Creating A Social Media Marketing Budget
SMM or social media marketing has become the backbone of any successful business. As companies’ ability to gain organic traffic through Google and other search engines diminishes due to more restrictive algorithms and policies, businesses are forced to seek other ways of driving traffic to their site.
Suddenly, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have become increasingly viable options. The best thing about SMM is that you can choose between different approaches. This gives a lot of flexibility when it comes to budgeting and it allows you to spread your money throughout various social networks.
But investing money blindly will not help a company reach its goals. You need to be very cautious regarding the SMM budget and how it fits your overall marketing strategy.
Here are some tips that will help you with the planning process.
Why do you need SMM?
First of all, we have to consider the fact that traditional marketing techniques may not as successful or even viable in 2019. Most approaches are seen as obsolete which forces companies to pull their resources from traditional media such as TV and radio.
This partially has to do with the fact that people are glued to their mobile phones and they are more likely to see an internet ad than a billboard ad. Platforms such as YouTube and Netflix are slowly overtaking traditional TV.
If you’re still not sure whether SMM can help you, it’s important to consider these factors:
- Social media is much better for relationship building
One of the more neglected factors of social media marketing is relationship building. Management is usually focused on sales and numbers which is why the impact of SMM on clients is usually neglected. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter give you a direct line of communication with your most loyal fans. It is something that builds trust and improves the longevity of a brand.
- The safest way of advertising on the web
Internet marketing experts will tell you that there are 3 main approaches to web marketing: SMM, SEO, and PPC. SEO and PPC are connected to search engines and in particular Google. On the other hand, there are lots of different social media vying for their piece of the pie. The environment is much more turbulent which gives you more options and allows you to spread risk throughout various platforms. In turn, you won’t be as dependent on one provider.
- You can alternate between paid and organic
When we talk about SMM, we are referring to both paid and organic approach. If you invest time and money in assembling a good SMM team, you can rest assured that no matter what’s happening with a particular network, you will be able to create a proper strategy.
- Better yields
Lastly, we have to mention that SMM simply outperforms other marketing methods. Even if the previous benefits didn’t seem appealing, this one surely will!
4 Main factors affecting your marketing budget
Here are some of the main factors that will help you establish a SMM budget:
1. How much are you willing to invest?
The first thing you need to ask yourself is what proportion of the marketing budget you want to invest in SMM.
Some businesses are still heavily dependent on traditional marketing and there is a slim chance that this will change in the near future. However, as a responsible business owner, you have to realize that more and more transactions are being carried out online.
If your business is predominantly focused on web traffic and web presence, you can solely focus on internet marketing as the best way of promoting your brand. In terms of marketing expenses, the general mantra is that a company can never invest too much into it.
2. How many platforms do you want to involve?
Social networks are trying their best to become interchangeable in the last few years. What do we mean by that? Well, they are making sure users can share the same content throughout the platforms and even advertise in a similar fashion. Needless to say, this can significantly drive your advertising costs down.
No matter what, you are still likely to use several platforms for your promotion. The first step is choosing the best platforms for your business. Certain industries perform better on Instagram and Pinterest while others are great for LinkedIn. Before you start putting money into it, make sure to decide (and commit) to particular platforms.
Of course, as you start promoting on more platforms, your overall costs will increase. This is why you have to decide whether or not some of them are worth the effort.
3. Do you want both organic and paid?
Another question you need to ask yourself is which approach you want to pursue. The most general way of looking at SMM is through paid and organic traffic.
Organic traffic is affected by your day-to-day activities: creating new posts, sharing information about new products, services, and other company activities, increasing your followership and so on. In theory, organic traffic doesn’t cost you anything (besides time). However, it is much harder to quantify. Another potential issue of organic traffic is that you cannot tell for sure whether followers will be interested in purchasing from you. However, organic traffic can quickly increase the visibility of your brand.
Paid traffic is much more direct. The more you pay, the more potential conversion you will get. It’s highly scalable and is an obvious promotional activity that can result in high sales. Compared to the organic approach, it doesn’t have the same long-term impact unless you develop to a point where your company becomes renowned on a particular market.
4. Price of content and management
There are two main things affecting the quality of your pages – content and management. Both of these ingredients are necessary for a successful campaign.
Having high-quality content is very important for conversion and it helps you go viral. It also impacts your paid campaigns. Small things such as the message, call-to-action and charm can go a long way in increasing your conversions.
Management is the second part of the equation. It simply helps your internal SMM processes. For example, you need a person who knows the particular industry and social network. Your employee can have a big impact on how your content and pages look like when to send messages and share content, how to deal with potential clients and fans and so on.
Needless to say, investing in both management and content can increase the odds of a successful marketing campaign. But, like with everything else, the price doesn’t have to be such a crucial factor. Sometimes you can find good managers and create good content at an affordable price.
Last words
There we go!
Now you know more about how to treat SMM campaigns and how they can impact your overall marketing strategy. Like with all aspects of marketing, it mostly comes down to planning and adapting to unpredictable situations.
No matter what you might think about social media marketing, it is the future of advertising. It is quick, reliable, scalable and allows you to create a more meaningful contact with your current and future clients.
Creating A Social Media Marketing Budget
SMM or social media marketing has become the backbone of any successful business. As companies’ ability to gain organic traffic through Google and other search engines diminishes due to more restrictive algorithms and policies, businesses are forced to seek other ways of driving traffic to their site.
