It should come as no surprise that four out of five businesses increased their budget for social media marketing in the past four years.
Social media is more than a fad or a passing trend – it is the new norm in terms of how people communicate, how they research things to do, find information, and make purchase decisions.
While there is still a place for more traditional advertising – including newspapers, television, radio, direct mail, and more – there is no denying the necessity to be visible where your customers are looking.
In this short post, we will review the three steps to setting a budget for social media marketing.
1. Begin with Your Overall Marketing Budget
More often than not, a marketing budget is expressed as a fixed percentage of gross sales.
Studies show that small businesses with annual revenues less than $5 million will generally set a budget somewhere around 10%.
More established businesses may allocate up to 20% of their annual sales.
If your business is brand new, creating initial awareness might call for an investment exceeding your projected annual sales.
In any event, before you can budget for social media marketing, you need an idea of how much you are working with for the entire year.
2. Allocate a Percentage to Internet Marketing
The term ‘internet marketing’ refers to a number of different things, such as email newsletters, blogging, pay per click ads, and search engine optimization.
It is estimated that most businesses in 2015 will devote more than half of their marketing budget to the internet.
If your business generates most of its revenue through online activities, it would be a great idea to dedicate the majority of your marketing budget to the internet. If, on the other hand, you run a local brick and mortar business, a quarter of your overall marketing budget may suffice.
3. Allocate a Percentage to Budget for Social Media Marketing
Surveys indicate that the most businesses in 2015 will allocate roughly one quarter of their internet marketing budget to social media.
Why so low?
The main reason is because an effective social media strategy is supported by content creation. Because producing high quality content – including writing – can be very expensive, a large portion of the internet marketing budget needs to go there.
On the flip side, surveyed businesses reported nearly half of their leads generated in 2013 originated through social media.
“What Do I Do with My Budget for Social Media Marketing?”
That is a great question – and one that often confuses business owners.
I mean, if Facebook and Twitter are free to use, what’s the budget for?
This is where Iceberg Web Design can really assist you in building a solid social media marketing plan based upon your available budget.
We offer a number of different social media services to drive the results you need.
Why not or contact us so we can discuss your marketing objectives? Send an email to samara [at] icebergwebdesign [dot] com, or call 763-350-8762.