A Guide on Where to Spend Your Digital Marketing Budget

Digital marketing is an absolute must for B2B and B2C marketing teams. However, trying to decide where to spend your marketing budget can be rather tricky. What works for some doesn’t necessarily work out for others. Although, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a look at what others in your industry are doing and where they see success or failures.

Average Marketing Budget by Industry

When deciding where to spend your marketing budget, it’s important to compare your current numbers to your industry benchmarks. When it comes to finding the average marketing budget by industry, these numbers are often represented as the percentage of a company’s overall budget that is used for marketing.

According to one CMO survey, the average percentage of a firm’s budget that is allocated for marketing averages (by industry):

• Banking/Finance/Insurance: 11.9%
• Communications/Media: 11%
• Consumer/Packaged Goods: 12.6%
• Consumer Services: 11%
• Education: 12.6%
• Energy: 11.6%
• Healthcare: 10.7%
• Manufacturing: 6.3%
• Mining/Construction: 5.7%
• Service Consulting: 8.9%
• Retail/Wholesale: 10.8%
• Tech/Software/Biotech: 9.3%
• Transportation: 12.1%

Where to Spend Your Digital Marketing Budget

Numbers don’t lie — no matter which industry you’re in, marketing budgets aren’t the most expendable. That means you need to know where to spend your marketing budget to get the largest return on investment (ROI).

Sure, while traditional marketing methods, such as TV and radio advertisements, are still relevant in many areas, most marketing teams are focusing their attention on digital marketing channels because research shows that consumers are turning to these channels more often than not when it comes to researching new brands and products/services.

That said, marketing teams have found that some of the highest digital marketing ROI comes from activities such as:

1. Search Engine Optimization

SEO is one of the hottest topics amongst marketers across industries because it’s one of the most effective methods for building brand awareness and credibility. SEO is the practice of optimizing your content to be found by the right individuals at the right time. Even better, when you practice both on-page and off-page SEO, these methods are an excellent way to organically get your content ranking on search engines to be found easier by your ideal customers.

2. Content Marketing

Currently listed as one of the most beneficial ways to spend your advertising budget, content marketing allows you to further reach your ideal consumers by using various types of content, such as web pages, blogs, infographics, etc.

The primary goal of content marketing is not to try selling to your audience but to inform them and answer their questions. The information that you share should be research-based and specific to their needs and/or pain points.

Sure, while there is a time and place for a crafty promotional call to action, the content should prove to the reader that you can be trusted to provide them with relevant information so they can make their own informed decision.

3. Email Marketing

Once you’ve started to build a following, you’ll want to make sure you are encouraging them to continue building a relationship with your brand on other channels. One of the most beneficial channels worth investing in is email marketing.

Once someone decides to opt into your emailing list, they are expecting a lot from you, including:

• Relevant content
• Regular/two-way communication
• Limited promotions
• Personalized promotions that benefit them, not you

From a marketing standpoint, you may be tempted to send promotional content. Just remember, there is a time and place! After all, two of the top reasons consumers unsubscribe from a brand’s emails are irrelevant content and too much promotional content.

4. Organic Social Media Marketing

Another creative way to spend your marketing budget is by investing your time in building your organic social media presence. While many brands will invest in PPC ads on various platforms, research shows that consumers prefer genuine interactions with brands via social media instead of paid or sponsored ads.

That’s because paid advertisements are just that — ads. Organic interactions between you and your audience help build those vital relationships that will help garner your audience’s trust, encouraging the conversion from audience member to a customer when the time is right.

Use Your Marketing Budget Wisely with the Help of CadenceSEO

Trying to decide where to spend your marketing budget doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process. If you’re not quite sure where to begin, then investing in the help of a dedicated digital marketing professional could help you out.

Not sure where to spend your marketing budget? Contact us today for a free consultation!