Making your marketing budget work harder

Boxers & Briefs Podcast #11: Creating a marketing budget with Teresa Ma’aelopa

Teresa Ma’aelopa is the Founder of Marketing Architect and has over 20 years of experience across all aspects of the industry. Teresa develops intimate marketing strategies for small to medium businesses and helps with understanding your customers and targeting them effectively.

“Marketing doesn’t work.” It’s a common refrain Teresa hears from clients before they start working with her. This perception often stems from previous experiences where businesses have invested in marketing without seeing clear returns. As she explains, the key isn’t just about spending money – it’s about investing it wisely to generate meaningful returns.

Finding your audience

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is trying to be everything to everyone. “If you’re really relevant to your audience, you’ll actually pick up more business that way than trying to be generic and being everything to everybody,” Teresa explains. This means taking time to understand who your customers truly are and what drives their decisions.

For small to medium businesses, marketing budgets typically range between 2-5% of sales. However, this figure can vary significantly depending on your business stage. New businesses or those launching new products might need to invest more heavily upfront, then decrease spending once they’ve established their presence.

Choosing your channels

In today’s digital landscape, businesses face an overwhelming array of marketing channels. Teresa emphasises that trying to be everywhere is counterproductive. Instead, she recommends identifying where your most profitable segments ‘hang out’ and focusing your efforts there.

For businesses with limited budgets, Teresa suggests a practical approach to building brand awareness alongside lead generation. Rather than treating them as separate activities, look for ways to incorporate your brand into lead generation activities. This might mean ensuring your logo appears prominently in Google ads or finding ways to showcase your brand identity while driving sales.

While some marketing activities, particularly brand building, can be challenging to measure, Teresa argues there are always ways to track success. The key is determining whether the cost of measurement makes sense for your business size. For smaller businesses, she recommends using ‘insights’ – focused feedback from 10-20 customers about brand position – rather than extensive market research.

Embracing trends cautiously

When it comes to new marketing trends like TikTok, Teresa advises a measured approach. “Let the corporates have a go and work out all the kinks,” she suggests. While early adoption can potentially yield high rewards, it also carries significant risks. For small businesses with limited resources, waiting until there’s evidence of effectiveness often makes more sense.

Marketing success isn’t just about external communications – it requires alignment across the entire business. Teresa emphasises the importance of ensuring your company’s values lead to behaviours that create the promised customer experience. This means involving everyone from warehouse staff to admin teams in understanding how their roles impact customer experience.

One of the most crucial elements for marketing success is breaking down silos between sales and marketing teams. “Most businesses when I start working with them actually see them as very different functions,” Teresa notes. She recommends establishing a ‘rhythm’ of two-way communication between sales and marketing teams, ensuring customer feedback informs marketing strategy and marketing supports sales efforts effectively.

Planning for success

Teresa’s most emphatic advice is about planning. Rather than taking an ad-hoc approach, businesses should plan their marketing budget at the start of the financial year, allocating resources across channels while maintaining some flexibility for opportunities that arise.

Looking ahead, Teresa sees automation as an underutilised opportunity for small and medium businesses. While there’s much discussion about AI, she emphasises that simple automation through CRM systems can significantly improve both marketing and sales effectiveness. This technology not only helps manage customer relationships but also provides valuable insights to inform future marketing decisions.

For businesses looking to improve their marketing effectiveness, Teresa recommends starting with the basics: understand your audience, get your strategy right, and ensure your foundational elements like website and content are working effectively. Only then should you consider expanding into newer channels or trends.

“Marketing is an investment, not a cost,” Teresa emphasises. By taking a strategic approach, understanding your audience, and carefully planning your spending, even smaller businesses can achieve significant returns on their marketing investment.