way to figure out which ones are right for you is to experiment and see what works.

Some popular digital marketing techniques include content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, and email marketing, to name a few.

Once you’ve shortlisted the methods you would want to focus on, it’s time to start thinking about your budget.

As a general rule of thumb, you should be spending around 10-20% of your overall marketing budget on digital initiatives.

However, this number will vary depending on your specific goals and objectives. For example, if you’re looking to increase brand awareness, you’ll need to allocate more of your budget to content marketing and social media initiatives.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for quick results, you’ll need to focus more on paid advertising channels like PPC and social media ads.

Once you’ve determined your budget, you can start to allocate funds to the different marketing strategies you’ve decided to focus on.

Measure Your Growth & Adjust Your Budget

The final step is to measure your growth and adjust your budget accordingly.

There are a number of different metrics you can use to measure your growth, but the most important thing is to make sure you’re tracking the right ones.

For example, if you’re looking to increase brand awareness, you’ll want to track metrics like web traffic and social media engagement.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to generate leads, you’ll want to track metrics like conversion rates and the cost per lead.

Once you’ve tracked your growth, you can start to adjust your budget accordingly.

If you’re seeing positive results, you’ll want to increase your budget and allocate more funds to the techniques that have worked well for you.

On the other hand, if you’re not seeing the results you want, you’ll need to re-evaluate your strategy and see where you can make adjustments.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is a great way to reach your target audience and achieve your business goals. However, it’s important to make sure you’re setting the right goals and calculating your ROI before you start spending money. By following these tips, you can ensure that you’re making the most of your digital marketing budget.

Need help determining a digital marketing budget specific to your business? Book an appointment and let’s discuss!