What is affordable marketing?

Affordable marketing? That’s easy. It’s marketing that makes you more than it costs.

Or is it marketing that you can afford? It certainly doesn’t guarantee success simply if it’s something you can afford.

Aaah, you say, it’s the old piece of string argument. The more you spend the more you gain.

Er, no. Spending a fortune on marketing just because you can, won’t necessarily deliver the results you are looking for. There are so many examples of wasteful marketing. If you can afford it, but it doesn’t produce any helpful results, then it’s hardly marketing.

So, really, affordable marketing is about being able to measure the value or results you are able to get for whatever you can invest. It’s affordable marketing if you get more out of it than you put in.

There really isn’t much point in paying for cheap business cards if what you get is flimsy cards with poor color consistency, and the odd smudge. You may have made a better first impression if you had written on the prospect’s hand. Spelling error on your leaflet? Nevermind, it was cheap and cheerful. Pretty expensive actually, having to do them again and repair your reputation. Cheap data lists always sound like a good idea. Until you have to staff up customer service to handle the complaints for mailing or cold calling people who have previously asked for their details to be removed from the list, having to pay someone to correct your data file, or uncomfortable questions from data protection bodies. Have you had the displeasure of receiving the pile of undeliverable returns from the postoffice? Not paying for good design or sound marketing advice can result in a wasted effort – a piece of communication that your target audience won’t see or isn’t compelled into action by.

Cheap doesn’t mean its something you can afford to do.

On the flip side, a free entry into a reputable online directory may be all that you need to start with. Get listed with Googlemaps for your area. Or try the postcard mailing rather than the full colour A5 brochure. A paid-monthly ecommerce website package inclusive of support and hosting. If you have a list of previous customers that could be buying from you again, then you should really be considering email marketing. Consider the affordability from all angles, not just the upfront cost.

Apply it to your business:

How do you determine what an affordable marketing mix is for your startup or small business?

• Think of affordability as the answer to how much value will you get in return for the effort and the amount you spend, and ask yourself these questions when evaluating its potential:

1. Will you be able to measure the effect it has? (it's made me 3 sales with a profit margin of 40%) or I’ve gained access to a new circle of credibility, putting me in front of x amount of new leads that I need to follow up.
2. How much additional work do you need to convert the lead into a sale?
3. Does it serve you repeatedly, or is it a once off?
4. How long before you should or can see the result?
5. Does it meet a set objective or is it driven by a (pushy) salesperson, vanity or competitive pressure?

• Can you afford not to do it? If you operate in a highly competitive environment and all of your direct competitors are already doing it, then your exclusion may count against you. On the other hand, if you stumble on an opportunity to address your target market where none of your competitors have already been, or have failed, then it may be an opportunity you can’t afford to miss. Ask yourself: how would your results be effected (sales, leads, enquiries, new or retained customers) change if you simply did not do this marketing?

• Is it hard working marketing? Does it help your branding and reputation, help to clarify your offering, as well as achieve a single-minded message? That may sound contradictory – single minded and multi-purpose – but that is the power of good thinking underpinning the marketing you do. This does not advocate posters loaded with copy or 10-page letters in direct mailings. Let the content work in the best way for the medium, but as hard as possible to further your goals.

• What is the upkeep like - how much effort and resource is required to maintain the marketing, and ensure that its up to date and quality?

• What is the cost per acquisition – per acquired customer or sale? This includes all the extras like staff, time, trade to get the marketing in place.

• If the marketing is effective, what is the quality of the customer or sale you obtain? A high cost per customer for a customer that only buys once, at a low value, may not be the best result for your spend. For instance, if it means choosing only doing one form of advertising, rather than two in order to get the better quality customer, or more guaranteed hit rate.

• What is the risk? Give it a rating based on how confident you are (based on evidence if possible) that it will succeed. When budgets are constrained, you may need to invest in the more likely to succeed, at least in the short term.

• Who is it targeting? What percentage of the target audience is actually your kind of potential customer? Will the distributor actually have your customer type amongst their buyers? How many names on the list have you got segmentation details for to identify who is a good prospect?

• Will it give your customers something they want? A well-though out loyalty or discount programme may seem expensive, but in reality equates to a much smaller cost than trying to get a new customer. A happier customer could recommend you making the effect of your marketing extend beyond your initial contact.

• A refer a friend campaign or open discount offer may increase the reach of your marketing substantially.

If you are looking for a some ideas on how to make the marketing you are currently doing more affordable, then here are a few suggestions:

• Hold every marketing initiative accountable, and don’t do it just because it is in the plan.

• Be ruthless at taking out marketing that isn’t delivering, but be sensible about allowing the marketing to have a chance to prove itself – it does not happen overnight.

• Ask yourself how you can give the marketing communications you are already doing a better chance of success – is the design, targeting, message that are to blame rather than the type or marketing?

• Look beyond the obvious – could you partner with a complementary business to share marketing costs on a campaign? What possibilities exist within your current network of suppliers and related companies that could be turned into piggyback opportunities – allowing you to address their customers who are a good fit?

• If budgets are tight, look internally first. What improvements would have the best effect on your customer experience, staff engagement, or normal communications with existing customers, including customer service. These operational things are a type of marketing and can have a dramatic effect on your marketing who you are as a business.

What is the most affordable marketing that you have done?

Bronwyn Durand writes the Marketing Ideaology blog for JupiterJasper Practical Marketing.