How SMBs can save marketing budgets

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Kristina: What are the fastest paths to generating leads and converting sales in digital marketing campaigns today?

Daniel Brzezinski, COO, GetResponse: The fastest way to achieve the best results from your marketing campaigns is to have a primary focus for each campaign and stick to it. Then use only the marketing tools that are proven to deliver the highest ROI at the lowest cost. And make sure they’re easy to master. The top tools for doing this today are a combination of inbound and outbound marketing including email, webinars, video, social media, advertising, landing pages and built-in e-commerce capabilities. Ideally, look for an integrated solution that includes all of these features as that’s a huge cost and time saver.

Kristina: When should you use inbound marketing and when should you use outbound?

Daniel: Inbound and outbound marketing are no longer separate channels and they rely on each other to drive the best campaign results. Yet success starts with effective inbound marketing that includes advanced segmentation, personalized communication and detailed analytics. Only with these elements in place can you then create a successful outbound marketing strategy and campaign.

Kristina: How much should SMBs be spending on digital marketing to see solid results?

Daniel: There is no one definitive answer to this question. It all depends on the product you’re selling and on the development stage of your company. As a guideline, however, you should spend exactly the amount your ROI allows. Keep in mind that a lot of this is a matter of proportion.

For example, if you have a well-established company and you’re focusing on retention rather than acquisition, keep a closer balance between your expenses, revenue and profit because you likely have lots of other costs to take into consideration. In this example, you can spend around two thirds or only one third of your income on marketing and advertising. Yet if you’re new to the market, you likely don’t have the expenses that more established companies do. In this situation, you could spend up to three fourths of your profit on marketing.

Kristina: Which digital marketing channels are driving the best results today?

Daniel: The digital marketing channels driving the most success today vary depending on the company and its products and audience. Overall, companies with B2C products, especially retail, are doing well using social media.

For B2B products and services, it’s a different story. Since the sales process is longer, B2B companies should invest marketing dollars in events and having a strong presence on industry-focused websites and magazines, as well as niche forums. Additionally, webinars are great because they educate, nurture leads, and help sell.

For every company, knowing which digital channels will drive the most impressive results requires precision and a well thought out strategy. This is where marketing and sales funnels can be most effective. That’s because they identify which marketing tools and channels to use when to get the best response. When you combine the benefits of a funnel with a complete inbound/outbound marketing platform, you’ll accelerate campaign results. Not to mention that it also helps optimize your marketing investments, especially if you don’t have the ability to hire an outside agency or additional internal staff.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristina Knight-1
Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
Content Writer & Editor
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Kristina Knight is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience writing on varied topics. Kristina’s focus for the past 10 years has been the small business, online marketing, and banking sectors, however, she keeps things interesting by writing about her experiences as an adoptive mom, parenting, and education issues. Kristina’s work has appeared with BizReport.com, NBC News, Soaps.com, DisasterNewsNetwork, and many more publications.