• determine the main factors on which the advertising budget depends;
• choose the method of formation of the advertising budget;
• determine the types of advertising;
• evaluate cost effectiveness and, if necessary, reallocate costs.

Step 1. Determine the main factors on which the advertising budget depends

The goal you want to reach

Often the goal marketing campaign is formulated very vaguely: “To be known about us ...” The task can be specified (made quantitatively measurable) by answering the following questions:

• Who should know? Determine the target audience for products and advertising. The target audience of products is the direct consumers of the product, the target audience of advertising is those who make the decision to purchase or significantly influence the adoption of this decision. The more detailed description target audience you have, the better. If you don't have data, do your research and find out who your customer is. Namely: where, when, how often, under what circumstances, with whom and with what emotions the consumer buys and uses your products.
• What exactly do consumers need to know? The object of advertising is established (products, services, novelties, company image, terms of cooperation, unique offer, etc.).
• What will it give you and in what time period? It is specified during what time the task will be solved, how it is related to sales volumes and profit.

For budget planning, all goals must be quantifiable, otherwise it is impossible to evaluate achievements or allocate resources. Usually slogans are formulated: “we will advertise”, “we will hold an action”. Instead, plan to achieve specific goals, such as acquiring 1,000 new customers through ads in the trade press.

A new product or service requires more intensive advertising. The cost of bringing a new company's product or service into a highly competitive market often eats away at the first year's gross profit. Promotion of a company, its products and services always requires large start-up expenses (see table 1).

Table 1. How Marketing Spending Varies with Objectives

Step 2. Choosing a budgeting method

Methods for determining the marketing budget are shown in Table 2. The most common method is to determine the budget as a percentage of the expected (or achieved) sales volume or profit. This method is quite simple and at the same time accurately reflects the main goal of tactical marketing - increasing sales. Also very popular methods of planning "according to the residual principle" and in comparison with the costs of the leader or the nearest competitor. All these methods of determining marketing costs are logical and consistent, but they are best used in combination.

In developed countries, the share of marketing costs is about 25 percent of the cost of traditional goods and up to 70 percent of new products. Considering profitability, the base share of traditional product marketing costs is in the range of 10-15 percent of sales revenue. In Russia, the share of marketing costs ranges from 1 to 5 percent, that is, on average, 3 percent of revenue.

Example: a company plans to launch Russian market new brand and intends to take 15 percent of the market. The market size of the company's analysts is estimated at 2 billion US dollars

Target sales volume = market size x target market share:

$2,000 million x 0.15 = $300 million.

percentage of marketing spend = average percentage of the marketing budget in Russia (3 percent) x adjustment factor depending on the goal (1.6 - "implementation").

Thus, the required percentage of marketing spend = 3% x 1.6 = 4.8%.

Total Marketing Spend = Percentage of Marketing Spend x Target Sales: 300 x 0.048 = $14.4 million.

IN Russian companies As a rule, a “compromise” approach to the formation of an advertising budget is used. Its essence is the preparation of two budgets - the desired and the actual. Desired is the budget that you would like to have in order to achieve the maximum coverage of the target audience. Valid - what you can realistically spend on advertising based on the calculation of the payback period of the product. By comparing these two budgets, an acceptable (compromise) option for the company is developed.

Step 3. Decide on the types of advertising

The distribution of the marketing budget by main cost items depends on the industry in which your company operates, on the strategy for solving marketing problems and the type of market. Experts recommend an integrated approach, when the impact on the consumer occurs through several channels at the same time. Ask yourself: Where is my ad most likely to be seen by the target audience? This is often where the delivery of your message to the consumer fails.

Step 4: Evaluate cost effectiveness

Final indicator marketing activities is the company's turnover or sales revenue. But, for example, at the initial stages of bringing a product to the market, it is more important to achieve a certain awareness of consumers and form a favorable image of a product or service. Therefore, at each individual stage, to assess the effectiveness of marketing costs, it is advisable to use different indicators, depending on previously formulated (quantified) goals. The goal itself should serve as the main indicator of effectiveness: if you reached the goal, it means that you effectively planned the costs and implemented the plan, if you didn’t achieve it, adjustments are needed.

The marketing budget is a marketing plan expressed in natural and monetary units.. The budget reflects the projected values ​​of income, costs and profits. Essence of budgeting consists in the transformation of all marketing programs, activities that are included in the marketing plan, into costs with their subsequent compensation from the proceeds, income from the sale of the mass of commodities. Characteristics Marketing budgets are shown in Table 11.5.

Marketing budgeting helps to correctly prioritize the goals and strategies of marketing activities, make decisions in the field of resource allocation, and maintain effective control. The main purpose of budgeting can be called - the distribution of resources, in which the contribution to the achievement of financial and marketing goals will be maximum.

Table 11.5.

Salient Features of a Marketing Budget

The following budgeting methods are used:

1) “bottom up”, when the budget is developed by an ordinary manager, and then submitted for approval to higher-level managers;

2) "bottom-up/top-down", when the initial budgeting recommendations of ordinary managers are carefully checked and adjusted by senior managers before they are approved;

3) “top-down/bottom-up”, when budget restrictions are made by senior managers, and then line-item budgets, taking into account these restrictions, are again transferred to ordinary managers.

The size of marketing costs depends both on the size of the enterprise and on its role and claims in the market. "Follow the leader" usually takes advantage of the leader's efforts to develop the market, minimizing their own marketing costs. Self-development of new markets and updating products cause a sharp increase in marketing costs. The type and novelty of the product, the measure of market penetration, the nature of the firm's strategy, and its preoccupation with its prestige are the main factors that determine the size of the marketing budget of any firm. With a high level of aspirations of the firm and strong competition in the market, the firm will likely have to significantly increase the cost of marketing.

Below are the most common methods for determining a marketing budget.

