Tom Lewis
4 min
Updated: Oct 5, 2023
When it comes to ad budgeting, you need to look at the “Big Picture.” Things like your overall marketing strategy, target audience, and desired outcome of the campaign play a role in your advertising budget method.
In fact, you should reevaluate each of these every quarter as the market conditions, competition, or the company's objectives change.
Does it sound like a lot of work? Don't worry! We're giving you the steps to bring your ads to life this year.
You can use two main strategies to come up with your ad budget.
This method involves allocating a certain percentage of projected or past sales revenue toward advertising.
For example, a company might give 5% of projected sales revenue towards advertising for the year.
Another ad budgeting method, this one helps you set specific advertising campaign objectives and allocate a budget based on the tasks needed to achieve those objectives.
For example, if the goal is to increase brand awareness, the funding might be issued toward a large-scale branding campaign. If the goal is to drive sales, your budget might go towards a targeted direct response campaign.
This third advertising budget method involves breaking the annual budget into smaller, more manageable chunks.
You would use either of the 2 methods above every quarter.
Percentage of Sales Method Quarterly Example: A business has a projected annual sales revenue of $1 million and has allocated 5% of that revenue toward advertising. Their quarterly advertising budget would be $125,000 ($1 million x 0.05 / 4 quarters).
Objective and Task Method Quarterly Example: In the first quarter, the goal might be to increase brand awareness so that you would set the budget towards a large-scale branding campaign. In the second quarter, the goal might be to drive sales, so you spend ads on a targeted direct response campaign.
So, you have an advertising budget method— but don't start tossing money at social media ads just yet!
Before you can create an ad that will lead to sales, you have to look at the Big Picture.
Here are 7 steps you need to take before you can run a successful campaign.
These goals should be specific, measurable, and aligned with your Big Picture business objectives.
Look back at your past advertising efforts. Pay special attention to:
A/B tests to see which combination of content and copy works well
Ad spend
Ad results and ROI of previous campaigns.
These will help you identify what has worked well in the past and what hasn't. This can help you have a clear vision for your future advertising strategies.
Whether or not your target audience has changed, you need to take another look at who they are and where they hang out online.
Researching your target audience's demographics, psychographics, and buying habits will help you determine the best channels and platforms to reach them.
We already went over this in the advertising budget method above.
This is when you decide how much money to spend on each ad. We recommend adjusting this once per quarter.
Now you need to decide which channels and formats will most effectively reach your target audience and achieve your goals.
This can include television, radio, print, online advertising, social media, and video ads.
Online shopping has become the norm for many people. Investing in online advertising platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms would significantly increase your reach and ROI.
Set timelines and milestones for your advertising efforts. This will help you measure progress and make adjustments as needed. It's essential to check in regularly and reassess your budget and strategy to ensure that you're on track to meet your goals.
Be ready to adapt your advertising strategy as needed, considering market conditions and the results of previous campaigns.
Adjusting your budget and targeting process as necessary to maximize results.
By following these steps, you can set and plan a budget that effectively achieves your goals and reaches your target audience.
Ad budgeting is a fluid process that needs to be regularly monitored and adjusted, so be ready to adapt as needed.
In summary, when planning an advertising budget for 2023, consider using a combination of the "percentage of sales" and "objective and task" methods, and allocate the budget to multiple channels and formats to reach the target audience effectively.
About High Tide Creative
High Tide Creative is an award-winning agency that provides a full range of digital marketing and advertising solutions that include strategic planning, creative services, brand and logo development, media planning and placement, social media marketing, digital advertising, website development, search engine optimization, video production, public relations and more. Our client list has included: UNC Health Lenoir, Hutchens Law Firm, Equifax, Georgia Pacific, Citi Group, Weyerhaeuser, The Atlanta Hawks, Randstad Staffing, Craven County Tourism, America Knits, Guardian Repellent, and The Shizzle Jerk Marinade.