January is coming, which means your customers are probably thinking about the marketing budget for the upcoming year.
Stay in touch with your customers. Make yourself available, and offer insight into what’s happening around the industry to help make the budgeting process go more smoothly.
Here are some things your customers should consider before finalizing that 2014 budget.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising is becoming increasingly competitive, which means the cost per click for many keywords is climbing. Competing for multiple keywords can get costly.
It’s more cost-effective to focus on a select few keywords. While big-budget companies can spend millions, about 96% of pay-per-click advertisers spend less than $10,000/month.
Don’t let PPC advertising run you dry.
Search Engine Optimization
We all know SEO is important, but how much should you be spending on it?
If you’re hiring an SEO firm, different types of payment models are available. Monthly retainers, project-based pricing, and hourly rates are the most common.
For a monthly retainer, expect to pay between $750-5,000 per month, depending on the extent of the services. Project pricing is always variable by the amount of work, and hourly rates for individuals or agencies range from about $100-$300 per hour.
Email Marketing
This is where you should be spending your money. Email marketing has proven to be a very effective medium for driving sales.
Nearly 95% of online consumers use email, and for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return is $44.25.
If you haven’t already, 2014 is the perfect time to start investing in an email marketing program. Even as the popularity of other online mediums rises, email still brings the best results.
Internet marketing can be a bottomless money pit if you let it. Remind customers to carefully consider which areas of marketing to invest in this upcoming year.
Which areas of marketing are you investing in this year?