1. Financing "from opportunities". Many firms set their budget based on the amounts the company can afford. This method is used by firms focused on production, not on the consumer. Essentially, it is a residual method of financing. The only advantage of the method is the absence of serious conflicts on funding issues with production units due to their unconditional priority. The main disadvantage of the method is the subjectivity of the allocation of specific amounts, their unpredictability from year to year.

2. List method. With this method, marketing budget planning is based on data on estimated sales volumes, total costs and the assigned value (norm) of the target profit. The marketing budget is the difference between gross margin (sales minus variables and fixed costs) and the amount of target profit. In essence, the residual method of financing is used here. It should be said that within the framework of the method under consideration, marketing costs are classified as profit distribution, although at least some of them are included in the cost of production.

3. Method of "fixed interest". The method is based on the deduction of a certain percentage of last year's or expected sales. This method is very simple and is often used in practice. In this method, the cause (marketing) is made dependent on the effect (sales volume). The method is subjective, since market trends are not taken into account, and the percentage value is usually set by a volitional decision.

4. Competitor matching method. In this case, the level of marketing costs is set at the level of costs of a competitor close in terms of resources and market niche. This method is often used because it is believed to draw on the "collective wisdom of the industry". The method under consideration has significant drawbacks. First, it is difficult to determine the size of a competitor's marketing budget, since its size is a trade secret. Secondly, there is no guarantee that the competitor chosen by the firm to follow optimally forms its budget and proceeds from the targets that we attributed to it.

5. Method of maximum costs argues that marketing should be spent as much as possible. The disadvantage of the method lies in the neglect of ways to optimize activities. Given the significant time lag between spending and achieving results, this method can quickly lead a firm into financial hardship.

6. Method "goal - task"- is based on the calculation of costs that occur when conducting marketing activities in the company to achieve the goals. The method assumes that any marketing effort must strictly correspond to the specific goals of the work, while the costs of each marketing action are correlated with the expected benefits in moving towards the intended goal. In this case, there is a danger of turning the budget and the marketing activity itself into a mosaic of inconsistent fragments, since marketing goals are often isolated from each other, divided into time intervals, market segments and levels of attainability. A holistic marketing strategy is difficult to follow when using this method.

7. Margin method- based on a retrospective analysis of the results of the company. Based on the results of the analysis, the actual relationships between changes in sales volume and marketing costs are determined. With the help of these dependencies, marketing costs are determined that correspond to the expected sales volumes. The income margin method involves significant research and expert work. The limitation of the method is manifested in the fact that with a significant change in the operating conditions of the company, the results of a retrospective analysis lose their significance.

8. Marketing program accounting method- combines the two previous methods: "goal - task" and "marginal income". It is close to functional cost analysis and involves a thorough analysis of the costs of achieving specific goals, but not in themselves, but in comparison with the costs of other possible combinations of marketing tools, i.e. when implementing other "chains", alternatives to the marketing strategy.

The choice of a specific method of forming a marketing budget is largely determined by the degree of seriousness of the company's approach to evaluating the effectiveness of marketing. The question of how and to what extent marketing efforts can be funded is one of the most difficult. If marketing is financed according to the “opportunity” method, then there is not enough money for non-traditional activities. If financing is made as a percentage of profit (fixed percentage method), then marketing can only develop in prosperous firms. Using the competitive parity method does not guarantee success. Reputations, resources, capabilities and goals of different companies are so different that the budget for promotion of one company can hardly be a guide for another. The most productive can be recognized as the "goal - task" method and the method of accounting for marketing programs.

It should be said that the increase in marketing costs in a volatile market is associated with great risk, but trying to save on marketing can lead to bankruptcy. The financing of marketing activities is the price paid for the future market health of the firm.

The marketing budget depends on how big company, what is its specialization, what niche does it occupy and what strategy has it chosen. Find out how to properly plan your marketing budget and whether you can completely abandon it.

Issues covered in the article:

• What is a marketing budget.
• What factors influence the marketing budget.
• What items are usually included in the marketing budget.
• What methods are used to prepare the company's marketing budget.
• What are the methods of determining the marketing budget.
• Is marketing possible without a budget?

What is a marketing budget

Under the marketing budget understand the marketing plan, presented in-kind and cash. The marketing budget gives an idea of ​​the amount of income, expenses and profits. The process of budgeting is the transformation of the projects included in the marketing plan into expenses with their subsequent reimbursement from the proceeds from the sale of products.

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The marketing budget allows you to highlight the main and secondary tasks and strategies in the field of marketing, competently use resources and fruitfully implement administrative functions. As main goal budgeting marketing, you can determine the allocation of resources in such a way that all opportunities to achieve financial goals are used.

There are several specific features of the marketing budget:

• can be formed both for a time interval and for a specific event (a separate procedure, research, action);
• the company's expenses for conducting various marketing campaigns are taken as costs;
• as income, operations of a qualitative and quantitative nature are considered, which determine the effectiveness of marketing activities.

Marketing budgeting is influenced by:

• economic development of the state (distributive economy - minimally, market economy - up to 30% of sales volume);
• belonging to certain industries (the size of the marketing budget in the production of cosmetics and perfumes in some cases is 70% of the sales volume, while in industries with a low level of competition (in particular, raw materials), the amount of marketing costs is much less);
• the size of the company and its position and claims in the market (if you do not strive to get close to the leader, then you can take advantage of its achievements in market coverage without significant costs);
• type of manufactured products and their novelty;
• the extent to which the company has mastered the market;
• the specifics of the enterprise development strategy and how much it cares about its own authority;
• the level of competition in the market.
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What are the features of marketing budget planning

Drawing up a marketing budget plan is a rather complicated process that lies in the area of ​​responsibility of the company's management. The marketing budget includes costs in such areas of the organization's work as:

1. study and assessment of the state of certain market departments, which may be opportunistic, medium or long-term;
2. guaranteed preservation of high competitiveness of goods;
3. security effective promotion products;
4. implementation information message between a company and its customers, for which advertising is used, various ways effective promotion of product sales, participation in various marketing activities;
5. creation of a secure network for the sale of goods.

