One of the things I became really good at during my time in industry, was managing marketing on a shoestring budget. Don’t get me wrong, we did have a budget, but we directed a lot of it towards exhibitions and events which meant I had to get creative with what I had left. In this blog, I’ll be giving you three great tips on how to make your budget go further and ensure that what you are doing is going to work for you.
Like I said, my budget wasn’t a small amount, but in the industries that I worked in, it paled in to comparison against the giants like BAE Systems & Pfizer. I remember walking around the exhibition halls, looking at all these beautiful, glitzy stands in complete awe. My challenge of course, was to make the best with what God gave me, and by God, I mean the Finance Director!
This was one of the exhibition stands I created during my time with Ferranti.
You might ask, ‘so why did you spend so much on exhibitions if it left you with nothing?’ And the answer, is the key to successfully marketing on a shoestring budget.
Simply put, it brought us the most ‘bang for buck!’
As a marketer, your job is to evaluate the different tools at your disposal and define the ones that work the best for you. In the B2B world, exhibitions are often deemed to be a great way to promote your business, demonstrate its products & build customer relationships. So is it worth it? If it helps you clinch a million pound deal… Probably!
So the first tip for marketing on a shoe string, is about prioritising.
Go back through the last three or four clients that you won, how did you win them? What were the things that made the difference to that transaction? What were the touch points that impacted the decision? Those activities are the ones that count and where you should focus your efforts.
The second tip – understand the sales process
One of the key drivers behind choosing to do exhibitions, was its impact on the sales process. It played such a huge part of relationship building that we needed it to set up the conversations that would get the sale over the line. When you’re trading in millions, you’re not spending that kind of money on your credit card, so the marketing approach you take, depends on the value of the contract and the sales process you’re working with.
A couple of examples; One business I worked with relied on tendering for work. In this instance, our role in marketing was to do what we could to improve the chances of that bid being successful. That meant good branding, perfecting layouts, designing supporting material, ensuring it looked and sounded the part.
Another business I worked in had a huge sales team, they were out on the road playing golf meeting clients and so in this instance, marketing’s role was to provide supporting material, gifts, brochures, merchandise and things of that nature.
So it’s really about understanding what will add value to the sales process, and doing what you can to impact that.
The third tip – learn to do it yourself
Whilst supporting the sales effort is one part of the marketing puzzle, there is of course the small matter of everything else. Building a brand, communicating with your customers, handling your website, handling your socials, all of this still needs to happen, but with the idea of using agencies fading into the horizon, you have a lot of ground to cover.
This is also where you’re in luck. With the wealth of digital tools available to marketers these days, it couldn’t be easier to pick up the skills you need to make an impact. Get creative with Canva, build your own website with site builder tools, learn how to optimise your own content, and perfect your profile on LinkedIn. These are all things that a seasoned marketer like myself can, in fact, help you with. Here’s a masterclass I made earlier.
So, when should you spend money?
When you’re marketing on a shoestring, sometimes you reach an impasse and something’s got to give. In reality, the best thing to do is to invest a little bit every year towards your marketing repertoire. Whether that’s some new assets, like videos, illustrations, or photography, or some new systems that make your marketing processes more effective. If you put a little bit back into your business, it will keep your marketing fresh.
Want me to help you spend wisely?
If you need help deciding what to do next with your marketing, your branding or your website, get in touch and let’s tackle it together.
