January 2023 is going to end, and if you still need a marketing plan and budget for 2023, then you are in the right place. Maybe, you are wondering how to start the planning process. First, know that marketing budgets do not have to be complex but require some planning. If you plan it well, you can ensure that all your marketing efforts will drive the best results possible.
Here in this blog, we provide an overview of how to create a strategic marketing budget that is tailored to your construction company’s goals and its different areas of opportunity. By the end of the blog, we hope you learn much from the tips we shared.
1. Sit Down, turn off Distractions and Assess
When it comes to putting your marketing budget for the next year, your first gut is to start budgeting right away, on the spot. Your first thought will be copying your budget from 2022. Avoid doing things that way. Instead, take time to step back and assess your construction business as a whole.
Smart budgeting is when you fully recognize what areas of your construction business need more improvements to get better ROI from it. During the first assessment stage, you should ask yourself if your business has a clear value proposition or a great brand story.
If you realize your business has a poor value proposition and a weak brand story, you may start changing things in both areas.
2. Create a scoreboard with necessary key metrics
You are probably already calculating your revenue, conversion, and traffic over time. Yet, adding additional metrics to your scoreboards can minimize guesswork in your future iterations and simplify the allocation of your construction marketing budget.
Take note of the additional key metrics below because you should be tracking them in real time:
- Market share trend
- Cost per click to customer lifetime value ratio
- Average order value
- Paid channels saturation
- Multi-touch attribution
Additional Tip: Never forget scoring metrics too. Scoring is the detailed assessment of the effectiveness based on the results of your different marketing activities, allowing you to approach your overall planning carefully.
3. Set SMART goals
Another crucial component of pre-planning your marketing next year is to determine your actual goals. To be specific, develop a list of SMART goals – SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC, and TIMELY – for your construction business.
Moreover, smart goals will keep you from developing unclear goals. Know that a goal like increasing revenue needs to be more specific to plan your marketing budget. A much better version of this goal can be “increase ROI for X pay-per-click campaign by Y%.”
Here we share with you some SMART goal templates you may use:
- Generate X more Twitter followers during this spending period.
- Increase the amount of blog content written per month by X%.
- Earn at least X backlinks for every piece of published content.
- Increase website traffic to the X product page by Y% by the end of the spending period.
If you need help figuring out what specific numbers to aim for, partnering with a construction marketing company will make things easier. ConstructionMarketing.io is manned by a team of marketing experts that will take a closer look at your industry benchmarks and previous budget numbers. Our people will help you figure out your SMART goals for next year and help you work to earn the highest possible ROI. So, if you want to improve your spending targets, you can trust us as your partner!
4. Prepare a strategy for your marketing campaigns
Even before starting a plan for your marketing budget, you must determine first what audience you want to reach, target, and, most importantly, prioritize. Taking that into account, you can create more effective campaigns that can help you prevent wasting resources. In addition, this will also take up lesser space in your marketing budget, which is very beneficial.
The next thing to focus on is your list of specific tasks and activities to help you achieve your marketing goals. This set of activities must resemble your SMART goals, which are already discussed above, and it should resemble your goals in terms of being actionable and specific.
Here we cover different aspects of marketing, including – but surely not limited to the following:
- Branding
- Website design and development
- Digital ad spend
- PR campaigns
- Construction marketing agencies and consultation fees
- Event hosting and promotion
- Marketing automation tools
5. Use the 70/20/10 rule on your marketing budget
The amount you will spend is less important than how you will spend it. There be enough resources to engage in all your marketing campaigns and activities. That is why it is crucial that you make sure there is enough budget funneled into your programs to produce great returns on your marketing budget.
If you want to simplify your spending categories for your marketing budget, we suggest you follow the 70/20/10 rule:
Spend 70% on low-risk, no-brainer efforts
70% goes toward what you have already quantified as “effective marketing.” These are the most obvious that everyone expects you to do, and no more questions about it. For example, getting expert advice and partnering with a well-trusted agency that offers a wide range of digital marketing services is one of the most beneficial things you must invest in with no hesitations.
Spend 20% on what is new
Here you should be investing in what has just recently gone mainstream or will about to go on-trend. These efforts will help you stay ahead of your competition and keep in touch with the latest trends and innovations.
Spend 10% on initiatives that look extra challenging
The 10% you are about to spend on something has little impact on your ROI. It is about exploring new ideas and trying out different ways that may have great results for your campaigns. This is where you can learn new things and discover possible breakthroughs.
6. Cut down your list
Another important thing on your marketing budget breakdown is cutting your current list down to size. Figure out where your major priorities lie. What construction marketing services must you avail? Which activities are important? Which ones can you do without? Which ones may you be able to spend less on? And as you are doing this, make sure to keep your SMART goals in mind.
Make sure not to leave any activities on your list that do not directly impact one or more of your goals. The cuts must lead you toward a rougher version of your comprehensive marketing plan. Below are some other tips we can share with you when it comes to marketing budget:
- Plan for change: No matter how put together or well-organized your construction business is, expect that there will always be changes to the budget, especially during the spending period. So, make additional room in your budget to account for these changes.
- Prepare for the worst: Also, plan ahead of time for some worst-case scenarios that may happen. Worst-case scenarios like reallocations of money or budget cuts are something you may deal with. So, always think about one to two budget items you can easily pull money for during an emergency, shone one arises.
- Diversify your spending: We already mentioned the 70/20/10 rule above and hope to implement it in your marketing budget. Again, it can really be tempting to devote all your budget to one marketing campaign that you think generates the highest ROI. However, the best thing we suggest is to spread your budget across various marketing strategies and follow the general rule.
- Consider ROI: Take a closer look at your company’s ROI from its previous spending periods to determine which activities worked for you and which ones did not. You may consider cutting the ones with exceptionally low ROI from your spending budget, if possible.
Finally, remember to calculate everything and keep a closer eye on the overall costs as you begin cutting things from the list.
Prepare your Marketing Budget for 2023 with Us
There is no doubt that the last few years, including 2022, have brought new challenges to your marketing efforts and especially to your budget spending. Now that 2023 is slowly peeking, it is a great time to take a step back, assess your marketing goals, follow all the tips we shared with you above, and, most importantly, partner with a full-service digital marketing agency like ours.
Here at ConstructionMarketing.io we provide the best construction marketing solution in all aspects of your campaigns, including your budget. Know that getting all the pieces together for your marketing budget is always a challenging thing to do. But our people are experts and deeply skilled in handling all things marketing. We provide:
- Professional assistance.
- Ensuring all your marketing efforts are based on supporting customers.
- Generating more leads.
- Meeting all your target goals.
- Increasing your ROI.
Contact us today, and let us start planning your marketing budget for 2023!