By Bobbie Wasserman, Published November 5, 2014
It’s that time of year again…business and marketing budgeting time. Whether you are an active officer in a C-suite or are trying to figure out the communication needs of your small and growing business, one of the most important line items is public relations. How much money will you need to convey your message to your target audiences? In less corporate language—how are you going to create and maintain the marketing budget buzz?
Marketing Budget Tips for PR and Communications
Here are a few tips on tackling some of the largest, broadest items in a PR/communications budget:
1. Social Media
There are three main areas to consider in Social Media when developing the marketing budget: content creation, advertising, and tools.
Content and image creation can be time consuming and costly if a company is outsourcing its social media management. Determine the 2015 strategy, including the channels your company will be active in and grow, and any translation that will be needed. Remember to include contests and other social media “events” in the mix.
With over a billion subscribers globally, Facebook remains a marketing budget “must” for businesses. The algorithms are constantly changing to lessen organic growth in favor of paid growth, i.e., advertising. The bottom line is simple: if you want to maintain your 2013/14 engagement levels and grow your company’s Facebook presence, then you need to pay for it. The key to leveraging those ad dollars is to ensure that your communications are integrated.
Keep an eye on Twitter and LinkedIn for algorithm adjustments as advertising gains momentum and set aside budgets accordingly. The broad estimate for budgets is that social media ad spends in 2015 are roughly 2% of a company’s marketing budget.
Now is also the time to review your social media tools—analytics, measurement, scheduling, management, etc. Odds are that your company uses more than one. What tools are you receiving value from and is it time to consolidate where you can and allocate dollars elsewhere?
2. Blog programs and Outreach
Blog promotions can be powerful as well as expensive. Most bloggers that are widely followed receive payment for product/service reviews. Specific campaigns can range from $ 100 plus product for an individual blogger review to $ 20,000+ for an organized “blogger blitz” campaign. At the least, we recommend putting aside a budget for product samples to be sent for targeted blogger reviews. Be sure to check if your company charges your department for those samples at wholesale or retail and budget accordingly—and don’t forget the shipping costs.
For additional blogger payment, be sure to have a strategy in place to determine if large cash payments are warranted. For example, we have built an organic blogger following for clients through social media engagement and product samples. While this takes time and might not be appropriate for all companies, it is something to consider for long-term relationship building.
3. Media relations
Media relations still matter—so budgeting for it is prudent. According to Pew Research, people still get a majority of their news from “traditional” news sources, digitally. So plan to engage with the media accordingly through not only press notices and releases but also reputable wire services, social media, and blog postings.
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