Marketing budget planning ensures the successful development of the company with the intensive development of the market. With the help of a marketing budget, you can realize a large number of goods and reimburse all costs related primarily to the production and analytical spheres, while at the same time making a big profit.

Expert opinion

Defining a Marketing Budget Isn't Always Easy

Roman Tkachev,

project manager for the promotion of the MDV trademark, the group of companies "AYAK"

Quite often, entrepreneurs treat spending on marketing activities lightly as a newfangled trend, not seeing them as a means that can help expand and retain their customer base. Marketing expenses are not always perceived as an investment in customer acquisition or retention. This is because marketers are unable to present to management a complete and quality project development.

One of the most important tasks in developing a policy for the further development of the company is to determine the size of the marketing budget. This means that the budget includes not only advertising costs, but also the costs associated with studying the situation on the market, designing brand symbols, customer service management and other promotions.

It must be borne in mind that the preparation of a marketing budget serves to clarify the position of the company at the moment, determine the course of its development and ways to achieve its goals. The marketing budget plan is key in terms of organizing the company's work to generate income. Thus, the marketing budget determines all other activities of the enterprise.

What Factors Affect Your Marketing Budget

1. The time of the organization's activity.

A start-up business needs much more funds for development than one that is already confidently on its feet. That is why young firms need to invest the lion's share working capital into the marketing budget, often absorbing the entire turnover.

Firms with some experience and their products are already, as a rule, familiar to buyers. This allows you to create a marketing budget in the amount of 20% of the entire profit of the organization, without harming its work.

An enterprise that has existed on the market for more than one decade needs to allocate funds only to maintain its own authority and promotions that remind customers of the brand. The size of the marketing budget in this scenario will fluctuate within 3-5% of working capital, which will allow the company to feel quite comfortable.

2. The scale of the organization.

An example of the formation of a marketing budget can be a situation where a small company producing building materials operates in a small town. It works only in its region, where more low prices and not so high demands from consumers. The marketing costs of such an organization will be significantly less than those of world-famous brands such as Danone or Ford, which operate on all continents. The profit received in the first and second cases will also differ radically.

Advertising can also be approached in different ways, for example, to take the best time on the air of a state channel on television, or to place a small ad on the pages of a local print publication. The results from these approaches will differ just as much as the audience. When choosing types of advertising, it is important to understand exactly who you want to reach and what result you intend to achieve.

4. Desired effect of marketing investments.

According to statistics, promotional activities bring results in approximately 1% of cases. Having made the simplest calculations, one can understand that out of a hundred who have received information, only one person will apply to the company. Understanding this will allow you to easily calculate the amount of funds that you need to invest in an advertising campaign.

5. The level of training of marketing specialists.

When choosing a marketer, you should understand that there are such “pros” who will splurge with their grandiose projects, spend impressive amounts, while not achieving any result and blaming everyone and everything for failures. However, there are more expensive, but at the same time much more competent specialists who can achieve high results with minimal cost. Which of these specialists to hire is up to the manager to decide.

Practitioner tells

How to set marketing budget requirements

Boris Karabanov,

Methodology Director, Intalev Group of Companies, Moscow

Marketing budget requirements:

1. Clear frames.

So, you can determine the amount of marketing costs from sales of 5%. This will allow you to fix the amount of marketing costs at a constant level, as well as the profitability of income.

2. Fixed amount of the cost of circulation.

This approach will determine whether the income received from customers justifies the costs incurred in connection with their attraction. The table below shows an example. So, the company employs 5 marketers in three positions. The marketing department has a plan for holding promotions that will be able to provide a certain number of hits that correspond to the standard indicators for the position. The sales budget is limited to 36 million rubles, and the marketing budget is 2.5% of sales and is equal to 900 thousand rubles. Based on these data, the cost of appeals for each position is then calculated.

Measures directly aimed at attracting customers are not recorded in the table. Only the cost of the appeals themselves is indicated, including average cost per organization per month. If this cost is exceeded, then there is a violation of the plan associated with budget overruns. The dynamics of the violation can move in two directions: the amount of funds spent on events may increase, or there may be an insufficient number of appeals themselves. Thus, the main goal of marketing in this area can be defined as the need to increase the number of calls per 1 ruble of costs (increase the number of sales per call, increase the number of repeat sales to one client).

What items are usually included in the marketing budget

1. The article "Direct advertising", which includes the costs associated with paying for advertising placed on television, radio, printed publications and external resources.
2. The “Creation” item, which includes production costs, as well as costs associated with the creation of marketing materials (commercials, posters, payment for the services of stars invited to participate in advertising, etc.). The following rule has been adopted: the cost of this article should not be more than 10% of the entire marketing budget.
3. The article "Auxiliary materials", which includes the cost of related materials for promotions (leaflets, brochures, catalogs and guides for customers and employees, stationery with a brand logo, etc.).
4. The article "Web", which became independent due to the active development of computer technology and its importance for advertising. This includes the costs associated with the creation and promotion of sites, their content, promotion in in social networks payment for their services, etc.
5. The article "Trade marketing", which fixes the costs of advertising campaigns addressed to direct consumers of goods or resellers, as well as the creation commercial equipment etc.

What methods are used to prepare a marketing budget for a company?

When calculating the marketing budget, methods such as:

• “bottom-up”: the budget is developed by an ordinary manager, after which it is sent for approval to higher-level managers;
• “bottom-up/top-down”: proposals from line managers are checked and corrected by senior managers before approval;
• Top-Down/Bottom-Up: Regulatory budget limits are introduced by senior management, after which line-item budgets are passed to administrators.

Methods for determining the marketing budget

1. Financing "from opportunities".

This method was faced by those who worked, guided by a clear order "from above". On the this stage this approach is used in companies that focus on production rather than sales and marketing. In this regard, the marketing budget is quite small - it includes what is left after the satisfaction of production needs (the so-called residual method). The advantage of the method is that the company does not have contradictions with the distribution of funds for marketing and production requests, due to the priority of the latter by default. The disadvantages include the chaotic allocation of different amounts to the marketing sphere, which does not allow planning for long time periods. Often, in this case, there is no money left to analyze the effectiveness of the marketing activities carried out.

