Avoiding Marketing Cost Sticker Shock

Aug 21, 2022 | All, Business Development, Digital Marketing, Marketing

Marketing Cost Sticker Shock can be terrible for small businesses and startups. This article focuses on ways to optimize marketing costs and how small businesses can get the best out of their small marketing budget.

Let’s start by stating the truth – every business wants to market online, but they are often put off by the marketing cost sticker shock.

As a small business or startup, you have often heard the famous quote “quality never comes cheap”. In other words, if you are looking for a rewarding marketing campaign, you should be willing to pay for it. Whether you plan to take the DIY route or hire an agency for the job, you need a person to run a dedicated campaign.

Ever wondered why digital marketing costs are high? You need to understand the very basics of marketing on the Internet. It involves designing, social media, email marketing, content creation, programming, and analytics. Add to it the costs of tools and subscriptions, and the costs can spiral up. It is too much of a task for you to manage alone or expect an internal hire to manage it alone. The lack of tools and expertise can add to the challenge.

Avoiding Marketing Cost Sticker Shock Cyrusson

Hiring An Agency         

As a small business, you can’t afford to have a large digital marketing team under your payroll. Hiring a team, training them, buying tools, and building the necessary infrastructure can cost up to $180,000 annually.  This is surely out of bounds for small businesses and even startups till they have generated their initial rounds of funding. Hiring an agency for this job sounds like a better alternative. However, hiring one isn’t easy.

If you start searching for a boutique marketing agency, you’d come across all kinds of price stickers. From agencies that promise you the moon for $10,000 to those that charge between $40,000 and $150,000 for a campaign, the wide spectrum can be confusing and push you into a dilemma. As the saying goes you get what you pay for and choosing a partner based on marketing agency cost alone can be a bad gamble.

Return On Your Investment is The Key 

Return on Investment is the key to finding the sweet spot in your marketing campaign. Leave aside the quote you have received from an agency for a while and purely think about the marketing costs from an ROI perspective. Though no agency can or should guarantee an ROI, this is something to keep in mind. By marketing you’ll reach more people and bring more attention to your business. For example, if the agency has quoted $40000 for your campaign, how many new customers are they likely to bring in? Will this sum help you find a stronger foothold in the market and have a positive effect on your bottom line? If yes, go for it and if you have doubts, it’s time to explore other alternatives. 

Low Budget Online Marketing  

Let’s assume, you are a really small business (which most of you likely are) and can’t afford to spend that amount on marketing. Is there something for you in the game? Yes, some agencies specialize in working with small businesses that don’t have a huge capital for marketing. It is wise to seek professional guidance irrespective of your budget and maximize your digital footprint.

These marketing agencies prioritize tasks in your campaign and focus on activities that generate maximum eyeballs and help you grow your business. They don’t cut corners and rather use your budget judiciously to put you ahead of your competitors. You can’t expect the same kind of activities that a $100K campaign would involve. But a professional team would help you scale the ladder and add to your brand equity. 

You need to work closely with these agencies and support them run your campaign. Even small tasks such as writing your content leave the agency with more budget to spend on PPC and social media ads. Entrepreneurs must be prepared for the extra grind when they have a small marketing budget. Once you have enough capital to spare on your campaign, your marketing agency would push the accelerator pedal and drive you ahead.

Final Thoughts        

In today’s digital-driven world, your business big or small can’t afford to NOT MARKET ONLINE. If you have been blown away by the astronomically high fee that marketing agencies have quoted, you need to find the right match. There are marketing agencies that specialize in working with small businesses and startups offering them tailored solutions based on their budgets. They don’t cut corners but offer you the highest ROI for your budget.

At Cyrusson Inc. we work with small businesses and startups to optimize their marketing cost. We firmly believe marketing agency costs shouldn’t discourage you from exploring online marketing ideas. From SEO to PPC and social media marketing to content marketing, we offer cost-effective and rewarding marketing services. Call us to book a free consultation and we’ll find marketing solutions to fit your budget!   

 

 

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