As we enter 2022, you’ll want to solidify your digital marketing budget for the year . If you’ve never set a digital marketing budget or haven’t seen positive results in the past, you can get off to a good start this year by following a few general rules.
In general, most businesses spend between 7% and 10% of their company’s total revenue on marketing . This is a general rule of thumb, which you can follow to make sure you’re spending enough, but not too much.
Of this 7-10% you are allocating , roughly half or more should be allocated to digital marketing. Many companies fall short of this benchmark and spend only a third of their marketing budgets on digital strategies .
However , with the increasing popularity of the Internet, it is essential that you allocate enough money to advertise your business online. There are thousands of potential customers searching for your business online and if you do not invest enough money in your campaign, you may miss out on reaching valuable potential customers and… generating revenue.
Every year, digital marketing becomes more and more important. Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have embraced it. As technology continues to evolve, you will want to invest more money into digital marketing efforts than your traditional marketing efforts.
The 70-20-10 rule
When you’re in the process of creating your digital marketing budget, the 70-20-10 rule is extremely useful in helping you allocate funds effectively. Here’s how this breaks down.
Invest 70% of your time and money in “now”
By this rule, you should spend 70% of your digital marketing time and budget for 2022 on the “now.” The “now” consists of strategies that you know work well for your business.
Whether it's a digital marketing strategy or a product or service that generates valuable revenue for your business, focus on spending your money to help those aspects generate better results for your business.
This is a safe place to allocate your budget because you already know that these strategies, products, and services work for your business. You can use the money to optimize their performance and generate valuable results.
Invest 20% of your time and money in “the next thing”
Twenty percent of your budget should be allocated to things that are on the horizon . These are strategies that are new to your business. For example, you might introduce and market a new line of products or services or target new segments to expand your market share.
Putting money into “what’s next” helps your business grow. This is how you move your business forward by investing in different products and marketing methods that help you reach new potential customers and get more conversions.
Invest 10% of your time and money in “the new”
A small portion of your digital marketing budget should be allocated to the “new.” These are the unknowns of the digital marketing world, such as emerging technologies or experimental strategies. To give your business a chance to stay ahead of the competition, you should invest part of your budget into new ideas.
This can be anything from emerging technology to testing new ideas. You want to invest money in experimental ideas to see if they work for your business.
Be careful, the 70-20-10 rule is not set in stone . It is a good starting point, but you don’t have to follow it precisely. For example, 10% on “new” may be too much for companies with larger budgets. You can always adjust the ratio to suit your business and its goals.
Digital Marketing Budget Template
5 places to invest your online marketing budget in 2022
As you begin to create your digital marketing budget for 2022, you need to consider which methods you will use. Here are five of them that you can incorporate into your budget for next year:
1. SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a great method to budget for in 2022. This is the process of boosting your website's ranking in search results. SEO helps you reach valuable traffic that is interested in your products or services.
Optimizing for “now”
Optimize SEO now by optimizing your SEO campaign with reliable techniques. For example:
Target keywords in your title tags
Producing SEO-friendly content for your website
Build high quality backlinks to your site
Optimize image file size
Use a responsive design to support all devices
You'll also want to prioritize page speed, especially with Google's Core Web Vitals update .
This update analyzes how your website loads for users. For example, Google uses First Input Delay to measure how long it takes for your site to become interactive for users, or how long someone has to wait before they can perform an action on your site, such as clicking a button.
Like previous Google algorithm updates , the Core Web Vitals update emphasizes Google’s continued focus on delivering search results that not only meet someone’s search intent , but also meet someone’s expectations for a fast, hassle-free search experience.
If you haven't looked at your site's performance with this update, try SERP Racer .
This free tool will show you the key web elements of your website and compare them to your competitors.
Type in a keyword that's important to your business and see how your site performs against your competitors. Then, get to work on improving your Core Web Vitals so you can capture more search traffic.
Optimizing for the “next”
Voice search continues to gain gambling data malaysia momentum in SEO. Voice search devices, such as Google Home and Amazon Echo, are finding their way into more homes every day. People are using these devices to perform searches and find important information.
If you want to optimize for the next big thing, start optimizing for voice search.
This technology is gaining popularity, so you'll want to adapt your SEO campaign to fit voice search. This includes optimizing for slang words, providing quick and informative answers, and making your information easy to pronounce.
Optimization for “new”
Google is constantly looking for new ways to optimize its search results. The goal is always to make it easy for users to find what they need. When you invest in SEO, you'll need to keep up with new, experimental ways to search.
An example of one type of search style is photo search . This is growing as a popular way to search. People can upload images or take a photo to learn about that object. Just check out Google Lens to see what Google can do.
This is a revolutionary way to search . While photo search isn’t a prominent way to search, it is gaining ground. For example, someone looking to purchase a piece of clothing from a Pinterest post could use photo search to locate the company.
Even in the business-to-business (B2B) sector, a user can rely on their phone’s camera, using Google Lens, to identify and replace an old part. Google’s use of 3D and augmented reality in search results even offers the B2B industry a way to preview and see large components up close.
If you want to experiment with photo search SEO, optimize your image alt text and descriptions.
2. PPC advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a great strategy to help your business reach more qualified potential customers. This form of paid advertising allows you to reach valuable potential customers who are interested in your products or services. These ads appear at the top of search results, above organic listings.
When you work with the right PPC ad company, PPC ads help you get valuable leads that are interested in your business. In fact, 65% of all high-intent searches result in someone clicking on a PPC ad. These ads are extremely valuable in helping your business get leads that want your products or services.
Optimizing for “now”
The best way to optimize for now is by conducting keyword research. Keyword research will help you find the right keywords for your PPC campaign. Considering that keywords make your website appear in search results, we suggest you optimize your keyword strategy to ensure you get the best results possible.
Optimizing for the “next”
Google is not the only company offering PPC ad options. Amazon and Facebook have also started offering PPC ad options for your business. In the future, Apple may play a role in promoting PPC ads.
To optimize for next, optimize for platforms outside of Google. While Google is the most popular place for PPC ads, other platforms are gaining popularity as viable sources for PPC ads.
Optimizing for the “new”
As search strategies continue to evolve, there are opportunities for new ways for users to find products or services. There is a chance that some people will simply scan a product and generate search results based on the product’s UPC code. You may need to consider adapting your PPC ads to fit these types of unique search strategies in the future.
3. Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the most valuable methods your business can invest in this year. This method allows you to connect directly with potential customers who want to hear from your business. You should allocate funds to this method because it will yield valuable results.
When you get subscribers, you do it organically by placing email signup forms on your website. This means you'll only attract people who want to hear from your company through that channel.
With email marketing , you can send targeted messages to people to get them interested in your products. Email marketing allows you to segment your audience to send them personalized content that reflects their needs. This is a great method to help nurture leads toward conversion.
As you create your 2022 digital marketing budget, allocate money to boost your email marketing efforts.
Optimizing for “now”
Email marketing is an effective strategy to nurture leads and get more conversions. To optimize your email marketing strategy for now, the best thing you can do is segment your audience. Segmentation is a valuable resource to help your company generate better results.
You'll want to segment your audience by demographics and interests.
Group people based on their interests and the types of products or services they want to see from your business. It helps you run a more effective campaign because the content is tailored to their tastes and needs.
