Budgets And Content Marketing -- So Happy Together
It’s that time of year. Every marketing professional’s Super Bowl. Its budgeting season friends.
This will be my 20th budgeting season as a marketing professional. I’ve been on the planning side and I’ve been on the side that is competing for marketing dollars. Both have their share of challenges. Throughout those twenty years I’ve heard one phrase at least a thousand times (possibly more). That phrase is “bang for the buck” and, quite honestly, I hear it in my sleep at this time of year. The idea that a company is looking to have their marketing dollars be as effective as possible is not groundbreaking nor does it differentiate one company from another. EVERY company wants that outcome! Let’s all move forward with the understanding that EVERY company wants a similar final outcome and the most “bang for their buck.”
The phrase "bigger bang for the buck" was notably used by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Secretary of Defense, Charles Erwin Wilson, in 1954. He used it to describe the New Look policy of depending on nuclear weapons, rather than a large regular army, to keep the Soviet Union in check. Despite its origin around military tactics, the phrase is a staple when discussing the expenditure of funds around a purpose-driven purchase.
There are lots of options for a marketing professional to choose from when looking to allocate their 2017 marketing budget and certainly no shortage of reps calling to convince you that their offering is the best for your company. Print media, which has ruled the trade publishing day since the 1960s, somehow remains in the mix despite not offering much evidence of the elusive “bang for the buck.”
“Bang for the buck” is a simple equation. It’s the result of marketing expense divided by tangible results. Without tangible results, you can’t calculate the “bang.” I’d like to suggest a low cost marketing option which generates high visibility and tangible results. If you’re interested, which I imagine you are at this point, I will leave you with two words -- Brand Publishing. By utilizing content and the correct distribution channels, your budget and most importantly, your brand will be optimized in 2017. Remember, content marketing costs 62% less than outbound and traditional marketing tactics and yet generates more than three times as many leads.
If you truly want more “bang for your buck” then start thinking differently, start acting differently, and start being different. The math tells you all you need to know and numbers don’t lie although history does. So judge for yourself and embrace the change.