5 tips for optimising your inbound B2B marketing budget
What is a good B2B marketing budget? This simple question can often seem impossible to answer, but a marketing budget can vary greatly and still be effective – as long as you’re making the most of it. According to HubSpot, 70% of marketers are actively investing in their inbound marketing, so it’s crucial that this money is being well spent. That’s why we’ve put together our five top tips to help you ensure you’re optimising your marketing efforts and spending your budget wisely.
1. Strategise… and stick to it
B2B marketing without strategy is like travelling to a new place without researching an itinerary. Sure, you know the basics from word of mouth, and you’ll probably stumble upon a few places you wanted to visit – but you’ll miss so much more than if you had a well-researched plan. The bottom line is that you’re not getting the most out of your trip, and the same can be said for your marketing budget if your efforts aren’t backed up by a solid strategy.
At Move Marketing, we ensure we get the most return on our clients’ investment by implementing our ‘8 Moves of B2B’ marketing strategy. From understanding your market to designing a step-by-step output plan, the 8 Moves are proven to help you optimise your marketing and make the most of your B2B budget.
2. Solidify your SEO
In today’s Google-first world, search engine optimisation (SEO) is crucial for businesses looking to attract new business customers and increase brand awareness. In-depth keyword research can help you work out the types of information your customers want to know, but you need more than a few keywords to get to the all-important front page of Google.
That’s why investing in SEO specialisms can make your budget go further, as experts can target accessible keywords and build up a background of quality links that improve your brand’s online authority.
3. Integrated content goes further
It’s often said that Content is King, but there’s a difference between generalised blogs and well-researched, accurate content that integrates with your wider B2B marketing plan. Have you optimised your web content for SEO? Are you considering the placement of your content within your customer’s sales funnel? From social media to eBooks, each content form has its own benefits and place in the customer journey. Ensuring that these elements are working together is key to a coherent marketing strategy that keeps customers invested and optimises your budget.
4. Automate the everyday
Don’t worry – we’re not suggesting that you hand all your marketing over to robots. The truth is, a proportion of day-to-day marketing activity consists of mundane tasks that can be undertaken by AI. Some examples include data entry, spelling and grammar checks and sending scheduled emails. Taking these tasks away from your marketers can help streamline their workloads, ensuring they have the time to work on the projects that require more creativity, expertise or just a human touch.
5. Make your team count
Speaking of the human touch, it’s important to utilise the skillsets of your marketing team. Experts with a wide range of experience and coming from varied backgrounds can offer a wealth of information for designing and implementing better marketing campaigns. But no man is an island, and collaboration is key for ensuring a well-rounded B2B strategy. Constant communication between areas of marketing can streamline your strategic approach and minimise any risk of miscommunication, which could otherwise slow you down and impact your budget down the line.
Building a successful inbound B2B marketing strategy isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, and there’s never one consistently superior way to effectively spend your budget. However, focusing on optimising the five areas discussed above is a great way to streamline your work, getting the best results for your budget and reducing any nasty surprises throughout the process.
If you want to find out more about how Move’s strategic B2B marketing framework can help you make the most of your inbound marketing budget, get in touch today.