2. List method.

The price-list method involves the development of a marketing budget plan based on information about the expected sales volumes, summarized costs and target profit standards. F. Kotler named this method“planning based on target profit indicators”, but in fact the residual principle of financing also applies here. The marketing budget looks like the difference between gross profit and target profit. Certain doubts about the application of this method in practice are also caused by the fact that in this case marketing costs are attributed to the distribution of profits, despite the fact that at least some of them is the cost of production.

3. Method of "fixed interest".

This method is based on the deduction of some part of last year's (at best, expected) sales volume. The method is quite simple to use, due to which it is often adopted by companies with big amount departments to calculate the budget of each of their departments. However, experts call this method illogical, since it establishes the dependence of marketing (cause) on sales volume (effect). Positive dynamics when using this method is possible only if marketing development been successful in previous stages. Otherwise, the size of the marketing budget will be reduced, and the company will reach a dead end.

Typically, this method is used as an auxiliary method when it is necessary to allocate marketing amounts to specific areas of activity (for example, advertising, sales promotion, performance analysis, etc.). Among the disadvantages of the method, it can be noted that it does not allow for fundamental changes in the work of the company and is rather subjective, since the percentage is determined by the decision of the management without proper argumentation.

4. Competitor Compliance Method.

The use of this method is possible only if a number of specific conditions are met:

• there must be a competing organization similar to yours in terms of resources involved, areas of interest and market position;
• it is required to at least roughly calculate the size of its marketing budget, taking into account the breakdown into individual expense items, which is problematic. So, in order to obtain objective data on the costs of a competitor in a particular area, it is necessary to have your own economic intelligence.

It is worth remembering that the relationship between costs and results is not linear, and a competitor may have more experience in the market and have already achieved our goals. It is also impossible to be completely sure that a competing firm has chosen optimal strategy development and works towards the realization of the goals that we have attributed to it.

The main disadvantage of the method should be called the onset of the moment when imitation becomes impossible, and in some cases even unprofitable for one's own development.

5. The method of maximum costs.

According to this method, the maximum amount of funds should be spent on marketing. However, with obvious advantages, this method excludes ways to optimize the company's work. There are also cases where, due to the time lag between spending funds and achieving goals, the company had serious financial problems, as a result of which it lost its marketing positions.

6. Method "goal - task".

The application of this method requires that each marketing activity be aimed at solving specific business goals and correspond to the planned bonuses on the way to the goals set. To ensure that the use of the method does not cause problems, the company's goals are clearly delineated, divided into time periods and achievability levels, which include market branches. Also, when implementing the method, the entire set of marketing tools is used. Goal-task method the best way suitable for short term planning. If you use it for planning for distant time intervals, then it easily turns into a method of financing "from opportunities".

7. The method of "margin income".

This method involves referring to previous experience. However, it operates with more specific values ​​than sales volume - for example, a non-linear actual proportion between changes and marketing costs. Combination different options helps to find the ideal indicator. Investments with this method are aimed at the most profitable areas and activities. Also, when using the "marginal approach" method, serious research and expert work is underway. This method can be used simultaneously with the "goal-task" method. And also it leads to the balance of the highest cost method.

8. Accounting method of the marketing program.

This method is based on two already known ones - "goal - task" and the "marginal income" method. We can say that the method of accounting for a marketing program is akin to a functional cost study, aimed at the implementation of certain goals and objectives in comparison with costs in the context of the existence of other combination options. marketing tools(other types of marketing policy).

How to choose a method for determining the marketing budget

Determining the method of forming a marketing budget depends on how responsibly the company approaches the analysis of the effectiveness of this type of activity. At the heart of everything is the concept of "sales response function", which refers to the forecast of the possible volume of sales of goods with various indicators expenses for marketing activities. In this case, it is necessary to resolve the rather controversial question of how and to what extent it is possible to invest in marketing activities. When the “from opportunities” method is used, funds are often not enough for non-standard activities. With the method of percentage of profits. We are talking about development in successful companies, while others are not destined to overcome decline. Applying the method of matching a competitor, it becomes impossible to take a leading position compared to a rival. Thus, the most effective are the "goal-task" methods and the accounting of marketing projects.

At the same time, we can talk about a pattern that affects the construction of the graph, which reflects the sales volume curve in terms of marketing costs. If the level of expenses is low, then sales are practically unchanged, because the company's work is not visible on the market, because the “market sensitivity threshold” has not yet been overcome. If the costs are high, then the goals will also not be achieved, because any demand has its own ceiling, which is quite difficult to approach, and also because the increase in turnover will stimulate competitors to such behavior, to which the market will stop responding.

It becomes obvious that the increase in marketing costs in an unstable market situation is much more dangerous than in a situation where the market is stable. However, saving on marketing tools in the context of a general crisis will lead the company to a dead end. In other words, cash injections into marketing activities create the basis for the financial well-being of the company in the future.

Expert opinion

What are the possible mistakes in the formation of the marketing budget

Viktor Kopchenkov,

marketing communications expert, Coffee

The creation of a marketing budget is often accompanied by the fact that the person responsible for this does not take into account the relationship between the size of the budget and its effectiveness. When formulating a marketing budget, the basic premise is usually that the compiler can predict the relationship between the size of the budget and its effectiveness. Consider, for example, a situation where an enterprise produces a product that is sold in a few weeks. This allows us to conclude that we are talking about consumer goods. Knowing this, it is possible to calculate the number of hits and the percentage of successful transactions when advertising covers a specific number of organizations.

However, such hypotheses will not be confirmed in all cases. This is influenced by the experience of a specialist in some specific conditions, as well as the presence of an information and analytical department that processes data on the effectiveness of certain marketing campaigns. Such a function must be performed by marketers to optimize the further work of the company.

