Many small and local businesses are rolling up their sleeves to plan for 2017. As you do, consider spending more on your digital marketing budget even if you have to divert funds from traditional channels in order to do so.
Why? Digital marketing often offers a greater return on your investment (ROI) than traditional advertising. Digital marketing campaigns offer more detailed quantitative measurements of their results.
In fact, more than 75% of retail marketers surveyed by RetailMeNot received a greater ROI from digital advertising relative to traditional advertising.
But as more businesses incorporate digital marketing strategies into their budget, small and local businesses will have to pay more to get similar results. Digital marketing offers great opportunity for a high ROI, but the cost of digital campaigns is likely to rise if you wait.
You can read the full article and rationale behind spending more on your digital marketing budget at Search Engine Land.
What You Should Do About Your Marketing Budget
If you plan to increase your marketing budget next year, consider putting that additional investment into digital instead of traditional channels. Your investment might include:
- Local search engine optimization (our free Local SEO Checklist provides great tactics)
- Reputation management (asking for review and ratings)
- Your website (make sure it’s mobile friendly)
- Email marketing (such as building your list)
- Social media (including Facebook Pages and posts)
- Online advertising (including pay-per-click advertising on Facebook and Google)
But even if you can’t increase your marketing budget, consider diverting some traditional marketing spend to digital marketing tactics. As the Search Engine Land article above points out, it often has a much higher return on investment.
