At some point in your business career, it is likely that budget cuts will be inevitable – however this often means that hitting key metrics becomes more important than ever before. Marketing is a sure way to drive business results and is something that every company needs to grow – even if money is tight. Below I have listed three ways you can still drive great marketing results, even when you’re facing budget cuts.
1) Be clear about your goal during tough times.
During tough times you need to understand that your whole approach to marketing needs to adapt to your current situation. Instead of stretching and testing new channels, you need to focus on eradicating the ambiguity and risk out of your marketing. The best way to do this is by analysing your statistical data and working out what goals you need to hit in order to achieve results. Once you have a clear ‘to-do’ list, you can begin to formulate a plan and some structure into your marketing. This will help you to stay on track and smash your goals.
2) Make more informed content decisions.
When facing budget cuts it is crucial that you are critical with your content investments. Spend the time reading about great ways to output content and what to write, before coming up with your own, personalised content schedule to execute. Compare your business to other websites in your industry that are known for their powerful ‘voice’ – why are they ranking so well? Analysing other company’s content will enable you to understand what you need to do in order for your content to be just as successful.
3) Rethink the way you do SEO.
When re-thinking your marketing strategy, it is important to start looking beyond keyword research. Look at your customer feedback – what are the questions being asked in real time? These questions are where your customer’s pain lies and therefore it is essential that you find a solution to their issues. Cross-reference the data you receive from Google trends and PPC data; this will enable you to hone in on the language that your customers are using daily and consequently create marketing campaigns that truly resonate with your customer base as they will literally be speaking their own language.
How do you ensure that your marketing doesn’t suffer when facing cuts?
Aaron Agius (2018). ‘How To Drive Marketing Results When You’re Facing Budget Cuts’: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/308914