Very often, managers believe that in order to increase work efficiency, it is enough to hire a specialist, while forgetting about the specifics of their organization and the state of affairs before the appearance of such an employee. This affects the fact that even a professional is not always able to quickly establish business processes in a particular industry in a particular area.

Analysis of the role of marketing tools, identification of their importance for the company's work and the creation of specific budget items in the aggregate serve to determine the effectiveness of activities, which implies the alignment of actions and the possibility of using the accumulated experience in the future.

Tip 1: Cut marketing budgets.

As a rule, the decrease in marketing funds is treated as the onset of a crisis, since it is commonly believed that during a decline, marketing activities are cut first. However, it is possible to reduce inefficient expenditure items.

Sometimes, if you have several marketing directions, you will notice that some of them do not bring results. In this case, these activities should be promptly abandoned so that they do not slow down the activities of the entire organization as a whole.

Often, an organization resorts to all known methods of advertising its products, for example, on the Internet. However, a quick and good result is obtained only from one or several methods. Other types of advertising require, for example, a longer period to achieve the desired effect. In this case, you need to correctly prioritize, answer the question of which tasks are paramount - short-term or long-term. A bet on short-term goals will allow you to achieve high and prompt results from marketing activities. Having set priorities, you will be able to correctly allocate the budget and understand where you need to increase the volume of injections, and where costs can be reduced.

Tip 2. Setting the right performance indicators, taking into account many factors.

It is necessary to measure performance indicators correctly, taking into account all existing factors. So, it should be understood that the role of sellers and buyers is played by people who depend on weather conditions, holidays, etc., while the Internet is only a tool for their interaction. To get an objective picture of your key performance metrics, you first need to isolate all the factors that affect your business and promotions.

Tip 3. Not just product marketing.

Traditionally, firms are interested in increasing sales and quickly making a profit, which entails a focus on marketing promotion of goods. However, consumers pay attention not only to products, but also to the level and quality of service, relationships between staff, promotions you conduct, call center work, interviews, etc. Based on this, you need to understand that marketing should relate to all company activities in in general, and not just goods, that is, to be both direct and indirect.

Tip 4. Continuous analytics.

The study and evaluation of means to increase sales is at the heart of every firm's planning. Based on the indicators obtained, it will be possible to regulate the use of these funds in practice. Through analysis, data can be obtained on the effectiveness of each of the tools you use. There is simply no other way to get such information.

Quite a few services have been developed for such purposes, for example, Yandex.Metrica or Google Analytics, which carry out statistical accounting of data obtained from the results of a comprehensive analysis.

The mechanism of work is as follows: each marketing campaign has its own task, after setting which the indicators of this event begin to be monitored using the already mentioned means.

What happens to a business if marketing is abandoned? Will it lead to decline? Will it be possible to keep the client base in such conditions? There are a lot of questions. Answering them, you can conclude about the significance of your marketing activities for the development of the company.

It is possible that after the abandonment of marketing, there will not be serious changes. This will indicate that your work in this area was lined up incorrectly. If the marketing department worked with full dedication, then the result of the refusal of its services will be noticeable very quickly. Analyzing the relevance of marketing to your firm will allow you to adjust the allocation of budget funds in the right way.

Tip 6. New products in your market and your prospects.

Have you ever wondered how your company will be in a decade from now? The fact is that marketing involves not only operational results, but also ensuring stability and distant perspective. If you do not have a vision for the future of the company, then your marketing is not working in full force, since it also implies a predictive function

If you do not care about the prospects for your development, then you can reach a dead end, which is faced by many entrepreneurs who, without thinking about the future, strive only to achieve real goals. This approach suggests that the company does not have a strategy.

In this situation, the mechanical work of the staff is carried out, but there is no question of professional growth, as well as development marketing sphere. The consumer sees what is happening with such a company, and, most likely, at some point will leave for more successful competitors.

Marketing of any company is based on the presence of a unique selling proposition. Without this basis and plans for the future, the company becomes depersonalized and ceases to be interesting to customers. In a rapidly evolving reality, the risks increase significantly.

Tip 7. Your site is a sales leader for your business.

Based on the above, one more recommendation can be made regarding the fact that if your Internet resource is not yet a leader in sales, then you need to make adjustments to your strategy. This pattern works for all areas except for B2B, where personal contacts are a priority.

For successful work it is important that the site really works and contributes to an increase in sales. There are a lot of advantages of such a marketing tool. So, it is less expensive than opening a real outlet, it becomes possible to carry out its activities around the clock, you can use all possible creative approaches, there is no dependence on the seller.

The existing site must work with constant increase its quality and functionality. In addition, it is required to continuously monitor the results of its activities. The availability of up-to-date data regarding the operation of the site will allow you to competently and productively form a marketing budget.

Is Marketing Without a Budget Possible?

Is it possible to form marketing without a budget and how to do it? This question most often arises among novice businessmen or in the field of microbusiness, where the budget is quite small or there is none at all.

Here it is worth understanding that marketing without a budget is a temporary and forced measure due to the lack of necessary funds in the vast majority of cases. It is possible to start developing a business without a marketing budget, provided that unconventional methods and cutting-edge tools are used. However, in the future, it is simply necessary to form a marketing budget.

In what cases is marketing without a budget used?

1. When opening a new business, when funds are not enough.
2. When introducing a new, unparalleled type of product to the market.
3. If you occupy a very narrow niche in the market, where there is little competition.

When is a marketing budget required?

1. When the competition in your field is very high.
2. When firms operating in your market specialize in selling goods and / or services similar in their properties and qualities.
3. When you work in conditions of dominant price competition.

What tools are suitable for marketing without a budget (or with a very limited budget)?