Suddenly, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have become increasingly viable options. The best thing about SMM is that you can choose between different approaches. This gives a lot of flexibility when it comes to budgeting and it allows you to spread your money throughout various social networks.
But investing money blindly will not help a company reach its goals. You need to be very cautious regarding the SMM budget and how it fits your overall marketing strategy.
Here are some tips that will help you with the planning process.
Why do you need SMM?
First of all, we have to consider the fact that traditional marketing techniques may not as successful or even viable in 2019. Most approaches are seen as obsolete which forces companies to pull their resources from traditional media such as TV and radio.
This partially has to do with the fact that people are glued to their mobile phones and they are more likely to see an internet ad than a billboard ad. Platforms such as YouTube and Netflix are slowly overtaking traditional TV.
If you’re still not sure whether SMM can help you, it’s important to consider these factors:
- Social media is much better for relationship building
One of the more neglected factors of social media marketing is relationship building. Management is usually focused on sales and numbers which is why the impact of SMM on clients is usually neglected. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter give you a direct line of communication with your most loyal fans. It is something that builds trust and improves the longevity of a brand.
- The safest way of advertising on the web
Internet marketing experts will tell you that there are 3 main approaches to web marketing: SMM, SEO, and PPC. SEO and PPC are connected to search engines and in particular Google. On the other hand, there are lots of different social media vying for their piece of the pie. The environment is much more turbulent which gives you more options and allows you to spread risk throughout various platforms. In turn, you won’t be as dependent on one provider.
- You can alternate between paid and organic
When we talk about SMM, we are referring to both paid and organic approach. If you invest time and money in assembling a good SMM team, you can rest assured that no matter what’s happening with a particular network, you will be able to create a proper strategy.
- Better yields
Lastly, we have to mention that SMM simply outperforms other marketing methods. Even if the previous benefits didn’t seem appealing, this one surely will!
4 Main factors affecting your marketing budget
Here are some of the main factors that will help you establish a SMM budget:
1. How much are you willing to invest?
The first thing you need to ask yourself is what proportion of the marketing budget you want to invest in SMM.
Some businesses are still heavily dependent on traditional marketing and there is a slim chance that this will change in the near future. However, as a responsible business owner, you have to realize that more and more transactions are being carried out online.
If your business is predominantly focused on web traffic and web presence, you can solely focus on internet marketing as the best way of promoting your brand. In terms of marketing expenses, the general mantra is that a company can never invest too much into it.
2. How many platforms do you want to involve?
Social networks are trying their best to become interchangeable in the last few years. What do we mean by that? Well, they are making sure users can share the same content throughout the platforms and even advertise in a similar fashion. Needless to say, this can significantly drive your advertising costs down.
No matter what, you are still likely to use several platforms for your promotion. The first step is choosing the best platforms for your business. Certain industries perform better on Instagram and Pinterest while others are great for LinkedIn. Before you start putting money into it, make sure to decide (and commit) to particular platforms.
Of course, as you start promoting on more platforms, your overall costs will increase. This is why you have to decide whether or not some of them are worth the effort.
3. Do you want both organic and paid?
Another question you need to ask yourself is which approach you want to pursue. The most general way of looking at SMM is through paid and organic traffic.
Organic traffic is affected by your day-to-day activities: creating new posts, sharing information about new products, services, and other company activities, increasing your followership and so on. In theory, organic traffic doesn’t cost you anything (besides time). However, it is much harder to quantify. Another potential issue of organic traffic is that you cannot tell for sure whether followers will be interested in purchasing from you. However, organic traffic can quickly increase the visibility of your brand.
Paid traffic is much more direct. The more you pay, the more potential conversion you will get. It’s highly scalable and is an obvious promotional activity that can result in high sales. Compared to the organic approach, it doesn’t have the same long-term impact unless you develop to a point where your company becomes renowned on a particular market.
4. Price of content and management
There are two main things affecting the quality of your pages – content and management. Both of these ingredients are necessary for a successful campaign.
Having high-quality content is very important for conversion and it helps you go viral. It also impacts your paid campaigns. Small things such as the message, call-to-action and charm can go a long way in increasing your conversions.
Management is the second part of the equation. It simply helps your internal SMM processes. For example, you need a person who knows the particular industry and social network. Your employee can have a big impact on how your content and pages look like when to send messages and share content, how to deal with potential clients and fans and so on.
Needless to say, investing in both management and content can increase the odds of a successful marketing campaign. But, like with everything else, the price doesn’t have to be such a crucial factor. Sometimes you can find good managers and create good content at an affordable price.
Last words
There we go!
Now you know more about how to treat SMM campaigns and how they can impact your overall marketing strategy. Like with all aspects of marketing, it mostly comes down to planning and adapting to unpredictable situations.
No matter what you might think about social media marketing, it is the future of advertising. It is quick, reliable, scalable and allows you to create a more meaningful contact with your current and future clients.
Ellan Dineen
Author
Ellan Dineen is the Marketing Associate at Design Wizard. When she’s not hard at work in the Marketing Department, Ellan can be found en route to foreign lands with a book in her hand and a podcast in her ear. With a Master’s in English and Diploma in Social Media Marketing, she knows the importance of staying up-to-date with the industry’s latest trends and insights and is keen to pass these tips on to her readers.