What Items Should You Include In Your Marketing Budget?

What should you spend your marketing budget on?  In a previous post, “How much should I spend on Marketing?” I looked at how you can calculate your marketing budget based on industry averages and your own previous marketing expenditure and output. Once you have identified roughly how much you want to spend, the next question is what you should spend it on.

Here are some of the typical items you can include in a B2B marketing budget:

• Website – updating it, redesigning and re-implementing it, adding new content or images
• PPC ad expenditure – pay-per-click ads on Google or Bing
• Search Engine Optimization – expenditure on tools and consulting
• Content – Creation and design work on content by 3rd party (e.g. case studies, videos)
• Graphics – web banners, infographics etc.
• Events/ trade-show costs – e.g. pop-up banners, handouts, freebies, travel and accommodation
• Company seminars e.g. hosting invite-only seminars at a city hotel
• Display Ad and re-targeting ad expenditure
• Video ads
• Social Media tools and services
• Social Media ads and paid promotion e.g. LinkedIn ads, promoted posts, Slideshare lead capture
• Partner co-promotion e.g. seminars, other campaigns
• PR costs
• Distribution of white papers (e.g. TechTarget)
• Analyst Relations e.g. subscription to Gartner, Forrester or similar
• Telemarketing
• Print advertising
• Direct mail / direct marketing including print & postage costs
• Marketing technologies – marketing automation, email marketing, SEO tools, web analytics etc.

Written by Michael White

Michael White is co-founder and Managing Director of Motarme, the Sales and Marketing Automation vendor. You can find him on  LinkedIn and Twitter.