1. Create sales pages with free programs. For this purpose, it is optimal to turn to high-quality designers, where wide range of tools and functions, as well as opportunities for further search promotion of the resource.
2. Independent search engine improvement of the site. This requires preliminary preparation, but allows you to save money by improving the site on your own. In conditions of low competition, such actions can lead to high results.
3. Marketing through Email. The only cost in this matter is to create a client database that will be subscribed to your mailing list. To this end, you can use tools such as lead magnets, providing useful information subscription exchange.
4. Content marketing will be the best solution for aspiring entrepreneurs and those who are on a budget. Creating and distributing useful and interesting content will quickly win the sympathy of consumers.
5. Social media promotion work. It is not difficult to master the methods of promotion, and if you do this work yourself, you can limit yourself to very small expenses.
6. Marketing in places of Internet communication - on forums, portals, chats. This way of working takes a lot of time and creativity, but it doesn't cost much and can help you achieve great results.
7. Another cost-effective promotion tool is viral marketing. However, it requires creativity and increased relevance.
8. Cross-marketing involves finding partners from areas close to you with whom you can conduct marketing activities, as well as advertise each other's products. This tool exists and works for a long time, and its highest performance has been proven by time and experience of many companies.
9. Word of mouth marketing, when grateful customers are engaged in your promotion. To get results from this tool, you need to constantly improve the quality of your products and / or services, customer service, apply a creative approach, which will ensure vigilant interest in your company.

Information about experts

Roman Tkachev, project manager for the promotion of the MDV trademark, the group of companies "AYAK". Graduated from Altai State University(specialist in the field international relations, orientalist) and Yanshan University (PRC) (Chinese, international marketing). Engaged in the development and implementation of a supply planning system and an accounting and analysis system commercial offers by MDV brand. The group of companies "AYAK" was founded in 1996. Distributor of well-known global manufacturers of air conditioning equipment. It has about 50 regional offices, more than 2,000 dealer companies in the Russian Federation and the CIS countries. Official website - www.jac.ru

Boris Karabanov, Methodology Director, Intalev Group of Companies, Moscow. GK "Intalev". Field of activity: development and implementation information systems enterprise management. Territory: the company's offices are located in Russia (Moscow, Novosibirsk), Ukraine (Kyiv), Kazakhstan (Alma-Ata). Number of employees: over 100. Awards: laureate of the "Innovation Time 2015" award in the nomination "Best Innovative Solution for Efficiency Management". Official site - www.intalev.ru

Viktor Kopchenkov, marketing communications expert, Coffee. Since 1993 he has been engaged in market research, strategy development and marketing consulting. Founder of the Marketing in Russia community, its moderator and editor. Founder of the Kofe communication agency. Coffee is an agency specializing in building communications aimed at building and managing a client portfolio. Works mainly in the b2b sector.

IN modern conditions market, the successful operation of the company is possible only on the basis of planning, which ensures integration and coordination of both the stages of the management process in the company and functional areas, organizational units and projects.

In the course of planning, a certain sequence of stages is observed. At the stage strategic planning, carried out by the top management of the company, development goals are determined and strategies are chosen as complexes of basic decisions to ensure the achievement of the set strategic goals. tactical planning, which is the responsibility of the middle management level, is aimed at determining specific measures for the implementation of the strategy and the timing of their implementation. operational planning determines specific performers performing tactical plan activities, as well as the allocated resources and detailed deadlines for the implementation of specific tasks.

For various functional areas of the company's activities, approaches to planning differ. For marketing, investment, technological activities tend to shift to the side strategic management, while for production, financial and tax - in the direction of operational management.

The marketing service is actively involved in the strategic planning process, ensuring that the company's strategy is focused on the needs of target consumer groups, determining long-term competitive advantages, and also providing developers strategic plan company information about the external environment.

Strategic Marketing Planning Process includes the following extended steps:

• macro- and micro-segmentation of markets;
• competitive analysis;
• positioning;
• portfolio analysis;
• consolidated marketing analysis;
• choice of marketing strategy (package of strategies);
• determination of a mechanism for monitoring and adjusting (if necessary) strategic marketing goals.

The result of the strategic marketing planning process is marketing plan, which is part of the company's business plan. There are no uniform requirements for the volume and level of detail of individual elements of the marketing plan, but any marketing plan is based on the results of marketing research, market analysis and company resources (see Section 3).

A marketing plan may include the following elements:

• 1. Results of the situational analysis:
  • description of target markets and their priority for the company;
  • key existing and potential competitors of the company, their strengths and weak sides, possible actions of competitors;
  • competitive advantages of the company itself in each target market.
• 2. Description of target segments:
  • list of target market segments of the company;
  • capacity and growth rates of each segment;
  • preferences of end consumers;
  • characteristics of distribution channels.
• 3. Tactical targets:
  • expected sales volume and profit:
  • expected market share figures;
  • goals for each element of the marketing mix.
• 4. Positioning strategy:
  • product development strategy;
  • pricing strategy;
  • marketing strategy;
  • promotion strategy;
  • arrangements for coordination with other units.
• 5. Forecast and financing:
  • income and profit forecast;
  • assessment of the costs associated with the implementation of the marketing plan.
• 6. Emergency plan - actions in the event of a force majeure situation.

The marketing plan must contain detailed instructions on the implementation of marketing mix activities provided for by the marketing program, a list of responsible persons and performers, information on the timing and location of marketing activities.

Implementation of marketing activities without the allocation of resources is impossible. Any marketing activity involves the investment of financial, human and time resources. All these costs should be correlated with the results that the company achieves through marketing activities. Such activities should be carried out in accordance with a specific marketing plan of the company.

Budget - section of the marketing plan of the enterprise, in which, in a detailed form (by elements of the marketing mix or by marketing activities), the values ​​\u200b\u200bof costs, incomes and profits from the implementation of the company's marketing activities are given.

