WOW #033: Let Proof Drive Your Marketing Budget

Quote of the Week: 
“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”
- Dave Ramsey

Imagine amassing a real estate portfolio of over $4 million in 1986, only to declare bankruptcy 2 years later. 

That’s exactly what happened to Dave Ramsey (much of his fortune in the 80’s was built on debt).

It was a rocky road, but one that ultimately led to his current platform. Through hard work, he was able to turn his fortunes around and today is regarded as one of the leading voices in financial management. In fact, if you didn't know his origin story, you'd never guess he was ever in such dire circumstances.

Budgeting is tricky.
Budgeting to manage debt is one thing.
Budgeting to optimize growth is another.

The latter is what makes Marketing budgets so vexing for Small Business Owners:

You don’t want to leave future revenue on the table by playing it safe.
You can’t afford to get over your skis by committing too much.
It’s a high-wire balancing act where every step counts.

It's important to adopt a Both - And vs. Either - Or mindset when it comes to setting (and adjusting) your Marketing budgets.

Over-optimism can ruin business owners’ marketing budgets, much in the same way that debt can throw our personal budgets into a tailspin.

 Grow Your Marketing Budgets With Proof, Not Optimism. 

Most small businesses struggle with awareness, so an “Either-Or” approach is a losing proposition. You cannot think to yourself, “I’ll invest in office space X or subscription Y OR I’ll do marketing.” There is no Or. You must promote. Full stop.

A “Both-And” mindset for your Marketing is like the 3rd door. The portal to a world when you test what you can afford, increase as the wins start to mount, WHILE operating in the black.

The 3rd door manages your budget and decides “where it goes rather than wondering where it went.”

The wins are your proof. 

2 Takeaways:

1. Marketing can be a resource vampire (besides just money). Earned Media sounds free until you factor in the costs of design and keyword research subscriptions that may have helped you get there. On top of that, ramping up on tools like Canva and Google Keyword Planner takes time. The “shiny new object” syndrome created by so many new marketing tools and AI can be hard to avoid.
   
   
2. Don't turn your back on Guerilla Marketing. This is particularly true for small businesses. Sign spinners, bandit signs, creatable inflatables, mailers. They're still around because they still work. While Digital Advertising platforms are amazing feats of targeting, reach, and measurement, they're also designed to take your money and can be hard to turn off.

1 Action

Monitor your  ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) for any paid media campaigns. Simple illustration: if you spend $100 on paid media that yields $300 in sales, your ROAS is 3X.

Now, that still doesn’t necessarily mean you’re profitable, but that’s a topic for another week.

Thanks for reading,

Hubert