5 Tips To Make Your Marketing Budget Go Further

Here are some tips to help you maximize your marketing budget without sacrificing quality or results.

1. Artwork and photography
If possible, when planning a photo shoot, think ahead and try to get as many shots in as possible. Most photographers charge by half or whole day, so try to make the most of your money. Having a library of images for current and future advertising needs will not only save you time, but money.

Use your existing images and copy in multiple marketing elements. For example, copy and images from a brochure can also be used on your website.

2. Do what you can yourself
Hiring experts is always recommended for professional design, photography, copy writing, press release development, web development, etc. But it is recommended to do as many tasks in-house as possible. For example, stuffing press releases into envelopes is something that you could do which will save your budget for tasks that really need the expertise of a professional.

3. Smart print buying
When you print anything for your business evaluate your quantities closely. In most cases running a thousand or two more costs only a few dollars. If you know that the document will not be changing and that you will need to reorder within the year, print a two-years supply vs. one.

Also, contemplate printing multiple items at once. For example when printing letterhead, inventory your business cards, note pads, envelopes, etc. Anything that is printed on the same stock or at least the same ink colors will save you set up fees and press wash fees as the printer can run all the jobs simultaneously or in succession.

4. Use of articles
Remember that article that was written about your company in the local paper or trade journal? Well, dust it off and use it. Make copies of it and give it to prospective clients and/or if appropriate enlarge it and hang it on your wall.

5. Reuse your ads
You paid a lot of money to design your ad and it's working. You are generating leads. Now take that ad and reprint it to use in your sales literature. Add additional information to the sheet and make it a product data sheet, mail a copy of the ad with a sales letter, turn them into postcards, or if they are really eye catching, make reprints and make them suitable for framing.