The structure of the budget for marketing activities includes the following items of expenditure:

• 1) advertising expenses. Costs for the creation of promotional products, holding promotional events, advertising in advertising media, PR events, etc.;
• 2) expenses for marketing research. The costs of collecting, analyzing and processing information collected through marketing research;
• 3) expenses for the formation and maintenance of distribution. Maintenance costs own network distribution ( own points sales), costs associated with maintaining and expanding the network of third-party distributors (for example, entrance tickets at retail, etc.);
• 4) organizational expenses. Salary, rent of premises, etc.;
• 5) other expenses. External consultant fees. Budgeting is an important task for the entire enterprise. The methods of budget formation include methods:
• 1) a fixed percentage;
• 2) competitive parity;
• 3) "from possibilities" (residual method);
• 4) goals and objectives;
• 5) marginal income;
• 6) focus on industry indicators;
• 7) "rejection of the budget".

Fixed Interest Method is based on deducting a certain percentage of last year's or expected sales. At the same time, a decrease in sales leads to a reduction in marketing costs, which may not correspond to market conditions. Both sales and profits can be taken as the basis for the calculation in this method. However, the use of the fixed percentage method does not take into account the development of new markets, new target groups, and the emergence of new competitors.

Example 2.27

The company's turnover is 300 million rubles. in year. If the company defines the marketing budget as 10% of its turnover, then the cost of marketing activities will amount to 30 million rubles.

Competitive parity method assumes that in order to develop a market share equal to that of a competitor, it is necessary to allocate amounts of funds for marketing equal to the competitor's budget, while the resulting market share will be directly proportional to marketing costs. The method is based on the assumption that competitors have experience and knowledge, but does not take into account the non-linearity of the relationship between the volume of advertising costs and market share. The effectiveness of the method depends on the accuracy of the calculation of the marketing budget by competitors.

Example 2.28

The main competitor of the company spends 1 million rubles on marketing. per year, then the company should spend no less if it plans to equalize market share with its main competitor.

Opportunity Method (or Residual Method) involves the formation of a budget for marketing activities, depending on the availability of free cash resources of the enterprise at the present time. The method is found mainly among manufacturing-oriented firms. The method leads to the allocation of arbitrary amounts for marketing activities, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of marketing activities. The disadvantages of the method include the unpredictability of fluctuations in marketing costs, as well as the inability to plan long-term activities.

In a small business, the method assumes that free resources remaining after covering expenses are directed to attracting new customers and promoting. Thus, the maximum possible amount is spent on marketing activities.

Example 2.29

The company spends 100 thousand rubles on marketing activities in January, 30 thousand rubles in February, and 35 thousand rubles on marketing programs in March, while the amount depends on the financial capabilities of the enterprise and is in no way related to the results of marketing activities.

Method of goals and objectives involves drawing up a marketing budget depending on the goals set for enterprises and necessary costs to their achievement. The costs of each marketing activity are correlated with the expected benefits and progress towards the intended goals of the enterprise. The effectiveness of the method of goals and objectives depends on the legalization of the plans of the enterprise, and primarily marketing plans. The disadvantages of the method include the fact that its effectiveness increases when planning operational activities compared to long-term planning, and the fact that the application of the method is possible if there is sufficient business experience and the possibility of obtaining expert assessments.

Example 2.30

The company has set itself the goal of increasing its market share by 3% from the existing 8%. The entire market is 10 million rubles, then in order to achieve the set goal, the company needs to increase sales by 300 thousand rubles. According to the results of the analysis, it became clear that in order to increase sales by the required amount, it is necessary to attract 300 new customers, which is possible if the advertising campaign reaches 30 thousand people from the target audience. To ensure such coverage, it is necessary to spend 1 million rubles on an advertising campaign. Thus, in order to increase the market share by 3%, it is necessary to spend 1 million rubles.

Margin Method involves identifying the relationship between sales revenue and marketing costs. Comparison of various activity options allows you to find the best option.

Example 2.31

Based on the results of the analysis of experience over several years of its activity, the company revealed that with an increase in marketing costs by 10%, the market share increases by 2%. Thus, to increase the market share by 20%. companies should double their marketing budget.

Method of orientation to industry indicators for calculating the budget for marketing activities involves the use of average indicators for the industry.

Example 2.32

If, on average in the industry, market participants spend 11% of their turnover on marketing, then the company will also spend 11% of its turnover on marketing.

The "Budget Rejection" Method involves saving on marketing costs, for example, through the use of guerrilla marketing tools. Even if this method does not involve the costs of the activities themselves, the costs of wages for employees should be taken into account.

Example 2.34

A flower seller can arrange to barter advertising on cakes. In essence, he will not pay for advertising, but will increase the reach of potential customers.

With any method of budgeting for marketing, an analysis of the effectiveness of marketing activities is necessary. Efficiency in a broad sense is the relative effect, the effectiveness of the process, operation, project. In a narrower sense, in terms of economic activity- this is the ratio of the result (effect) to the costs, expenses that caused, ensured its receipt.

The indicators for evaluating the result can be different:

• volume of sales - the most obvious indicator of effect;
• market share - in monetary terms;
• brand value - depending on the methodology for assessing the value of the brand, it can be used as a basis for calculating efficiency;
• business capitalization- shareholder value of the company.

The cost of organizing and conducting advertising campaign which is based on the budget of marketing communications.

Marketing activities make up a significant share of the total budget of companies, so it is necessary to pay attention to the control of marketing activities.

Control of marketing activities - comparing the costs of marketing activities with the results of the company.

Control should be carried out systematically and constantly, and the form of control depends on the level of management.

At the strategic level, control is a situational analysis that reveals the correctness of the choice of goals, the measure of the completeness of the company's realization of potential opportunities in relation to sales markets, distribution channels and goods.

At the tactical level, control is a periodic (for example, annual, quarterly, etc.) verification of the compliance of the results with the tasks set, control of sales volumes, market share controlled by the company, customer attitudes.

At the operational level, the profitability of each of the goods, the content and efficiency of work in the markets and their segments, the size of orders, etc. are considered.

Planning marketing activities without budgeting is difficult, if not impossible. And the allocation of money for the implementation of marketing activities without a subsequent evaluation of effectiveness is unreasonable, since it is impossible to understand in the future how the result of an enterprise's activities depends on investments in marketing.

