Small Business Budgets Can Yield Big Business Returns
Marketing directors consistently have more to accomplish in a day than resources and team members to do it. In fact, 38% of marketing professionals are losing sleep over the disparity between their goals and their resources. Fortunately, even marketing departments with limited resources can achieve positive and measurable results. A developed marketing strategy will focus team efforts and provide the greatest return from their marketing expenditures.
Marketing managers can use three steps to maximize their marketing budgets: marketing teams should understand their brand promise, build a strategy, and then execute that strategy.
Understand Your Brand Promise
More than 80% of consumers reported losing trust in a product when the company failed to deliver on its brand promise.
A company’s brand promise is what a customer can expect from interacting with that company. For example, Walmart’s customers expect affordable products. Walmart’s brand promise can be seen in their coined slogan “Everyday Low Prices.”
Apple promises its consumers an easy and intuitive experience. Consumers love Apple products because they require a very low learning barrier in comparison to competitor’s products. Apple further delivers on its brand promise through its Genius Bars which allow consumers in-person assistance to seamlessly resolve complaints.
Brand promises can center around service, quality, image, customization, and more. When you identify your company’s brand promise, you can then focus your marketing efforts on making your brand promise a consistent reality for your consumers. Your company can build a loyal fan base by delivering on its brand promise in every interaction.
Build A Strategy
Every marketing department should have a documented and up-to-date strategy to achieve its goals. A strong marketing strategy is not left in the corner to dust-off annually. Strong marketing strategies are living documents, meaning they adapt over time in response to a company’s environment and needs. Factors such as current events, advances in technology, and shifts in cultural trends may impact how your company approaches its strategy.
Many companies use frameworks to develop strong marketing strategies. For example, the marketing mix framework (product, price, place, promotion) is frequently used to evaluate a company’s positioning. Marketers should understand what regional or global shifts might impact their business and have a response plan ready. For example, a company that sells air conditioning units may choose to promote its business during an unexpected heat wave. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the entertainment industry has seen dramatic increases in conversion rates through Google advertising as demonstrated in figure 1.
FIGURE 1
This bar chart shows that conversion rates for the entertainment industry grew from February to March of this year. On demand media saw the greatest conversion growth at over 100%. During this time, an entertainment company might adapt its strategy to focus greater efforts on digital advertising.
Your marketing strategy should look at multiple time periods. It might include the next month, six months, year, and multiple years. Center your strategy around your brand promise to develop a consistent customer experience.
Finally, incorporate short- and long-term growth tactics into your marketing strategy. Short-term growth tactics are marketing efforts that will bring your company immediate sales, whereas long-term growth tactics are marketing efforts that build the long-term value of your brand.
Coca-Cola, named the most valuable soft drink brand in 2020, is an example of a brand that invests in short- and long-term growth strategies. You might remember their “Share a Coke” campaign which acted as a short- and long-term growth tactic. Another example of a short-term tactic is in-store promotions. Coca-Cola has implemented several long-term growth tactics such as their investment in many social media platforms and strategic partnerships.
Your team may not have the resources of a brand like Coca-Cola; however, your team can still create an adaptive and relevant strategy to structure your efforts. Having a strategy will help you to recognize and capitalize on opportunities. It will also minimalize wasted work hours so that your team can get the most from your expended effort.
Execute Your Strategy
Strategy development and execution are equally important. Your strategy should be achievable with the resources that your team has. Before executing your strategy, implement tools to hold your team accountable and help them to operate at their best.
DrivingSales, a company focused on educating dealerships, increased employee productivity by implementing the agile method throughout their company. Team members have a standing meeting at the beginning of every day to discuss tasks. Assignments are given in two-week sprints. These meetings focus team efforts and allow managers to stay updated on team progress.
Remote teams will face different challenges from in- person teams. Your remote employees may report having difficulty concentrating, requiring more time to complete tasks, or procrastinating difficult work more than they would when working in a corporate office. Walmart’s internship program is a great example of empowering a remote team. During the remote 2020 summer internship, interns were invited to a variety of activities from trainings to virtual workout classes. Managers encouraged interns to take breaks and find balance between work and personal lives.
Every team is going to be different. Work to understand the needs of your team and to find the right tools to set them up for success. Create a system that holds them accountable and allows them to effectively produce their best work.
Conclusion
Although company resources might feel tight, your marketing efforts don’t need to fall flat. Your team and your company will benefit greatly when you return to marketing essentials: invest in your company by clarifying your brand promise, use your brand promise to develop an adaptive strategy, and create an environment where your team members are empowered to execute the strategy. Combining these three elements will help your small budget to yield big business returns.
Notes:
Feldman, Sarah. "What Marketers Are Losing Sleep Over." Digital image. May 31, 2019. Accessed October 13, 2020. https://www-statista- com.erl.lib.byu.edu/chart/18235/marketing-challenges/
SurveyMonkey. "Leading reasons why consumers would lose trust in brands in the United States as of October 2018." Chart. November 6, 2018. Statista. Accessed October 13, 2020. https://www-statista-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/statistics/1044914/reasons-to-lose-trust-in-brands-us/
WordStream. "Change in Google advertising conversions for entertainment advertisers as a result of coronavirus pandemic in the United States as of March 2020." Chart. March 25, 2020. Statista. Accessed October 27, 2020. https://www-statista-com.erl.lib.byu.edu/statistics/1107891/ change-in-google-ad-metrics-for-us- entertainment-advertisers-due-to-covid-19/
Kantar Millward Brown. "Most valuable soft drink brands worldwide in 2020, based on brand value (in million U.S. dollars)." Chart. June 30, 2020. Statista. Accessed October 13, 2020. https://www-statista com.erl.lib.byu.edu/statistics/273063/leading-15-most-valuable-global-soft-drink-brands-based-on-brand-value/
Qualtrics. "Percentage of workers who reported select mental health challenges affecting their productivity since the coronavirus outbreak in 2020." Chart. April 14, 2020. Statista. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://www-statista- com.erl.lib.byu.edu/statistics/1169886/ covid-mental-health-and-productivity-among-workers/