An appropriate investment of a marketing budget can make all the difference to the success or failure of a business.
Too much expenditure on one channel, and too little on another, can spell disaster for the number of customers able to find your products or services, subsequently impacting your turnover.
Luckily, this is where the digital marketing experts at Aqueous Digital can help point you in the right direction.
Below, we explain the typical amount that most businesses spend on digital marketing activity as well as the various factors which can affect this average expenditure.
What are the different channels used for marketing?
Have you been tasked with managing the all-important marketing budget for your business?
The first step to managing your marketing budget effectively is to determine exactly where you want to spend this money and how much you want to allocate towards each activity.
Fortunately, there’s a wide range of marketing channels you can explore.
These include:
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Content marketing
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Word-of-mouth marketing
- Event marketing
What percentage of marketing budget should be digital?
Many of the aforementioned marketing channels are digital marketing channels, so it makes sense that a significant proportion of your marketing budget should be dedicated to these activities, but how much?
According to data from The CMO Survey, digital marketing spending accounts for 57.1 per cent of marketing budgets.
However, this is just an estimate, and the figure varies depending on which industry experts you ask, so it’s important not to use this percentage as a target for your business.
How to determine how to spend your marketing budget
While the estimated budget for digital marketing services is around 60 per cent of your overall marketing budget based on The CMO Survey data, unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
When determining how much of your overall marketing budget should be allocated to your digital activities, there’s certain factors that you need to consider.
This includes the industry you’re involved in, the size of your business, whether you’re B2B or B2C, and your specific marketing objectives – allow us to explain!
Industry
Some industries rely more heavily on digital marketing channels than others.
For example, businesses involved in the lifestyle, travel, or fashion sector are often more digitally active because these marketing methods tends to align more closely with the behaviour and preferences of their target customer.
As a result, the industry in which you operate can play a significant role in determining what percentage of your marketing budget should be digital.
Business age
The age of your business is another factor that can significantly affect the size of your digital marketing budget.
While it’s common for start-ups and other new businesses to spend more on their marketing than more established enterprises, they often focus heavily on digital channels.
This is because many digital marketing avenues, such as social media and content creation, are more affordable than traditional print marketing.
Plus, with billions of active internet users worldwide, digital landscapes are becoming the go-to place to gather information or purchase a product or service.
Objectives
Naturally, your marketing objectives will also heavily influence which marketing channels you utilise and therefore typically invest in the most.
By way of illustrating, if your objective is to increase your organic traffic, build online visibility, and promote more online purchases, then shifting your marketing efforts towards having a substantial focus on digital marketing channels seems obvious.
If you’re unsure which digital marketing channels would benefit the most from greater investment, we always recommend asking the professionals for their advice.
Get in touch with the digital marketing experts
Struggling to determine which marketing channels are likely to deliver the best results for your business? That’s where the experienced team of digital marketing experts at Aqueous Digital can help.
As specialists in paid media, organic search, and reputation management for high-net-worth individuals, we provide professional SEO support to businesses across the UK, helping them to achieve their specific digital marketing objectives.
Regardless of the size of your enterprise, your location, or your chosen industry, our knowledgeable team takes the time to understand your wider business goals and recommend relevant digital marketing approaches and services.
If you’d like to arrange your free, no-obligation consultation with our professional team or are keen to learn more about the marketing services we provide, why not give us a call today on 0800 285 1424.
We also welcome enquiries sent via email to hello@aqueous-digital.co.uk as well as queries submitted using our convenient online contact form.
