3 Tips to Help Cut Down on Your Marketing Budget

Many businesses today are feeling strapped for cash. The unpredictability of the market has quite a few brands pulling back on their spending habits. This includes reining in on their marketing budgets. As a marketer, you may not have a lot of say in terms of what your budget is. These decisions are generally made from the top-down, meaning you’ll have to be creative with your slice of the pie. In this scenario, your best bet is to remain focused on your audience and streamline your current strategy.

On the flip side, you may be asked by your leadership to find ways to proactively reduce your spending. When handed this exercise, you may feel at a bit of a loss. You’ve likely already tried to get the most out of your marketing dollars with all of your campaigns. That said, there are ways to save some cash without shifting your priorities too much. Below, three tips to help cut down on your marketing budget.

1. Evaluate Your Competitors’ Strategies
   If you’re feeling strapped for cash, chances are your competitors are as well. They may start to scale back on certain tactics, allowing you to gain market share for a fraction of the cost. For example, let’s say you notice a reduction in a competitor’s social media advertising. You may be able to open up your current targeting to reach a wider audience and capture your competitors’ audiences attention. Doing so will save you money while also capitalizing on acquiring a competitor’s leads.

Another example of evaluating your competitors’ strategies relates to content marketing. You can achieve better search results if you fill the gaps and write on topics that are not covered yet. By leveraging a competitive content analysis tool, you can recognize what areas need content and how to best write on it. Using this type of tool can provide deeper insights such as what traits boost content to the top of the SERP for your industry. It will also help you prioritize what new content needs to be created in the near future.

Keep in mind that evaluating your competitors doesn’t mean copying them. After all, your brand exists for a reason! Knowing what your competitors are doing can simply help you make more strategic, financially responsible decisions. If you see a campaign of theirs that failed, then don’t spin your wheels trying to copy it. Instead, learn as much as you can from their mistakes while focusing on your core audience’s wants and needs.

2. Refresh and Repurpose Content
   Creating content takes a lot of effort. You have to decide what the topic should be and conduct all the research. This is followed by writing the post, editing it, and finally publishing it. With all this work, you want to get the very most out of the piece. This is why refreshing and repurposing content can be a cost-effective strategy.

Repurposing content further extends the lifetime of the article, enabling you to reach new audiences on different platforms. While you’re skimming through your content archives, be on the lookout for content that could be utilized in other ways. A listicle, for instance, could be repurposed into an infographic for social media.

Also, take note of anything that is out of date or inaccurate. A wellness brand, for instance, may have new scientific research data and stats to add to older posts. This type of update could actually boost your SEO and only requires a few revisions on your end. Refreshing and repurposing content is a fairly easy way to cut marketing costs, and you can start today.

3. Prioritize Customer Retention
   Finding a new customer is more expensive than keeping one you already have. This customer acquisition cost, or CAC, is a formula used to determine how much a new customer will cost you. The number can vary greatly based on industry, and a good number will primarily be based on what the average shopper spends per transaction. All that said, keeping your current customers is a much cheaper strategy that will lead to better ROI.

If you aren’t already, consider campaigns that focus on improving your relationship with your current customers. A loyalty rewards program, for example, can motivate your email subscribers to make a purchase. Or, create a customer feedback survey and entice customers to fill it out by providing a unique discount. They’ll benefit from the discount, and you’ll benefit by knowing what they are most interested in.

Another marketing tactic to consider is user-generated content. Many brands are leaning toward this type of content on social media. It can look like reposting Instagram Stories from followers who tag you. Alternatively, you may consider asking a few of your devoted fans to create content for the purpose of your brand’s social media channels. This tactic keeps audiences engaged while attracting new customers from their pool of followers.
Conclusion
Marketing campaigns come with big price tags. However, that shouldn’t deter you from finding alternative ways to reach your core audience. Leveraging new strategies could help set you apart from your competition, gaining some clout within the marketplace. Focus on what is really working for your business, reducing redundancies and inefficiencies whenever possible.