Budgeting can be tedious for B2B marketers, especially when goals are imposed from the top. 
In our recent Technology Marketing Benchmarks & Trends Report, most respondents report receiving a marketing budget of 5% of AGR or below. This is well below the 11% marketing teams saw in their pre-pandemic budgets. How are marketing teams doing more with less, while continuing to meet and exceed customer expectations?
This blog post highlights the advantages of using a bottom-up strategy for marketing budget planning in B2B marketing. It also provides tips and suggestions for avoiding unexpected expenses that negatively affect your budget.
What is the Bottom-Up Approach to Marketing Budgets?
Most marketers are accustomed to receiving a generalized marketing budget each year, usually given without taking yearly goals, marketing infrastructure, or industries into consideration. Oftentimes, this kind of budgeting is unrealistic and ineffective.
A bottom-up approach to marketing budget planning involves starting with specific tactics and initiatives to drive revenue and allocating the budget accordingly.
This approach to marketing budget planning is often more effective because it allows marketers to put their money toward the most effective campaigns and strategies, as well as more efficiently track where the money goes. By allocating the budget to the most valuable marketing efforts first, the bottom-up approach empowers marketers to be more in control of their audience and their message. In addition, the added focus on these campaigns provides greater flexibility and agility in responding to market changes and prospects’ and customers’ needs.
To shift your focus towards this approach, you can:
- Analyze your current conversion rate and determine the number of touches and leads necessary to reach your objectives.
- Afterward, create a plan outlining your tactics to achieve these touches.
- Refer to past activities, conversion rates, and any gathered data to make this process more realistic.
Once you have created your desired plan using the steps above, then you can determine the budget that works best for you.
The Benefits of Bottom-Up Marketing Budget Planning
This method of marketing budget planning provides numerous benefits for B2B marketers, making it highly effective. Here are some of the main advantages:
- Better alignment with prospect needs: A bottom-up approach allows marketers to focus on the specific tactics and initiatives that will deliver targeted and effective marketing campaigns that better resonate with their audience.
- More agile and flexible: Marketers can quickly adjust their marketing efforts in response to changes in the market or from competitors. This agility allows for more effective optimization of marketing campaigns.
- Greater accountability: By allocating budget to specific tactics and initiatives, marketers can more effectively track and measure the results of their marketing efforts. This accountability allows for ongoing optimization and adjustments to improve campaign performance.
- Improved collaboration: A bottom-up approach encourages collaboration and communication among team members, allowing for a more cohesive marketing strategy, an effective use of resources, and a greater potential for success and revenue growth.
3 Tips for Creating an Effective Bottom-Up Budget Plan
Here are a few tips to help you create an effective bottom-up marketing budget plan:
1. Consider your team’s size and skill sets.
If your marketing team has more members with expertise in areas like SEO, web design, graphics, and content development, your direct marketing expenses may be lower. On the other hand, smaller teams may need to spend more money to cover these fundamental aspects.
2. Reassess the number of industries you are targeting.
To achieve marketing success, it’s essential to consistently and frequently connect with a targeted market. If you try to reach too many markets and divide your budget to cater to all of them, your efforts will be unsuccessful.
3. Keep your goals in mind.
What is the expected number of marketing or sales-qualified leads you need to provide? This will play a significant role in determining your budget and the number of industries you are targeting. Be sure to collect transparent feedback on the effectiveness of your current marketing strategy in reaching your target audience. Inaccurate information can have negative consequences for your future success.
Following the tips outlined in this article will help ensure your business can create an effective bottom-up budget plan for your marketing strategy. With proper planning and execution of these strategies, you’ll be on your way to achieving success through higher revenue growth.
Also, connect with The Partner Marketing Group today if you’re looking for ways to optimize your marketing efforts while simultaneously improving ROI!
