MARKETING BUDGET FOR STARTUP
Promoting your business even before it’s established
You have an assortment of marketing channels available to you, and some of them are free!
How much should startup spend on marketing?
While small businesses might commonly spend between 5 percent and 10 percent of revenue on marketing, startups don’t always have the cash flow stability to support that kind of initiative. Fortunately, there are a multitude of social media channels and messaging tools like email and SMS newsletters that could cost your business little or nothing. Marketing costs for startups don’t have to be budget killers.
Small business owners have so many marketing channels available to them. Research, and even experimenting, can help you find where you should put your resources. Not all people consume messaging the same way. Identifying which channels reach your target is the key to effective marketing. A content-rich website gives your brand a home base. Email and text messaging are great for promoting your business, driving website traffic and collecting subscribers. Social media often works well for short-form content and videos. There are small business marketing tools that can help you manage multiple channels at once.
The importance of a startup marketing budget
Even if you don’t yet have the revenue to maximize your marketing plans, having a marketing budget is critical to your business’s success. Your marketing budget is an extension of your business plan. To know how much you can spend on marketing, you need a solid market analysis, accurate financial projections, a clear mission statement and SWOT analysis. Together, these components give you a clear picture of how your business is going to operate profitably. M&T can lead you to the resources that teach you how to create an effective business plan that includes a marketing budget.
M&T Bank can provide resources to help you build an effective marketing strategy. Schedule an appointment with your local M&T branch.
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Small Business Planning
Our resources can teach you how to get your small business in front of more people to increase brand awareness, gain visibility, increase business and much more. Learn more about small business planning.
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