Thus, in today's conditions of market instability, accompanied by crises, the company's task is to ensure long-term competitive advantage in the market, which is achieved through strategic marketing planning and management.

• URL: vvww.miTih.ru/agenry/marketing/marketbud/

Your marketing budget. The allocated funds for marketing allow you to regularly and promptly pay current bills. But without marketing planning based on specific business goals, it is difficult or impossible to achieve the desired result. Success cannot be measured without goals. It's like throwing a basketball into the basket, not knowing how many points will bring victory.

Start by setting targets

Make sure you understand what your goals are. Without goals, you cannot appreciate what you are trying to do. The result is the foundation of any budget.

• What do you want to achieve in terms of money spent?
• Will the projected revenue be enough to cover the company's current expenses?
• What level of return on investment on marketing do you plan to achieve in a year?

As a simple example, you can use the common ones for most companies:

1. Website traffic increase as measured by unique visitors per month
2. Increase targeted traffic from the geographic service area
3. Business growth as measured by total revenue or sales revenue

Define your clients

It will be difficult for you to sell your services if you do not know who your customers will be. - this is the basis for choosing communication channels in order to convey your advertising message to the buyer.

• Who are you selling your services to?
• What are the real expectations of customers from the deal?
• Does your service meet these expectations?

The term "customer profile" used by many marketers means that you have to understand the type of person your market is attracting. Night club attract young people with money to spend. Skin care products will appeal mainly to women of a certain age who want to keep their skin smooth and soft. There are many more examples; you should consider as many as you can.

Calculate your marginal cost to acquire new customers

Now you know your goals and your target audience. So what's next? An important criterion for the budget is the cost of each customer, which is related to the projected revenue from each customer.

• How much will each client cost?
• What is the budget for acquiring new customers to achieve the volume of planned sales?

If it's hard to estimate the potential profit in terms of how many customers you can acquire, set limits on your marketing spend. For these purposes, DRR is suitable (share advertising expenses) with which you set a ceiling for your marketing budget based on projected revenue.

We enter the marketing budget into corporate planning

The first step in understanding how to effectively plan your budget is to understand where the marketing plan should lead to. Simply put, marketing should drive sales.

Formation of the marketing budget begins with the annual corporate planning. This process is based on an existing business plan, which allows you to distribute funds by month. It is important to take a close look at the company's costs and compare them with the forecast of future sales. Financial indicators The business plan ultimately determines the size of the marketing budget.

Marketing budgets typically range from 2 to 25 percent of a company's revenue, depending on the company's size, stage of growth, and the importance of marketing in sales. The growth stage of your company is the most important factor for marketing:

• companies seeking to maintain their position in the market may be sufficient 2-10% of the amount of sales;
• For companies at the stage of rapid growth (revenue growth of more than 50% per year), the budget can be calculated at 15-25% of projected sales.

Naturally, the cost of marketing for accounting will be considered overhead. Indeed, if a marketer forms a marketing budget for a fairly stable annual business plan for a company, any employee will consider marketing as an expense. However, effective marketers understand that this is an investment!

Marketing should have a direct impact on the product line and contribute to the growth of the company's revenue. Therefore, the marketing budget should be considered as an investment process, and its effectiveness should be assessed by the rate of return. Money for every ruble invested.

The Classic Formula for Calculating ROI for Advertising

We distribute marketing budget items by communication channels

Having determined the amount of available funds for the implementation of the marketing plan, it is advisable to allocate them taking into account the effectiveness of the sales channels for the company's services. There is an unshakable rule: you must first support those channels that can provide the maximum return on investment.

Permissible to use different ways allocating marketing budgets, for example, by geographic point of sale, by customer demographics, or by time of day, precisely when customers are looking for the services they need.

Determine funding for each communication channel

Setting up a marketing budget for different communication channels is always a big challenge for any marketer. A dynamic market and an increasing number of competitors make it difficult to choose the most effective ways to reach customers.

The transformation of classic marketing into the age of digital communications allows you to focus on the "customer journey" and on the specific "touch points" that the visitor goes through on the path to becoming a buyer. Touchpoints are essentially the communication channels through which a company communicates with its customers.

Solve the problem of monitoring the journey of customers will help. By setting goals for the stages of the sales funnel and tracking the conversion of the site, it is enough to simply determine which of the communication channels bring the most leads and customers.

This approach allows you to control a significant part of marketing costs. In recent years, SEO and contextual advertising have become almost the only channels for attracting buyers. But we must not forget about other points of contact with target audience. Diversification of marketing spending - important point any strategy. You can not "sleep through" the emergence of new marketing communications with the client! The most effective marketing plans use up to 14 communication channels.

In order to quickly and visually distribute budget items for marketing, from the marketer's library. It is configured in such a way that you can control planned expenses not only by budget items, but also by months, comparing them with the sales forecast.

Budget optimization taking into account the effectiveness of communication channels

The marketing budget is not a dogma. As the marketing plan is implemented, it is necessary to optimize costs. It is important to closely monitor the effectiveness of your marketing tools:

• How do users find you?
• How do they interact with your communication channels?
• How do visitors turn into customers?

Statistical data of analytics systems allow you to evaluate the dynamics of the number of sales and the quality of marketing. Regular monitoring and analysis gives you the opportunity to focus on what works best for your business. The intermediate results achieved will make it possible to abandon those instruments that do not provide a proper return on the funds spent. The same marketing programs that are the “sales growth driver” require refinement and redistribution in their favor of inefficient budget items for marketing.

Conclusion

The development of a marketing budget is a creative process based on an understanding of effective communication channels with a service consumer. Internet marketing provides an excellent objective framework for corporate solutions, including for determining marketing budgets.

With the increasing automation of online marketing processes, the efficiency of planning and budgeting should increase. However, this positive process will be countered by the ever-increasing complexity associated with the emergence of new channels of communication and.