Marketing on a budget done right

Written by Romario Kosasih | Graphics by Gisele Suroto

Marketing remains one of the major contributors to business’ overall spending. However, spending more money doesn’t necessarily equate to great marketing results. SMEs often have limited funds, so how can you get the optimum marketing results without breaking the bank?
To help answer this question, Click2View and Lanturn held a co-branded webinar, Marketing On A Budget: What Startups Can Do To Spend Less Yet Gain More. The webinar was moderated by Kirsty Tsang, Lanturn’s Head of Growth and Marketing, who invited our Digital Content Director, Chrissa Mahtani, and Grow Public Relations’ Founder, Christel Goh, to share their perspectives and tips.

Lean budget marketing

One of the most effective ways for businesses with a lean marketing or public relations budget is to have a specific goal in mind. “For businesses looking to attract investors, they may want to do news pieces about their previous fundraising or doing a profile on the management,” said Christel. Such an approach may not be applicable for B2C businesses that want to focus on creating product-centric pieces and differentiation from the market.

Meanwhile, Chrissa said businesses with a limited budget should create a compelling elevator pitch, meaning a short pitch of 90-seconds that you can share and market to anyone who is interested. “You need to make your point persuasively by telling a story that shows your expertise,” said Chrissa. 

Organic marketing growth

Chrissa shared three elements to support your marketing strategy and ensure organic growth: 

1. Divide your marketing budget into small batches. Try multiple channels. Don’t waste money on just one or two initiatives. This allows you to see where your customers are and focus on the most effective channels after testing. 

2. Listen to your audience. Businesses can maximise social media to build a community and leverage it in the long run for market research or advertising purposes. Chrissa believes customers are an untapped resource. “Nowadays, businesses rarely engage and have a dialogue with their customers, so there’s a lot of missed opportunities to learn and improve.” 

3. Lastly, learn fast, meaning don’t dwell on your failures but focus on learning the new avenues available for your marketing strategy. 

How to create a marketing strategy during a recession? 

When a recession hits, one of the first things businesses do is slash marketing budgets. Chrissa explained how market research can create a recession-proof marketing strategy. “Ask what your customers need and how it has evolved.”

Audit everything that relates to your business, whether it’s your website, digital channels, tracking, or analytics. This is to understand the state of your business—understanding one’s strengths, where the opportunities are, and where things can be improved. “After gathering the data, it helps you to craft a strategy accordingly,” Chrissa said. 

While a recession is often synonymous with an economic slowdown and business difficulties, it also offers opportunities for resilience and agility. If a business can stay afloat during the hard times, it can come out much stronger, a sentiment that Christel agreed with: “Businesses that can tweak their strategies and withstand the changes will differentiate themselves from the market and define themselves.”

With sophisticated analytics and tracking available, marketers can make smarter decisions based on data or insights collected, allocating the appropriate budget to ensure a cost-effective strategy, which is the number one priority for most businesses. 

https://youtu.be/hkXy8N_GD8I?t=1

Read more from Click2View:

1. Crafting your brand’s story
2. Click2View’s Year in Review
3. The Staying Power of Content Marketing
4. Content Strategies Compared

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Click2View is Southeast Asia’s premiere full-service independent B2B content marketing agency servicing clients like Microsoft, Google, Visa, Prudential, and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.