4 Essentials to Have in Your Marketing Budget: A Guide for Female Founders
As female entrepreneurs, the question of whether investing in marketing is truly necessary often looms large. However, the resounding answer is a definitive "yes!" Our businesses are fueled by our commitment and passion, but that usually isn’t enough to really GROW. Consciously or not, we are already channeling efforts into marketing endeavors.
Marketing is the bloodline of our businesses.
Every expense directed towards building brand awareness, generating leads, or closing sales is an integral part of our marketing expenditure. By embracing this truth, we are empowered to allocate our resources wisely and embark on a journey that guarantees our brands' growth and success. In this blog, we will explore four indispensable pieces to include in our marketing budgets, equipping us with the tools to thrive in the business world and leave a lasting impact.
As we navigate the world of entrepreneurship, it's crucial to equip ourselves with the right tools and strategies for marketing success. Allocating a budget for marketing activities is not just a choice; it's a necessity for our growth. By investing in strategic marketing, we can scale our companies, reach our target audience, and build strong, impactful brands without spinning our wheels on tactics that don’t work.
To our fellow female entrepreneurs who are in the pre-revenue stage, we understand that determining how much to spend on marketing can be daunting. Limited resources and uncertainties make it even more crucial to allocate funds thoughtfully. However, we must not let it discourage us!
We can embrace creativity and resourcefulness to maximize our impact. Take smart risks and find cost-effective solutions.
Consider leveraging free or low-cost technologies, exploring partnerships, and embracing creative outreach strategies. Our resourcefulness and determination will help us thrive, even with tighter budgets.
It's time to expand your horizons and consider all the crucial elements that will propel your business forward. From email marketing platforms to social media management tools, content creation resources to website development costs, our budget should cover it all. Remember, the specific categories may vary based on your unique businesses and stages.
4 Essentials to Have in Your Marketing Budget:
Basic Marketing Platforms: Core platforms like an email marketing platform, a CRM system, and project management tool are critical to streamlining your marketing efforts and fostering valuable customer relationships. We recently taught a class on how to leverage these EXACT platforms, wich you can get for free by creating your account!
Content Creation Tools: There are many affordable, and even free, content creation tools out there to help you streamline your process and bring your best content to life. Here at Her Brand & Co., we leverage affordable design tools like Canva for graphics, a good ole’ fashion Google Calendar for our email marketing schedule, and the free version of Airtable to plan and manage our other forms of content (like our social media and our podcast launch schedule).
Analytics & Basic Metrics: We know that analytics can be a daunting task for small businesses. If your website is set up on Squarespace or Shopify, their native analytics are a great place to start. You can easily see page traffic, button clicks, and other core user data to help you understand how your customers navigate your website. Another great tool is Hot Jar, a tool we use to see heat maps (“hot” areas of your website) and scroll data. This allows you to easily see where users drop off, areas that they see the most, and how they move their mouse around your website. All of this information helps you better understand what matters to your customers, and it helps you prioritize the areas that your customers need to see the most.
Speaking of Website, Website is #4: Your website is the sun of your marketing solar system. If you’re going to allocate funds anywhere, it needs to be your website. This means investing in reliable hosting, domain registration, and if necessary, working with someone you trust to build your site. We have an amazing class on Website Optimization available on the Her Brand & Co. platform to help you with exactly this. Just create your free account here to access that class! We also suggest getting comfortable with the template of your website so that you, or someone on your team, can easily make changes when needed that do not require complex design elements. We are HUGE fans of Squarespace, the setup is extremely simple, it’s easy to maintain without coding knowledge, and with some patience and self-care, any founder can genuinely create a basic website.
With these 4 essentials to plan for in your marketing budget, we know you’ll be well on your way to creating a solid foundation for your business. Let's make informed decisions, optimize our limited resources, and align our marketing efforts with our ambitious goals! Here's to the journey ahead, filled with endless possibilities for early-stage female founders like YOU!
If this is something you can get behind, then we encourage you to create your account for free and sign up for the best-in-class marketing education specifically created for female entrepreneurs. It’s completely free and there’s no credit card required! Want more help with your marketing?
Create your account HERE for free to learn the ins and outs of all things marketing for your business.
