Advertising Budget

January marks the beginning of a new year, and that means it’s time to consider your advertising budget for the year to come.

For most businesses, the advertising budget is a subset of the more substantial sales or marketing budget. Since it falls into those broader budget categories, it’s essential to remember that advertising serves the purpose of complementing all your marketing efforts and thereby increasing sales.

In our increasingly digital era, it’s easy to minimize the impact that print ads can have. However, print advertising is still very relevant as a growing segment of consumers become savvy to digital ads.

What Should Be in Your Advertising Budget?

As you are considering how much money to set aside for the advertising portion of your budget, it is crucial to take both print and digital advertising into account.

Digital ads work well to drive potential customers to your website and or if you want to communicate a lot of information quickly.

Digital advertising may include:

•     Web banner ads
•     Social media ads or promotions
•     Email marketing campaigns
•     Sponsorships or partnerships
•     Event promotions

To penetrate your target market, print ads allow you to physically get your brand into people’s hands. That real-life experience helps you engage your audience and create a lasting impression.

Print advertising may include:

•     Newspaper or magazine advertising
•     Billboards
•     Signs, flyers or posters
•     Direct mail
•     Wall clings, decals or vinyl
•     Automobile wraps
•     Sponsorships or partnerships

The most successful advertising and marketing campaigns combine print and digital strategies.

Planning Your Advertising Budget

Once you have decided on the kinds of advertising you want to do, it’s time to fine-tune your budget.

Who is your target audience? As a business, you probably know the basic demographics of your customers. However, when implementing an ad campaign, you can target customers more narrowly. For example, a print direct mail campaign can be personalized to each existing customer or demographics of customers so that your advertising makes more of an impact.

What media type will best reach your target audience? Consider the activities of your target audience and whether a digital campaign, printed pieces, or a combination of advertising will be most effective. While it may seem obvious to use social media advertising to reach a young audience, print advertising is actually more effective.

How much advertising will lead to a sale? In other words, for every advertising dollar spent, what will the sales profit be? From a business standpoint, for advertising to be effective, the cost of the ad campaign must be less than the expected profit from it. When you’re starting to put together costs for your print and digital advertising, consider the affordability of print on demand or of printing large quantities. Look for a printing partner that can streamline the process and reduce costs compared to traditional printing processes.

Planning for the Year Ahead

Creating an advertising budget is an integral part of planning for the coming year. Make sure your advertising strategy incorporates print and digital advertising to make an impact on your target audience and drive sales.