Startup Marketing Budget

One should always appreciate the power of good marketing, especially for an online-based business. You may have the best product in the market, but nobody will know about it if you don’t promote it. Startups need marketing more than any older business because they need something to stand out and grow. With how the competition is online, someone might just copy the idea and promote it right. Yes, sometimes the quality of the product promotes itself, but that’s rarely the case these days.

One of the first things you should focus on after you have your idea is how to promote it right. With proper marketing, even average products can seem premium. If you do it right, you will be able to sell anything. Spend some time planning how you’re going to get to your target audience. You want to be able to reach the people you need to reach, and interest them in your products.

How Much Should You Spend on Marketing?

A marketing budget depends on many things. Some companies need to spend more on marketing, and some less. If it’s some local business, then most likely having just a few active social media accounts will be enough, but you’re going to need a lot more spending if you plan on reaching a wide audience all over the world. Another big factor is the scale of the company. A startup has to invest more in marketing. You need to show your brand to the world, and you will also need to try out different methods so you know what works.

The recommended marketing budget for older companies is around 10% of gross revenue, whereas for startups it’s recommended to have up to 20% of gross revenue. Of course, a startup with 20% of gross revenue invested in its marketing budget might still spend less than some older companies, but a successful startup will grow faster than most companies.

What Tools Should You Use?

There are many tools available online to promote your business. You will have to create social media accounts for your business, and you can use something like Buffer to make it a bit easier to run your business accounts. Canva can help you create beautiful designs for your social media posts. Another thing is having a website, it’s the most effective way of enabling users to get information about your business anywhere. WordPress is a great option for websites. It’s also a smart idea to have an email newsletter where you can regularly inform your customers about news and sales, check out MailChimp for that.

Bottom Line

Marketing is a huge part of growing any business, especially a new startup. Startups need to spend more on their marketing budgets to enable more growth. The recommended marketing budget for startups is around 15-20% of gross revenue. You can use that budget to invest in some tools that will help you promote your products. Use those tools together with some free tools so your marketing is as effective as possible.