5 Ways to Optimize Your Marketing Budget

Most marketing teams wish they had more budget. And when cuts need to be made the marketing budget is often one of the first to be decreased. Whether you’re facing cuts or not, getting the most out of your marketing budget should be a core focus for marketing leaders. Chances are there’ll be areas you can optimize to improve your return on investment, regardless of your budget allowance. Spotting these opportunities and tweaking your budget could be a swift way to improve all areas of your operations and can help you produce better results.

At a time when most marketing activities can be measured, we as marketers are accountable for decisions made, budget spent and results produced. But 60% of marketers are not confident when it comes to allocating marketing budgets. Learning to take stock and optimize your spend sets you apart from marketers whose only strategy is to spend more.

So, here are 5 ways to optimize your marketing budget and get more out of it in 2022. 

1. Make Better Use of Your Data

According to research, 80% of marketing data goes unused. This is a huge shame, as your marketing data is one of the best resources in your back pocket, that you can keep using to optimize your campaigns over and over again. From reviewing historical data to measuring new data, using it to it’s full potential will make your campaigns more effective without using any more budget. 

Data isn’t just a load of numbers on a screen. It’s a story of how your target audience interact with your campaigns. It tells you whether they resonate with your: strategy, content, creatives, channels and so on. It also helps you understand whether your campaign is personalized enough, what your target audience or current customers think of your brand, and if you’re offering a solution to their pain points.

As marketers we have tonnes of data at our disposal. Rather than glancing at it, putting it into a neat report for your manager and moving on, really spend time evaluating it and spotting how you can use it to improve future campaigns. Develop a process of how you maximize the value of the data you receive. 

That process might be something like a checklist where you have set questions you want to find answers to in your data, that link to your overall goals. For example if your main goal is to reduce your CAC (customer acquisition cost) you might want to find out: 

• Does your CAC change on different platforms – is it better on Google Ads vs Email Marketing? If so, adjust spend accordingly.  
• How high is your bounce rate? What types of content have a lower bounce rate? Leverage the high performing content and pause others that may be costing you time and money without the rewards.
• Are video ads attracting more traffic than single image ads, but there isn’t an increase in conversions? Maybe they’re attracting the wrong audience and while they may look better, using single image ads may have a better ROI. 

Find a process that works for you and your team that you can use time and time again to get to grips with what your data is portraying. 

By improving how you learn from your data, you will produce better results, without having spent a dime more. Meaning better return on investment while using resources you already have. Think this sounds time consuming? If you’re still using spreadsheets to measure everything and your data is siloed in different tools, then yes it probably will be. Instead, use a tool that brings everything together in one place. By combining budgets and performance data in one dashboard, spotting opportunities to optimize it is so much easier.

2. Use Your Marketing Tech Stack More Effectively

Research from Gartner shows that marketers in the US and UK aren’t using their martech to its full potential. In fact, 58% of marketers are properly using the tools they’ve invested in.

When it comes to using your marketing technology, ask yourself and your team: are you really using all the features and getting the most value you can out of these tools? Or are you probably in the 58% that aren’t? These tools are called tools for a reason. When used correctly, they can make your job easier and days happier. 

Take a look at your current tech stack, do you feel like it makes your job easier? How are you using it, are you using all the features available to you? Don’t worry, there’s no time like the present. Make a list of your current workflow and how you could better leverage the technology you have to generate better return.

You might find that you are paying for more tools than you need and it would be helpful to merge different functionality into one platform. Rather than using different marketing tools for planning campaigns, analyzing data, creating reports, project management, budget allocation, etc. find one tool to do all of these things for you. Like Mediatool. Full transparency, we are biased, but whether you use Mediatool or not, it’s just an example of how you can improve your processes to optimize your budget. By merging everything into one, there are huge benefits such as clarity and control over activities, reduced workload and better communication between teams.

3. Optimize Your Marketing Funnel

When trying to get more out of your marketing budget, marketers often forget to review their marketing funnel. You may have set up a funnel that has been working for you up until now, but with constant changes in consumer behavior, it’s a good idea to review it and update it. 

Take a look at information such as behavior flow, landing pages and exit pages in line with conversions. Chances are you’ll find places where you can better nurture your audience through your funnel. For example, if users visit your product page and peruse through some products, but exit without buying. What content could you create or information could you provide that might help them make a purchase? Maybe they like your products, but are largely Gen Z and want companies to show how sustainable the products are, or what the company values are. You could create a retargeting campaign that provides them with the information needed to help them make that decision. 

You might find that your funnel is simply too elaborate. Consider simplifying your customer journey by using a live chat feature like Intercom, or a questionnaire to help customers find what they’re looking for.

Allocate a couple of weeks to monitor your funnel and to spot any leaks you can fix or improve. And design a process that builds relationships with your customers, instead of feeling like a transaction. Optimizing your marketing funnel doesn’t have to cost a thing, but could help you get more out of your budget.