Why You Need to Increase Your Marketing Budget Now

You must increase your inbound marketing budget this year. Why? Because your competitors already have.

As we round the corner to May, are you really ready for the demands and competition of the  current 2015 marketplace? If you have not revamped your inbound marketing plan and boosted your budget you may not be.  According to a recent Gartner survey, most businesses expect to spend 8% more on inbound marketing efforts this year, so you may find you need to ramp up your efforts just to keep up.

The Components of a Winning Inbound Marketing Strategy for 2015

Whether you are just beginning to explore the benefits of inbound marketing, or have been trying on your own and have gotten overwhelmed, understanding the components you need for a successful marketing campaign will help you cover all your bases. While every business is unique, a good inbound strategy includes:

• Someone to look at the big picture – -the captain of the ship, probably you!
• A team to plan what content you need to meet your goals
• Writers, graphic designers and editors to create the content you need, when you need it
• Active social media management to post and promote your created content
• A team to track your ROI and results and report back to you.

If all of these items are not included in your existing inbound marketing budget, you probably do not have a comprehensive plan in place.

In house talent is expensive 

According to recent figures from Indeed.com, a marketing team leader earns a salary between $70-100,000 per year, while custom content creators range from $55-95,000 annually. If you know you need top talent, but can’t afford the high price tag, benefits and perks that go with it, outsourcing is an excellent option. Don’t hand this task over to an unskilled employee or intern if you can’t afford top talent – the hit to your branding and business efforts could be catastrophic.

Already have a marketing manager?

Are they skilled in all aspects of marketing and ready to take on the job? Will they require a salary increase to take on the additional tasks you’ll need them to do if you want to ramp up your inbound marketing efforts this year? If not, you may find that you finish out 2015 the same way you started it, using the same strategy and getting the same results. Fresh insight may help you break free of a marketing rut and boost your ROI over the next 12 months.

Content continues to be the focus for marketing efforts 

Great content has never been more important for businesses of any size. Your competitors have seen the same polls, predictions and trend reports that you have about the importance of content in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Any savvy competitors you have are likely upping their inbound marketing budgets to address the profound need for excellent, unique and easy to find content.

Keeping Up — and Passing By — Your Competitors

Are you bringing enough to the table? If you visit your competitors’ blogs, social media sites and other outlets, are you providing the same level of education, expertise and customer engagement as the most successful companies in your niche? If you are, great job – but if not, ask yourself why a potential client might prefer your competitors approach to yours – even if you sell the same product at the same price point. Establishing your business as the place to go for your particular niche relies heavily on content. Creating educational, useful, compelling, share worthy and engaging content will make your site a valuable resource for current and potential customers and build an ongoing relationship that will pay off in the long term.  When they’re ready to buy, your happy readers will turn to you, the expert they’ve been following for weeks, months or even years; this is the essence of inbound marketing and why it pays off so well.

Free Up your Time — Finally!

Improved focus on the big picture and what you do best: The number one complaint that business owners have: “I don’t have time to market my business.“ Being in charge of a business has plenty of rewards – but an abundance of free time is not usually one if the perks of being the boss. Having a team in place to cover your marketing needs will help you get the time you need to help your business thrive.

If you are a solo entrepreneur or a small business owner you know your projects and goals inside and out – and you are the best person to focus on your long-term strategy. When you outsource tasks like inbound marketing, you clear up your own time to focus on growing your business. Outsourcing allows you to monitor results and reap rewards from your inbound marketing campaigns.

Inbound marketing continues to offer some of the best ROI you can get for your marketing dollar and the lowest B2B marketing cost per lead you can find.