5 Advertising Approaches with the Best Bang For Your Marketing Buck

When running a business, it's important to invest your money where it will yield the greatest return. This is certainly true for your budget marketing strategy: a smart, efficient budget can help your business grow exponentially, while outdated methods can hold you back.

Although the importance of an advertising budget is undeniable, at times, you may have to think "outside the box" to achieve maximum ROI from your efforts. Here are four advertising budget tips to help you take your business to the next level and get the best bang for your marketing buck.

Use Targeted, Measurable Advertising

Traditional types of advertising (such as print, radio, and TV) still have their place in the "marketing ecosystem." However, it can be difficult or impossible to measure the effect of these traditional marketing tactics with any accuracy. For example, a TV ad may reach a certain number of households — but how many people were actually in the room, viewing the commercial? In addition, it's tough to target specific customer subsets when utilizing traditional advertising methods.

On the other hand, digital marketing tactics (when used properly) allow for a highly targeted and eminently measurable approach. When using digital marketing solutions, you can target specific segments and demographics that yield a high-value return for your business.

Pinpoint High-Performing Niches

Even after knowing who your target audience is, you can still expand your brand reach by tapping into new audiences. You may even want to explore targeted advertising for subsets of your current audience and see if you can realize greater results from those efforts.

Perhaps a portion of your consumer base eagerly consumes your content when it is published. Can you leverage their interest into tangible action? For example, can you encourage them to subscribe to your newsletter? Thinking of which niches could yield a high return on investment and then targeting them with your advertising is another way to get the biggest bang for your buck.

Another tip for finding interested prospects is to use CRM data to create "lookalike audiences." In other words, profiles of potential customers that line up with (real) high-value customers you've already acquired.

Target Existing Customers

It's no secret that existing and past customers are more valuable to companies than potential ones. It is also easier and less expensive to market to them. However, one study found that marketers only spend, on average, 21% of their budgets on existing customers — despite these customers accounting for the majority of their revenues!

As an example, perhaps a percentage of your audience has purchased big-ticket products from you in the past. Have you considered sending them cross-selling or up-selling promotions (e.g., "we also recommend this product")? Can you encourage them to refer a friend by offering them a gift card or discount on their next purchase from your company? You can "flip the script" by increasing your focus on existing customers rather than always target new prospects.

Make Use of Organic Connections

Finally, examine your business network for any connections that you can leverage into expanded reach. These connections could be your distributors, partners, and even industry-adjacent companies that aren't competing with you. From Red Bull and GoPro to Taco Bell and Doritos, the marketing world is full of examples of companies that complement each other and engage in successful co-branding or co-marketing initiatives.

Here are just a few ways you can make use of your organic connections to leverage your partner's network and audience for increased exposure:

Write a guest blog on their website
Give an interview on their podcast
Get featured on their social media account

The bottom line? When you work with another business that your audience trusts, then you both will gain visibility and credibility from the partnership.

Get Creative to Get the "Best Bang for Your Buck"

No business operates with infinite resources; that’s why it’s important to make sure you are allocating your budget to the highest-performing tactics. You don’t always have to increase your budget to get the best results. By implementing these five tips, you can focus your spending on areas that will generate the results you want and need.

If you need some help finding creative ways to achieve the highest possible ROI from your marketing efforts, consider working with an experienced media partner. Their expertise can help you to truly get the "biggest bang for your marketing buck" — and your business will flourish because of it!