What are two of the most important pieces of business wisdom you’ll ever hear?

• Large or small, every business needs a marketing strategy; and a marketing plan to make it happen.
• Once marketing budgets are set – take expert advice on how to use it wisely.

Average Marketing Budgets for Canadian Businesses

Now the question of budget. You don’t necessarily need a huge amount. It partly depends on the size of your company. One guide is to take 10%-15% of your revenue and direct it towards marketing budgets. A recent survey of small and medium-sized business in Canada by the Business Development Bank of Canada indicated $31,000 was the average for annual marketing budgets for small and medium-sized businesses.

Keep in mind that companies with a very strong brand presence can get away with smaller marketing budgets. How strong is your brand? If you’re answer is “not very”, you need to work harder at getting customers to pay attention to your products and services.

Spending Marketing Budgets: Trust Experts Who Know Best

Next, how are you going to figure out the most effective and efficient way of using marketing budgets to your best advantage? Resist spending it on a single promotion or advertising campaign like a series of Google ads or print advertising before you’ve done the proper research and analysis.

You’re far better to sit down with a trusted marketing professional, discuss the budget you have, and let an expert guide you as to the best way to direct your dollars. Marketing plans don’t have to be overly complex but they do need to be logical, focused and strategic.

Some say, “Why tell someone my budget? Isn’t that just an invitation to spend it all?” Well, yes. A good marketer will work backwards from the marketing budgets’ dollar figure to determine what assets and deliverables you can afford to run for each campaign. And if you trust the expert (and they truly are expert), it’s likely to be one of the wisest investments you’ll ever make!