Posted by Frances Laing on Tuesday 29 September 2009
Preparing your marketing budget for 2010 and beyond
Have you started planning for next year yet? Here are some hints about managing the planning process, ensuring you really have an effective budget for 2010.
Having worked client side, I am acutely aware that now is the time for planning the following year, thinking about budgets and how to ensure you get the money you want to do the things you want to do.
Budgeting can be quite a difficult process, depending on the company you work for and the way they go about things. I’ve worked through processes that start with last years' budget as a benchmark, as well as the more enlightened companies who like to start their budgets from scratch every year, ensuring fresh thinking is in place to address the problems likely to arise. However the biggest challenge I always found was linking the marketing strategy to corporate goals. Quite often I found that everyone was putting their budgets together independently, which meant that there was very little “joined up thinking”.
I believe it is essential for marketers to be commercially focussed, as regular readers of my blog will be aware, but budgeting in large corporations often prevents this happening to its more effective degree. So my message this week is short but clear. Make sure that you know what you are trying to achieve before you start to write down numbers and words regarding 2010. You may be focused on acquisition, but the company may be focused on cost-reduction and efficiency. You might be considering some new product development, but the company may be looking to explore new markets with tried and trusted strategies.
There’s nothing I love more than a bit of strategic thinking (especially when there are so many elements to think about - on-line, off-line, social media, traditional media and so on), so if you want some help kick-starting your budgeting process then do get in touch. Or share your frustration if you just feel that things aren’t quite working out the way you would have liked them to. But above all, make sure that you focus on commercial objectives, and carry the shining torch for good marketers everywhere.